“The King is Dead” – this is not tragic news, but the name of a well-known game that unites millions of people around the world. Those who now think they’ve never heard of something like this are greatly mistaken. We’re talking about chess. That’s exactly how their name translates from Persian.
The black and white board and the warrior figures lined up on it can reveal so much undiscovered.
Interesting facts about chess:
1. The birthplace of chess is Ancient India. They were called chaturanga there and involved not two, but four players. Each of them was a commander of four units: cavalry, infantry, elephants, and chariots. Later, the Persians borrowed this idea. They called their game shatranj, and the figures knights, pawns, bishops, and rooks.
2. Initially, the queen was not a key piece on the board. It moved only one square diagonally. This situation was radically changed by Isabella of Spain with her special royal decree. Since then, the queen has become the most powerful piece on the board. By the way, during one chess game, the “queen” managed to capture 11 of the opponent’s pieces. That’s an unofficial record.
3. Many black and white warriors have double and triple names: rook-tower-castle, bishop-officer, and others.
4. In the Middle Ages, not only classic, but also exotic figures took part in chess battles. For example, bishops, dragons, centaurs, knights, and unicorns often appeared on the board.
5. The first documentary record of a chess match dates back to the year 900. The game was played by a Baghdad chronicler and his student.
6. The folding board was invented in 1125. At that time, the church did not approve of games, so chess was forbidden for priests. To hide their penchant, they came up with the idea of simply folding the board in half, with the squares in the middle, disguising it as books lying on the table.
7. Chess players could spend many hours playing, exhausting themselves and the spectators. In 1851, a game was not completed because the participants fell asleep. Since then, sandglasses, regulating the time to think about the move, have become mandatory attributes. Later, the timer became mechanical.
8. There is a square on the chessboard called the “black hole” because it has “swallowed” the largest number of pieces in the history of tournaments.
9. Fool’s mate. It turns out that checkmate can be delivered in just two moves. This first happened in 1983. The game was played by L. Darling and R. Wood. It was the shortest tournament in history. And the longest chess game is calculated only theoretically. According to calculations, the path to victory will take 5949 moves. By the way, do you know who is stronger in chess – a human or a computer?
10. According to statistics, the majority of games in professional tournaments are won by white pieces – 37.5%. The dark side wins less often – 27.6%. The rest of the intellectual contests end in a draw.
Chess is not just a game, but also a remedy for Alzheimer’s disease. It’s prescribed to elderly people and young children to improve memory and develop logic. It’s also been proven that this highly intellectual game has a positive effect on creative abilities.