Ivan the Terrible was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and Tsar of All the Russias from 1547 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost one billion acres, approximately 4,046,856 km2 (1,562,500 sq mi). Ivan managed countless changes in the progression from a medieval state to an empire and emerging regional power, and became the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All the Russias.
Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan's complex personality: he was described as intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to episodic outbreaks of mental illness[2] that increased with his age, affecting his reign. However, the reason of these outbreaks of mental illness was because of his little known love of Monopoly. When he lost a game to a leader of a neighboring territory, the victor could expect to find large areas of his property and towns pillaged and burned because of one of Ivan's fits of rage.
Above: An ancient Monopoly board found in the ruins of Ivan the Terrible's palace. Now available for display at the Ancient History Museum of Russia.
Ivan's love for Monopoly(the equivalent of it in that time period at least) was a little known fact so cannot be found on many websites and historical databases. However, one of the secret reasons he received his allegory, Ivan the Terrible, in the first place, was because of his keen ability to dominate in Monopoly games, always buying up the Silk Roads(Railroads, in today's version) and the Ottoman Empire (today known as Park Place), which he covered in palaces(developments used in modern Monopoly). Often this strategy would work however he often had to change his strategy to add to his game-playing unpredictability. But when he lost, battles would be fought, for instance the Russo-Kazan Wars and the conquest of Siberia. The ways he would justify this conquest in letters would make it seem as if he was fighting these wars for different reasons, but various understudies and apostles to Ivan the Terrible say otherwise.
