The earliest precursor of modern chess is a game called chaturanga, which flourished in India by the 6th century, and is the earliest known game to have two essential features found in all later chess variations -- different pieces having different powers (which was not the case with checkers and Go), and victory depending on the fate of one piece, the king of modern chess. The original chess board was mathematically revolutionary, as reported by the infamous Wheat and chessboard problem. A common theory is that India 's development of the board, and chess, was likely due to India 's mathematical enlightenment involving the creation of the number zero. Other game pieces (speculatively called "chess pieces '') uncovered in archaeological findings are considered as coming from other, distantly related board games, which may have had boards of 100 squares or more. Findings in the Mohenjo - daro and Harappa (2600 -- 1500 BCE) sites of the Indus Valley Civilization show the prevalence of a board game that resembles chess.
where did the game of chess originate from
India India India