Chess is not illegal in any country in the world today, however, it has been highly discouraged by the Grand Mufti of saudi arabia for example, and in russian antarctic stations due to its negative influence. There are a lot of good things in chess, it is entertaining, educational, and it teaches values that could…
Famous world chess champion Mikhail Tal on one occasion blamed the loss of his lucky pen for the loss of his world title. Another champion, Anatoly Karpov, reportedly refused to wash his hair whenever in a winning streak. These are some of the earliest displays of superstitions from chess players. Superstitions are something that will…
There have been no female chess champions simply because there’s not a lot of women participating in chess competitions (about 16 men for every 1 woman). The closest is the journey of Judith Polgar who was able to reach the candidate tournament in 2007. After watching some of the recent films featuring women excelling in…
Chess is called the game of kings mainly for two reasons: one, chess is popular for people of royal status during medieval times, and two, the centerpiece of the game is the king piece, but there’s much more to that. Chess has been called the game of kings ever since I was just starting to…
Some names of pieces in chess reflect positions in medieval society that could be associated with medieval war, however war is much more bloody, something where things aren’t fair unlike with chess. Furthermore, there are no winners in any war unlike with a simple chess game. Ever since I was introduced to chess there is…
Chess is too complicated with a total of 10^50^50 theoretical games possible, a total of 10^120 reasonable games possible, and a total of 10^70 good games possible which is too large for the current technology to work with, it is far from being solved. No solution in chess is known or expected in the near…
There are many giants in chess history that a lot of people have recognized due to their outstanding achievements, but there are those who deserve just as much that gets overlooked. These are the so-called underrated players that have a lot on their belt yet are rarely discussed by those who like studying chess. So…
A person with a disability can participate in chess tournaments against non-disabled people or other disabled individuals with a Fide rating. People who lack sight can have a custom board that allows touching of the pieces, physical-lacking competitors can have assistants to move the pieces. If you take a look at how many bodily functions…
Russian players are likely to excel in chess since the government provides financial support for their players. There are state-sponsored tournaments that increase monetary prizes since chess is a popular game in Russia. Chess is also being taught in schools as a formal curriculum. If you look at the list of most famous chess players…
Players often pre-arrange draws in elite play as stated by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Magnus Carlsen, but never has there been a reported case of intentionally losing which would result in either withdrawal from the tournament, a temporary ban, or a permanent ban. People watch chess tournaments in order to experience the competitive spirit of playing…
