chess facts

1. The number of possible unique chess games is much greater than the number of electrons in the universe. The number of electrons is estimated to be about 10^79, while the number of unique chess games is 10^120.

2. The longest chess game theoretically possible is 5,949 moves.

3. The longest time for a Castling move to take place was the match game between Bobotsor vs. Irkov in 1966: 46. 0-0.

4. As late as 1561, Castling was two moves. You had to play R-KB1 on one move and K-KN1 on the next move.

5. The word "Checkmate" in Chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the King is dead."

6. Blathy, Otto (1860-1939), credited for creating the longest Chess Problem, mate in 290 moves.

7. 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).

8. The number of possibilities of a Knight's tour is over 122 million.

9. The longest official chess game lasted 269 moves (I. Nikolic - Arsovic, Belgrade 1989) and ended in a draw.

10. From the starting position, there are eight different ways to Mate in two moves and 355 different ways to Mate in three moves.

11. The new Pawn move, advancing two squares on its first move instead of one, was first introduced in Spain in 1280.

12. Dr. Emanuel Lasker from Germany retained the World Chess Champion title for more time than any other player ever: 26 years and 337 days.

13. In 1985, the Soviet player Garry Kasparov became the youngest World Chess Champion ever at the age of 22 years and 210 days.

14. The first Chessboard with alternating light and dark squares appears in Europe in 1090.

15. During World War II, some of the top Chess players were also code breakers. British masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry and H. O'D. Alexander was on the team which broke the Nazi Enigma code.

Clarification:

The Polish scientists Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski, Jerzy Rozycki broke the pre-war Enigma code machines, in 1932. Then after the war broke out, the Polish sent the information they'd learned to the British ( chess masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry and H. O'D. Alexander) who then deciphered the new German war Enigma machines.

16. During the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match in Rekjavik, the Russians linked Spassky's erratic play with Fischer's chair. The Icelandic organization put a 24-hour Police guard around the chair while chemical and x-ray tests were performed on the chair. Nothing unusual was found.

17. The first mechanical Chess Clock was invented by Thomas Wilson in 1883. Prior to that, Sandglasses were used. Sandglasses were first used in London in 1862. The present day push-button Clock was first perfected by Veenhoff in 1900.

18. The folding Chess board was originally invented in 1125 by a Chess-playing priest. Since the Church forbids priests to play Chess, he hid his Chess board by making one that looked simply like two books lying together.

19. The worst performance by a player was Macleod of Canada who lost 31 games in the New York double-round robin of 1889.

20. Frank Marshall (1877-1944) was the first American to defeat a Soviet player in an international tournament in New York, 1924. He reigned as U.S. Champion for 30 years, but only defended his title once when he defeated Ed Lasker (5-4) in 1923. He was the first master to play more than 100 games simultaneously.

21. In 1985, Eric Knoppert played 500 games of 10-minute Chess in 68 hours.

22. Albert Einstein was a good friend of World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker. In an interview with the New York Times in 1936 Albert said, "I do not play any games. There is no time for it. When I get through work I don't want anything which requires the working of the mind." He did take up Chess in his later life.

23. There were 72 consecutive Queen moves in the Mason-Mackenzie game at London in 1882.

24. The record of moves without capture is of 100 moves during the Match between Thorton and M. Walker in 1992.

25. Rookies or, players in their first year, are named after the Rook in Chess. Rooks generally are the last pieces to be moved into action, and the same goes for Rookies.

26. A Computer Program named Deep Thought beat an International Grand Master for the first time in November 1988 in Long Beach, California.

27. Blindfold chess is an impressive skill that many stronger chess players possess. It certainly requires a keen ability to see the board clearly, which can get difficult after many moves. The record was set in 1960 in Budapest by Hungarian Janos Flesch, who played 52 opponents simultaneously while blindfolded – he won 31 of those games.

28. There are well over 1,000 different openings, including variations within larger openings/defenses that one can learn.

29. Chess is often cited by psychologists as an effective way to improve memory function. Also allowing the mind to solve complex problems and work through ideas, it is no wonder that chess is recommended in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Some contend that it can increase one’s intelligence, though that is a more complex topic. The effects of chess on young individuals had led to chess being introduced in school districts and various countries. It has been shown to improve children’s grades and other positive effects as well.

