Invention of chess According to a well-known legend, the game of chess was invented many centuries ago in northwestern India by a sage named Shashi. When he took his invention to his king, the king liked the game so much that he offered the inventor any reward he wanted. Sashi asked for some grain to be obtained as follows: just a single grain of wheat was to be placed on the first square of the chess board, two on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth, and so on, until all 64 squares had been filled. What would the ultimate result of this algorithm have been?