 Chess - The Game Of Geniuses!
Added: 11/30/2007 |
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Chess from the ancient days is regarded as the best specimen of recreational and competitive game, meant for two players. The game is derived from the Persian Shah, literally the king, which is nothing but an abbreviation of Shâh-mât, or Checkmate, a term which is much used in the game. However, the modern form of the play is sometimes called Western Chess or International Chess, for the sake of differentiating it from the older forms of the game, as was common in ancient India and Persia.
In the present world, chess is regarded as one of the world's most popular games, which is liked and played by millions throughout the world, whether in clubs, online, by means of correspondence, in tournaments and also informally. It is to be noted that even aspects of art and science are found in the composition and theory of chess. Besides chess is also advocated as a perfect way for the enhancement of mental prowes. But it is to be noted, that the present formation of the game is in a much distinguished pattern from its predecssors and other prominent chess variants. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century, being inspired by the ancient Indian and Pesian methods. The game in general is played on a square chequered chessboard with 64 squares. At the outset of the game, each player ("white" and "black") controls sixteen pieces, of which there are one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops and lastly, eight pawns. What is the main objective of the game? The object of the game is to checkmate the king of the opponent, whereby the king is under immediate attack and in reality there is no such way to remove it from attack on the next move. But it should also be remembered that both in respect of theory and application, changes have taken place and theoreticians have kept no stone unturned regarding the development of chess strategies and tactics, since the inception of the game. The tradition of organized competitive chess originated in the 16th century and with the imperialist mechanisms of the European countries this game became farflung in the colonised countries. However, the first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886, and in the subequent years it has been calimed by many outstanding geniuses, with Viswanathan Anand of India as the reigning World Champion. For spreading its popularity and also to meet the rising popular demand there has also been the initiation of biennial world team events called Chess Olympiad, in the recent years. But, who have been the leading brains behind the growth of this game in the international arena? In this respect, since the beginning of the 20 th century, two international organizations, the World Chess Federation and the Intenational Correspondence Chess Federation, have been the key organizations to organize and also superintend the top chess competitions and international titles.
One of the goals of early computer scientists was to create a chess playing machine, and today's chess is deeply influenced by the abilities of current chess programs. However, in the year 1997, a match between Garry Kasparov, then World Champion, and IBM's Deep Blue chess program, that created a sensation in the worldwide spectrum, proved for the first time that computers are able to beat even the strongest human players. Morevover, the popularity of online chess has coincided with the growth of the Internet or the Web based technology. Lastly, from the mathematical point of view also chess is quite interesting. Indeed, there are several combinatorical and topological problems, that being connected to chess are known for hundreds of years.
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