. . . Captain Hiram Cox propunded a new view in his paper On the Burmha Game of Chess (Asiatic Researches, London, 1801, vii. 486-511) by claiming that this four-handed game was the rudimental game of chess, and that the two-handed game was a modification of it. In the hands of Prof. Duncan Forbes (B. 1798, D. 1868) this opinion was further developed into a complete theory of the development of chess. Briefly stated, the Cox-Forbes theory is this: A primitive four-handed dice-chess was practised in India about 5,000 years ago. As a result of the action of certain rules, or from the difficulty of always securing a full quota of players, the game gradually became a two-handed game. At a later time the civil and religious ordinances against the use of dice led to the abandonment of the dice-character of the game; and finally, by a rearrangement of the pieces, the game of chess as known to the Persians and Muslims came into existence. . . . Another theory of the ancestry of chess has been put forward by Mr. Culin in his Chess and Playing Cards (Washington, 1898). He sees in our present games the survivals of magical processes adopted in order to classify according to the four directions objects and events which did not of themselves reveal their proper classification. Dice or some similar agent represent one of the implements of magic employed for the purpose. According to his theory, chess is a game derived from a game of the race type, and the steps of the ascent are (1) two-handed chess; (2) four-handed dice chess (chaturaji); (3) Pachisi, a four-handed race-game; (4) a two-handed race-game. It is there fore a development of the Cox-Forbes theory, which aims at carrying the pedigree still farther back. Culin's argument is thus stated (op. cit., 858):

The relation of the game of Chaturanga (i.e. the four-handed dice-chess) to the game of Pachisi is very evident. The board is the square of the arm of the Pachisi cross, and even the castles of the latter appear to be perpetuated in the camps, similarly marked with diagonals on the Chinese chessboard. The arrangment of the men at the corners of the board survives in the Burmese game of chess. The four-sided die is similar to that used in Chausar (i.e. Chaupur). The pieces or men are of the same colours as in Pachisi and consist of the four sets of men or pawns of the Pachisi game, with the addition of the four distinctive chess pieces, the origin and significance of which remain to be accounted for. By analogy, it may be assumed that the board, if not indeed all boards upon which games are played, stands for the world and its four quarters (or the year and its four seasons), and that the game was itself divinatory.

After stating that students of the history of chess do not now generally accept the Cox-Forbes theory, Mr. Culin continues:

Apart from this discussion, the relation of chess to an earlier dice-game, such as Pachisi, appears to be evident. The comparative study of games leads to the belief that practically all games as Chess, played upon boards, were preceded by games in which the pieces were animated by dice, cowries or knuckle-bones, or by staves, as in the Korean Nyout, the Egyptian Tab, and many aboriginal American games.

All students of the history of games owe very much to Mr. Culin for his investigations into the nature, implements, and rules of existing games. His suggestion that race-games may have originated in magical processes deserves consideration, and there is much to be said for his vew that dice-games preceded games of pure combination. But neither hypothesis has as yet been established as fact, and the further step in his argument which deals with the connexion of the war-game chess and the race-game pachisi is a very weak one. It has yet to be established that pachisi or chaupur is older than chess. Mr. Culin's argument depends too much upon resemblances which are only superficial, or can be explained equally satisfactorily in other ways. It shows signs of insufficient acquaintance with the known facts of chess history. The theory that Chess is a development of an earlier race-game involves the hypothesis that some reformer changed the whole nomenclature in order to make it self-consistent as a war-game, and secured the agreement of all his contemporaries. I find this hypothesis incredible.

From A History of Chess by H.J.R. Murray (pg 48-50)

Many of our modern gaming implements-dice, cards, dominoes, even chess pieces-can be traced back to the ancient practice of divination by arrows or sticks. As the arrows began to be used in gambling, three general types of game evolved: games of chance, games of skill and pure guessing games. In guessing games the arrow shaft became a gambling stick, marked to denote rank. In Korea this later evolved into strips of oiled paper. The Chinese had similar strips, known as stick cards, which bore figures remarkably similar to those on our present-day court cards. Nowadays, of course, playing cards are often used for the same purpose as the ancient divination arrows from which they are descendd-that of fortune-telling. In games of chance the arrow evolved first into the astragalus-abone from the foot of a dog or sheep-and then into the die with which we are all familiar. There is strong evidence, indeed, that dice games were among the first, if not actually the first, games to be played by man. Dice of one sort or another have been found in the tombs of ancient Egypt and the Far East, and in prehistoric burial sites in both North and South America. In many early games the throw of the die controlled the moves of counters upon a marked playing surface, just as it does in many modern games. Later, when the die and thus the element of chance was omitted, games of pure skill, such as chess checkers and go, were developed.

