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– Présentation
– Règles du jeu

Échecs

Le jeu d’échecs oppose deux joueurs de part et d’autre d’un plateau ou tablier appelé échiquier, composé de 64 cases claires et sombres nommées les cases blanches et les cases noires. Les joueurs jouent à tour de rôle en déplaçant l’une de leurs seize pièces (ou deux pièces en cas de roque), claires pour le camp des blancs, sombres pour le camp des noirs. Chaque joueur possède au départ un roi, une dame, deux tours, deux fous, deux cavaliers et huit pions. Le but du jeu est d’infliger à son adversaire un échec et mat, une situation dans laquelle le roi d’un joueur est en prise sans qu’il soit possible d’y remédier.

Le jeu, introduit dans le Sud de l’ Europe à partir du X^e siècle, est vraisemblablement issu du chaturanga, un jeu très similaire datant du VI^e siècle et originaire d’Inde. Les règles actuelles se fixent à partir de la fin du XV^e siècle. Le jeu d’échecs est l’un des jeux de réflexion les plus populaires au monde. Il est pratiqué par des millions de gens sous de multiples formes : en famille, entre amis, dans des lieux publics, en club, en tournoi, par correspondance, contre des machines spécialisées, sur Internet, aux niveaux amateur et professionnel. Depuis son introduction en Europe, le jeu d’échecs jouit d’un prestige et d’une aura particuliers. Il a très largement inspiré la culture, en particulier la peinture, la littérature et le cinéma. En France on le surnomme « le roi des jeux » ou encore « le noble jeu ».

La compétition aux échecs existe depuis les origines. On en trouve trace à la cour d’ Haroun ar-Rachid au VIII^e siècle. Le premier tournoi de l’ère moderne a lieu à Londres en marge de l’ Exposition universelle de 1851. La compétition est régie par la Fédération internationale des échecs (FIDE) et le jeu est reconnu comme sport olympique depuis 1999. Parallèlement, l’ Association of Chess Professionals défend les interêts des joueurs professionnels. Le premier champion du monde d’échecs est Wilhelm Steinitz en 1886 ; le champion en titre est l’Indien Viswanathan Anand depuis 2007.

Une théorie du jeu, développée depuis son invention et de façon intensive par les joueurs de premier plan de l’époque moderne, est transmise au travers d’une littérature échiquéenne abondante. La théorie des jeux (mathématique) décrit quant à elle les échecs comme un jeu de stratégie combinatoire abstrait de réflexion pure, fini, sans cycle et à information complète et parfaite. L’absence de cycles est garantie par les règles de nulle : répétition de position, règle des 50 coups et impossibilité de mater.

Un des objectifs des premiers informaticiens a été de mettre au point des machines capables de jouer aux échecs. De nos jours, le jeu est profondément influencé par les capacités des programmes joueurs d’échecs, ainsi que par la possibilité de jouer sur Internet. En 1997, Deep Blue devient le premier ordinateur à battre un champion du monde en titre dans un match qui l’oppose à Garry Kasparov.

La composition échiquéenne, la forme artistique du jeu, a produit des centaines de milliers de problèmes dans de multiples genres. Cette discipline est également sous l’égide de la FIDE, qui organise des concours spécifiques pour les compositeurs de problème et les solutionnistes. Elle édite l’ Album FIDE, un recueil triannuel des meilleures compositions.

Sommaire [/lang_fr] [lang_fr] 1 Règles du jeu 1.1 Présentation 1.2 Déplacements des pièces 1.3 Règles spéciales 1.3.1 Roque 1.3.2 Prise en passant 1.3.3 Pat 1.3.4 Promotion 1.4 Fin de la partie 2 Notation des parties 2.1 Notation des coups spéciaux 2.2 Notation avec figurines 2.3 Annotation des parties 2.4 Notation informatique (PGN et FEN) 3 Principes de jeu 3.1 Stratégie 3.2 Tactique 3.3 L’ouverture 3.4 Le milieu de partie 3.5 La finale 4 Parties 4.1 Miniatures 4.2 Partie commentée 4.3 Parties célèbres 5 Compétition 5.1 Jeu à la pendule 5.1.1 La pendule 5.1.2 Cadences de jeu 5.2 La fédération internationale des échecs (FIDE) 5.3 L’arbitrage 5.4 Tricherie 5.5 Les systèmes d’appariement 5.6 Les champions du monde 5.7 Les championnes du monde 5.8 Les grands tournois mondiaux 6 Psychologie 7 Histoire 7.1 Les légendes 7.1.1 Le mythe du brahmane Sissa 7.1.2 Légende grecque 7.1.3 Légende latine 7.2 Origines orientales 7.2.1 Les recherches historiques 7.2.2 Diffusion 7.3 Arrivée en Europe et évolution 7.4 L’époque moderne 8 La composition échiquéenne 8.1 Le problème 8.2 L’étude 9 Variantes du jeu d’échecs 10 Échecs et informatique 10.1 Programmes d’échecs 10.2 Programmes de résolution de problèmes 11 Symbolique des échecs 12 Arts et culture 12.1 Poésie 12.2 Littérature 12.3 Cinéma 12.4 Musique 12.5 Tradition médiévale 13 Notes et références 13.1 Références issues du Guide des Échecs 13.2 Autres notes et références 14 Voir aussi 14.1 Liens internes 14.2 Articles connexes 14.3 Bibliographie 14.4 Liens externes

Une partie d’échecs commence dans la position initiale ci-contre, les blancs jouent le premier coup puis les joueurs jouent à tour de rôle en déplaçant à chaque fois une de leurs pièces (deux dans le cas d’un roque). Chaque pièce se déplace de façon spécifique, il n’est pas possible de jouer sur une case occupée par une pièce de son propre camp. Lorsqu’une pièce adverse se trouve sur la case d’arrivée de la pièce jouée, elle est capturée et retirée de l’échiquier. Gagner du matériel (des pièces) est un moyen pour gagner la partie, mais ne suffit pas toujours pour y parvenir.

Il existe des règles spéciales lors du déplacement de certaines pièces : le roque, qui permet le déplacement simultané du roi et de l’une des tours ; la prise en passant, qui permet une capture particulière des pions ; et la promotion des pions, qui permet de les transformer en une pièce maîtresse de son choix (sauf le roi) lorsqu’ils atteignent la dernière rangée de l’échiquier.

Lorsqu’un roi est menacé de capture, on dit qu’il est en échec. Si cette menace est imparable (on peut tenter de parer la menace en déplaçant le roi, en interposant une pièce ou en capturant la pièce attaquante) on dit qu’il y a échec et mat et la partie se termine sur la victoire du joueur qui mate. Il est interdit de mettre son propre roi en échec ou de le faire passer sur une ligne d’échec pendant le roque, si cela arrive (par inadvertance entre débutants) on doit reprendre le coup.

Si un camp ne peut plus jouer aucun coup légal (cela arrive par exemple avec un roi seul et l’ensemble de ses pions bloqués) et si son roi n’est pas en échec, on dit alors qu’il s’agit d’une position de pat. Quel que soit le matériel dont le camp adverse dispose, la partie est déclarée nulle, c’est-à-dire sans vainqueur.

