The Game of Chess - history, basics, and interesting facts

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History of the Game of Chess

Chaturanga - The first game in chess form
The game of chess is the most popular game in the world, second only to soccer. It is also the oldest game which its earliest recording of it dating back over 5000 years ago with a description of a Hindu game called Chaturanga that takes on a remarkable likeness to the chess game played today. Players of Chaturanga competed using a checkered board with 64 squares alternating evenly with black and white colors. The movable pieces on a Chaturanga board took the likenesses of armies, kings, elephants, horses, ships, and infantry.

The Game of Chess Throughout the Ages
Throughout the ages, many warring soldiers and traveling tradesmen helped spread the concepts of the game of chess to different cultural regions. Each culture aptly named the most important chess piece after the most important figure in society . For instance, circa 1500 years ago, the people of India named the most important piece, Rajah. Likewise, the Persians referred to the most important piece as the Shah. The Arabs called the most important chess piece, the Caliph. Finally, the Europeans of medieval times titled the most valuable chess piece, the King after their own ruling societal figure. The other pieces also took on the names of other figures in society, such as the queen, bishops, rooks or castles, knights, and pawns or peasants.

Basics of the Game of Chess

Object of the Game
The object of every chess match is to capture the opposing chess player's king. After each player shakes hands, the player with the light colored side always starts the match. Then each chess player takes turns moving their pieces over the board according to the different rules governing the movement of each chess piece. The game ends when either one of the players captures the other player's king, which is a checkmate, or each player reaches a stalemate because neither player can make a move, thus ending the game in a draw.

Explaining the Chess Board
Aside from the 16 chess pieces, the chess board plays a major rule in the game. The chess board is made up of 64 squares alternating with light and dark colors. Traditionally the game of chess uses black and white as its signature colors, but some chess board games use other more distinguishing colors. The squares that form a vertical line are called files and are labeled in most chess manuals as a through h. The horizontally lined squares are referred to as ranks and are labeled 1 through 8. When positioning a board for a game, a light colored square must always be in the top right corner.

Interesting Facts About The Game of Chess

1. Five woman hold the men's Grandmaster title : Nona Gapridashvili, Maya Chiburdanidee, Zusuzsa Polgar, Judit Polgar, and Pia Cramling.

2. Top chess players broke military intelligence codes during WWII. Most notably, British Masters, Harry Bolmbeck, Stuart Milner-Barg, and H.O.D. Alexander successfully broke the famed Nazi Enigma code.

3. Kirk and Spock played chess during three different episodes of STARTREK. Kirk won the chess match with Spock all 3 times.

4. The first known chessboard crafted alternating light and dark squares appeared in Europe in 1090.

5. Die hard chess fans find it commical when chess is played in movies without a light square at the top right corner of the board.

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Chess Pieces

King
The king is the most valuable piece in a chess game because capturing him ends the game in a victory for his capturer. When a player captures the opposing side's king, she performs a checkmate. The king can move in any direction to any position one square away. The destination square can be empty or occupied by the opposing side's pieces, thus removing that piece in the process.

The Bishop
The bishop took the form of elephants in the Indian version of the game, but in medieval times took on the form of a church figurehead. This piece can move in any diagonal direction on squares that have the same light or dark color that colors the bishop. The bishop chess piece can capture any opposing chess piece as long as the chess piece is in the bishops realm of movement and no other chess piece stands in its way.

The Bishop
The bishop took the form of elephants in the Indian version of the game, but in medieval times took on the form of a church figurehead. This piece can move in any diagonal direction on squares that have the same light or dark color that colors the bishop. The bishop chess piece can capture any opposing chess piece as long as the chess piece is in the bishops realm of movement and no other chess piece stands in its way.

The Rook or Castle
In modern games the rook takes on the form of a castle, but an ancient Indian chess game gave it the form of a ship or a chariot. The rook can move straight up and down along files or left to right along ranks. The rook chess piece can capture any other chess piece in its path, but it cannot jump a piece to capture another piece.

The Queen
While the king chess is the most valuable chess piece, the queen is the most powerful chess piece. In more recent times, the queen was added to create more of a defense for the king chess piece and thus make the extend the time of a chess match. The queen can move the same way the rook and the bishop can move. The queen can move diagonally or up and down while capturing any piece as long as another piece does not block her path.

The Knight
The knight is the most unique piece in the game of chess in regards to how it moves. The knight chess piece moves two squares in a straight direction and then one square perpendicular to the first two squares, thus forming an "L" shape with each move. The starting square and the final destination square must be of a different color. In addition to the unique geometrical movements of this chess piece, the knight can jump over other chess pieces regardless of the owner of the chess piece. The first move of a knight chess piece is usually to jump over its own pawn to land on the third ranking square that is white.

The Pawn
The pawn is regarded by medieval scholars as the representation of a serf. In medieval times, society regarded serfs merely as the property of land owners. Each side commands 8 pawns which are originally set up across the second row, thus providing the first line of defense for the more important chess pieces. Pawns can only move forward. The first time a pawn is moved it can move 2 squares as long as nothing obstructs them from doing so, but then can only move 1 square forward after the move move is made with the pawn.

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