Chess Facts Trivia at gamerisms

The sheer wealth of chess facts trivia could easily fill a whole series of web pages. Here are just a few of
the strangest, most interesting and amusing.

 Truth is Stranger than Fiction: Chess Facts Trivia

 The US master Weaver Adams wrote a book called White to Play and Win in 1939. During a
tournament after its publication, he lost all his games as White and won all his games as Black.
Adams went on to win the US Open tournament in 1948. 

 The Norwegian Grandmaster Simen Agdestein also played soccer for his national team. 

 A British cabinet-maker built Ajeeb, a chess automaton in 1865. During its long career, it was
operated by many well-known chess masters and won almost all its games. It was even shot by a
sore loser. Ajeeb was destroyed by fire at Coney Island in 1929.

 The first Chess Academy was opened in Fontainebleau, outside Paris, France during the reign of
King Louis XIV in 1680.

 The Beatles played a concert at the 1966 American Open tournament. Screaming fans assumed
the pop stars were behind the on-stage curtain. 
They were somewhat surprised when the curtain finally went up to reveal a chess match! Ringo
Starr and John Lennon both played chess, as does Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono

 The Moves of the Game: Chess Facts Trivia

 The highest number of moves in a tournament game is 269. It was played in 1989 between
Nikolic-Arsovic and lasted 20 hours and 15 minutes. It ended in a draw.

 The Fool’s Mate is the quickest possible way to end a chess game. The game is over in 2 moves.

 The shortest won game, without forfeit, in

master play was in 1984 between Ðordevic
and Kovacevic. White was forced to resign
after only 3 moves.

 2 world championship games have been

defaulted before any moves were made.

 Only 10 people have ever achieved 100%

records in tournament play.

 During the 1960s, Vera Menchik won 4

consecutive Women’s World Chess
Championships with a 100% cumulative record
of 45-0 games won.
 In 1889, Nicholas McLeod lost 31 games during a tournament. This still stands as the record for
most losses in a single tournament.

 Bobby Fischer holds the record for most consecutive wins. There is some dispute whether it
stands at 19 or 20 victories, however.

 Between 1981–1990, Gary Kasperov came first in 15 consecutive tournaments, setting a new
world record that still stands.

 The Soviet player Mikhail Tal set a record for being undefeated in tournament play in 1973–74,
playing 95 games. He also holds the second-longest non-losing streak of 86 tournament games,
played between 1972–73.

 In 2011, Iranian Grandmaster Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami played against 604 players in 25 hours.
This is a Guinness World Record for the highest number of simultaneous chess opponents.

 So, 40 facts about chess:

 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.

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

17 Interesting Facts About Chess

The name “chess” illustrates the “mental stamina, psychology, tactics,
methodology etc.” Chess, for many of us has always been an enigma. Just like a
popular Japanese author, Kazuo Ishiguro said “It was like when you make a
move in chess and just as you take your finger off the piece, you see the
mistake you’ve made, and there’s this panic because you don’t know yet the
scale of disaster you’ve left yourself open to.” 
Here are 17 mind boggling facts about the game which will leave you as
exhausted as after a Chess match:
1. Longest Game Possible

The longest game of chess that is possible is of 5,949 moves.

Source: thechessworld.com, Image: pinterest.com

2. The Longest Game

The longest game lasted for 269 moves and ended in a draw.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: pinterest.com

3. The King is Dead

The word “checkmate” comes from the Arabic word “shah mat” which translates
to “The king is dead” in English.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: tumblr.com

4. New Pawn Move

The new move where the pawn could move two steps instead of one was
introduced in Spain in 1280.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: chessnow.com

5. World Chess Champion

A German named Dr. Emanuel Lasker retained the Champion title for the most
time: 26 years and 337 days!
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: chesshistory.com

6. First Chess Board

The modern chess board as we see it today appeared first in Europe in 1090.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: chesshistory.com

7. Mechanical Clock Over Sand Glass

The first mechanical clock to be used instead of sand glass was invented by

Thomas Wilson in 1883. The modern push button clock was introduced by
Veenhoff in 1900.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: flickr.com

8. The Lying Priest

The folding Chess board was invented in 1125 by a Chess-playing priest. Since
the Church forbids priests to play Chess, he hid his Chess board by making it to
look like two books lying together.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: ebay.com

9. Rookies
Players in their first year are called “Rookies”. This name came up from the last
pieces of chess to move into action called “Rooks”.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: chessnow.com

10. English Book

The second book to be ever printed in English language was about Chess.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: youtube

11.  One of the Computer Geniuses: Alan Turing

Alan Turing developed the first computer program for playing chess was
developed in 1951. 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.
Source: thechessworld.com, Image: telegraph.co.uk

12. Extraordinary Game

The first chess game between space and earth was in June, 1970 by the Soyez-
9 crew. Though the game ended in draw, it sure did make headlines.
Source: chess.geniusprophecy.com, Image: cnn.com

13. Genius Computer

A computer called Deep Thought became the first of its kind to beat an
international maestro in November 1988, Long Beach, California.
Source: chess.geniusprophecy.com, Image: youtube

14. Possible Moves

Are you aware of the fact that the number of possible ways of playing the first
four moves for both sides in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000?
Source: chess.geniusprophecy.com, Image: worldofchess.com

15. Game of Thrones

Chess is also called the “Game of Kings” since for a very long time in the past, it
was just played by the Nobel and Kings.
Source: chess.geniusprophecy.com, Image: knightrise.com

16. Check Mate!

The shortest number of moves to achieve checkmate is just two moves! One
sequence is called “Fool’s mate runs” Thus, 1. g4 e5 and 2. f4 Qh4 checkmate.
Source: chess.geniusprophecy.com, Image: knightrise.com

17. Chess Connoisseur

The chess master to have won the World Championship in all three formats
(knockout, tournament and match) is Vishwanathan Anand from India.