Chess was invented in Africa and brought to europe. How could it be racist?
I'm pretty sure India invented chess. It's what I've always been told and/or read.
I used to be a good player, now I'm average.
Nope. Chess was invented in Africa. Kemet to be exact.. The Dravidians learned the game from them. I havent played in 10 years so I am probably not that good anymore.
Chaturanga' is the earliest precursor to what we now know as 'Chess'. While it is referenced that they are related, they are not the same game ( by a long stretch), for a start Chaturanga uses only 10 pieces.
As for any claim to India inventing Chaturanga, the earliest documentation can date Chaturanga back to circa 640 A.D, the origin of it is said to be "uncertain"
It is interesting to note that "Fa Xian, a Chinese Buddhist who wrote extensively about his long sojourn in India at the beginning of the 5th century, does not mention the game (Chaturanga), an indication, perhaps, that it was not known then.
Chess, as we now know it , began to take shape circa 1475 where Chaturanga pieces where replaced with their modern counter parts and new laws where introduced.
All of this is gleaned from the 1996 "The Oxford Companion to Chess" so you can believe it or believe not.
FIDE's own president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov believes chess came from Outer Space (google it if you don't believe it) and the BBC's Doctor Who have referenced Chess has been invented by the Time Lords of Galifrey.
The long story short is the origins of Chess are a matter for myth and legend