1. But we’re going to talk about chess – let’s break down four dozen facts about this wonderful game. The information given below should be considered as the fundamental basis on which the chess world rests. We hope that the collected data will help you better understand the greatness of the game.
  2. The number of unique games that opponents can play at the board exceeds the number of atoms in the universe. The former number is estimated at 1×10120, the latter at 1×1079.
  3. A mathematically simulated game with the maximum number of moves will be very long. The game will end after 5949 moves of pieces by chessplayers.
  4. The latest castling, recorded in official matches, took place on move 46 of the game between Bobotsor and Irkov (1966).
  5. Before 1561 castling was carried out in two moves. The rook was the first to move. After an opponent’s return move, the chess player could secure his king.
  6. The terms “check” and “checkmate” come from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat” which means “check [king, lord] is dead”.
  7. Otto Blati (1860-1939) is known as the creator of the longest chess problem in which checkmate is achieved in 290 moves.
  8. In 1973, a chess tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, suffered a police raid. Detectives arrested the tournament director and confiscated all the chess boards. The founders of the tournament were accused of illegal gambling (winners and runners-up received cash prizes) and possession of illegal gaming devices (boards and sets of pieces).
  9. The knight move problem has 122 million solutions on the classical board.
  10. The longest chess game in official tournaments consisted of 269 moves (Nikolic vs. Arsovic, Belgrade, 1989). The duel ended in a draw.
  11. The initial arrangement of pieces allows White to checkmate Black’s king in two moves (8 variations) or three moves (355 variations).
  12. Advancing a pawn two squares from the starting position began to be used in Spain in 1280.
  13. Dr. Emanuel Lasker held the title of World Chess Champion longer than any other player in history: 26 years and 337 days.
  14. In 1985, the Soviet chess player Garry Kasparov became the youngest holder of the world title at the age of 22 years and 210 days.
  15. The first chessboard with our customary alternation of dark and light fields appeared in Europe in 1090.
  16. During World War II the leading chess players of the world participated in the deciphering of Nazi secret codes. British masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry and Hugh Conel O’Donnell Alexander were members of the working group that cracked the Enigma cipher machine.

To clarify: In 1932, Polish cryptographers Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki deciphered the Enigma code, which allowed Polish intelligence to read intercepted messages of military attachés and ambassadors of the Third Reich. After the outbreak of World War II, Rejewski, Zygalski and Różycki shared their knowledge of the encryption machine with British scientists. Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry and Hugh Conel O’Donnell Alexander took part in the study of Germany’s improved versions of Enigma and were able to decipher the code used by the German military.

  1. During the 1972 world championship match between Fischer and Spassky (Reykjavik, Iceland), the Soviet delegation believed that Boris’ uncertain play was somehow connected with Bobby’s chair. The tournament organizers took the competition hall under round-the-clock guard. X-ray examination of Fischer’s chair and chemical analyses showed no foreign objects or substances in that piece of furniture.
  2. The first mechanical chess clock was created by Thomas Wilson in 1883. Before that the players used an hourglass, which came into widespread use after the London tournament in 1862. The prototype of the modern push-button chronometer was introduced in 1900.
  3. The folding board was created in 1125 by a priest who liked to play chess. Because of church prohibitions intellectual amateur was forced to hide the playing field and pieces from colleagues. The folding board looked like books lying on top of each other.
  4. The player’s worst performance in official tournaments dates back to 1889. MacLeod of Canada lost 31 games in a two-round competition in New York City.
  5. Frank Marshall (1877-1844) was the first American to manage to defeat a Soviet player. The game took place in 1924 in New York. Marshall held the title of U.S. champion for 30 years, but defended his title in a face-to-face contest with the challenger only once. Frank defeated Ed Lasker 5-4 in 1923. Marshall became the first chess player to hold a simultaneous game session with one hundred opponents.
  6. In 1985, Eric Knoppert played 500 ten-minute games for 68 hours.
  1. Albert Einstein was friends with the chess champion Emanuel Lasker. In an interview with the New York Times (1936), the physicist stated that he did not play chess because of his own employment and the need for rest after completing his work. Einstein began regular chess practice after suspending active scientific activities.
  2. In 1882, Mason’s game against Mackenzie recorded 72 consecutive moves of black and white queens.
  3. The record number of moves without a single piece being taken was in M. Walker v. Thornton in 1992. The notation accommodated 100 moves across the board on the first accepted sacrifice.
  4. Army recruits or rookies on sports teams are referred to as rookies in English. The term comes from the word rook, which stands for rook in chess notation. Rooks are the last to start moving across the board, and rookies are the last to arrive in the camp of an active army during combat operations.
  5. The computer program Deep Thoughtbeat was the first software solution that was able to demonstrate play at the international grandmaster level (1988, Long Beach, California, USA).
  6. Blind chess is a common pastime resorted to by many strong chess players. Playing without visual contact with the board requires advanced visualization skills. The abundance and high speed of moves complicates the task of the chess master. The record for the number of simultaneous blind games belongs to Hungary’s Janos Flasz. In 1960 he played a session with 52 opponents. Janosz scored 30 victories.
  7. Chess players can learn over 1,000 openings. Variations in defense actions multiply the opening repertoire of players many times over.
  8. Chess is seen by physicians as an effective way to improve a person’s mnemonic abilities. Solving complex problems and developing creativity can delay the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Some researchers claim that chess games help improve IQ. This information requires further research. But the positive effects of chess on children’s discipline, numeracy, and analysis skills are undeniable.
  9. FIDE stands for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, the International Chess Federation.
  10. A book about chess was the second publication in the world to be printed in English.
  11. The author of the first chess program was the mathematician Alan Turing in 1951. At that time, no computer in the world had sufficient power to execute the scientist’s algorithm. Turing independently tested the created program, performing the calculations by hand. Each move was calculated in a few minutes.
  12. The oldest known chess notation dates back to the 900s. The notation reflects the course of a game between a historian from Baghdad and his student.
  13. The oldest chess sets found by archaeologists date back to the 12th century. The site of their discovery was the Isle of Lewis in northern Scotland. The pieces and the board are made in Iceland or Norway. The appearance of these chess sets was used in the film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (the scene in the final part of the film – the characters must play a game of magic chess, Ron Weasley wins by sacrificing himself).
  14. More than six hundred million people on Earth are familiar with the rules of the game of chess.
  15. In many languages, pawn means a warrior infantryman. In German and Spanish this piece is called a peasant and a farmer, respectively.
  16. Chess figures do not resemble real kings, warriors or clergymen. The reason is that chess came to Europe from the Islamic world. Islam imposes a ban on making statues or miniatures of animals/humans. That is why the chess pieces are so abstract. In Christian Europe their form did not undergo significant changes.
  17. Chess appeared on the territory of modern India during the period of the Gupta Empire. Over time the game gained popularity in Sassanid Persia. From there, chess was brought to the Middle East. The Crusades led to a further spread of chess boards and pieces around the world.
  18. The original rules of chess assumed that the queen could move one square diagonally. Later the range of movement expanded to two squares. During the Spanish Reconquista the queen became the strongest piece on the board. The personality of Isabella, Queen of Aragon and Castile, had a certain influence on this.
  19. In the Chartranche, the forerunner of chess, the queen was called a vizier or a councillor. These names of the piece are still present in many languages of the world.