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Chess in Africa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rules of chess in Yoruba

The game of chess has a history of being played in the continent of Africa. Its play in South Africa is of particular interest to chess writers and historians.

The board game senet preceded chess and was favored by Ancient Egyptian royalty.[1] Chess is thought to have first made its way to Africa through shatranj. As the Muslim conquest of Persia occurred, the Muslims took and modified chatrang, adopting it as shatranj.[1] Shatranj is recognized as the immediate predecessor to chess. While chess in Europe has received considerable more attention by chess historians, it is thought that the game made its way to Europe from the Moors of North Africa.[1]

In 1998, the African Chess Championship began being held.[1] The most recent edition held in 2022 saw Egyptian players dominate.[2] Since 2003, chess has also been played at the African Games. To date, Africa has 15 grandmasters.[3]

Chess being played in Uganda

History

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Several ancestors of chess, such as senet in Ancient Egypt, and Shatranj, were popular in Northern Africa, and it is thought that chess reached Europe through related games played by Moors.

Senterej (Amharic: ሰንጠረዥ sänṭäräž), also known as "Ethiopian chess", is a chess variant, that was the form of chess traditionally played in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It was the last popular survival of shatranj. According to Richard Pankhurst, the game became extinct sometime after the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s.[4][5] A distinctive feature of Senterej is the opening phase – players make as many moves as they like without regard for how many moves the opponent has made; this continues until the first capture is made. Memorization of opening lines is therefore not a feature of the game. Though it was played in Abyssinia for thousands of years, its popularity waned in the 20th and 21st centuries.

African Chess Confederation

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The ACC (Confédération Africaine des Echecs) was founded following the Against Chess Olympiad in 1976 in Tripoli, Libya.[6]

This is a list of all the presidents of the confederation:

President Country Time
Belkadi Ridha Tunisia 1978-1990
Emmanuel Omuku Nigeria 1990-1994
Lakhdar Mazouz Algeria 1994-2002
Nizzar Elhadj Libya 2002-2006
Buthali Dalibani Botswana 2006-2010
Lakhdar Mazouz Algeria 2010-2014
Lewis Ncube Zambia 2014 – 2022
Lopang Tshepiso Botswana Since 2022

As a child, Phiona Mutesi enrolled in a chess club in Katwe, Uganda in 2005.[7] Her success in chess garnered international attention, including a 2016 Disney-produced film Queen of Katwe.[8]

From 2014 to 2021, the continent produced six grandmasters; Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa were among the countries to be represented by a grandmaster.[7]

After returning to his home slum in Nigeria in 2018, chess master Tunde Onakoya founded Chess in Slums Africa, a volunteer organization aiming to teach and coach chess to children of low-income communities.[7][9] Also in 2018, James Kangaru of Kenya was recognized by the International Chess Federation (or FIDE) as one of the best chess coaches and became Africa's youngest FIDE instructor.[7]

Regional variants

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Senterej

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Main article: Senterej

Sometimes called "Ethiopian Chess", Senterej has a lot in common with chess, like being played on an 8x8 board, albeit not checkered, with a similar setup.

Senet

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Main article: Senet

Senet or senat (Ancient Egyptian: 𓊃𓈖𓏏𓏠, romanized: znt, lit. 'passing'; cf. Coptic ⲥⲓⲛⲉ /sinə/, 'passing, afternoon') is a board game from ancient Egypt that consists of ten or more pawns on a 30-square playing board.[10] The earliest representation of senet is dated to c. 2620 BCE from the Mastaba of Hesy-Re,[11] while similar boards and hieroglyphic signs are found even earlier, including in the Levant in the Early Bronze Age II period.[12][13] Even though the game has a 2,000-year history in Egypt, there appears to be very little variation in terms of key components.[10][14] This can be determined by studying the various senet boards that have been found by archaeologists, as well as depictions of senet being played throughout Egyptian history on places like tomb walls and papyrus scrolls. However, the game fell out of use during the Roman period,[11] and its original rules are the subject of conjecture.

Notable players

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  • Bassem Amin (born Rating 2628)[15]
  • Phiona Mutesi (born 1996[16], Rating 1774[17])

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "The History of Chess in Africa". Chess Institute of Canada. February 6, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "2022 African Chess Championship: Bassem Amin and Shahenda Wafa claim titles". FIDE. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. ^ chessgaja (2024-09-04). "Discover Africa's Top Chess Grandmasters with Chess Gaja". Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  4. ^ Pritchard, D. B. (2007). Beasley, John (ed.). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. John Beasley. p. 247. ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1.
  5. ^ Pritchard, D. B. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. p. 104. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1.
  6. ^ "HISTORY". African Chess Confederation. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  7. ^ a b c d Salaudeen, Aisha; Kasera, Yvonne (3 November 2021). "Chess coaches in Africa are building the next generation of grandmasters". CNN. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  8. ^ Levs, Jon (10 December 2012). "From slum life to Disney film: Ugandan teen chess star 'the ultimate underdog'". CNN. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  9. ^ Watta, Evelyn (10 October 2021). "How chess became an escape for children living in a Nigerian slum". olympics.com. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  10. ^ a b Crist 2019 p. 107
  11. ^ a b Sebbane, Michael (2001). "Board Games from Canaan in the Early and Intermediate Bronze Ages and the Origin of the Egyptian Senet Game". Tel Aviv. 28 (2): 213–230. doi:10.1179/tav.2001.2001.2.213. S2CID 162219908.
  12. ^ Crist 2021 p. 15
  13. ^ Piccione, Peter P. (July–August 1980). "In Search of the Meaning of Senet". Archaeological Institute of America. 33 (4): 55–58. JSTOR 41726340.
  14. ^ Piccione 2007 p. 54
  15. ^ "Amin, Bassem FIDE Chess Profile". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  16. ^ Crothers, Tim (2016-08-28). "Chess queen of Africa". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  17. ^ "Mutesi, Phiona FIDE Chess Profile"". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 2025-09-02.

Further reading

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