Le but du jeu est donc d’infliger un échec et mat à son adversaire. Le terme échec et mat vient de säh mäta (en persan, soit sheykh mat), « le roi est pris », pour indiquer la défaite du roi. Le mot sheykh est à l’origine du mot échec et du nom des échecs dans un grand nombre de langues et le mot säh est à l’origine du mot shah.

Pat

Le pat est une situation particulière dans laquelle un camp au trait ne peut jouer aucun coup légal, sans pour autant que son roi soit en échec. La partie se termine immédiatement et elle est déclarée nulle, c’est-à-dire sans vainqueur.

Dans le diagramme ci-contre, le roi blanc au trait n’a aucun coup légal car on n’a pas le droit de se mettre en échec volontairement, et le pion blanc est bloqué. Puisqu’il n’y a pas échec, c’est un pat et la partie est déclarée nulle.

Promotion

La promotion du pion ^{G 5} consiste à le transformer au choix du joueur et indépendamment des pièces antérieurement perdues en dame, en tour, en fou ou en cavalier de même couleur lorsqu’il atteint la dernière rangée de l’échiquier (la huitième pour les blancs et la première pour les noirs). Dans le diagramme ci-contre les blancs peuvent jouer leur pion en f8 et le transformer en dame, en tour, en fou ou en cavalier. Lorsque un pion atteint la dernière rangée, il est obligatoire de le promouvoir immédiatement, on ne peut ni le laisser inchangé ni reporter la promotion à plus tard.

La sous-promotion consiste lors de la promotion à choisir une pièce autre que la dame, qui est normalement privilégiée car c’est la pièce la plus puissante du jeu. C’est parfois utile comme dans le diagramme ci-contre, en effet on se rend compte qu’après avoir joué f8=D, le roi noir ne dispose d’aucun coup légal. Les noirs n’ayant pas d’autre pièce à jouer sont pat et la partie est nulle, bien que les blancs aient une dame d’avance.

En conséquence, les blancs choisissent de faire une sous-promotion en tour : f8=T, les noirs ne sont pas pat car ils peuvent jouer Rg7 et les blancs gagnent cette finale théorique facile. Si les blancs choisissaient de sous-promouvoir leur pion en fou ou en cavalier la partie serait nulle car il n’est pas possible de mater avec R + F contre R seul, ou R + C contre R seul.

Notation informatique (PGN et FEN)

Le format PGN vise à standardiser le format utilisé pour décrire une partie d’échecs à destination des programmes informatiques. Il se compose d’une partie d’en-têtes qui donnent des informations au sujet des joueurs, de la date et du lieu de la partie, de la cadence, etc. Ces en-têtes sont suivis par les coups joués, décrits en format SAN (Standard Algebraic Notation). Le format SAN, qui fait partie de la spécification PGN, est très similaire à la notation algébrique abrégée en langue anglaise (K=Roi, Q=Dame, B=Fou, N=Cavalier, R=Tour) mais en diffère cependant quelque peu (par exemple, en cas de promotion, le signe = est obligatoire: e8=Q tandis qu’en notation algébrique abrégée, ce signe est omis : e8Q).

Le standard FEN (Forsyth-Edwards Notation) est utilisé pour décrire une position.

Chess Query Language (CQL) est un langage de requête qui permet d’extraire des parties ou des positions d’une base de données de parties d’échecs.

Compétition

Histoire

Symbolique des échecs

Très rapidement après leur arrivée en Europe, les échecs acquièrent un statut particulier. Divertissement de l’élite, ils représentent une activité noble au cours de laquelle s’affrontent les esprits des participants. Les possibilités quasi-infinies offertes par le jeu fascinent et donnent naissance à de nombreuses interprétations ésotériques. Certains le considèrent notamment comme une représentation du monde où chaque situation peut être modélisée en une position qui peut trouver sa solution sur l’échiquier.

Les échecs sont surnommés « le roi des jeux », et ce statut particulier rend toute tentative de mécanisation extraordinaire. Si les premiers automates joueurs d’échecs comme le turc mécanique, sont des mystifications, la capacité à jouer aux échecs sera l’un des premiers objectifs des concepteurs d’ ordinateurs et l’un des premiers témoignages de l’apparition de ce qui est alors considéré comme de l’ intelligence artificielle ^{G 26}. C’est cette perception du jeu d’échecs comme expression de l’intelligence humaine qui dramatise les affrontements entre Gary Kasparov et la machine Deep Blue. La défaite du champion de l’espèce humaine marque alors fortement les esprits.

Le jeu d’échecs symbolise fréquemment l’affrontement de deux psychés, deux capacités intellectuelles. Cette dimension encourage l’ Union soviétique à se doter d’une école d’échecs qui forme pendant un demi-siècle tous les champions du monde. C’est également un aspect fréquemment utilisé dans l’ art populaire pour figurer l’opposition, et parfois la séduction, entre deux personnages.

Arts et culture

De nombreux tableaux, sculptures, films et photographies mettent en scène le jeu d’échecs ^{41, 42, 43}.

Poésie

Les deux plus anciens poèmes sur les échecs sont en latin. Schaccia ludus, publié en 1527 par Marco Girolamo Vida, expose les règles du jeu de l’époque et met en scène une partie, arbitrée par Jupiter, opposant Phœbus à Mercure. Caïssa, écrit en hexamètres latins par William Jones en 1763, a consacré la dryade mythique comme déesse du jeu d’échecs.

« Le mot signifie quatre parties. Il se jouait à quatre sur un échiquier carré de 8 cases sur 8, avec 8 pièces : Roi, éléphant, cheval, chariot, et 4 soldats. On avançait les pièces selon les points obtenus en lançant les dés. Ce jeu connut plusieurs variantes dont le Dashapada qui se jouait sur un échiquier de 10 cases sur 10. Dans le sud de l’Inde, il se jouait sur un échiquier de 9 cases sur 9 et était appelé Saturankam ou Ashtapada. Ce jeu était imité de l’organisation ancienne de l’armée indienne composée de quatre corps (Chaturanga balakâya)- Louis Frédéric, « Dictionnaire de la civilisation indienne », Robert Laffont, collection Bouquins, Paris, 1987, p. 278 ( ISBN 978-2-221-01258-1) extrait de Jeanine Auboyer, La vie publique et privée dans l’Inde ancienne, chap.VI : Jeux et jouets, publications du Musée Guimet, Paris, 1953 »

« Je sais que ce garçon tire le pistolet admirablement, chasse très bien, joue merveilleusement au billard, aux échecs et au trictrac ; il fait des armes et monte à cheval comme feu le chevalier de Saint-Georges (…) dessine, danse et chante bien. Eh ! diantre, qu’avez-vous donc, vous autres ? Si ce n’est pas là un gentilhomme parfait, montrez-moi un bourgeois qui sache tout cela. » Honoré de Balzac, Le Bal de Sceaux, Édition Charles Furne, 1845, vol.I

Voir aussi

Liens internes

• Lexique du jeu d’échecs
• Règles du jeu d’échecs
• Notation algébrique
• Échecs par correspondance

