50 Fun Facts about CHESS You Probably Don’t know negifish Mar 15, 2023, 3:44 AM | 0 Page Navigation 1. There are over 319 billion possible combinations. 2. The chess board has a theoretical limit of 5,949 moves. 3. The longest chess game ever played was I.Nikolic vs. Arsovic, Belgrade 1989, which lasted 269 moves and ended in a draw. 4. The Spanish innovation of allowing pawns to advance two squares on their first move instead of one was introduced in 1280. 5. According to the US Chess Federation, there are an estimated 169 Octillion ways to play the first ten chess game moves. 6. The first-ever outer space chess game was held on June 9, 1970, between space and Earth. The game ended in a draw. 7. The last known victory of a human over a top-performing computer in a standard chess tournament was the Ponomariov vs. Fritz game on November 21, 2005. 8. The priest who was prohibited from playing chess created the folding chessboard. 9. In November 1988, a computer called DeepThought was the first to defeat an international grandmaster in Long Beach, California. 10. The name “Checkmate” comes from the Persian term “Shah Mat,” which means “the King is slain.” 11. In 1973, the Cleveland Police conducted a Chess Tournament raid. 12. A Knight’s tour has over 122 million possibilities. 13. For more than 26 years and 337 days, Dr. Emanuel Lasker from Germany held the World Chess Champion title longer than any other player ever. 14. In 1090, a Chessboard with alternating light and dark squares was introduced in Europe. 15. During World War II, several of the world’s best chess players were code breakers. 16. There are eight distinct Mate options in two moves and 355 distinct Mate options in three movements from the start position. 17. Play Chess with Your Eyes Shut. 18. Russia is often referred to as the “Chess Kingdom.” 19. A Triumph for the Ages. 20. The first-year chess players are known as “rookies.” 21. The tumbling chess clock is a mechanical clock with a distinctive name. 22. The Unintended Consequence. 23. Chess Master with Unparalleled Versatility. 24. Chess was the Second Book in English. 25. Fool’s Mate: In two moves, defeat your chess opponent. 26. In India, chess was initially known as the ‘Game of Kings.’ 27. The youngest ever chess champion, still regarded as the greatest chess player of all time! 28. In 1951, Alan Turing developed the world’s first computer chess program. 29. The World Chess Federation, or Fédération Internationale des Échecs, is the formal name of FIDE, which alternatively means, International Chess Federation. 30. Chess is a popular game that has been shown to improve memory function—often mentioned in psychology books as a highly effective way to advance one’s intelligence. 31. Blathy, Otto was credited with creating the most prolonged Chess Problem and solved it in 290 moves. 32. Chess enjoyed a resurgence during the Cold War. 33. Janos French, a Hungarian player, set the record in 1960 for playing 52 different opponents concurrently, blindfolded. 34. The 1972 World Chess Championship, dubbed the “Match of the Century,” was held in Reykjavik between Boris Spassky and Robert “Bobby” Fischer. 35. In a match between Mason-Mackenzie in London in 1882, there were 72 consecutive Queen Moves. 36. The 100 Moves is a chess match between M. Walker and Thorton that was played without capture. 37. There are over one thousand chess distinct openings. 38. Castling used to be two moves long, with R-KB1 moving to a single move and K-KN1 on the following. 39. On the TV show Star Trek, Kirk, and Spock have engaged in three chess games. All three games were won by Kirk. 40. In 1972, Iceland established a 24-hour Police Guard around the chess match seats of Fischer and Spassky’s to keep out intruders in the chess game. 41. After one move each, there are 400 distinct possibilities in the game of chess. 42. The tiniest handmade chess set is 8 mm x 8 mm or 0.32 in x 0.32 in size. 43. After three chess moves, there are over 9 million different possibilities. 44. The biggest chess piece, a king piece, which is 6.09 m (20 ft.) tall, is the most significant tallest chess piece in existence. 45. The most popular and biggest chess lesson has 1,459 participants. 46. Chess originated in Northern India during the Gupta Dynasty when its predecessors wrote it down. 47. Ivory chess pieces, which are believed to be the world’s oldest archeological chess pieces, were found in Uzbekistan. 48. The oldest chess manual known to have existed was written in Arabic and originated around 840. 49. An IBM supercomputer defeated and outsmarted Garry Kasparov in 1997. 50. The world’s most expensive chess set, which includes diamonds and emeralds, is worth more than $9.8 million.
