AnAn and Liah: Some Chess Trivia
Did you know that in ancient times, the queen could only move one square at a time? Or that the word “checkmate” means “the king is dead” in Persian? These fun facts about chess are only a few of the many features that one of the world’s greatest games possesses.
Chess is believed to first have originated in India in the 7th century A.D. After the Arabs conquered Persia, they started playing the game and it eventually spread. The game was close to what it looks like today, but it still has differences. In 1280, the “new pawn move” was introduced, meaning that pawns could move two squares instead of one on their first move. And, according to Chess.com, “as late as 1561, castling was two moved. You had to play R-KB1 on one move and K-KN1 on the next move.” After 200 years, it eventually changed into one move to make the game simpler.
As the result of changing chess rules over time, many new riveting discoveries have been uncovered. For example, the knight can move a total of 122 million moves across the board! An even more intriguing fact from TheChessWorld states that “The number of potential chess games is vaster than all the estimated atoms in the universe combined! That’s about 10^80 atoms, whereas the number of different chess game possibilities is 10^120.” Imagine a board with 64 squares on it becoming vaster than the universe’s atoms because of the way the pieces move!
Of course, there are some interesting facts about the chess pieces and the game itself. For instance, according to Chess.com user CuzinVinny, “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.” This is surprising, considering that we think of the Queen as the most powerful piece on the board now. Another fact is that Russia has 293 grandmasters––more than any other country! Second place is Germany, with 115 grandmasters.
In conclusion, chess is a unique and special game. Not only is it so fun and mind-boggling, but also it possesses many wonders that make the game even more exciting to play.
Anguissola in The Chess Game from 1555