History of Chess

History of Chess

---

The origin of the game of chess is credited to India where chess was derived from the game of ‘chaturanga’ before the 7th century. During the 9th century, Arabia and Persia led to the emergence of the game among the European countries. The queen’s, as well as the bishop’s modern-day powers, were framed in Spain during the end years of the 15th century. The 19th century saw the standardization of the current rules of the game.

image

---

Rules of the Game of Chess

At the start of the game, each player has 16 pieces, precisely 8 pawns, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, 1 queen, and 1 king. Different types of pieces have different styles of movement. Pawns have the least power while the maximum power is held by the queen.

Players play to put the opponent’s king in a position of the threat of being captured from where the king cannot escape. Opponent pieces are attacked and captured in the process of encroaching on the opponent king’s territory to finally call for a checkmate. A player loses a chess game on being declared checkmate, on being timed out in a time mentioned game, or on conditions he/she resigns from the game.

---

Importance of Chess in Developing Strategic Thinking

The game of chess comes with a whole lot of benefits increasing the mental faculties of a person with an improvement in the capability to learn, think, and make decisions in the right manner. Building the analytical power of a person, chess helps a person frame better strategies not only while playing the game but also in the aspects of life. This also makes a person learn the significance of foresight to make plans and take measures accordingly. Playing chess also betters the skills in communication and aptitude with better recognition of patterns. The value of persistence, patience, concentration and hard work is derived from repeated participation in chess.

They say life is like a game of chess. The importance of the game stated in this essay about chess makes this chess essay in English a precise and most significant study about the same.

---

Major Chess Competitions

The international body governing the game of chess is FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs). Many countries have their respective national organizations for chess that are further members of the FIDE. An interesting fact is that the FIDE, being a member of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) organizes its own Olympiad without involving chess in the Olympic Games. The chess Olympiad is organized as a team event every two years. Other major competitions are the World Junior Chess Championship, The National Chess Championships, and the European Individual Chess Championship.