Editing Abstract strategy game (section)

== History ==
[[File:Akhilleus Aias Staatliche Antikensammlungen 1417.jpg|right|thumb|[[Achilles]] and [[Ajax the Lesser|Ajax]] playing a [[board game]].]] 

A board resembling a [[Draughts]] board was found in [[Ur]] dating from 3000 BC, found by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="gameplay2">{{cite book|last=Oxland|first=Kevin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l05TkZFbS24C|title=Gameplay and design|publisher=Pearson Education|year=2004|isbn=978-0-321-20467-7|edition=Illustrated|pages=333}}</ref> In the [[British Museum]] are specimens of [[ancient Egyptian]] checkerboards, found with their pieces in burial chambers, and the game was played by [[Hatshepsut|Queen Hatasu]].<ref name="strutt2">{{cite book|last=Strutt|first=Joseph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJwSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA255|title=The sports and pastimes of the people of England|year=1801|location=London|pages=255}}</ref><ref name="Ellensburgh2">{{cite news|date=17 February 1916|title=Lure of checkers|pages=1|work=The Ellensburgh Capital|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yo0KAAAAIBAJ&pg=1525%2C2429787|access-date=2009-04-16}}</ref> [[Plato]] mentioned a game, πεττεία or ''{{Interlanguage link|Petteia|lt=Petteia|el|Πέττεια|WD=}}'', as being of Egyptian origin,<ref name="Ellensburgh2" /> and [[Homer]] also mentions it.<ref name="Ellensburgh2" /> The game was later imported into the [[Roman Empire]] under the name ''[[ludus latrunculorum]].''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tilley |first=Arthur |date=November 1892 |title=Ludus Latrunculorum |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0009840X00186433/type/journal_article |journal=The Classical Review |language=en |volume=6 |issue=8 |pages=335–336 |doi=10.1017/S0009840X00186433 |s2cid=246880710 |issn=0009-840X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Go (game)|Go]] was considered one of the [[four arts|four essential arts]] of the cultured [[aristocratic]] Chinese scholars in antiquity and remains popular today. The earliest written reference to the game is generally recognized as the historical annal ''[[Zuo Zhuan]]''<ref name="The Tso Chuan book">{{cite book|last=Burton|first=Watson|title=The Tso Chuan|date=April 15, 1992|publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-06715-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fairbairn |first=John |year=1995 |title=Go In Ancient China |url=https://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/essay/goancientchina.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329075559/https://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/essay/goancientchina.html |archive-date=2023-03-29 |access-date=2007-11-02 |language=en}}</ref> (c. 4th century BC).<ref name=chronology2>{{cite web|title=Warring States Project Chronology #2|publisher=University of Massachusetts Amherst|url=http://www.umass.edu/wsp/project/introductions/chronology2.html|access-date=2007-11-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219225436/http://www.umass.edu/wsp/project/introductions/chronology2.html|archive-date=2007-12-19}}</ref>

The family of games known today as [[Mancala]] dates back to at least the third century in the Middle East, and possibly much earlier.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Natsoulas |title=The Game of Mancala with Reference to Commonalities among the Peoples of Ethiopia and in Comparison to Other African Peoples: Rules and Strategies |journal=Northeast African Studies |date=1995 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=7–24 |doi=10.1353/nas.1995.0018 |jstor=41931202 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41931202 |access-date=3 May 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

[[Chess]] is believed to have originated in northwest [[India]], in the [[Gupta Empire]] ({{circa}} 280–550),<ref>Leibs (2004), p. 92</ref><ref>Robinson & Estes (1996), p. 34</ref><ref name="Murray (1913)">Murray (1913)</ref><ref>Bird (1893), p. 63</ref> where its early form in the 6th&nbsp;century was known as ''[[chaturanga|chaturaṅga]]'' ({{Langx|sa|चतुरङ्ग}}), literally ''four divisions'' [of the military]&nbsp;– [[infantry]], [[cavalry]], [[war elephant|elephants]], and [[chariot]]ry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. ''Chaturanga'' was played on an 8×8 uncheckered board, called ''[[Ashtapada|ashtāpada]]''.<ref>{{cite web|date=2005-07-25|title=Ashtapada|url=http://history.chess.free.fr/ashtapada.htm|access-date=2013-07-16|publisher=Jean-Louis Cazaux}}</ref> [[Shogi]] was the earliest chess variant to allow captured pieces to be returned to the board by the capturing player.<ref name="chessvariants1">{{cite web |last=Bodlaender |first=Hans L. |last2=Duniho |first2=Fergus |date=1996-09-09 |title=Shogi: Japanese Chess |url=https://www.chessvariants.com/shogi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324160420/https://www.chessvariants.com/shogi.html |archive-date=2019-03-24 |access-date=2012-03-08 |work=The Chess Variant Pages |language=en}}</ref> This drop rule is speculated to have been invented in the 15th century and possibly connected to the practice of 15th century [[Mercenary#15th to 18th centuries|mercenaries]] switching loyalties when captured instead of being killed.<ref>{{cite magazine | date=1980 | title=Shogi history & the variants | magazine=Shogi | issue=27 | pages=9–13 | editor1-last=Hodges | editor1-first=George }}</ref>

As civilization advanced and societies evolved, so too did strategy board games. New inventions such as printing technology in the 15th century allowed for mass production of game sets, making them more accessible to people from various social classes. Games like backgammon and mancala became popular during this time, showcasing different styles of strategic gameplay.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Richardson |first=Teresa |date=2023-08-21 |title=History of Strategy Board Games |url=https://www.thegamersguides.com/history-of-strategy-board-games/ |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=The Gamers Guides |language=en-US}}</ref>

Englishmen Lewis Waterman<ref>Note: He was not the [[Lewis Waterman]] who patented the Waterman fountain pen in 1884. {{citation needed|date=March 2016}}</ref> and John W. Mollett both claim to have invented the game of [[Reversi]] in 1883, each denouncing the other as a fraud. The game gained considerable popularity in England at the end of the nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.beppi.it/public/OthelloMuseum/pages/history.php|title = Brief history of Othello|publisher = Beppi.it|access-date = 4 January 2015|website = Othello Museum|archive-date = 16 May 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090516010447/http://www.beppi.it/public/OthelloMuseum/pages/history.php|url-status = dead}}</ref> The game's first reliable mention is on 21 August 1886 edition of ''[[Saturday Review (London)|The Saturday Review]]''.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} A variant named ''Othello'', patented in Japan in 1971, has gained worldwide popularity.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=11 November 1976 |title=Modern Living: Japanese Othello |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914702,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref>

After the end of World War 2, these games became more complex. [[Risk (game)]] and [[Diplomacy (game)]] were released in the 1950s. ''Risk'' saw the player try to conquer the world from other players after claiming land at the start of the game, while ''Diplomacy'' saw the player go back to Europe during the time just before The Great War, to build alliances with other players, as to secure his safety and victory.