Articles connexes

• Programme d’échecs
• XBoard
• Deep Blue
• Intelligence artificielle
• Partie à l’aveugle
• FICS
• Code ECO et Code ECE
• Shogi (Jeu d’échecs japonais)
• Xiangqi (Jeu d’échecs chinois)

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Bibliographie

• 1934 : Xavier Tartakover, Bréviaire des échecs, Stock ; Le Livre de poche, 2003 ( ISBN 978-2-253-04620-2)
• 1974 : Camil Seneca, Les Échecs, 464 p., Le Livre de poche ( ISBN 978-2-253-03090-4)
  Manuel pour débutant.
• 1981 : Jacques Dexteit et Norbert Engel, Jeu d’échecs et sciences humaines, 296 p., Payot ( ISBN 978-2-228-12880-3)
• 1997 : Larousse des échecs, Éditions Larousse ( ISBN 978-2-03-518207-4)
• 2000 : Pascal Reysset et Jean-Louis Cazaux, L’Univers des échecs, Éditions Bornemann, Univers du jeu ( ISBN 978-2-85182-631-2)
• 2002 : Colleen Schafroth, L’Art des échecs, Éditions de la Martinière ( ISBN 978-2-7324-2852-9)
• 2002 : Thierry Wendling, Ethnologie des joueurs d’échecs, PUF ( ISBN 978-2-13-051440-4)
• 2005 : Jérôme Maufras, Le jeu d’échecs, PUF collection : Que sais-je ( ISBN 978-2-13-054386-2)
• 2008: Yves Marek, « Art, échecs et mat », Actes sud-imprimerie Nationale
• 2009 : Nicolas Giffard et Alain Biénabe, Le nouveau guide des échecs : Traité complet, Robert Laffont, 1^er octobre 2009, 1701 p. ( ISBN 978-2-221-11013-3)
• 2010 : Jean-Louis Cazaux, L’Odyssée des jeux d’échecs, Praxeo, novembre 2010, 367 p. ( ISBN 978-2-9520472-8-9)

Liens externes

• (mul) dmoz
• (en) Fédération internationale des échecs
• (fr) Fédération française des échecs
• (fr) (en) Fédération québécoise des échecs
• (en) International Correspondence Chess Federation

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– Presentation

– Chess

– Game Rules

– Rule 50 shots

– Profits

Chess

From left to right: a white king, a black rook, a black queen, a white pawn, a black knight, and a white bishop
Players	2
Setup time	About 1 minute
Playing time	Casual games usually last 10 to 60 minutes; tournament games last anywhere from about ten minutes ( blitz chess) to six hours or longer.
Random chance	None
Skills required	Tactics, strategy

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: One king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Pieces move in different assigned ways according to their type, and accordingly are used to attack and capture the opponent’s pieces. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in  » check ») and there is no way to move or defend it.

Games of chess begin according to either standard (studied in-depth) or non-standard openings, in which the purpose is the development of pieces —moving them into positions where they can be effective. Moves are chosen with offensive and defensive considerations, according to a strategy of attack, or to respond to urgent threats. Throughout the game, players seek to set up and execute exchanges of pieces which gain the advantage in terms of piece value or board position (for example, one may exchange a knight for a knight plus a pawn). At critical stages, winning often requires solving unique or clever situations or puzzles. In addition to checkmate, games may be won by resignation, if too much material has been lost, or if one’s position is severely compromised and a checkmate appears unavoidable. Strong players are those who have studied game openings and have developed the skills of depth and insight in their reading of the game position. Theoreticians have developed extensive chess strategies and tactics since the game’s inception.

The game’s present form emerged in Europe during the second half of the 15th century, an evolution of an older Indian game, Shatranj (cf. Chaturanga). Organized competitive chess began during the 16th century. The first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; the current World Champion is Viswanathan Anand from India. In addition to the World Championship, there is the Women’s World Championship, the Junior World Championship, the World Senior Championship, the Correspondence Chess World Championship, the World Computer Chess Championship, and Blitz and Rapid World Championships (see fast chess). The Chess Olympiad is a popular competition among teams from different nations. Online chess has opened amateur and professional competition to a wide and varied group of players. Chess is a recognized sport of the International Olympic Committee, and international chess competition is sanctioned by the FIDE. Chess is one of the world’s most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments. Some other popular forms of chess are fast chess and computer chess. There are many chess variants that have different rules, different pieces, and different boards. These variants include blindfold chess and Fischer Random Chess/Chess960.

Computers have been used for many years to create chess-playing programs, and their abilities and insights have contributed significantly to modern chess theory. One, Deep Blue, was the first machine to overcome a reigning World Chess Champion in playing ability when it defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997.

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Contents 1 Rules 1.1 Setup 1.2 Movement 1.3 Castling 1.4 En passant 1.5 Promotion 1.6 Check 1.7 End of the game 1.8 Time control 2 Notation for recording moves 3 Strategy and tactics 3.1 Fundamentals of tactics 3.2 Fundamentals of strategy 3.3 Opening 3.4 Middlegame 3.5 Endgame 4 History 4.1 Predecessors 4.2 Origins of the modern game (1000–1850) 4.3 Birth of a sport (1850–1945) 4.4 Post-war era (1945 and later) 5 Place in culture 5.1 Pre-modern 5.2 Modern 6 Chess composition 6.1 Example 7 Competitive play 7.1 Organization of competitions 7.2 Titles and rankings 8 Publications 9 Mathematics and computers 10 Psychology 11 Variants 12 See also 13 Notes 13.1 Footnotes 13.2 Citations 14 References 15 Further reading 16 External links

Rules

The official rules of chess are maintained by the World Chess Federation. Along with information on official chess tournaments, the rules are described in the FIDE Handbook, Laws of Chess section. ^[1]

Setup

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Chess is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks and denoted with numbers 1 to 8) and eight columns (called files and denoted with letters a to h) of squares. The colors of the sixty-four squares alternate and are referred to as « light squares » and « dark squares ». The chessboard is placed with a light square at the right-hand end of the rank nearest to each player, and the pieces are set out as shown in the diagram, with each queen on its own color.

The pieces are divided, by convention, into white and black sets. The players are referred to as « White » and « Black », and each begins the game with sixteen pieces of the specified color. These consist of one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.

Movement

White always moves first. After the initial move, the players alternately move one piece at a time (with the exception of castling, when two pieces are moved). Pieces are moved to either an unoccupied square or one occupied by an opponent’s piece, which is captured and removed from play. With the sole exception of en passant, all pieces capture opponent’s pieces by moving to the square that the opponent’s piece occupies. A player may not make any move that would put or leave his king under attack. If the player to move has no legal moves, the game is over; it is either a checkmate—if the king is under attack—or a stalemate—if the king is not.

Each chess piece has its own style of moving. In the diagrams, the dots mark the squares where the piece can move if no other pieces (including one’s own piece) are on the squares between the piece’s initial position and its destination.

