Chess is the most famous and ancient strategy game. For 16 centuries now, a small set of rules and figures has been the most popular entertainment of the nobility first, and then intellectuals and educated people. Despite its popularity, few can tell about chess, a chessboard and a game with anything other than rules.
How many cells on a chessboard?
Chess was invented in India around the 5th-6th centuries. According to legend, the creation of the game is attributed to an unknown brahmin (a representative of one of the highest spiritual castes of society). A simple 8-by-8 chessboard (64 squares), a small list of understandable rules and figures were so fond of the local Rajah that he suggested that the brahmin himself choose a reward for his labors.
Then the sage asked to pay him wheat. The number needed to be calculated by the number of cells on the game field: the number of grains for each cell doubled, starting with one. At first, the Raja laughed and thought that the sage was not as shrewd as it seemed from the game. Everyone who is familiar with geometric progressions, it is not difficult to calculate the number of grains required to fill a chessboard 8 by 8 is equal to 2 64 . To accommodate the required amount of wheat, a warehouse of 180 km 3 would be required. Such a quantity of grain would not be available not only for the Rajah, but also throughout the world.
What is chaturanga?
In ancient India, chaturanga was called a special unit consisting of 4 different types of troops: a fighting elephant, cavalry, infantry and a war chariot. There were options for 2 and 4 participants, dice were involved in the process.
English-language literature claims that chaturanga for 4 players was the first version of chess. However, this is not known for certain, the fact is that in none of the written sources that have reached us are the rules described. We can only say that there were as many cells on the chaturanga field as there were cells on a chessboard. Chaturanga arose later than the 6th century and cannot be the progenitor of chess, only one of the varieties of fun.
Chess Board Dimensions
There is no clear-cut chess field. The board depends on the type of game. In the classic version, the same number of cells on the chessboard as in the chaturanga is 64. The Chinese xiangqi and Korean chang are designed for a 9x9 square. And in the Persian version of the shatrange there are as many cells as there are on the chessboard in our usual version.
Today, a game board is made of wood or stone in the form of a book - a casket. In India, they preferred a rug made of fabric with printed divisions, and in the Arab and Persian countries they could even play on the mosaic floor.
Chess and the Christian Church
On the altar panel in the church of the Augustinians in Pesaro there is a fresco depicting a party between Pontian and Saints Augustine and Alipius (the event dates back to the 4th century). It should be noted that the attitude of the church towards the game was not always unambiguous. The fact is that in Europe the XI-XIV centuries. The Arabic version of chaturanga, which required bones, was spread. Chess was declared "the devil’s fabrication," the Russian Orthodox Church provided for excommunication for his enthusiasm for the game. Although all the prohibitions did not prevent the church officials themselves from being avid chess players, as evidenced by figures regularly found by archaeologists at the site of ancient monasteries and churches.
Chess and art
Since the appearance of the custom-made portrait, the paintings in which the customer is drawn during the process of playing chess have not gone out of fashion. Intellectual fun was held in high esteem by politicians, scientists and other representatives of the highest nobility.
An interesting fact is that chess was not considered purely male fun. In fact, the love of strategy among the stronger sex was so strong that often they taught the game their own wives and daughters. Then a worthy partner was always "at hand", and it was not necessary to go to the men's club to spend an interesting party. During the game of chess, famous writers Ben Johnson and William Shakespeare drew.
Masterfully executed chess pieces and a chessboard can themselves be a work of art. As, for example, copyright chess dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812, presented in the photo above. The idea of fun - the
confrontation of black and white - provides ample opportunity for interpretation and creation of a certain surroundings of the game.
In this version, the figures are made of ebony - natural bone. Pedestals are responsible for the color of chess, and some elements are made of precious metals by a real jeweler. According to the author of the figures himself, he is not a historian, and inaccuracies are possible in costumes, the main task was to convey the spirit of that time. It is very difficult to carry out such projects alone, at least 4 masters worked on the creation of the War 1812 chess during the year.
How many times have Russians become world chess champions
It must be clarified that there are two large chess communities and two strongest rating tables. This situation has developed as a result of the actions of Kasparov and Short. In 1993, both candidates for the champion title accused the International Chess Organization (FIDE, existed since 1948) of bias, refused membership, having lost their ranks, and organized the Professional Chess Organization (PSA). Since 2006, opponents have been able to find compromises, and the unity of the championships has been restored.
Soviet and Russian chess players became champions more often than representatives of other countries. According to FIDE data, at different times the following personalities won the title of best grandmasters:
- Alexander Alekhine (1927 - 1935, 1937 - 1946).
- Mikhail Botvinnik (1948 - 1957, 1958 - 1960, 1961 - 1963).
- Visalys Smyslov (1957 - 1958).
- Mikhail Tal (1960 - 1961).
- Tigran Petrosyan (1963 - 1969).
- Boris Spassky (1969 - 1972).
- Anatoly Karpov (1975 - 1985).
- Garry Kasparov (1985 - 1993).
- Alexander Khalifman (1999 - 2000).
- Vladimir Kramnik (2006 - 2007).
From 2013 to this day, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen has been the world chess champion.