8 Strange and interesting chess facts？

                                                                                                        8 Strange and interesting chess facts？ 

Today, chess has a reputation as a game for Western intellectuals. But it has a long and colorful history, and everyone from poor people to Kings has tried it.

Unsurprisingly, a lot has happened to chess over time. Here is a collection of strange, interesting or simply interesting facts about chess.

1/ The game of chess originated more than 1,000 years ago

Chess is an old game -- very, very old. In fact, the current historical consensus is that it originated somewhere in India about 1,300 years ago.

Chess has its roots more or less directly in a game called chaturanga played in India in the 7th century. This early game had cavalry, elephants, and chariots instead of soldiers, horses, and elephants, and was used as a training simulator for military commanders.

The oldest writing about chess also comes from this period. Meanwhile, the oldest chess pieces found in modern Uzbekistan are made of ivory and date back to around 760 AD.

2/ Modern chess was born in Spain

Although chess evolved from chaturanga, this ancient game is not quite the same as chess as we know it. But modern chess is not a young man either - even the rules we know are 800 years old.

Before arriving in Spain, chess travelled through the Middle

 East and North Africa from India. There, the rules evolved around 1200, bringing them very close to the chess we play today.

3/ The title of the second book printed in English is Chess

Chess has been a popular game throughout history. It was so popular that a second book printed in English referenced it.

English printer William Caxton translated the Games of Chess and Chessboard from French and printed them in 1474. However, despite its name, the book doesn't actually have much to do with gaming; Rather, it is a political treatise that describes social classes as different pawns.

But it does show that politics has been compared to a game of chess for hundreds of years.

4/ There are more possibilities in a chess game than there are atoms in the universe

In a chess match, you can make countless possible moves. This huge variability means that the number of potentially unique chess games you can play is absolutely staggering.

People smarter than us have calculated that there are probably 10 to the 111 to the 123 kinds of chess you can play. Meanwhile, the number of atoms in the observable universe ranges from 10 to the power of 78 to 10 to the power of 82.

5/ The minimum number of moves to win chess is 2

But you don't need an incredible number of moves to win at chess. You only need two moves - and a stupid opponent.

The series of moves that result in two rounds of checkmate is called April Fool's Day. Black can only do this if White begins to make two very specific moves with two pieces.

But if the starting (and pieces) align just right, Black will be able to achieve checkmate on the second turn by moving the queen. In addition to Fool's Mate, there are seven other ways to end the game in two rounds.

6/ "Checkmate Shah mat!" The word comes from Persian

Speaking of checkmate Shah mat, have you ever wondered what that phrase means? Why do we say "Checkmate Shah mat!" ?

Well, as we said before, chess filtered through the Middle East to Europe. On the way, it crossed Persia.

In Farsi (also known as Farsi), the winning player announces "Shah mat!" After the victory. This translates into English as "The king is helpless."

When chess was introduced to the Arab world, the word "mat" became "mata" - meaning "dead." So instead of leaving him helpless, the Arabs executed the failed king.

With the introduction of chess to Britain, the term "shah mat" followed. But in the English-speaking mouth, it becomes "checkmate Shah mat."

7/ The longest possible chess game is 5949 moves

Although you can play almost an infinite number of different games in chess, one chess game can't last forever. Mathematicians have calculated that the longest chess game can be played is 5,949 moves.

In theory, at that point, one of the players will win. That's assuming both sides are actively trying to win the game, rather than aimlessly adding to it.

How long a game like this will take is impossible. It all depends on how long it takes the player to take action.

8/ The longest recorded chess match lasted 20 hours

As far as records go, no one has ever played 5949 moves. We're not even close to that yet - which is good because it only takes a long time.

We say this because the longest chess record has lasted 269 moves. The 1989 match between Ivan Nikolic and Goran Arsovic lasted 20 hours and 15 minutes.