• The king moves one square in any direction. The king has also a special move which is called castling and involves also moving a rook.
• The rook can move any number of squares along any rank or file, but may not leap over other pieces. Along with the king, the rook is involved during the king’s castling move.
• The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally, but may not leap over other pieces.
• The queen combines the power of the rook and bishop and can move any number of squares along rank, file, or diagonal, but it may not leap over other pieces.
• The knight moves to any of the closest squares that are not on the same rank, file, or diagonal, thus the move forms an « L »-shape two squares long and one square wide. The knight is the only piece that can leap over other pieces.
• The pawn may move forward to the unoccupied square immediately in front of it on the same file; or on its first move it may advance two squares along the same file provided both squares are unoccupied; or it may move to a square occupied by an opponent’s piece which is diagonally in front of it on an adjacent file, capturing that piece. The pawn has two special moves: the en passant capture and pawn promotion.

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* Pawns can optionally move two squares forward instead of one on their first move only. They capture diagonally (black x’s); they cannot capture with their normal move (black circles). Pawns are also involved in the special move called en passant.

Castling

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Once in every game, each king is allowed to make a special move, known as castling. Castling consists of moving the king two squares along the first rank toward a rook (which is on the player’s first rank ^{[note 1]}) and then placing the rook on the last square the king has just crossed. Castling is permissible only if all of the following conditions hold: ^[2]

• Neither of the pieces involved in castling may have been previously moved during the game.
• There must be no pieces between the king and the rook.
• The king may not currently be in check, nor may the king pass through squares that are under attack by enemy pieces, nor move to a square where it is in check.

En passant

When a pawn advances two squares and there is an opponent’s pawn on an adjacent file next to its destination square, then the opponent’s pawn can capture it en passant (in passing), and move to the square the pawn passed over. However, this can only be done on the very next move, or the right to do so is lost. For example, if the black pawn has just advanced two squares from g7 to g5, then the white pawn on f5 can take it via en passant on g6 (but only on white’s next move).

Promotion

When a pawn advances to the eighth rank, as a part of the move it is promoted and must be exchanged for the player’s choice of queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color. Usually, the pawn is chosen to be promoted to a queen, but in some cases another piece is chosen (usually a knight); this is called underpromotion. In the diagram on the right, the pawn on c7 can be advanced to the eighth rank and be promoted to an allowed piece. There is no restriction placed on the piece that is chosen on promotion, so it is possible to have more pieces of the same type than at the start of the game (for example, two queens).

Check

When a king is under immediate attack by one or two of the opponent’s pieces, it is said to be in check. A response to a check is a legal move if it results in a position where the king is no longer under direct attack (that is, not in check). This can involve capturing the checking piece; interposing a piece between the checking piece and the king (which is possible only if the attacking piece is a queen, rook, or bishop and there is a square between it and the king); or moving the king to a square where it is not under attack. Castling is not a permissible response to a check. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent’s king is in check, and there is no legal way to remove it from attack. It is illegal for a player to make a move that would put or leave his own king in check.

End of the game

Although the objective of the game is to checkmate the opponent, chess games do not have to end in checkmate—either player may resign which is a win for the other player. It is considered bad etiquette to continue playing when in a truly hopeless position. ^[3] If it is a timed game, a player may run out of time and lose, even with a much superior position. Games also may end in a draw (tie). A draw can occur in several situations, including draw by agreement, stalemate, threefold repetition of a position, the fifty-move rule, or a draw by impossibility of checkmate (usually because of insufficient material to checkmate). As checkmate from some positions cannot be forced in fewer than 50 moves (such as in the pawnless chess endgame and two knights endgame), the fifty-move rule is not applied everywhere, ^{[note 2]} particularly in correspondence chess.

Time control

Besides casual games without any time restriction, chess is also played with a time control, mostly by club and professional players. If a player’s time runs out before the game is completed, the game is automatically lost (provided his opponent has enough pieces left to deliver checkmate). The duration of a game ranges from long games played up to seven hours to shorter rapid chess games, usually lasting 30 minutes or one hour per game. Even shorter is blitz chess, with a time control of three to fifteen minutes for each player, and bullet chess (under three minutes). In tournament play, time is controlled using a game clock that has two displays, one for each player’s remaining time.

Notation for recording moves

Chess games and positions are recorded using a special notation, most often algebraic chess notation. ^[5] Abbreviated (or short) algebraic notation generally records moves in the format « abbreviation of the piece moved – file where it moved – rank where it moved. » For example, Qg5 means « queen moves to the g-file and 5th rank (that is, to the square g5). If there are two pieces of the same type that can move to the same square, one more letter or number is added to indicate the file or rank from which the piece moved, e.g. Ngf3 means « knight from the g-file moves to the square f3 ». The letter P indicating a pawn is not used, so that e4 means « pawn moves to the square e4« .

If the piece makes a capture, « x » is inserted before the destination square. Thus Bxf3 means « bishop captures on f3 ». When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn departed is used in place of a piece initial, and ranks may be omitted if unambiguous. For example, exd5 (pawn on the e-file captures the piece on d5) or exd (pawn on e-file captures something on the d-file).

If a pawn moves to its last rank, achieving promotion, the piece chosen is indicated after the move, for example e1Q or e1=Q. Castling is indicated by the special notations 0–0 for kingside castling and 0–0–0 for queenside castling. A move that places the opponent’s king in check usually has the notation « + » added. Checkmate can be indicated by « # » (occasionally « ++ », although this is sometimes used for a double check instead). At the end of the game, « 1–0 » means « White won, » « 0–1 » means « Black won, » and « ½–½ » indicates a draw. ^[6]

Chess moves can be annotated with punctuation marks and other symbols. For example « ! » indicates a good move, « !! » an excellent move, « ? » a mistake, « ?? » a blunder, « !? » an interesting move that may not be best, or « ?! » a dubious move, but not easily refuted. ^[7]

For example, one variant of a simple trap known as the Scholar’s mate, animated in the picture to the right, can be recorded:

1. e4 e5
2. Qh5?! Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6??
4. Qxf7# 1–0

Strategy and tactics

Chess strategy consists of setting and achieving long-term goals during the game – for example, where to place different pieces – while tactics concentrate on immediate maneuver. These two parts of the chess-playing process cannot be completely separated, because strategic goals are mostly achieved by the means of tactics, while the tactical opportunities are based on the previous strategy of play.

A game of chess is normally divided into three phases: opening, typically the first 10 to 25 moves, when players move their pieces into useful positions for the coming battle; middlegame, usually the fiercest part of the game; and endgame, when most of the pieces are gone, kings typically take a more active part in the struggle, and pawn promotion is often decisive. The endgame requires a lot of strategy and a thorough understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the pieces left on the board.

Fundamentals of tactics

In chess, tactics in general concentrate on short-term actions – so short-term that they can be calculated in advance by a human player or by a computer. The possible depth of calculation depends on the player’s ability. In quiet positions with many possibilities on both sides, a deep calculation is more difficult and may not be practical, while in « tactical » positions with a limited number of forced variations where much less than the best move would lose quickly, strong players can calculate long sequences of moves.

