The Game of Chess
Dave Markel

Chess is probably one of the oldest and most famous games
in the world. It is believed to have originated from India
as early as the seventh century, although the exact origins
of chess are unknown. Chess has appeared in many shapes and
forms. Today most people play what is known as Europeans
chess. Chess is a universal game - universal in the sense
that it is accepted and played in every country and
culture. There are many tournaments held worldwide and many
more in each individual country.

The basic rules of chess are simple, however to be able to
play strategically and master tactics requires skill and
dedication. In its modern form the game consists of an
eight by eight board of alternating black and white squares
and chess pieces. Each player has sixteen different pieces,
which are used to play the game with. A player starts off
with a king, a queen, eight pawns, and two each of bishops,
knights and rooks. The aim of the game is to corner and
immobilize the opponent's king so he cannot make any
further moves.

Modern chess is also known as the 'queens chess' as the
queen is the piece with the most power. It can move any
number of squares in any direction, given there is enough
space to maneuver. All pieces move in straight or diagonal
lines with the exception of knights. A knight's movements
are similar to the shape of the letter 'L'. When the
opponent's king piece has been immobilized it is known as
"checkmate".

Chess has many benefits and it is now being taught in many
schools over the world to children from a young age. It has
many academic benefits and improves ones ability and skill.
Chess improves a child's thinking ability by teaching many
skills. These include the ability to focus, plan tasks
ahead, thinking analytically, abstractly and strategically
and consider all the options before making a move. They
also improve one's social and communication skills by
playing against another human player. Research has shown
that kids that play chess regularly have a significant
improvement in their math and reading ability.

Nowadays chess can be played pretty much anywhere. All you
need is the board and pieces and somebody to play against.
If you cannot find another person to challenge then there
are plenty of computerized versions of chess. The software
comes in many different versions such as 2D or 3D and with
nice animated effects or just as a plain board and pieces.
It is possible to play against a computer player and up the
difficulty level if required. With the advent of the
Internet it is now easily possible to search for many other
players online whom to play against.

Garry Kasparov is one of the world's most famous chess
players. He is a chess grandmaster and one of the strongest
chess players in history. He has the highest ranking on the
FIDE listing. Ranked first in the world for nearly all of
the 20 years from 1985 to 2005, Kasparov was the last
undisputed World Chess Champion from 1985 until 1993; and
continued to be "classical" World Chess Champion until his
defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000.

In February 1996, IBM's chess computer Deep Blue defeated
Kasparov in one game using normal time controls, in Deep
Blue - Kasparov, 1996, Game 1. However, Kasparov retorted
with 3 wins and 2 draws, soundly winning the match. In May
1997, an updated version of Deep Blue defeated Kasparov in
a highly publicized six-game match. This was the first time
a computer had ever defeated a world champion in match
play. An award-winning documentary film was made about this
famous match up entitled Game Over: Kasparov and the
Machine.


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