The history of chess can be traced back nearly 1500 years, although the earliest origins are uncertain. The earliest predecessor of the game probably originated in India, before the 6th century AD. Then the game spread to Persia. When the Arabs conquered Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently spread to Southern Europe. In Europe, chess evolved into roughly its current form in the 15th century. “Romantic chess” was the predominant chess, playing style from the late 15th century to the 1880s. Chess games of this period emphasized more on quick, tactical maneuvers rather than long-term strategic planning. The Romantic era of play was followed by the Scientific, Hypermodern, and New Dynamism eras.In the second half of the 19th century, modern chess tournament play began, and the first official World Chess Championship was held in 1886. The 20th century saw great leaps forward in chess theory and the establishment of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). In 1997, a computer first beat a chess world champion in the famous Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov match, ushering in an era of computer domination. Since then, computer analysis – which originated in the 1970s with the first programmed chess games on the market – has contributed too much of the development in chess theory and has become an important part of preparation in professional human chess. Later developments in the 21st century made the use of computer analysis far surpassing the ability of any human player accessible to the public. Online gaming, which first appeared in the mid-1990s, also became popular in the 21st century.
Chess remains a highly popular pastime to this day. A 2012 survey found that “chess players now make up one of the largest communities in the world: 605 million adults play chess regularly”.

Brief History of Chess in Eritrea

Chess was first introduced to Eritrea by the Italian troops under the name “scacchi”. Elders in their 70’s – 80’s reminisce about well organized games that were being played in a club established by YMCA, in the current building that houses the Eritrean Culture and Sport Commission. In the 1960th, many tournaments were directed and organized by an elder named Mr. Teklehaymanot Mengisteab.
After Eritrea’s forced annexation with Ethiopia, Eritreans who attended different colleges in Ethiopia won almost all the inter-college chess tournaments. At that time, it was thought that winner’s posts were reserved for Eritrean chess players. This supremacy sadly declined in the beginning of 1970th with the flow of Eritrean students to join the Eritrean armed struggle for independence.
After the coming to power of the ‘Dergue – the Ethiopian military junta, chess activities in declined. In 1980s chess activities were few to the extent that even the name “Chess” itself became alien to almost all Eritrean children.
After some Eritrean intellectuals, who graduated from Ethiopian colleges, started working in different cities of the country, chess was once more re-introduced to Eritrea in mid of 1980th. During the armed struggle, there were some chess activities among the EPLF freedom fighters. After the independence of Eritrea, chess started to blossom in different parts of the country. Asmara, Afabet, Nakfa, Massawa, Asab, Tessenai, Mendefera and Keren are the main cities that had many promising players. From 2000 onwards chess in Eritrea showed drastic growth. The following summarize the activities taken and how the involvements of different parties contributed to the growth of chess.
• In 2001, coordinated by the Embassy of the Netherlands, two chess tournaments were conducted in the Intercontinental Hotel (Asmara Palace), in which around 200 players participated.
• The Eritrean Youth and Students Association conducted tournaments and trainings in different zobas of the country in 2002.
• The Eritrean Youth and Students Association conducted tournaments in the Junior Club of the Association in 2003.
• The Eritrean Chess Federation was officially established by the Eritrean Sports Commission in 2004. Chess tournaments for children, women and men of four zobas were conducted. However, the federation was disbanded due to different reasons and Chess was administered under the Regional Sport Commissions.
In general, starting from 2004 onwards, every year at least 3 to 5 tournaments have been arranged upon different occasions like Dec. 8, World Children’s Day, March 8, World Women’s Day, September 1st, Eritrean Armed Struggle Commencement Day, EritreanExpo (Bologna)Festival Week, and the yearly Championship tournaments for all divisions under-age, women, division “B” and division “A”.
• Eritrea joined the African Chess Confederation (ACC) and World Chess Federation [Fédération International Des Échecs (FIDE)] in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
• In 2016, Eritrean chess player CM Kibrom Weldegebrial Beraki became the first chess player to play in an international arena. He participated in Zone 4.2 Individual Chess Championship in the open section which has held in Dar-as-Salam – Tanzania. He finished the tournament, ranking18th from 26 players representing 11 countries, with 4 points from 9 games.
• In the same year Eritrean team participated in World Chess Olympiad which held in Baku – Azerbaijan. The team consisted of 5 players and a captain, ranked 166th from 180 countries who participated in the tournament, with two wins, one draw and six loses from 9 games.
• The Eritrean Chess team participated in 2018 World Chess Olympiad hosted in Batumi – Georgia. The team had 4 players and a captain and placed 158th from 185 countries, with three wins, two draw and six loses from 9 games.
• An Eritrean National Chess Federation was established and able to elected Executive members in 2019.
• In the same year Eritrean National Chess Federation conducted a national tournament under the theme “Resurrection of Chess in Eritrea (Open Section)”.
• Also in the same year Eritrean chess player CM Kibrom Weldegebrial Beraki participated in 2019 in Zone 4.2 Individual Chess Championship in the open section held in Kenya. He finished the tournament and placed 19th from 31 players representing 11 countries with 4 points from 9 games.

• In 2019, Eritrea participated for the first time in African Individual Chess Championship in both genders in the open and women sections. In the open section, CM Kibrom Weldegebrial Beraki participated in 9 games and scored three points, ranking 38th. In the women section, Milena Daniel Welderufael, the first Eritrean female chess player scored one point from the 9 games.

• In All African Games in Casablanca – Morroco, Eritrea was represented by 2 male and 2 female players. The team also included a team leader. In the team competition, Eritrea has scored one win, one draw and seven loses. In the individual rapid open section, Asante Debesai Zerabruk scored 4 points from the 9 games and ranked 31st from 48 players. Mekonnen Abraham Habtemichael scored 4 points from 9 games and ranked 34th from 48 players. In the rapid women section, Yohana Teklehaimanot scored three points and placed 38th from 42 players. Merhawit Gebremeskel Zemicael scored two points and ranked 40th from 42 players. In the Blitz Open section, Mekonnen Abraham Habtemichaelhase scored 4 points and ranked 37th from 50 players and Asante DebesaiZerabruk has scored 3 points and placed 41st. In Blitz Women section, Merhawit Gebremeskel Zemicael scored three point and ranked 34th from 39 players and Yohana Teklehaimanot has scored one point.