Facts About ChessIndex

Introduction How Chess Is Played Object Of The Game Draws Chess Notation Origin And History

INTRODUCTIONChess , game of skill and strategy between two people , played using specially designed pieces on a square board comprised of 64 alternating light and dark squares in eight rows of eight squares each. Chess , with a history that extends back thousands of years , is a popular game played around the world.

How Is Chess PlayedIn chess each player controls an army comprised of eight pawns and eight pieces : one king , one queen , two rooks , two bishops, and two knights. Although the term pieces is sometimes used to refer to all 16 chess figures, it technically does not refer to pawns. The two armies are of contrasting colors, one light and the other dark, and are always called White and Black regardless of their actual colors. The vertical columns on the board that extend from one player to the other are called files, and the horizontal rows are called ranks. The diagonal lines across the board are called diagonals.

{A} Initial SetupThe board is always placed for play with a light square in the corner to the right of each player. White’s pieces are set up on White’s first rank from left to right in the following order : rook , knight , bishop , queen , king , bishop , knight , rook. Black’s pieces are set up on Black’s first rank from left to right in the order of rook, knight, bishop, king, queen, bishop, knight, rook. The pieces face their exact counterparts at opposite ends of the board, and each queen stands on a square of its own color. The pawns are placed on the second rank of each player, directly in front of the pieces.

{B} Moves of the piecesWhite always moves first , and the players then alternate turns. A move consists of transferring a man to another square that is either vacant or occupied by an opponent’s man. If it is occupied than removed from the board and replaced by the capturing man. The only exception is the king, which is never captured A move to capture is not required unless it is the only possible move. All pieces except the knight move along straight, unobstructed paths; only the knight may move over or around other

pieces. The king moves one square in any direction, but not to a square that is attacked by an enemy piece The queen moves as far as desired in any uninterrupted direction. The rook moves as far as desired in any horizontal or vertical direction. The bishop moves as far as desired in any diagonal direction, but is confined to squares of the color on which it began the game. The knight moves a distance of exactly two squares to a square of the opposite color. The path of the move resembles the letter L The knight may go over or around any piece in its way.

CASTLINGA player may move more than one man during a turn only when castling, a special maneuver involving the king and one rook. In castling, the king moves two squares to the left or right, and the rook on that side moves to the square next to the king on the opposite side. Castling is allowed only if (1) the king has not yet moved during the game and is not threatened; (2) the rook on the castling side has not yet moved during the game; (3) the squares between the king and that rook are vacant; (4) the king does not pass through or end its move on a square that is attacked by an enemy piece.

Moves of the pawnsEach pawn, on its first move only, may move straight ahead either one or two squares to a vacant square. After that it may advance only one square at a time. When a pawn advances two squares on its first move and lands next to an opponent’s pawn that is on an adjacent file and the same horizontal row, the opponent’s pawn may capture it as if it had advanced only one square. This capture is known by its French name, en passant (“in passing”). When a pawn reaches the last rank on the opposing side of the board, it is promoted—that is, converted to any other piece of the same color (except another pawn or the king). The powers of the new piece take effect immediately.

Object Of The GameEach  p layer ’ s  goa l   i s to a t tack the enemy k ing such tha t the k ing cannot deflect or remove the a t tack and cannot escape . When a k ing i s a t tacked , i t i s “ in check .” Check does not have to be announced , but the p layer whose k ing i s in check must a t tempt to escape on the next move . There a re th ree poss ib i l i t i es : (1 ) mov ing the k ing to a sa fe square , (2 ) captur ing the a t tack ing p iece , o r (3 ) cu t t ing off the a t tack by in te rpos ing a p iece o r pawn between the a t tack ing p iece and the k ing . I f none o f these moves i s ava i l ab le , the k ing i s checkmated . Checkmate ends the game a t once—the k ing i s never ac tua l l y captured—and the p layer who g ives the checkmate w ins . The word “checkmate” (o f ten abbrev ia ted to “mate”) comes f rom the anc ient Pers ian shah mat , mean ing “ the k ing i s he lp less (de fea ted ) .”

DrawsA  t i e ,   ca l l ed  a  d raw, i s ne i th e r a w in no r a l o ss f o r e i the r s i de . I f p l aye rs do no t wan t t o con t i nue a game fo r any reason th ey may ag ree to ca l l i t a d raw, bu t i n ce r ta in s i tua t i ons a d raw i s manda ted by the ru le s . When a p laye r canno t make any move bu t i s no t i n check , the game i s a d raw by s ta lemate . I n fo rma l p l ay, the game i s a d raw i f 50 consecu t i ve moves a re made by each s i de w i thou t a cap tu re o r a pawn move , o r i f t he same pos i t i on i s abou t t o be repea ted fo r the th i rd t ime w i th the same p laye r hav ing the move . Th i s o f ten occu r s when one p laye r checks the enemy k in g repea ted ly w i thou t be ing ab le to g i ve mate , known as pe rpe tua l check . I f t he game has l e f t ne i the r s i de w i th enough mate r i a l t o fo r ce ch eckmate , i t i s a d raw.

CHESS NOTATIONThere are two standard methods of recording chess moves: the algebraic system and the descriptive system. In both systems, the pieces are designated by capital initials: K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and N for knight. The initial P for pawn is used in the descriptive system only. Castling is noted as either 0-0(for short side) or 0-0-0 (for long side)

Each square is part of both a file and a rank, and in the algebraic system, that unique “address” gives the square its name. In this system, the board is viewed from the White side only. The files, beginning on the left, are lettered from a to h and the ranks are numbered from 1 to 8 beginning with White’s first rank. A move by a piece is indicated by its initial and the square it moves to; for example, Nf3 is a knight move to the square f3. A pawn move names only the square. The letter x traditionally indicates a capture (Nxf3) but is often omitted.

Origin And HistoryHistorians do not know for sure how old the game of chess is or who invented it . Chess is one of a group of games descended from Chaturanga , a game bel ieved to have or iginated in India in the 6th century or perhaps earl ier, which i tself may be related to a much older Chinese game. Chaturanga is a Sanskrit word referr ing to the four arms of an Indian army—elephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry which inspired the four types of pieces in that game.

Chaturanga spread eastward to China, and then through Korea to Japan. It also appeared in Persia after the Islamic conquest (638-651). In Persia the game was first called chatrang , the Persian form of chaturanga, and then shatranj , the Arabic form of the word. The spread of Islam to Sicily and the invasion of Spain by the Moors brought shatranj to Western Europe, and it reached Russia through trade routes from several directions. By the end of the 10th century, the game was well known throughout Europe. It attracted the serious interest of kings, philosophers, and poets, and the best players recorded their games for posterity. Problems, or puzzles, in which the solver has to find a solution—such as a forced checkmate in a given number of moves—became popular during the 12th and 13th centuries.

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Presented BySurendra Kumar Mehra