30. FIDE stands for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, which literally translates into World Chess Federation.

31. The second book ever printed in the English language was about chess!

32. The first computer program for playing chess was developed in 1951, by Alan Turing. However, no computer was powerful enough to process it, so Turing tested it by doing the calculations himself and playing according to the results, taking several minutes per move.

33. The oldest recorded chess game in history is from the 900s, between a historian from Baghdad and his student.

34. The oldest surviving complete chess sets were found on the Isle of Lewis, in northern Scotland, and dates to the 12 th century. They were probably made in Iceland or Norway, and their appearance was used in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the wizard chess pieces.

35. About 600,000,000 (Six hundred million) people know how to play chess worldwide!

36. In many languages, the Pawn is a foot soldier, but in German and Spanish, it’s a peasant or farmer, instead!

37. The reason why traditional chess pieces don’t look like actual soldiers, bishops, and kings is because before the game reached Europe, it passed through the Islamic world. Islam forbids making statues of animals or people, so chess pieces became vague-looking. When the game spread to Christian Europe, the pieces didn’t change much.

38. Chess began in India during the Gupta Empire, spreading to the Persian Sassanid Empire, and then to the Middle East after Muslims conquered Persia. From there, it spread to Europe and Russia.

39. Initially, the Queen could only move one square at a time, diagonally. Later, she could move two squares at a time, diagonally. It wasn’t until Reconquista Spain, with its powerful queen Isabella, that the Queen became the strongest piece on the board.

40. In Shatranj, the predecessor to chess, the Queen was a minister or vizier, and still is in many languages.

41. There are even more chess facts possible than the unique chess games

Nice!

Good!

tldr

very nice thanks to the op for the post.

Interesting! I knew some of these, a lot are new.

I'm dubious about #6, I've read of problems a lot longer than that, I think I've seen one in the forums here.

Thanks for your comment friends.

other facts friends

42. Did you know the number of possible ways of playing the

first four moves for both sides in a game of chess is

318,979,564,000 ?

43. The number of possible, unique chess games is

far greater than the number of electrons in the

universe! The number of electrons is estimated to

be a mere 10 79 , while the number of unique chess

games is 10 120 . In English, that's a thousand

trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion,

trillion, trillion, trillion games.

44. Chess is called the game of kings, because for

many centuries it was played primarily by nobility

and the upper classes.

45. The Isle of Lewis chess pieces are the oldest

surviving complete chess set known. Discovered on

they Isle of Lewis, they are made from walrus tusks

and show their characters in a range of bad moods

- from anger to depression. Click here to see

images of the pieces.

46. The names of the pieces-- the queen, king, knight,

rook and bishop came about during the Middle

Ages, when society was extremely oriented towards

war and rigidly stratified. During the Renaissance

period, society became more dynamic and rules

were added to enable rapid attack techniques. These include making the queen more powerful,

and permitting pawns to move two squares on the

first move.

47. The rook is named from an Arabic word rukh ,

meaning chariot. This reflects its ability to move

quickly in straight lines, but not leap over

obstacles. During the Middle Ages, when chariots

were no longer in use, the rook was gradually

modified to look more like the turret of a castle.

48. The knight's role has been stable over time. Even

in the earliest versions of the game, it represented

the cavalry and had the unique ability to leap over

its opponents.

49. The word "checkmate" comes from the Persian

phrase "shah mat," which means "the king is

defeated."

50. The Arabic world, the Chinese, and later the

Europeans used the chessboard as a tool for

calculating and a means for expressing

mathematical concepts. In medieval England,

financial accounts were settled on tables

resembling chessboards. When the Normans

created the royal office of collection for the crown,

they called it the Exchequer, and its minister the

“Chancellor of the Exchequer”, because the court

originally used a checkered cloth to cover the table

where judgments were made. Exchequer comes

from Old French, where eschequier meant counting

table, and eschec meant chess. This makes the

"Chancellor of the Exchequer" literally the

"Chancellor of the Chessboard!"

