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Monthly Spotlight: Chess

International Chess Day

A game of computer generated chess being played

What is it?

Chess, noun

A game for 2 players, each of whom moves 16 pieces according to fixed rules across a checkerboard and tries to checkmate the opponent's king

Phoebe and Joey 'playing' chess quoting

How to play

  • White is always first to move and players take turns alternately moving one piece at a time.
  • Movement is required.
  • Each type of piece has its own method of movement.
  • A piece may be moved to another position or may capture an opponent´s piece, replacing on its square
    • (en passant being the only exception).
  • With the exception of the knight, a piece may not move over or through any of the other pieces. 
  • If a player´s turn is to move, he is not in check but has no legal moves, this situation is called “Stalemate” and it ends the game in a draw.
  • When a king is threatened with capture (but can protect himself or escape), it´s called check. If a king is in check, then the player must make a move that eliminates the threat of capture and cannot leave the king in check.
  • Checkmate happens when a king is placed in check and there is no legal move to escape.
    • Checkmate ends the game and the side whose king was checkmated loses.
    • Chess for kids would be a great option to help the kid enhance his thinking capability with the chess strategies involved.  

A Disney short of an old man playing against himself at chess in the park

History

One of those earlier games was a war game called Chaturanga, a Sanskrit name for a battle formation mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Chaturanga was flourishing in northwestern India by the 7th century and is regarded as the earliest precursor of modern chess because it had two key features found in all later chess variants—different pieces had different powers (unlike checkers and go), and victory was based on one piece, the king of modern chess.

One of those earlier games was a war game called Chaturanga, a Sanskrit name for a battle formation mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Chaturanga was flourishing in northwestern India by the 7th century and is regarded as the earliest precursor of modern chess because it had two key features found in all later chess variants—different pieces had different powers (unlike checkers and go), and victory was based on one piece, the king of modern chess. --Britannica

Scene from an anime of a character moving their knight chess piece to take out a pawn.

Fun Facts

  • The longest chess game - theoretically - possible ,is 5,949 moves
  • As late as 1561, castling was two moves
  • The word “Checkmate” in Chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which means “the King is dead.”
  • Blathy, Otto (1860-1939), credited for creating the longest Chess Problem, mate in 290 moves.
  • The Police raided a Chess Tournament in Cleveland in 1973, arrested the Tournament director, and confiscated the Chess sets on charges of allowing gambling (cash prizes to winners) and possession of gambling devices (the Chess sets).
  • The longest official chess game lasted 269 moves and ended in a draw in 1989
  • From the starting position, there are eight different ways to mate in two moves and 355 different ways to mate in three moves.
  • The new Pawn move, advancing two squares on its first move instead of one, was first introduced in Spain in 1280.
  • Dr. Emanuel Lasker from Germany retained the World Chess Champion title for more time than any other player ever: 26 years and 337 days.
  • In 1985, the Soviet player Garry Kasparov became the youngest World Chess Champion ever at the age of 22 years and 210 days.
  • The first Chessboard with alternating light and dark squares appeared in Europe in 1090.
  • The worst performance by a player was Macleod of Canada, who lost 31 games in the New York double-round robin of 1889.
  • In 1985, Eric Knoppert played 500 games of 10-minute Chess in 68 hours.
  • The second book ever printed in the English language was about chess!

Anya Taylor Joy in the Queens Gambit playing chess

Interesting Reads

Two people in a chess tournament making moves rather quickly

Setting Up

Set up the chessboard with a white square in the bottom right-handed corner. The easiest way to remember this is with the phrase "white to the right." If your board has numbers down the side, the line ("rank") with a 1 next to it goes on the side where you'll line up the white pieces.

Set up the pawns in the second row (rank). In the first row (rank) place the rooks in the corners, then working in from both sides place the knights then the bishop. Finally, place the queen on the same color square and the king in the final spot.

Start the game with all of the pieces facing each other on the back 2 rows of each side. Put the pawns in front, then line up the other pieces symmetrically with the king and queen in the middle.

  • The king is the most important piece because the game ends if it's captured.

Harry Potter Wizards Chess; the red queen takes out the white knight with her throne

Chess Pieces

Learn how each type of piece moves. Each player controls 16 pieces: 8 pawns, 2 bishops, 2 knights (little horse heads), 2 rooks (little castle towers), 1 king, and 1 queen. Each type has its own way of moving across the board and potentially capturing your opponent's pieces as it goes.

  • Pawns: Move 1 square forward per turn, except on their first turn, when they can move forward 2 squares. Pawns capture other pieces diagonally, moving one space diagonally forward. They cannot move backward.
  • Rooks: Go as many squares as possible horizontally or vertically. If one of your pieces is in the way, the rook has to stop at the square just before. If one of your opponent's pieces is in the way, capture it with your rook and stop there.
  • Knights: Move 2 squares horizontally or vertically, then 1 square to the right or left of that second square. Knights are the only pieces that jump over other pieces and only capture an opponent's piece if it's on the final square of the move.
  • Bishops: Go as many squares as possible diagonally. Like the rook, they have to stop at the square just before one of your own pieces, or capture an opponent's piece and stop there.
  • King: Move 1 square in any direction. You cannot move the king into any space where one of your opponent's pieces could capture it.
  • Queen: Go as many squares as possible in any direction. Like the rooks and bishops, the queen has to stop just before one of your own pieces, or capture an opponent's piece and stop there.

Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory showing off his layered chess board

Special Rules

There are a few special rules in chess that may not seem logical at first. They were created to make the game more fun and interesting.

  1. How to Promote a Pawn in Chess
    1. Pawns have another special ability, and that is that if a pawn reaches the other side of the board, it can become any other chess piece (called promotion)
    2. A pawn may be promoted to any piece.
    3. A common misconception is that pawns may only be exchanged for a piece that has been captured. That is NOT true. A pawn is usually promoted to a queen.
    4. Only pawns may be promoted.
  2. How to do "en passant" (in passing) in Chess
    1.  If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent's pawn (effectively jumping past the other pawn's ability to capture it), that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as it passes by.
    2. This special move must be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past; otherwise, the option to capture it is no longer available. 
  3. How to Castle in Chess

    1. This move allows you to do two important things all in one move: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game.

    2. On a player's turn, they may move their king two squares over to one side and then move the rook from that side's corner to the right next to the king on the opposite side. However, to cast, the following conditions must be met:

      1. It must be that king's very first move

      2. It must be that Rook's very first move

      3. There cannot be any pieces between the king and the rook to move

      4. The king may not be in check or pass through check

    3. Notice that when you castle in one direction, the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called castling "kingside".
      1. Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called "castling queenside". Regardless of which side, the king always moves only two squares when castling.