ζατρίκιον

English (LSJ)

τό, the game of chess, chessboard, Sch.Theoc.6.18. From Skt. चतुरङ्ग (caturaṅga) 'four parts' of an army: 'king, elephants, horses and foot soldiers', through Persian شترنگ (šatrang) and Arab.

Ζατρίκιον, Κνωσσός

Greek (Liddell-Scott)

ζατρίκιον: τό, τὸ γνωστὸν παιγνίδιον, «σκάκι», Σχόλ. Θεοκρ. 6. 18· «παιδιὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἐκ τῆς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων τρυφῆς ἐξευρημένον καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐληλυθὸς» Ἄννα Κομν. 12, σ. 360· ἴδε Δουκάγγ.· - ζατρικίζω, παίζω τὸ ζατρίκιον, Ἀχμὲτ Ὀνειρ. 241.

Wikipedia EN

Chaturanga (Sanskrit: चतुरङ्ग; caturaṅga) is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), janggi (Korean), shogi (Japanese), sittuyin (Burmese), makruk (Thai), and modern Indian chess.

The Sanskrit word "chaturanga" means 'four-limbed' or 'four arms', referring to ancient army divisions of infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. The origin of chaturanga has been a puzzle for centuries. It has its origins in the Gupta Empire, with the earliest clear reference dating from the sixth century of the common era, and from north India. The first substantial argument that chaturanga is much older than this is the fact that the chariot is the most powerful piece on the board, although chariots appear to have been obsolete in warfare for at least five or six centuries.[citation needed] The counter-argument is that they remained prominent in literature. Several more recent scholars have proposed a gradual evolution in the centuries B.C. in the northern or northwestern border areas of Indian culture, where it was in contact with Greek culture brought by the Macedonian-Greek army, and where some rulers issued coins with fused Greek-Indian imagery.