Simple one-move or two-move tactical actions – threats, exchanges of material, and double attacks – can be combined into more complicated combinations, sequences of tactical maneuvers that are often forced from the point of view of one or both players. ^[9] Theoreticians described many elementary tactical methods and typical maneuvers; for example, pins, forks, skewers, batteries, discovered attacks (especially discovered checks), zwischenzugs, deflections, decoys, sacrifices, underminings, overloadings, and interferences. ^[10]

A forced variation that involves a sacrifice and usually results in a tangible gain is called a combination. ^[9] Brilliant combinations – such as those in the Immortal Game – are considered beautiful and are admired by chess lovers. A common type of chess exercise, aimed at developing players’ skills, is showing players a position where a decisive combination is available and challenging them to find it. ^[11]

Fundamentals of strategy

Chess strategy is concerned with evaluation of chess positions and with setting up goals and long-term plans for the future play. During the evaluation, players must take into account numerous factors such as the value of the pieces on the board, control of the center and centralization, the pawn structure, king safety, and the control of key squares or groups of squares (for example, diagonals, open files, and dark or light squares).

An example of visualizing pawn structures

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h After 12…Re8 in Tarrasch–Euwe [12]… [/lang_en] [lang_en]

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h …and its pawn skeleton (the « Rauzer formation »)

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The most basic step in evaluating a position is to count the total value of pieces of both sides. ^[13] The point values used for this purpose are based on experience; usually pawns are considered worth one point, knights and bishops about three points each, rooks about five points (the value difference between a rook and a bishop or knight being known as the exchange), and queens about nine points. The king is more valuable than all of the other pieces combined, since its checkmate loses the game. But in practical terms, in the endgame the king as a fighting piece is generally more powerful than a bishop or knight but less powerful than a rook. ^[14] These basic values are then modified by other factors like position of the piece (for example, advanced pawns are usually more valuable than those on their initial squares), coordination between pieces (for example, a pair of bishops usually coordinate better than a bishop and a knight), or the type of position (knights are generally better in closed positions with many pawns while bishops are more powerful in open positions). ^[15]

Another important factor in the evaluation of chess positions is the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton), or the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. ^[16] Since pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and largely determines the strategic nature of the position. Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as isolated, doubled, or backward pawns and holes, once created, are often permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid these weaknesses unless they are compensated by another valuable asset (for example, by the possibility of developing an attack). ^[17]

Opening

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a game (the « opening moves »). Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings and have been given names such as the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian Defence. They are catalogued in reference works such as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings. There are dozens of different openings, varying widely in character from quiet positional play (for example, the Réti Opening) to very aggressive (the Latvian Gambit). In some opening lines, the exact sequence considered best for both sides has been worked out to more than 30 moves. ^[18] Professional players spend years studying openings and continue doing so throughout their careers, as opening theory continues to evolve.

The fundamental strategic aims of most openings are similar: ^[19]

• Development: This is the technique of placing the pieces (particularly bishops and knights) on useful squares where they will have an optimal impact on the game.
• Control of the center: Control of the central squares allows pieces to be moved to any part of the board relatively easily, and can also have a cramping effect on the opponent.
• King safety: It is critical to keep the king safe from dangerous possibilities. A correctly timed castling can often enhance this.
• Pawn structure: Players strive to avoid the creation of pawn weaknesses such as isolated, doubled, or backward pawns, and pawn islands – and to force such weaknesses in the opponent’s position.

Most players and theoreticians consider that White, by virtue of the first move, begins the game with a small advantage. This initially gives White the initiative. ^[20] Black usually strives to neutralize White’s advantage and achieve equality, or to develop dynamic counterplay in an unbalanced position.

Middlegame

The middlegame is the part of the game which starts after the opening. There is no clear line between the opening and the middlegame, but typically the middlegame will start when most pieces have been developed. (Similarly, there is no clear transition from the middlegame to the endgame; see start of the endgame.) Because the opening theory has ended, players have to form plans based on the features of the position, and at the same time take into account the tactical possibilities of the position. ^[21] The middlegame is the phase in which most combinations occur. Combinations are a series of tactical moves executed to achieve some gain. Middlegame combinations are often connected with an attack against the opponent’s king; some typical patterns have their own names; for example, the Boden’s Mate or the Lasker–Bauer combination. ^[22]

Specific plans or strategic themes will often arise from particular groups of openings which result in a specific type of pawn structure. An example is the minority attack, which is the attack of queenside pawns against an opponent who has more pawns on the queenside. The study of openings is therefore connected to the preparation of plans that are typical of the resulting middlegames. ^[23]

Another important strategic question in the middlegame is whether and how to reduce material and transition into an endgame (i.e. simplify). Minor material advantages can generally be transformed into victory only in an endgame, and therefore the stronger side must choose an appropriate way to achieve an ending. Not every reduction of material is good for this purpose; for example, if one side keeps a light-squared bishop and the opponent has a dark-squared one, the transformation into a bishops and pawns ending is usually advantageous for the weaker side only, because an endgame with bishops on opposite colors is likely to be a draw, even with an advantage of a pawn, or sometimes even with a two-pawn advantage. ^[24]

Endgame

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The endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. There are three main strategic differences between earlier stages of the game and endgame: ^[25]

• During the endgame, pawns become more important; endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn by advancing it to the eighth rank.
• The king, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It is often brought to the center of the board where it can protect its own pawns, attack the pawns of opposite color, and hinder movement of the opponent’s king.
• Zugzwang, a disadvantage because the player has to make a move, is often a factor in endgames but rarely in other stages of the game. For example, the diagram on the right is zugzwang for both sides, as with Black to move he must play 1…Kb7 and let White promote a pawn after 2.Kd7; and with White to move he must allow a draw by 1.Kc6 stalemate or lose his last pawn by any other legal move.

Endgames can be classified according to the type of pieces that remain on board. Basic checkmates are positions in which one side has only a king and the other side has one or two pieces and can checkmate the opposing king, with the pieces working together with their king. For example, king and pawn endgames involve only kings and pawns on one or both sides and the task of the stronger side is to promote one of the pawns. Other more complicated endings are classified according to the pieces on board other than kings, such as the  » rook and pawn versus rook endgame ».

History

Predecessors

Chess is commonly believed to have originated in northwest India during the Gupta empire, ^{[26] [27] [28] [29]} where its early form in the 6th century was known as catura?ga ( Sanskrit: four divisions [of the military] – infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry, represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively). The earliest evidence of chess is found in the neighboring Sassanid Persia around 600, where the game came to be known under the name chatrang. Chatrang is evoked inside three epic romances written in Pahlavi ( Middle Persian). Chatrang was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia (633–644), where it was then named shatranj, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names. In Spanish « shatranj » was rendered as ajedrez (« al-shatranj »), in Portuguese as xadrez, and in Greek as zatrikion (which comes directly from the Persian chatrang), but in the rest of Europe it was replaced by versions of the Persian shah (« king »), which was familiar as an exclamation and became the English words  » check » and « chess ». ^{[note 3]} Murray theorized that Muslim traders came to European seaports with ornamental chess kings as curios before they brought the game of chess. ^[28]

The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century. By the year 1000 it had spread throughout Europe. ^[30] Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th-century manuscript covering shatranj, backgammon, and dice named the Libro de los juegos. Another theory contends that chess arose from the game xiangqi (Chinese Chess) or one of its predecessors, ^[31] although this has been contested. ^[32]

Origins of the modern game (1000–1850)

