Chess
Chess is a logical board game with chess pieces on a 64-cell board, combining elements of art (including chess composition), science and sport. Chess is one of the most popular sports in the world. Chess is usually played by two players against each other - one playing for 'white' and the other for 'black'. The player for 'white' starts the game. The main objective of each player is to checkmate the opponent's king. This can be done by using different moves of the chess pieces.
Disciplines
History
The history of chess goes back at least 1500 years. The ancestral game, Chaturanga, is thought to have originated in India no later than the 6th century AD. As the game spread to the Arab East, then to Europe and Africa, the rules changed.
The current form of the game dates from the 15th century. The rules were finally standardised in the 19th century, when international tournaments began to be organised.
One of the oldest and most beautiful stories about the origin of chess is the following: a Brahmin (a social group in India) asked the Rajah for a seemingly insignificant reward for his invention: As many grains of wheat as would appear on the chessboard if 1 grain were placed on the first square, 2 grains on the second, 4 on the third, 8 on the fourth, 16 on the fifth, 32 on the sixth, and so on. It turned out that there is not such a quantity of wheat on the whole planet (it is equal to 264 - 1 ≈1.845×1019 grains, which is enough to fill a warehouse with a volume of 180 km³).
Rules
The game ends with a win for one side or a draw. If both players break the rules, a mutual defeat may be counted.
A victory (checkmate) is recorded in the following cases:
– The player who checkmates wins;
– One of the players resigns. A player who decides that further resistance is pointless may resign at any time by simply stopping the clock. His opponent is declared the winner. However, according to the current rules, if the opponent who has resigned does not have the technical ability to checkmate, the game is a draw;
– One of the players has run out of time. In this case, with a few exceptions, victory is awarded to the other side.
A draw (pat) is recorded in the following cases:
– Both sides agree to a draw, i.e. one player offers a draw and the other accepts. To make such an offer, a player need only say "draw" when it is his turn. If the opponent makes a move without responding to the offer, it is considered rejected. Modern tournament rules state that you should offer a draw after you have moved your checker, but before the clock changes. If a player offers a draw before moving his piece, the second player has the right (but not the obligation) to demand that the first player make his move first before responding to the offer. More recently, some tournaments have introduced the so-called "Sofia Rules", which somewhat restrict the ability of players to agree to a draw;
– The mate position cannot be reached by any sequence of moves (e.g. there are not enough pieces left on the board for any player to checkmate).
Top Three Facts
The number of possible unique chess games is greater than the number of electrons in the entire universe..
The longest match in terms of the number of moves was played between the chess players Nikolic and Arsovic in Belgrade in 1989. The game lasted 20 hours and 15 minutes and ended in a draw. 269 moves were made during the match.
The oldest surviving chess set was found on the Isle of Lewis in northern Scotland. It dates back to the 12th century AD.
Competition Venue
