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Shatranj.ai is an Erasmus+ KA2 Youth project and also the name of our AI curriculum based on historical board games for youth development.
Shatranj is both an ancient and a modern name for chess used across the Mediterranean and Middle East, and it is phonetically similar to Portuguese xadrez and Spanish ajedrez. It represents a middle step in the evolution of the game from chaturanga to chess. The first masters and authors of chess across Central Asia, Middle East, Mediterranean and South Europe, played shatranj, i.e. chess the old way.
We started from a simple idea: the excitement many K–12 students already have for board games can become a meaningful pathway into coding and AI. The curriculum is designed to be easy to implement as an optional club hour during the school day or as an after-school activity. We teach all the way from the wheats grains of chess until AlphaZero.
If you want to begin right away, you can enter the learning platform to follow the lessons step-by-step, try our play-and-analysis site to explore positions with engines for chess and shatranj, and visit our digital exhibit to discover the cultural history behind the games and puzzles we teach. To go deeper, we also publish technical whitepapers and open-source design assets (including our historic chess fonts) on GitHub.
For the story behind the project and why historic games are such a powerful bridge into AI, you can also watch our TEDxBoston talk, titled: “Chess: Bridging Cultures, Inspiring AI, and Redefining Education”
Shatranj.ai analyzes historical intelligence games and their cognitive and cultural significance in world history. Its 25-lesson (over 64+ hour classroom time) artificial intelligence curriculum focuses on board game programming followed by classic adversarial search algorithms and includes video-assisted coding exercises around selected board games. This next-generation, user-friendly learning management system aims to provide an enjoyable experience for users of all ages. The suggested age group for the curriculum is high school and undergraduate students.
Shatranj.ai focuses on integrating the rich cultural heritage of historical board games with modern AI education, targeting youth development. The platform seeks to transform interest in board games into a comprehensive coding and AI curriculum suitable for optional educational activities or after-school programs. It emphasizes the importance of understanding these games’ historical and cultural backgrounds, promoting a deeper, cross-cultural appreciation. By doing so, Shatranj.ai not only equips young individuals with critical AI coding skills, which are anticipated to be highly valuable in the future job market but also enriches their knowledge of global cultural heritages. This dual focus bridges the gap between traditional intellectual pursuits and cutting-edge technological skills, fostering a well-rounded educational experience.
A tale as old as time illustrates the power of exponential growth through the “wheat and chessboard” problem. Starting with a single grain of wheat on the first square, the amount doubles on each subsequent square, culminating in an astronomical sum on the 64th square. This story highlights the concept of geometric progression and sheds light on the immense potential wrapped within seemingly small beginnings. The final tally reveals a staggering figure, far beyond what one might expect from the humble start of a single grain.
Agricultural experts say that 1000 wheat grains weigh about 31g. The result is astonishing: (2^64 – 1) x 31 / 1000 g. This corresponds to more than 570 billion tons of wheat. At the current global production rate of around 785 million metric tons per year, it would take approximately 726 years to produce 570 billion tons of wheat.
Shatranj.ai is an AI curriculum built around historic algorithmic puzzles and board games. It is intended for use in schools as an elective topic, club hour, or after-school program. The curriculum develops practical AI programming skills while also introducing students to the cultural and historical contexts of the games they study. Through hands-on activities, learners build technical competence and a clearer understanding of how board games and puzzles have evolved across different societies and time periods.
Students, teachers, schools, universities, and learning institutions are invited to use Shatranj.ai as a structured way to learn and teach AI through games—start with a single lesson, run it as a club sequence, integrate modules into an existing course, or adopt the full curriculum for a longer program.