From The World of Games: Their Origins and History, How to Play Them, and How to Make Them by Tony Burrett (pg 10)

The study of the games of Korea reveals the fact that there were two principal systems of divinations in Eastern Asia, from which games arose, in both of which the arrow or its substitute was employed as the implement of magic.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (part xix of the introduction)

Examining the arrows used in Korea at the present day, they are found to occur in sets of five, each archer usually having three sets. The five arrows are number with Chinese characters from one to five. The arrows of each individual bear his name, also written in Chinese characters, and are further distinguished by colored rings as red, green, or black on the shaftment, by which the archer more quickly recognizes his own. At an early period in culture the arrow, marked with the designation of its owner, by which he recognized his quarry or the foe that fell before his arm, came to stand as his symbol and representative.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (part xix of the introduction)

The Korean playing-cards again furnish the most direct evidence in Asia of the ceremonial use of the arrow in divination, which afterward became an amusement. They still bear representations of the feathers of the arrows from which they were derived.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (part xxii-xxiii of the introduction)

. . . in which arrows are shaken at random from the lot tube (quiver) . . .

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (part xxiii of the introduction)

After offering devotions to Huang Daxian, each supplicant asks for his help in solving a particular problem. The worshipper then shakes the bamboo container in a downward motion until a single stick falls away from the rest. He or she then removes it, and casts a pair of crescent-shaped bamboo or wooden blocks called jiao to see if the stick selected was the "correct" one. These jiao are rounded on one side and flat on the other. If both blocks land flat side down on the ground, the answer is no; if one flat side is up and the other down, the answer is yes; if both flat sides land facing upward, it means that the god is laughing--try again.

From "Ancient Chinese Divination" by Stephen L. Field, pg 127

A method of divination with the entire bundle of arrows, which is quite intelligible, exists, however, at the present day in Korea, China, and Japan. In this system, called Eki (Chinese, yik (Yì-易-Change)) in Japan, the arrows are primarily employed as magical appliances to ascertain the number, place, or direction being discovered by counting. [...] As practiced at the present day in Japan, 50 slender, rounded splints of bamboo are employed. These sticks, called zeichiku (Chinese, shai chuk (筮竹-shìzhú-divinatory bamboo)), may vary in length from two to fourteen inches.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (part xxvi of the introduction)

It has been assumed without discussion that the zeichiku were originally arrows or arrow shaftments.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (part xxix of the introduction)

The second method of divination which has given rise to games is one in which several two faced staves are tossed and numerical counts attributed to their various falls. Of this, the game of Nyout is a striking and typical example. In Nyout, as in many similar games of the same order, direction or place is determined by counting around a diagram which may be regarded as representing the world and its quarter. Such games are found widely distributed throughout the world. In North America they occur in one form or another in almost every tribe, both East and West, and among the Indians of the South-western United States they exist with rules identical with those of Nyout, played with four staves upon practically the same diagram. The staves employed in one of these games, the Zhon Ahl of the Kiowas, enable us, from the arrow marks upon them, to refer to the origin of the staves used in America to the arrow. . . . It would appear probable from the American games that these staves were derived from arrows . . .

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (part xxxii-xxxiii of the introduction)

While short blocks, pam-nyout, are used by children, and gamblers in cities, in the country, long blocks, called tiyang-tjak-nyout (Chinese, cheung cheuk sz' (長斫柶-cháng zhuó sì-"Long Chop Spoon")) or "long-cut nyout" are emplyed. . . . It is customary in Korea to use the long blocks at the 15th of the first month for the purpose of divination. Early in this month a small book is sold in the markets of Seoul to be used in connection with the blocks. The players throw the sticks three times, noting the number that is counted for the throw at each fall. The series of three numbers is then referred to the book, upon the several pages of which are printed in Chinese characters all the various permutations of the numbers, taken three at a time, Korean text explanatory of their significance. . . . The Chinese Book of Divination consists of 64 diagrams, Kwa (卦-guà-diviniatory trigrams), composed of combinations of unbroken ------- with broken lines --- ---, six being taken at a time, and the resulting diagrams being known as the Sixty-four Kwa (卦). Each of these 64 hexagrams is designated by a name and is accompanied by a short explanatory text. Now the Sixty-four Hexagrams are regarded as an expansion of the Eight Trigrams, called the Pat Kwa (八卦-bāguà-eight trigrams), or "Eight Kwa (卦)," formed by combining the same unbroken and broken lines three at a time. The unbroken lines in the diagrams are called yeung (陰-yīn), "masculine," and the broken lines, yam (陽-yáng), "feminine." It is apparent that if the two sides of the Korean blocks be regarded as representing the unbroken, or masculine, lines and the broken, or feminine, lines, the trigrams will form a record of the throws when three blocks are used, and the hexagrams when six blocks are taken. This I believe to have been their original purpose. I regard the diagrams as records of possible throws with two-faced staves, and the text that accompanies the hexagrams in the Yih King, (易经-yìjīng-The Book of Changes) to be explanatory . . . The Korean game of Nyout may be regarded as the antetype of a large number of games which exist throughout the world. Thus the diagram of the Hindu game known as Pachisi, or Chausar . . . will be seen to be an expansion of the Nyout circuit with its internal cross.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (pg 70-74)

