Because the chess game is being one of the oldest games created
there are many interesting facts surrounding this game? Many
researchers say that chess originates from India, due to its
similarities to a Hindu game called Chaturanga that has been
around just as long. However, there are some that believe it
originates from China, 2nd century BC and the word
‘checkmate’ actually derives from a Persian phrase ‘shah
mat,’ translating into ‘the king is defeated.’ The game is
so lost in its antiquity that no-one really knows where its
origins lay.

Chess originated in India in the 6th century. It was called
“chaturanga”, which means literary “four divisions of the
military”. Another theory is that is started in China around the
2nd century BC. Chess reached Europe and Russia around the 10th
century. What we do know is that today Chess Games are held any
where, in homes, at clubs, online and by mail either for
recreation or in a competition or tournament. The most important
aim of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king!

Most chess players, who evolved into masters, became students
at an early age. World chess champion Jose Capablanca began to
play chess at the age of four after watching his father, Anatoly
Karpov was taught the moves of chess also at four years old and
then went on to become a grandmaster and world champion, and
Boris Spassky learned the strategies of the game at the age of
five. International grandmaster is one of the highest titles you
can receive, Judit Polgar achieved this at 15 years old and
Bobby Fischer was awarded the title of international master at
14 years old. Of course chess isn’t only for the very young;
it’s popular with all ages. Gyorgy Negyesy who died in 1992,
just before his 99th birthday, was the longest living master
chess player.

Chess games can last hours or minutes depending on the skill of
the players or even their fortune. It is unbelievable but there
have been games which involved only 1 move, amazing! A famous
game like this was held between Rogoff and Huber in 1972. But
the longest game ever recorded was between Nikolic and Arsovic,
held in Yugoslavia in 1989. This chess game involved 269 moves
and took over 20 hours and no one won.

Not only men but women regularly win championships and claim
world titles as well. Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman to
win a men’s chess tournament in 1977. Here she tied for first
place and after this went on to achieve men’s international
grandmaster status in 1978. Maia Chiburdanidze who was 17 years
old was the youngest women’s world champion of all when she
won the women’s title in 1978. The first woman in history to
qualify for the men’s world championship was Susan Polgar in the
year 1986. Again is does not matter what age you are because
Edith Price was 76 when she won the British ladies championship
in 1946.

Not satisfied with a ‘normal’ game of chess, some players
like to set themselves a challenge and that’s exactly what
George Koltanowski did when he played 56 consecutive games in
1960. In 1977, Czechoslovakian Vlastimil Hort played 550
opponents, 201 of them simultaneously. He won all but 10 games
in just over thirty hours. He won 50 and drew the other 6. He
also played blindfolded! In 1997, Dimitrije Bjelica played 312
games simultaneously, winning 219, losing 1 and drawing 92. Not
everyone is a winner of course as was proved when Austrian
master Josef Krejcik played 25 games simultaneously in 1910 and
lost every one.

Chess sets are not only simple and practical, many of them are
beautifully hand crafted. A unique chess set was discovered in
1170. Carved from walrus tusks, each of the characters is shown
in a bad mood, ranging from anger to depression. If you are
looking for unique chess pieces, Spanish surrealist artist
Salvador Dali’s did an amazing job with a design that
exchanged the traditional chessmen with fingers and thumbs made
of silver based on his own digits.

Interested in the game of chess now? All you need to do is
purchase yourself a basic chess
set and you can start learning how to play chess today. Oh,
and you will need a willing partner of course! Or if you already
know how to play why not treat yourself and upgrade your chess
board and chess pieces with a quality set?