51. Lewis Carrol’s novel “Through the Looking Glass”

was based on a chess game, much the way “Alice in

Wonderland” was based on playing cards. The idea

for picturing the countryside as a chess board

came from Lewis Carrol’s days in Oxmoor, where

his apartment overlooked a cultivated moor,

separated into neat, rectangular farmer’s fields.

52. The folding chess board was originally invented

in 1125 by a chess-playing priest. Since the Church

forbid priests to play chess, he hid his chess board

by making one that looked simply like two books

lying together.

I like it.

I have no idea why people think that the  "Church" forbids priests to play chess, it was common in medieval Europe that children were taught the basics of chess by priests in schools kept up by the catholic branch.
 

http://catholicexchange.com/chess-and-the-catholic-mind

which is incorrect ddmeltzer8?

This one:

25. Rookies or, players in their first year, are named after the Rook in Chess. Rooks generally are the last pieces to be moved into action, and the same goes for Rookies.

It's first known use has two time periods that could be used, a) around 1890 - 1895; and b) the American Civil War. It is thought to be an alteration of the word "recruit" where people shortened the word to be "reckie", as recruits were inexperienced and would often time "wreck" plans.

At different points in history, most all religions have forbidden chess.

Which is not true at all.
Certain priests, rulers, kings and such forbade chess in their ruling time; but it was always restored after their death.
There is no single religion that forbids chess. 

You have misunderstood what I posted.

"AT DIFFERENT POINTS IN HSITORY"

None forbid it now, as far as I know.

(Oh, and what I posted is true.)

Nope, you said religions, which is not accurate at all.
Certain, particular PEOPLE forbid it, not a religious consensus.

You are dead wrong. One example is the Eastern Orthodox Church, which forbid chess in 1093. That is a religion, THE WHOLE RELIGION was forbidden to play chess.

You believe what you want but simple education will enlighten you.

Good luck in your future life. Have a great day.

53. It has been estimated, assuming that the average chess match has 40 moves with an average branching factor of 25, that the number of unique chess games is 10^120. More than 50% greater than the estimated number of electrons in the known universe!

Shah Mat, the Persian word for chess, literally translates to “the king has been ambushed.”

54. A chess player by the name of Macleod (a Canadian player) has the record for worst performance in a tournament. Losing 31 games in the New York double-round robin of 1889.

55. A Cleveland, Ohio police squadron embarrassingly raided a chess tournament in 1973 under charges of gambling. They arrested the tournament directory for facilitating an illegal gambling operation. The cash prizes where confiscated as well as the “gambling devices” (read: chess boards).

56. The ‘Rook’ in chess is often misattributed as the source of the term rookie, a first-year professional player. Although not certain, it is believed to be derived from the the word ‘recruit’.

57. The Gupta Empire of India originated the game of chess. It later spread to Persia after the Muslims conquered that territory. The game eventually spread next to Europe and Russia.

58. Russia has the most grandmasters of any other country, totaling 156 GMs. Germany is second with 61 and the United States trails with 60.

Here are some of the best:

*Kingcrusher Chess

*This is one of the most popular chess YouTube channels, boasting over 3000 videos!

*This channel is great for casual and expert players.

*Tryfone Gavriel, creator of chessworld.net, hosts this channel insightful commentary and thorough analysis of master games.

*He also has a meta-game sub-series that he uses as an overview of how play styles have changed througout history.

*Finally, you can also find the usual openings overviews, as well as live commentaries of tournament games.

*ChessNetwork

*This guy is awesome and provides enough great commentaries for beginners and experts.

Game analyses are great.

*Live Blitz game commentaries are very insightful.

*GreenCastleBlock

*American player with some pretty snazzy chess videos.

Covers topics including: chess theory, traps, game analysis, and live blitz match commentaries.

*Krakkaskak

*Icelandic/Danish GM Henrik Danielsen’s YouTube channel has a series of videos covering his own creation, the Polar Bear opening.

*Funny guy. His videos are very entertaining as well as informative.

*ChessQueen

*This is a very cool channel, belonging to the one and only, former womens world champion, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk.

*Production quality is great. Her channel features analysis oh her most famous victories and gives insight on her life as a world champion chess player.