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How did chaturanga influence the development of modern chess?

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A chessboard showing the standard starting position for a game, with white and black pieces arranged in two rows on each side: rooks, knights, bishops, queen, and king on the back row, and pawns in front. — chess Position of chess pieces at the beginning of a game. The pieces are placed on the two ranks closest to the player. In the closest rank, pieces are arranged from left to right: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, and rook. In front of that rank, each square has a pawn.

Chaturanga is widely recognized as the earliest precursor to modern chess because it established two fundamental principles that define the game today.12

First, unlike games such as checkers or go, chaturanga introduced the concept of pieces with distinct powers and movement capabilities. Second, it established a victory condition centered on the fate of a single, primary piece—the ancestor of the modern king.12

While the exact evolution of the game remains a subject of historical study, chaturanga is believed to have transitioned into shatranj, a game that further refined the rules and piece roles before spreading across Asia, the Middle East, and eventually Europe. Through these early iterations, the core mechanics of chaturanga provided the structural foundation for the development of the modern game.12