Zatrikion: The ancestor of chess
The strategy board game of chess has its roots in Ancient Greece and its name was ‘’Zatrikion’’. There were 3 kinds of board games named ‘’Petties’’( Πεττείες). According to the first kind of the Petties the player had the microcosm and their moves depended on the number which was shown by the cube they had thrown. The player had also the microcosm in front of them and its pieces had a particular activity on the board. The most advanced form of the Petties was the one which was combining the cubes with the predefined moves of the pieces. The Zatrikion had 3 forms: Zatrikion with cubes,Zatrikion with predefined moves of the pieces and Zatrikion with cubes and predefined moves of the pieces.
The goddess of the wisdom and the games was Athena. Some of the most popular players were Palamides, Achilles, Aeas of Olea, Eubulus, Amphis, Alexios, Thersitis, Aiantas Salaminus, Proteasilos, Plato, Alcibiades, Pericles, Alexander the Great and his soldiers, Xenophis and Odysseus, Odysseus and Odysseus. The word ‘’Zatrikion’’ has undoubtedly ancient Greek origin and comes from the word ‘’ζα” and the verb “τριάζω’’. During a lot of phases of the history the ‘’Zatrikion’’ has appeared a lot of times.