Around 1200, the rules of shatranj started to be modified in southern Europe, and around 1475, several major changes made the game essentially as it is known today. ^[30] These modern rules for the basic moves had been adopted in Italy and Spain. ^{[33] [34]} Pawns gained the option of advancing two squares on their first move, while bishops and queens acquired their modern abilities. The queen replaced the earlier vizier chess piece towards the end of the 10th century and by the 15th century had become the most powerful piece; ^[35] consequently modern chess was referred to as « Queen’s Chess » or « Mad Queen Chess ». ^[36] These new rules quickly spread throughout western Europe. The rules about stalemate were finalized in the early 19th century. To distinguish it from its predecessors, this version of the rules is sometimes referred to as western chess ^[37] or international chess. ^[38]

Writings about the theory of how to play chess began to appear in the 15th century. The Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez (Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess) by Spanish churchman Luis Ramirez de Lucena was published in Salamanca in 1497. ^[34] Lucena and later masters like Portuguese Pedro Damiano, Italians Giovanni Leonardo Di Bona, Giulio Cesare Polerio and Gioachino Greco, and Spanish bishop Ruy López de Segura developed elements of openings and started to analyze simple endgames.

In the 18th century, the center of European chess life moved from the Southern European countries to France. The two most important French masters were François-André Danican Philidor, a musician by profession, who discovered the importance of pawns for chess strategy, and later Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais, who won a famous series of matches with the Irish master Alexander McDonnell in 1834. ^[39] Centers of chess activity in this period were coffee houses in big European cities like Café de la Régence in Paris and Simpson’s Divan in London. ^{[40] [41]}

As the 19th century progressed, chess organization developed quickly. Many chess clubs, chess books, and chess journals appeared. There were correspondence matches between cities; for example, the London Chess Club played against the Edinburgh Chess Club in 1824. ^[42] Chess problems became a regular part of 19th-century newspapers; Bernhard Horwitz, Josef Kling, and Samuel Loyd composed some of the most influential problems. In 1843, von der Lasa published his and Bilguer’s Handbuch des Schachspiels (Handbook of Chess), the first comprehensive manual of chess theory.

Birth of a sport (1850–1945)

The first modern chess tournament was held in London in 1851 and was won by German Adolf Anderssen, relatively unknown at the time. Anderssen was hailed as the leading chess master and his brilliant, energetic attacking style became typical for the time, although it was later regarded as strategically shallow. ^{[43] [44]} Sparkling games like Anderssen’s Immortal game and Evergreen game or Morphy’s Opera game were regarded as the highest possible summit of the chess art. ^[45]

Deeper insight into the nature of chess came with two younger players. American Paul Morphy, an extraordinary chess prodigy, won against all important competitors (except Howard Staunton, who refused to play), including Anderssen, during his short chess career between 1857 and 1863. Morphy’s success stemmed from a combination of brilliant attacks and sound strategy; he intuitively knew how to prepare attacks. ^[46] Prague-born Wilhelm Steinitz later described how to avoid weaknesses in one’s own position and how to create and exploit such weaknesses in the opponent’s position. ^[47] The scientific approach and positional understanding of Steinitz revolutionized the game. Steinitz was the first to break a position down into its components. ^[48] Before Steinitz, players brought their queen out early, did not completely develop their other pieces, and mounted a quick attack on the opposing king, which either succeeded or failed. The level of defense was poor and players did not form any deep plan. ^[49] In addition to his theoretical achievements, Steinitz founded an important tradition: his triumph over the leading German master Johannes Zukertort in 1886 is regarded as the first official World Chess Championship. Steinitz lost his crown in 1894 to a much younger player, the German mathematician Emanuel Lasker, who maintained this title for 27 years, the longest tenure of all World Champions. ^[50]

It took a prodigy from Cuba, José Raúl Capablanca (World Champion 1921–27), who loved simple positions and endgames, to end the German-speaking dominance in chess; he was undefeated in tournament play for eight years, until 1924. His successor was Russian-French Alexander Alekhine, a strong attacking player who died as the World champion in 1946. He briefly lost the title to Dutch player Max Euwe in 1935 and regained it two years later. ^[51]

Between the world wars, chess was revolutionized by the new theoretical school of so-called hypermodernists like Aron Nimzowitsch and Richard Réti. They advocated controlling the center of the board with distant pieces rather than with pawns, which invited opponents to occupy the center with pawns, which become objects of attack. ^[52]

After the end of the 19th century, the number of master tournaments and matches held annually quickly grew. Some sources state that in 1914 the title of chess grandmaster was first formally conferred by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia to Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall, but this is a disputed claim. ^{[note 4]} The tradition of awarding such titles was continued by the World Chess Federation ( FIDE), founded in 1924 in Paris. In 1927, the Women’s World Chess Championship was established; the first to hold the title was Czech-English master Vera Menchik. ^[53]

Post-war era (1945 and later)

After the death of Alekhine, a new World Champion was sought. FIDE, who have controlled the title since then (except for one interruption), ran a tournament of elite players. The winner of the 1948 tournament, Russian Mikhail Botvinnik, started an era of Soviet dominance in the chess world. Until the end of the Soviet Union, there was only one non-Soviet champion, American Bobby Fischer (champion 1972–1975). ^[54] Botvinnik revolutionized opening theory. Previously Black strove for equality, to neutralize White’s first-move advantage. As Black, Botvinnik strove for the initiative from the beginning. ^[55] In the previous informal system of World Championships, the current champion decided which challenger he would play for the title and the challenger was forced to seek sponsors for the match. FIDE set up a new system of qualifying tournaments and matches. The world’s strongest players were seeded into Interzonal tournaments, where they were joined by players who had qualified from Zonal tournaments. The leading finishers in these Interzonals would go on the  » Candidates » stage, which was initially a tournament, and later a series of knock-out matches. The winner of the Candidates would then play the reigning champion for the title. A champion defeated in a match had a right to play a rematch a year later. This system operated on a three-year cycle. Botvinnik participated in championship matches over a period of fifteen years. He won the world championship tournament in 1948 and retained the title in tied matches in 1951 and 1954. In 1957, he lost to Vasily Smyslov, but regained the title in a rematch in 1958. In 1960, he lost the title to the 23-year-old Latvian prodigy Mikhail Tal, an accomplished tactician and attacking player. Botvinnik again regained the title in a rematch in 1961.

