15.04.2017

Is chess a gift of extra-terrestrial civilization?

Speaking of the ufological trace in the creation of chess, many experts mention Kirsan Ilyumzhinov – a passionate admirer of the ancient game, who is deeply convinced of its extra-terrestrial origin.

The main argument of FIDE President is the simultaneous appearance of chess in several places of the birth of civilization without visible traces of its migration. However, the 18th century British orientalist William Jones suggested the divine origin of the game.

In carrying out linguistic research, Jones first noticed that the name of chess comes from the word "Chaturanga", which is mentioned in the Mahabharata as a formation of troops used by the divine army. Later researchers considered the battle scenes from the ancient Indian epic as the scenes of battles of people with extra-terrestrial aliens.
Some Russian (Soviet) popularisers of chess (including the honoured Master of Sports of the USSR Yakov Rokhlin) refer to this game as a collective creation given to people by higher intelligence. Moreover, chess was presented with clearly developed canons, which have not been changed since the moment of creation.
Ilyumzhinov brings a serious scientific base to the extra-terrestrial origin of chess. He considered the whole chess complex from the point of view of systemology and suggested that 64 chess cells are an analogue of 64 codons of human DNA.
In his opinion, the chess rules lay down the basic principles of martial art, which can be realized if warriors have weapons that they are not familiar with. The weapons of the Vikings not only differed from the weapons of Genghis Khan they but had nothing in common. The battle tactics of the steppe people are completely different from the sea pirates’ strategy of fighting. Nevertheless, the rules of the game of civilizations that never contacted each other are the same.
Everyone knows Ilyumzhinov's famous question: how could chess spread over thousand miles and become known to civilizations separated from each other? At the same time, the rules of the game, with rare and insignificant exceptions, practically did not change.
And this is the second ufological paradox. Over the millennium, the ways of life have changed, countries and forms of governance have changed, new concepts have arisen but chess rules have never been changed, as if somebody up there tabooed to change them.