If you are a football fan, for the last 30 years, the most iconic name in the sport has undoubtedly been Ronaldo. From Milan to Madrid, from Barcelona to Manchester, the name has defined multiple generations of greatness.
The current consensus on the history of chess is taught as a settled fact: the game originated in India as early as the 6th century. According to this narrative, it was known as Chaturanga and was so popular that it was played at royal parties and military courts. It supposedly represented the four divisions of the Indian army and served as the direct ancestor to every version of chess played today. Except this entire timeline is likely wrong.
It is perfectly understandable why chess names are a battlefield of pronunciation. If you have ever wondered how to say Ding Liren correctly or struggled with Slavic surnames, you are not alone. Learning a foreign language is a massive undertaking, and adapting your vocal muscles to the unique sounds of another culture is far from easy. There is absolutely no shame in making a mistake or defaulting to a westernized version of a name. However, it only becomes a shame when someone is too stubborn to listen, or worse, bullies someone else for using a different pronunciation—especially when that person might actually be the one getting it right.
To a Western Chess player, Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) rules feel like a fever dream: perpetual checking is illegal, the leader is trapped in a box, and pieces jump over each other to capture. Conversely, a Xiangqi player looks at Western Chess and finds it absurd that a trapped King can swindle a draw through stalemate or that a tiny Pawn can magically transform into a powerful Queen. Even though these rules seem odd to outsiders, they were designed to make the games more fun and playable. As games, they are equally beautiful. I personally enjoy both games immensely. To fully appreciate the beauty of the games, it's important to understand the reasons behind the rules. If you look deeper, you realize that the oddities of Xiangqi almost always have a grounded historical context and—sorry chess players—chess is the odd one in reality.