the game

Thought behind the thought
Play the game of life. Follow the rules, make your moves. Wherever you may begin , whatever line of action you may follow, be sure to move on and ahead. And most importantly, aspire to win! That is the crux of life.
A game of chess tells us just that. You have been assigned a certain place to begin with. And there are a set of rules  for how you move and where. The only aim is to play the game well and win!

About the Craft and Design
A beautifully complex game, played with equally beautiful boards and pieces!

The game of chess, played world over today, is believed to have originated in India during the Gupta period (280-550 C.E) The words for "chess" in Old Persian and Arabic are “Chatrang” and “Shatranj” respectively — terms derived from "Chaturaṅga" in Sanskrit, which literally means an army of four divisions or four corps.
Chess pieces were actually in the shape of an army of the time. During those times, a king’s army was comprised of hathi (elephants), ghoda (horse), oont (camel),paidal sanik (soldiers) and the Raja (King) and his senapati (general). The commander later became the queen in modern chess after the game reached Europe, though the senapati was the one the most important posts in an Indian king’s army. Much like today’s queen in chess, during the fight the Senapati was the person in charge and also the leader of the entire army. In those days, if the king was killed or captured the defending army had to surrender.

Ivory Chess set, Rajasthan, India

Painted and Laquered wooden Chess set, Rajasthan, late 19th or early 20th century, one side predominantly red, the other side predominantly green, kings as elephants with closed howdahs, queens as elephants with open howdahs, bishops as warriors riding camels, knights as horsemen, rooks as warriors on camels, pawns as foot soldiers, all the pieces elaborately decorated in gilt.

Modern chess players no more use such elaborately crafted pieces for the game. Contemporary Design has an entirely different visual vocabulary than traditional design. From the elaborate to the minimal, from the mimetic to the abstract, design concepts have changed with the times. So have the materials and processes that are used for crafting. 

It is certainly difficult to choose one over the other, both being beautiful in their own way! But one thing is certain, the game remains as engaging as ever ..... inside the 64 square matrix, or outside.

Credit and Source of information
http://www.crumiller.com/chess/chess_pages/indian/IndianPaintedLacqueredFiguralChessSet.htm
http://en.chessbase.com/post/hindi-and-the-origins-of-chess
http://picclick.com/ANTIQUE-VTG-INDIAN-INDIA-GILT-FIGURAL-CHESS-SET-261243854432.html
http://jotarofootsteps.blogspot.in/2013/03/intoxicating-india-2013-jaipur.html
http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign.com/accessories/modern-chess-set/
http://www.chessbaron.co.uk/chess-E2003.htm
http://www.beautifullife.info/industrial-design/creative-tool-chess-set/
http://www.thechesspiece.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Copper%2FSteel-Contemporary-chessmen
http://www.crystalchess.com/cc_collect.asp