Following the 1961 event, FIDE abolished the automatic right of a deposed champion to a rematch, and the next champion, Armenian Tigran Petrosian, a genius of defense and a strong positional player, held the title for two cycles, 1963–1969. His successor, Boris Spassky from Russia (champion 1969–1972), was able to win in both positional and sharp tactical style. ^[56] The next championship, the so-called Match of the Century, saw the first non-Soviet challenger since World War II, American Bobby Fischer, who defeated his Candidates opponents by unheard-of margins and clearly won the world championship match. In 1975, however, Fischer refused to defend his title against Soviet Anatoly Karpov when FIDE did not meet his demands, and Karpov obtained the title by default. ^[57] Fischer modernized many aspects of chess, especially by extensively preparing openings. ^[58]

Karpov defended his title twice against Viktor Korchnoi and dominated the 1970s and early 1980s with a string of tournament successes. ^[59] Karpov’s reign finally ended in 1985 at the hands of Garry Kasparov, another Soviet player from Baku, Azerbaijan. Kasparov and Karpov contested five world title matches between 1984 and 1990; Karpov never won his title back. ^[60] In 1993, Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short broke with FIDE to organize their own match for the title and formed a competing Professional Chess Association (PCA). From then until 2006, there were two simultaneous World Champions and World Championships: the PCA or Classical champion extending the Steinitzian tradition in which the current champion plays a challenger in a series of many games, and the other following FIDE’s new format of many players competing in a tournament to determine the champion. Kasparov lost his Classical title in 2000 to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia. ^[61] The World Chess Championship 2006 reunified the titles. Kramnik beat the FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov and became the undisputed World Chess Champion. ^[62] In September 2007, he lost the title to Viswanathan Anand of India, who won the championship tournament in Mexico City. Anand defended his title in the revenge match of 2008. ^[63]

Place in culture

Pre-modern

In the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance, chess was a part of noble culture; it was used to teach war strategy and was dubbed the  » King’s Game ». ^[64] Gentlemen are « to be meanly seene in the play at Chestes », says the overview at the beginning of Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528, English 1561 by Sir Thomas Hoby), but chess should not be a gentleman’s main passion. Castiglione explains it further:

And what say you to the game at chestes? It is truely an honest kynde of enterteynmente and wittie, quoth Syr Friderick. But me think it hath a fault, whiche is, that a man may be to couning at it, for who ever will be excellent in the playe of chestes, I beleave he must beestowe much tyme about it, and applie it with so much study, that a man may assoone learne some noble scyence, or compase any other matter of importaunce, and yet in the ende in beestowing all that laboure, he knoweth no more but a game. Therfore in this I beleave there happeneth a very rare thing, namely, that the meane is more commendable, then the excellency. ^[65]

Many of the elaborate chess sets used by the aristocracy have been lost, but others partially survive, such as the Lewis chessmen.

Chess was often used as a basis of sermons on morality. An example is Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium sive super ludo scacchorum (‘Book of the customs of men and the duties of nobles or the Book of Chess’), written by an Italian Dominican monk Jacobus de Cessolis c. 1300. This book was one of the most popular of the Middle Ages. ^[66] The work was translated into many other languages (the first printed edition was published at Utrecht in 1473) and was the basis for William Caxton’s The Game and Playe of the Chesse (1474), one of the first books printed in English. ^[67] Different chess pieces were used as metaphors for different classes of people, and human duties were derived from the rules of the game or from visual properties of the chess pieces: ^[68]

The knyght ought to be made alle armed upon an hors in suche wyse that he haue an helme on his heed and a spere in his ryght hande/ and coueryd wyth his sheld/ a swerde and a mace on his lyft syde/ Cladd wyth an hawberk and plates to fore his breste/ legge harnoys on his legges/ Spores on his heelis on his handes his gauntelettes/ his hors well broken and taught and apte to bataylle and couerid with his armes/ whan the knyghtes ben maad they ben bayned or bathed/ that is the signe that they shold lede a newe lyf and newe maners/ also they wake alle the nyght in prayers and orysons vnto god that he wylle gyue hem grace that they may gete that thynge that they may not gete by nature/ The kynge or prynce gyrdeth a boute them a swerde in signe/ that they shold abyde and kepe hym of whom they take theyr dispenses and dignyte. ^[69]

Known in the circles of clerics, students, and merchants, chess entered into the popular culture of Middle Ages. An example is the 209th song of Carmina Burana from the 13th century, which starts with the names of chess pieces, Roch, pedites, regina… ^[70]

Modern

During the Age of Enlightenment, chess was viewed as a means of self-improvement. Benjamin Franklin, in his article « The Morals of Chess » (1750), wrote:

« The Game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of Chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or the want of it. By playing at Chess then, we may learn: I. Foresight, which looks a little into futurity, and considers the consequences that may attend an action […] II. Circumspection, which surveys the whole Chess-board, or scene of action: – the relation of the several Pieces, and their situations […] III. Caution, not to make our moves too hastily […] » ^[71]

With these or similar hopes, chess is taught to children in schools around the world today. Many schools host chess clubs, and there are many scholastic tournaments specifically for children. Tournaments are held regularly in many countries, hosted by organizations such as the United States Chess Federation and the National Scholastic Chess Foundation. ^[72]

Chess is often depicted in the arts; significant works where chess plays a key role range from Thomas Middleton’s A Game at Chess to Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll to The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig and Vladimir Nabokov’s The Defense. The thriller film Knight Moves is about a chess grandmaster who is accused of being a serial killer. Chess is featured in films like Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and Satyajit Ray’s The Chess Players.

In the video game Killer 7, the protagonist and the antagonist frequently play chess together; in the survival horror game Deadly Premonition, chess is the theme of a puzzle.

Chess is also present in the contemporary popular culture. For example, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter plays  » Wizard’s Chess », while the characters of Star Trek prefer  » Tri-Dimensional Chess ». The hero of Searching for Bobby Fischer struggles against adopting the aggressive and misanthropic views of a real chess grandmaster. ^[73] Chess has been used as the core theme of a musical, Chess, by Tim Rice, Björn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson.

Approximately 600 million people worldwide know how to play chess. ^[74]

Chess composition

Chess composition is the art of creating chess problems (the problems themselves are sometimes also called chess compositions). A person who creates such problems is known as a chess composer. ^[75] There are many types of chess problems. The two most important are:

• Directmates: white to move first and checkmate black within a specified number of moves against any defense. These are often referred to as « mate in n » – for example « mate in three » (a three-mover). ^[76]
• Studies: orthodox problems in which the stipulation is that white to play must win or draw. Almost all studies are endgame positions. ^[77]

Chess composition is a distinct branch of chess sport, and tournaments (or tourneys) exist for both the composition and solving of chess problems. ^[78]

Example

This is one of the most famous chess studies; it was published by Richard Réti in 1921. It seems impossible to catch the advanced black pawn, while the black king can easily stop the white pawn. The solution is a diagonal advance, which brings the king to both pawns at the same time: 1.Kg7! h4 2.Kf6! Kb6 (or 2…h3 3.Ke7 and the white king can support its pawn) 3. Ke5!! (now the white king comes just in time to support his pawn, or catch the black one) 3…h3 4. Kd6 draw. ^[79]

Competitive play

Organization of competitions

Contemporary chess is an organized sport with structured international and national leagues, tournaments, and congresses. Chess’s international governing body is FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs). Most countries have a national chess organization as well (such as the US Chess Federation and English Chess Federation) which in turn is a member of FIDE. FIDE is a member of the International Olympic Committee, ^[80] but the game of chess has never been part of the Olympic Games; chess does have its own Olympiad, held every two years as a team event.

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The current World Chess Champion is Viswanathan Anand of India. ^[81] The reigning Women’s World Champion is Hou Yifan from China. The world’s highest rated female player, Judit Polgár, has never participated in the Women’s World Chess Championship, instead preferring to compete with the leading men and maintaining a ranking among the top male players. ^[82]

Other competitions for individuals include the World Junior Chess Championship, the European Individual Chess Championship, and the National Chess Championships. Invitation-only tournaments regularly attract the world’s strongest players. Examples include Spain’s Linares event, Monte Carlo’s Melody Amber tournament, the Dortmund Sparkassen meeting, Sofia’s M-tel Masters, and Wijk aan Zee’s Tata Steel tournament.