I have indicated the probable origin of the Pat Kwa (八卦-bāguà) or "Eight Trigrams," together with the Sixty-four Hexagrams in the scoring or recording of the falls of two-faced staves. It would appear probable from the Amerian games that these staves were derived from arrows, but the composition of the Chinese character for the name of the diagrams, kwa(卦-guà), as well as that for divination by means of the diagrams, kwa (卦), does not confirm this. Both are compounded of the character kwai(圭-guī-jade tablet), meaning the sceptres anciently carried by nobles, one with puk (卜课-bǔkè-art of divination) "divination" written on the right, and the other with shau (手-shǒu-hand), "hand," written on the left, the one with "divination" on the right indicating the result or record of the divination, the kwa (卦), and the one with "hand" on the left, the act of divining. I am not prepared to show that these ancient sceptres were originally arrows, nor yet to relinquish the belief that such was the derivation of the Nyout staves.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (pg xxxiii of the introduction.)

There is considerable evidence that North America was populated from North-east Asia and this theory is supported by Amerindian games. . . . The Cross and Circle pattern may be modified by omitting the cross. Many North American Indian games consist of a circle (often with vestigial remains of a cross) scratched on the ground, and the progress of pieces is controled by the throws of marked sticks. Zohn Ahl, played by the women and girls of the Kiowa Indians, Oklahoma, may be taken as representative. . . . The Cross and Circle can also be modified by omitting the circle. This happened in Patolli, the favourite gambling game of the Aztecs.

From R.C. Bell's book Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations (pg 3-9)

There is considerable evidence that in antiquity Nyout was taken to North America across the Berring Straits; similar Cross and Circle games, together with degenerate forms, are played by the North American Indians, the best known being Zohn Ahl. Boards cut into stone seats have been found in the ruins of the Mayan cities of Palenque and Chichen Itza.

From R.C. Bell's book Discovering Old Board Games (pg 14)

In Asia the Cross and Circle game became variously modified as it spread westwards. The circle was invaginated against the side of the cross to form a bigger cross of three rows of squares. This increased the length of the track and removed the short cuts along the cardinals.

From R.C. Bell's book Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations (pg 8-9)

Nyout also seems to have spread westwards, and was modified in India into Pachisi.

From R.C. Bell's book Discovoring Old Board Games (pg 14)

The Korean game of Nyout may be regarded as the antetype of a large number of games which exist throughout the world. . . . the Hindu game known as Pachisi, or Chausar, . . . will be seen to be an expansion of the Nyout circuit with its internal cross.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin (pg 75)

[the game is] called Pachisi when played with cowries, and Chausar when three long dice are used.

From "Games of the Orient" (AKA Korean Games) by Stewart Culin, (footnote at the bottom of page 75)

The cowries may be replaced by three long dice . . . marked 1 and 6, and 2 and 5, on the opposing faces. If dice are used the game is called Chausar.

From "Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations" by R.C. Bell (pg 3)

About 1896 Pachisi was modified and introduced into England as Ludo, patent 14636, a cubic die being used . . .

From "Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations" by R.C. Bell (pg 3)

Pachisi was modified and introduced into England under patent about 1896 as Ludo. The cowrie shells were replaced by a cubic die, and the pieces started their journey from outside the cross instead of from the centre.

From "Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations" by R.C. Bell (pg 16)

Modern scholarship suggests that the only Chinese board games before the Christian era were simple games of alignment. Confucius (551-429 BC) mentions Yih, a smaller form of merels. During the first millennium AD Indian race games began to reach China along the trade routes, and the Hun Tsun Su, a work of the Sung period (AD 960-1279) mentions T'shu-p'u (樗蒲), a modification of Chaupur (Chausar), the ancestor of ludo, as entering China from India at the time of the Wei Dynasty (AD 220-65).

