"The history of chess can be traced back nearly 1500 years, although the earliest origins are uncertain. " ~ Wikipedia
"Western literature admits that the origin of Chess is uncertain. Whenever such a statement is made, experience has taught me that the uncertainty most likely indicates it originated in Africa." ~ Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.
History
This photo was from an 19th century postcard with a French caption reading “Algers–Negres jouant aux Echecs” meaning “Algiers–Moors playing Chess.”
Notice that these men are "showing utmost erudition at a board game requiring strategic execution.."
"Moor" comes from the Greek word mauros (plural mauroi), meaning "black" or "very dark," which in Latin became Mauro (plural Mauri). The Latin word for black was not mauro but niger, or fusco for “very dark.” In some but certainly not all, cases, Moors were described as fuscus. Due to the relevance of this population in the Iberian peninsula during the Middle Ages, this term may have entered English—and other European languages less exposed to this group—via its Spanish cognate moro. It is important to emphasize that the Greeks and Romans clearly saw black-skinned Africans as a separate group of people. ~ New World Encyclopedia
History