World chess championship - the present and the past

Added: 12/17/2005

Chess game took birth in India long ago. It suffered much being forbidden by official church and survived thanks to its pithiness and big amount of devoted fans. The 14th century gave it official permission and since then it growth is limitless. Today chess game is the basis of World Chess Championships and Tournaments. International Chess Federation unites many countries.

Today chess game is widespread and very popular it seems that it has been existing for ages so not everyone put the question: ?When and where was it discovered??, ?Who was the creator of the first World Chess Championship??

It turned out, that the motherland of the chess game became India. The memorable events took place in the first centuries of Common Era. There exists a legend that attaches chess discovery to Brahmin who asked rajah (he was really delighted with new game) to give him insignificant at first sight payment: corns (but their number was counted intricately in accordance with new chess board, this number turned out to be incredibly huge!).

Not very big chess board represents perfect field for numerous combinations. It can be just mentioned that from early beginning first player has 20 possible variants for the first step. And his opponent has 20 possible ways of answering for every variant of the first player. Therefore, we have 400 possible variants of game continuation just after the first step.

Firstly, this game found extension in the Far East and then in central Europe and rest of countries. At the beginning of the 14th century, the church banned this game. The 15th century gave printing to humanity that influenced the development of all sciences. The first printed chess treatises appeared and caused chess boom that was embodied in the first chess competitions ? ancestors of world chess championship.

Although the attempts of the first World Chess Championship took place in the end of the 19th century, the World Chess Championship history in official level began at the 20th century. In 1924, during the 8th Summer Olympic Games in Paris new International Chess Federation was founded. It united 14 countries (at the end of the century it already united 200 countries) and started arrangement of world chess championship.

The federation has its own flag, anthem and motto: ?Genus una sumus? (?we are one family?). From 1980 Chess Federation is the member of UNESCO. It was engaged almost all time in organizing of World Chess Championship and international Chess Olympiads or ?Nation Chess Tournaments?. In 1927, it developed and realized politics of World Chess Championship for women. The second part of the 29th century was opened with successful start of giving the rank of Grand Master to men (from 1950) and to women (from 1974). At the present, there are also many awards for junior and senior world chess champions.

More than 100-year history of personal world championship for men keeps 35 matches of world championships and one match-tournament. Only one time the match was not finished. The matches-revenges took place five times. Record-holders of match numbers are M.Botvinnic, A.Karpov and G.Kasparov (7 matches); Steinitz and Lascer (6 matches); Alyohin 95 matches).
The longest match was limitless match between Kasparov and Karpov (159 days, 48 sets), which is still unfinished. The title of World Champion was gained by 13 chess players. New technologies provide new possibilities of online variant for traditional chess game.

Rate this article:

Bad

Good

Article comments:

No comments for this article yet. Post your comment now!

Return to top of the page