Chess, without exaggeration, is the legendary game that appeared at the dawn of our era. They are truly “oldies” against the backdrop of the entertaining elements that humanity has ever created. Although, by and large, entertainment in this case is debatable, since the action of chess is deeper, they appease and train logic. The representative of each of the figures on the board is individual, has its own character and its own manner of behavior. For example, the way a rook moves in chess cannot be repeated by a knight or pawn.
Game History
Until now, the exact time of the appearance of chess and the conditions under which this happened have not been established, so we have to be content with guesses. One of the most popular legends is the following. The peasant who created chess showed the game to the Raja who ruled at that time, and the latter liked the game so much that he offered the author any reward of his choice. The humble creator of fun asked for a little - as much grain as would fit on a chessboard. Moreover, the placement principle was intricate and based on the degree of two - one grain was put on the first cell of the board, two on the second, four on the third and so on, until the last one was filled, 64 cells. The ruler was pleased - such a small fee for such a successful invention. He called the servants, unlocked the barn and realized that he couldn’t fulfill the condition, since the counting results in a truly countless amount of grain that would fill a 180 cubic meter space without a trace! Raja, paying tribute to the mind of the peasant, gave all the grain that was available, which the latter, without any hesitation, divided equally between the inhabitants of the village.
The story is beautiful, but when you look at chess, you can conclude that this game has become the fruit of many times and many nations, as it is too perfect and deep to become the fruit of one person.
Europe learned about chess only by the 10th century thanks to the ubiquitous Vikings, but did not use it until the 15th century, since the gloomy Middle Ages dictated their rules to people, putting humility, repentance and religion at the forefront. Man is nothing, a grain of sand in the general creation of God. With the advent of the Renaissance, the situation changed dramatically - people began to position themselves as a separate unit, striving for multilateral development. The time has come for chess - every aristocratic house was required by unspoken rule to have them, and people tried to beat each other in the appearance of the figures or their size. Among the powerful of the world at that time, large chess pieces the size of a man who moved by means of servants were popular.
Chess as it is
In the classic version without grotesque extremes, this is a board game that develops strategic thinking and logic. It consists of a two-color board, in which dark and light colored squares alternate, which are numbered vertically with numbers from 1 to 8, horizontally - with letters of the Latin alphabet from a to h.
The game also includes two identical sets of figures, again in contrasting colors. The principle of the game is not complicated, chess for beginners is just a sequence of moves, and then how lucky you are, however, with the growth of knowledge, they can turn into a full-fledged battle.
Command structure
Each of the sets of figures includes the following elements:
- eight pawns;
- two horses;
- two elephants;
- two rooks;
- one queen (queen);
- one king.
The pieces on the chessboard are placed similarly to the image below.
Logical dramas
Chess is a recognized game for the development of logic. Sometimes the battles that unfold on the board are not inferior to the real ones in terms of intensity. The ability to see and evaluate the whole picture, to think two, three steps forward, to understand that even a single rook in chess can really change the situation is all that gives a passion for chess. Each figure that participates in the battle has its own character, its own tactics of behavior.
Pawns at first glance seem to be a bargaining chip during the game, they can only go forward one square and beat diagonally. However, if this piece reaches the opposite edge of the board, then it can be exchanged for the piece that the player needs. As a rule, nobody trifles and immediately takes the queen.
Elephants walk exclusively on the diagonal, but at the same time in both directions, which makes the radius of the lesion palpable.
Horses are known even to those who do not play chess, since the “letter G” step is legendary.
A rook in chess is heavy artillery on the board and is second only to the queen. Walks in a straight line in all directions.
The queen combines the properties of an elephant and a boat, being the most powerful element among the figures.
The king walks like a queen, only one cell.
Let us consider separately the most significant piece after the queen on the board.
Rook
This piece is equivalent in value to five pawns, and earlier we found out how a rook moves in chess, but it differs from its counterparts not only in this. A boat is a defender. She participates in a specific chess move - castling, in which she moves so that the king is under confident protection. Also, this piece is distinguished by a total dictate and, regardless of where in the chess field it is located, it is able to control 14 fields. In special cases, the opponent can be checked, having only a rook and a king out of the army.
All is serious
Logic to logic, strategy to strategy - mathematics, combinatorics and rooks, it turns out, have much in common.
There is even such a thing as a rook polynomial. In practice, it denotes the number of ways that a rook in chess can be located in the amount of n pieces. Moreover, this polynomial works only in two-dimensional and three-dimensional space; the multidimensional question is still open. A theorem is proved, which shows that the rook expression, regardless of the board, has only real roots. Thanks to this, combinatorics gained the ground for the conclusion of those inequalities that were previously impossible. Thus, the game, which was initially perceived as fun, became the impetus for new mathematical discoveries, and much is still to come.