May 05, 2023 03:56:00

In fact, the origin of the name of the chess piece that is scattered all over the world Summary

Chess uses six types of pieces: 'Pawn', 'Knight', 'Rook', 'Bishop', 'Queen' and 'King'. The names of pieces in Japan follow the names in English, but in fact, the names of pieces are called by words with different meanings around the world. Journalist

Frank Jacobs summarizes the meaning of the name of such a piece.

How Did the Chess Pieces Get Their Names? - Atlas Obscura
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-did-chess-pieces-get-their-names

◆ pawn
Pawn means 'foot soldier' and comes from the Sanskrit word 'padati', which means foot. Also, in Norway, Sweden, and Germany, the word meaning 'farmer' is used as the name of the piece corresponding to the pawn.

◆Knight
In Europe, the knight is called by the three meanings of 'horse', 'rider' and 'jumper', and in English it is called knight, which means rider. Also, in the Indian region where chess originated, it was called 'asva', which means horse in Sanskrit. The distribution of 'horse (yellow)', 'rider (blue)' and 'jumper (light green)' in Europe is as follows.

◆ Luke
Rook is a word that means chariot (ancient battle chariot), but the pieces are shaped like towers and are called by the word for tower in many parts of Europe. The reason why the chariot was replaced by a tower is that ``The Persian word ``rukh'' for tank was replaced by ``rocco'' meaning fortress in Italy.'' ``Persian tanks were very heavily armored, It was a gigantic object that could be called a movable fortress.” Also, depending on the region, rook may be called with words such as 'cannon', 'ship', and 'elephant'.

The distribution of 'chariot (yellow)', 'tower (purple)', 'fortress/fortress/fort (light blue)', 'turret (green)' and 'ship (pink)' in Europe is as follows.

◆ Bishop
Bishop is a word that indicates a high-ranking Christian priest, but in Sanskrit it was called 'hasti', which means 'elephant'. In modern times, bishops are 'elephant (pink)', 'cleric (purple)', 'courier', 'noble (blue)', 'hunter (green)', 'archer (orange)', 'jester (light green)', 'spear (light blue)'. )”, “Turtle (green)”, and “Carrier (red)”.

◆Queen
The queen was called by the Sanskrit word 'mantri', which means the king's adviser or adviser. When chess was transmitted to the Arab world, it was called by the word 'wazir' meaning minister or secretary, but it was replaced with 'vierge' meaning virgin in France. ``This mistranslation is interesting because much of Europe has tended to feminize the king's companions,'' Jacobs said of the changing meaning of the queen.

In modern Europe, the queen is called by words such as 'queen (pink)', 'lady (orange)', 'high official/counselor/commander (blue)' and 'flag (green)'.

◆King
As mentioned above, chess pieces are applied with words of various meanings, but King is said to be called by the word meaning 'king' in any part of Europe.