Chess

Chess is a board game for two players. They play on a square board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players are called "White" and "Black". Each player controls sixteen pieces. These include a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.

Each piece moves in special ways. The goal is to "checkmate" the other player's king. This means to threaten it with capture in a way that cannot be stopped.

The history of chess started in the 7th century in India. A game called chaturanga was played there. From India, chess spread to Persia, the Arab world, and then to Europe. The rules we use today were mostly set by the end of the 15th century. By the late 19th century, chess became a worldwide standard. Now, chess is one of the most popular games in the world. Millions of people play it.

Chess has also influenced many other areas. These include mathematics, computer science, and psychology. In 1997, a computer program called Deep Blue defeated the world chess champion. This showed how important chess is for testing computer intelligence. Today, chess computers are stronger than any human player. But the game is still not fully solved. There are always new strategies to discover.

Rules

Main article: Rules of chess

Chess is played on a square board with 64 squares. The board has an 8×8 grid. Two players, called White and Black, each have 16 pieces. These pieces are: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. Each piece moves in its own special way.

White always moves first. Then the players take turns. On each turn, a player moves one piece. The goal is to checkmate the opponent's king. This means the king is under attack and cannot escape. If a player cannot stop the checkmate, they lose. There are also special moves like castling, and ways the game can end in a draw.

Notation

Main article: Algebraic notation

Chess moves are written using a special system called algebraic notation. Each square on the chessboard has a name with a letter (a-h) and a number (1-8). For example, "g3" means the square on the g-file and third rank. Pieces are shown by letters: K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and N for knight.

When writing moves, you might see something like Qg5, which means the queen moves to g5. If a piece captures another, an "x" is added, like Bxf3 for the bishop capturing on f3. Special symbols show important moments, like "+" for check and "#" for checkmate.

Gameplay

Chess is a game for two players, called White and Black. They take turns moving pieces on a board with 64 squares. Each player has 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.

The goal is to trap the other player's king so it cannot move. This is called checkmate.

Players use strategy to plan their moves. The game has three main parts: the opening, where players set up their pieces; the middlegame, where they attack and defend; and the endgame, when only a few pieces are left.

Problems and studies

Chess problems are special positions made for fun and art, not for real games. People who make these are called chess composers. The most common type is called a directmate, where White must checkmate Black in a certain number of moves, like two or three. These problems often have surprising moves.

Other types include helpmates, where Black helps White checkmate itself, and selfmates, where White forces Black to checkmate White. There are also problems where you have to figure out what happened before the position. Some problems use unusual rules or pieces, called fairy chess. Studies are similar but focus on endgame positions where White must win or draw. The World Federation for Chess Composition organizes tournaments for these creative chess challenges.

Chess in public spaces

Chess is often played in public spaces like parks and town squares. These games are usually casual, but some cities, such as New York City, have seen more competitive play in busy areas.

Children and adults can be found playing chess in many places around the world, from Washington Square Park in New York City to the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, Kutaisi in Georgia, Mexico City, Kilifi in Kenya, Cathedral Square in Christchurch, New Zealand, Santiago de Cuba in Cuba, the Széchenyi baths in Budapest, Hungary, Salatiga in Indonesia, Lund in Sweden, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Organized competition

Chess is played in competitions all around the world. Players can join tournaments or matches to play against others. In small tournaments, everyone plays each other once. This is called a round-robin. In big tournaments, players are paired with others who have similar scores. This is called a Swiss system. Players earn points for wins and draws. Their total score decides their standing.

The international governing body for chess is FIDE, or the International Chess Federation. FIDE organizes important events like the World Chess Championship and supports many other chess competitions for players of all ages and skill levels. Players can earn special titles such as Grandmaster, International Master, or FIDE Master by achieving high skill ratings. These titles show how skilled a player is and are awarded based on their performance in tournaments.

History

Chess has a long and interesting history. The earliest books about chess are from the 7th century. They were written in Persian and Sanskrit. One old Persian story says the game was inspired by old battles. The pieces stood for different parts of an army.

By the 9th century, chess had spread around the world. It reached Europe in many ways and became popular in lots of countries. The rules changed over time. In the 15th century, two big changes happened. Pawns were allowed to move two squares on their first move. The queen also got her strong modern powers. These changes helped make chess the game we know today.

In the 19th century, chess became more organized. Tournaments and chess clubs started to appear. The first official World Chess Championship was held in 1886. Wilhelm Steinitz was the winner. Since then, many great players have held the title, each helping chess grow and change.

Connections to other fields

Arts and humanities

Chess has been a big part of culture for many years. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, noble people used it to learn strategies for war. It was called the "King's Game" and was popular with rich people. Chess has shown up in many stories, songs, and artworks. For example, it is important in books like Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and films such as Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. Today, many schools teach chess to children, and there are special tournaments just for kids.

Mathematics

See also: Mathematical chess problem and Solving chess

Chess has inspired many math problems. For example, figuring out how a knight can move across a board to visit every square just once is a famous challenge called the knight's tour. There are also ways to use chess moves to hide secret messages in a special kind of code.

Psychology

Scientists have studied how people think while playing chess. They found that good chess players often notice important patterns on the board quickly. This skill comes from years of practice and studying the game. Researchers also look at how chess might help train the brain and what it tells us about how intelligence works.

Online chess

Main article: Online chess

Online chess is a fun way to play chess using the internet. People use special websites and apps to play against each other. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many more people started playing online chess because they were staying at home. A popular TV show helped more people learn about chess. After the show, many people downloaded chess apps and started playing online. Both men and women joined in, making chess a great activity for everyone to enjoy together.

Computer chess

Main article: Computer chess

See also: Human–computer chess matches, Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov, and Chess engine

People have wanted to make a chess-playing machine since the 1700s. One early machine, called The Turk, was not really a machine. With digital computers in the 1950s, people started making real chess programs. In 1997, a computer named Deep Blue beat the world chess champion, showing how strong these programs could be. Today, the best chess computers can beat even the best human players. These programs help players learn and get ready for games, and people can play chess with others from all over the world using Internet Chess Servers.

Related games

Chess has many related games. Some early forms include chaturanga and shatranj. Other games similar to chess are played in different countries, such as xiangqi (Chinese chess), shogi (Japanese chess), janggi (Korean chess), and many more.

Chess variants

There are thousands of chess variants. These are games with rules slightly different from regular chess. They may use new rules, different pieces, or change the shape of the board. When people talk about these variants, they often call regular chess orthodox chess, orthochess, or classic chess. Some examples include losing chess, Chess960, Capablanca chess, and hexagonal chess.