> How likely would it be for a culture not located on earth to
> come up with exactly the same game? I'd use direct
> translations from the original names I guess. So the game
> comes from India? At least the names you gave, Mark, suggest
> that.
> ...
> The game is called 'Schach' (/SAX/, from pers. _shah_, I
> suppose). When you attack the King, you say "Schach!"
> (Check!), and when the King is caught, the player is
> "schachmatt" (checkmate).
All of the reading I have done claims that chess originated in Persia.
Origially called Shah Mat ("The King Is Dead" in Persian). This somehow
got mutated into "checkmate" in English.
> I've heard "Pferd" (horse) for "Springer" as well. But the
> standard name is "Springer".
In English the knight is often called a "horse" and the rook is
sometimes called a "castle".
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dejnx nxtxr / Dana Nutter
LI SASXSEK LATIS.
http://www.nutter.net/sasxsek