800-1500: INTO EUROPE
Around 800 AD Shatranj starts moving into Europe through trade routes in the north and Muslim expansion in the south. As the game spread, each culture made small changes to the name of the game and the pieces. In France, the Persian name for the game "Shah" morphed into "échecs", which later again became the English "chess". New variations of the rules were also tried, and the pawn ultimately got its two-square first move. The chess board also developed into the light/dark checkered pattern we still use today.