From "Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations" by R.C. Bell (pg 6)

Two games, being modifications of the Pachisi, are so distinct as to acquire specific names, Chausar and Chauput . . . Hyde calls the game Tchupur, but he gives no rules for playing it.

From "Games Ancient and Oriental and How to Play Them" by Edward Falkener (pg 262)

Chinese records mention [Backgammon's] introduction from India with the name t'shu p'u (=Skr. chatush-pada, mod. Indian chaupur) as early 220-65 A.D.

From "A History of Chess" by H.J.R. Murray (pg 38)

The ashtapada would seem accordingly to have been identical in shape with our chessboard or draughtboard, and so it is often translated, though the rendering is to be deprecated as suggesting to the ordinary reader that the board was used for a rudimentary form of one of these games. For draughts there is no evidence at all, for chess none before the 7th c. A.D. Still, the coincidence is so striking that it is worth while to try to discover what the ashtapada game really was, in order to see whether it has not some connexion with the rise of chess. . . . It seems clear that we have to do here with a game of the race-game class. We may find some confirmation for this conclusion from the comparative study of other Asiatic board-games in which dice are used to define the movements of men. In India itself there exist a number of examples of games of this class, of which the best known are the games pachisi and chaupur, which are played upon a four-armed board. . . . Probably the oldest and simplest Asiatic game of this type is the game for two players which we call backgammon. It is now played with little variety over all Southern Asia, from Syria to Japan. . . . It was possibly the desire to frame a game for four players on similar lines which led to the invention of the four-armed and square boards of which we have several Indian examples.

From "A History of Chess" by H.J.R. Murray (pg 33-39)

In Ancient India a race-game called Ashtapada was played on a board of sixty-four squares . . . It was probably similar to Thayaam

From "Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations" by R.C. Bell (pg 51)

It will thus be seen that though the form of the [Ashta-Kashte] board is different, the moves and rules are very nearly the same as those of Pachisi.

Games Ancient and Oriental and How to Play Them by Edward Falkener (pg 266)

The [Ashtapada] board contains 8x8 cells. It was on this board that the inventor of Chess arranged his game, and the Indian chess-board to this day preserves the crosscut cells of Ashtapada board although they play no part in Chess, and they have even survived the checkering of the board. . . . The invention of Chess did not interfere with the practice of the older race-game and both games continued to be played on the same board. . . . We only know how Ashtapada was played from existing games.

From A History of Board-games Other Than Chess by H.J.R. Murray (pg 129-130)

Shaturanga players evaded the gambling laws by discarding the die and removing the element of luck. Other changes followed. One of the first appears to have been the amallgamation of the allied forces into a single army and the game for four players became one for two. This explains the duplication of the pieces in modern chess. About the same time the moves of the ship and the elephantswere transposed, the elephant moving diagonally two squares, while the ship, called in Sanskrit roka, assumed the powerful orthogonal moves of the ancient elephant. With these changes the game ceased to be Shaturanga; it had developed into the early medieval variety of chess, Shatranj.

From Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations by R.C. Bell (pg 56)

[Chess], in reality, was not invented all at once, in a fit of inspiration by a single king, general, philosopher, or court wizard. Rather, it was almost certainly (like the Bible and the Internet) the result of years of tinkering by a large, decentralized group, a slow achievement of collective intelligence. After what might have been centuries of tinkering, chatrang, the first true version of what we now call chess, finally emerged in Persia sometime during the fifth or sixth century. It was a two-player war game with thrity-two pieces on a sixty-four-square board: sixteen emerald men on one end and sixteen ruby-red men on the other. . . . Chatrang may have been an import from neighboring India, where a similar game was known as chaturnaga - and that game may have been a much older import from neighboring China. The game probably evolved along the famous Silk Road trading routes . . . But there was something different about [chaturanga] and [chatrang]. In a critical departure from previous board games from the region, these games contained no dice or other instruments of chance. Skill alone determined the outcome. "Understanding [is] the essential weapon" proclaims the ancient Persian poem Chatran-namak (The book of chatrang), one of the oldest books mentioning the game. "Victory is obtained by the intellect." This was a war game, in other words, where ideas were more important and more powerful than luck or brute force. In a world that had been forever defined by chaos and violence, this seemed to be a significant turn.

From The Immortal Game: A History of Chess by David Shenk (pg 17-18)