Chess

The earliest mention of the game of chess is made by Karnamak (Persia, 590-628). The game seems to have originated in northern India, around the year 500, but the rules we use today were established in Europe around 1550. The 16 pieces - king, queen, bishop, knight, rook or castle and pawns –are arranged on a checkered board with 64 squares and maneuvered against the opponent.

The expression "checkmate" comes from a phonetic deformation of the Arabic phrase  “al shah mat”, which means “the king is dead." (Inventions and Discoveries)