WHY SHOULD YOU PLAY CHESS?

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Chess originated in India many centuries ago and since then it has come a long way! It is a game adored by its practitioners because it is not merely a sport but also a methodology to improve our decision-making ability and concentration. In short, it strengthens our mental capacities!!!!

Main Benefits of Chess

• Chess develops logical thinking.
• Chess promotes imagination and creativity. It encourages you to be inventive.
• Chess teaches independence. You are forced to make important decisions influenced only by your own judgment.
• Chess inspires self-motivation. It encourages the search of the best move, the best plan, and the most beautiful continuation out of the endless possibilities. It encourages the everlasting aim towards progress, always steering to ignite the flame of victory.
• Chess improves concentration. Numerous studies have proven that kids obtain a higher reading level, math level and a greater learning ability overall as a result of playing chess.

Chess and Science

Chess develops the scientific way of thinking. While playing, you generate numerous variations in your mind. You explore new ideas, try to predict their outcomes and interpret surprising revelations. You decide on a hypothesis, and then you make your move and test it.

Chess and Mathematics

Chess involves an infinite number of calculations, anything from counting the number of attackers and defenders in the event of a simple exchange to calculating lengthy continuations. And you use your head to calculate, not some little machine.

Chess and Art

In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia chess is defined as “an art appearing in the form of a game.” If you thought you could never be an artist, chess proves you wrong. Chess enables the artist hiding within you to come out. Your imagination will run wild with endless possibilities on the 64 squares. You will paint pictures in your mind of ideal positions and perfect outposts for your soldiers. As a chess artist you will have an original style and personality.

Chess and Psychology

Chess is a test of patience, nerves, will power and concentration. It enhances your ability to interact with other people. It tests your sportsmanship in a competitive environment.

INTERESTING CHESS FACTS – EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Chess is a very interesting game in that it is fully concrete. Therefore, chess has given a number of interesting experiences to the world. Here are some interesting facts relating to chess.

1. Did you know the number of possible ways of playing the first four moves for both sides in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000?

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

3. The first chessboard with alternating light and dark squares (as it appears today) was made in Europe in 1090.

4. According to the America’s Foundation for Chess, there are 169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000 (approximately 1.70×1029) ways to play the first 10 moves of a game of chess. And they thought a computer would solve chess!

5. The word “checkmate” in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which is often translated to “the king is dead”, although more accurate may be “the king is trapped” or ” the king is without escape” (Treadwell).

6. The longest chess game ever was I.Nikolic – Arsovic, Belgrade 1989, which ended in 269 moves. The game was a draw.

7. There are 400 different possible positions after one move each. There are 72,084 different possible positions after two moves each. There are over 9 million different possible positions after three moves each. There are over 318 billion different possible positions after four moves each. The number of distinct 40-move games in chess is far greater than the number of electrons in the observable universe. The number of electrons is approximately 1079, while the number of unique chess games is 10120.

8. Have you heard of the amazing chessboard paradox? Click the link to see a description.

9. The new pawn move, where pawns were allowed to advance two squares on its first move instead of one, was first introduced in Spain in 1280.

10. The first chess game played between space and earth was on June 9, 1970 by the Soyez-9 crew. The game ended in a draw.

11. An old puzzle: If you put one grain of wheat on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth, and so on, how many grains of wheat do you need to put on the 64th square? The answer is 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (approximately 9.22×1018) grains of wheat. That’s a lot of nutrition.

12. The folding chessboard was invented by a priest who was forbidden to play chess. The priest found a way around it by making a folding chessboard. When folded together and put on a bookshelf, it simply looks like two books.

13. Kirk and Spock have played chess three times on the show Star Trek. Kirk won all three games.

14. A computer called Deep Thought became the first computer to beat an international grandmaster in November 1988, Long Beach, California.

15. Garry Kasparov, at 22, became the youngest ever world champion. Ruslan Ponomariov was younger but he was not the undisputed world champion; Maia Chiburdanidze was even younger when she won the women’s title.