Wednesday 29 February 2012

Chess Sets Online: History And Some Interesting Facts About Chess


By Cody Watson, http://ezinemark.com/u/cody-watson/30066187/

Chess is the abbreviated term of Chariot Horses Elephant Soldiers Save. Though the game has been played on for such a long time, the traditional pieces have remained unchanged right from the sixth century. Ultimately, the king, queen, bishop, rook, knight, and the pawn still remain in the game! However, players over the years have brought about a few changes to increase the pace of the game. For instance, the First Move Order (FMO) wherein the pawn moves two steps (instead of one) has been a welcome change for the game. However, the origin of chess is quite unclear.

Printings in David Li’s book, “Genealogy of Chess” indicates that chess was formulated in China in the 2nd century B.C. Nevertheless, there are acceptable indications in literatures that chess was being played in the 7th century. An Old Persian poem mentions that chess was first played in India before being migrated over to Persia during the period of King Chosroe-I Annshiravan in the 6th century. The Persian book penned during the sixth century has also mentioned in detail about some of the popular chess terminologies and the pieces that are identical to the ones being used today. The world-famous Forbes in its edition, Forbes, History of Chess, 1860 has mentioned that chess was invented about 4000-5000 years ago by the wife of King Ravana in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Moving away from history, today Chess has gained an International appeal as it is evident from the fact that it is being played by 149 countries registered in FIDE (Federation International e des Echecs), the world chess federation.

For ardent lovers of the game, I have compiled a few interesting facts about chess that you probably didn’t know about.
You would have played some long chess games in your career but how long were they? 50, 60 moves? Don’t be surprised if I say the longest recorded game of chess was played between I.Nikolic and Arsovi in Belgrade in 1989. The match that tamely ended in a draw lasted for about 269 moves! And theoretically a chess game can be played in as many as 5949 moves.

The word “Checkmate” is originally derived from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means “the King is dead”. Over the years, chess experts have programmed the computer’s memory with a lot of theories and variations. With regard to this, ‘Deep thought’ was the name given to the first ever computer to beat a grandmaster in 1988 in California.

Gary Kasparov, one of the greatest legends in the history of the game, rewrote record books when he became the youngest world champion at the age of 22. However, this stupendous record was later surpassed by Russia’s Ponomariov and Maia Chiburdanidze (women’s champion).

The folding chessboard that is commonly used in all the tournaments was first contrived by a priest who didn’t quite like the hard woody chessboard. Whatever the reason might have been, let us give a thumps up to the priest for his innovative idea! The folding chessboard is so easy to carry; and good enough to keep chess players puzzling for moves even while travelling.
Chess is exciting, skill-demanding, and challenging. Even a minor lapse of concentration will cost you the game. Generally, chess players are brilliant and have sharp memory than others. It is one game that doesn’t involve physical activities. People in any age groups can play chess. There are still men well over 50 playing at the top-most level. Chess would be one of the best games to teach your kids. These days, there are so many websites on which chess is being played online. You may log in to the online sites using any of the Fastest Internet connection and start playing.

About the Author:
Cody is a freelance writer and blogger. He writes on all categories including entertainment, technology, health, sports and games. He is an amateur chess player. He spends his free time playing chess with one of the Fastest Internet connections he has availed recently.

Articles Source: History And Some Interesting Facts About Chess


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