Chess
The earliest written evidence of chess is found in three romances (epic stories) written in Sassanid Persia around 600AD. The game was known as chatrang or shatranj. When Persia was taken over by Muslims (633–644) the game spread to all parts of the Muslim world. Muslim traders carried the game to Russia and Western Europe. By the year 1000, it had spread all across Europe. In the 13th century, a Spanish manuscript called Libro de los Juegos described the games of shatranj (chess), backgammon, and dice.