Regular team chess events include the Chess Olympiad and the European Team Championship. The 38th Chess Olympiad was held 2008 in Dresden, Germany; Armenia won the gold in the unrestricted event for the second time in a row after Turin 2006, and Georgia took the top medal for the women. The World Chess Solving Championship and World Correspondence Chess Championships include both team and individual events.

Besides these prestigious competitions, there are thousands of other chess tournaments, matches, and festivals held around the world every year catering to players of all levels. Chess is promoted as a « mind sport » by the Mind Sports Organisation, alongside other mental-skill games such as Contract Bridge, Go, and Scrabble.

Titles and rankings

The best players can be awarded specific lifetime titles by the world chess organization FIDE: ^[83]

• Grandmaster (shortened as GM; sometimes International Grandmaster or IGM is used) is awarded to world-class chess masters. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Before FIDE will confer the title on a player, the player must have an Elo chess rating (see below) of at least 2500 at one time and three favorable results (called norms) in tournaments involving other Grandmasters, including some from countries other than the applicant’s. There are other milestones a player can achieve to attain the title, such as winning the World Junior Championship.
• International Master (shortened as IM). The conditions are similar to GM, but less demanding. The minimum rating for the IM title is 2400.
• FIDE Master (shortened as FM). The usual way for a player to qualify for the FIDE Master title is by achieving a FIDE rating of 2300 or more.
• Candidate Master (shortened as CM). Similar to FM, but with a FIDE rating of at least 2200.

All the titles are open to men and women. Separate women-only titles, such as Woman Grandmaster (WGM), are available. Beginning with Nona Gaprindashvili in 1978, a number of women have earned the GM title, and most of the top ten women in 2006 hold the unrestricted GM title. ^{[note 5]}

International titles are awarded to composers and solvers of chess problems and to correspondence chess players (by the International Correspondence Chess Federation). National chess organizations may also award titles, usually to the advanced players still under the level needed for international titles; an example is the Chess expert title used in the United States.

In order to rank players, FIDE, ICCF, and national chess organizations use the Elo rating system developed by Arpad Elo. Elo is a statistical system based on the assumption that the chess performance of each player in their games is a random variable. Arpad Elo thought of a player’s true skill as the average of that player’s performance random variable, and showed how to estimate the average from results of player’s games. The US Chess Federation implemented Elo’s suggestions in 1960, and the system quickly gained recognition as being both fairer and more accurate than older systems; it was adopted by FIDE in 1970. ^{[note 6]} The highest ever FIDE rating was 2851, which Garry Kasparov had on the July 1999 and January 2000 lists. ^[84] In the most recent list (July 2010), the highest rated player is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, with a rating of 2826. ^{[note 5]}

Publications

Chess is covered extensively in books and journals. Thousands of books about chess have been written, and dozens of periodicals cover chess.

Mathematics and computers

The game structure and nature of chess is related to several branches of mathematics. Many combinatorical and topological problems connected to chess were known of for hundreds of years. In 1913, Ernst Zermelo used chess as a basis for his theory of game strategies, which is considered as one of the predecessors of game theory. ^[85]

The number of legal positions in chess is estimated to be between 10⁴³ and 10⁴⁷ (a provable upper bound ^[86]), with a game-tree complexity of approximately 10¹²³. The game-tree complexity of chess was first calculated by Claude Shannon as 10¹²⁰, a number known as the Shannon number. ^[87] Typically an average position has thirty to forty possible moves, but there may be as few as zero (in the case of checkmate or stalemate) or as many as 218. ^[88]

The most important mathematical challenge of chess is the development of algorithms that can play chess. The idea of creating a chess-playing machine dates to the 18th century; around 1769, the chess-playing automaton called The Turk became famous before being exposed as a hoax. ^[89] Serious trials based on automatons, such as El Ajedrecista, were too complex and limited to be useful.

Since the advent of the digital computer in the 1950s, chess enthusiasts and computer engineers have built, with increasing degrees of seriousness and success, chess-playing machines and computer programs. The groundbreaking paper on computer chess, « Programming a Computer for Playing Chess, » was published in 1950 by Shannon. ^{[note 7]} He wrote:

The chess machine is an ideal one to start with, since: (1) the problem is sharply defined both in allowed operations (the moves) and in the ultimate goal (checkmate); (2) it is neither so simple as to be trivial nor too difficult for satisfactory solution; (3) chess is generally considered to require « thinking » for skillful play; a solution of this problem will force us either to admit the possibility of a mechanized thinking or to further restrict our concept of « thinking »; (4) the discrete structure of chess fits well into the digital nature of modern computers. ^[91]

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) held the first major chess tournament for computers, the North American Computer Chess Championship, in September 1970. CHESS 3.0, a chess program from Northwestern University, won the championship. Nowadays, chess programs compete in the World Computer Chess Championship, held annually since 1974. At first considered only a curiosity, the best chess playing programs, for example Rybka, have become extremely strong. In 1997, a computer won a chess match against a reigning World Champion for the first time: IBM’s Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov 3½–2½ (it scored two wins, one loss, and three draws). ^{[92] [93]} In 2009, a mobile phone won a category 6 tournament with a performance rating 2898: chess engine Hiarcs 13 running on the mobile phone HTC Touch HD won the Copa Mercosur tournament with nine wins and one draw. ^[94] The best chess programs are now able to beat the strongest human players.

With huge databases of past games and high analytical ability, computers can help players to learn chess and prepare for matches. Internet Chess Servers allow people to find and play opponents all over the world. The presence of computers and modern communication tools have raised concerns regarding cheating during games, most notably the  » bathroom controversy » during the 2006 World Championship. ^[95]

Psychology

There is an extensive scientific literature on chess psychology. ^{[note 8] [note 9] [97] [98] [99] [100]} Alfred Binet and others showed that knowledge and verbal, rather than visuospatial, ability lies at the core of expertise. ^{[101] [102]} In his doctoral thesis, Adriaan de Groot showed that chess masters can rapidly perceive the key features of a position. ^[103] According to de Groot, this perception, made possible by years of practice and study, is more important than the sheer ability to anticipate moves. De Groot showed that chess masters can memorize positions shown for a few seconds almost perfectly. The ability to memorize does not alone account for chess-playing skill, since masters and novices, when faced with random arrangements of chess pieces, had equivalent recall (about half a dozen positions in each case). Rather, it is the ability to recognize patterns, which are then memorized, which distinguished the skilled players from the novices. When the positions of the pieces were taken from an actual game, the masters had almost total positional recall. ^[104]

More recent research has focused on chess as mental training; the respective roles of knowledge and look-ahead search; brain imaging studies of chess masters and novices; blindfold chess; the role of personality and intelligence in chess skill; gender differences; and computational models of chess expertise. The role of practice and talent in the development of chess and other domains of expertise has led to a lot of research recently. Ericsson and colleagues have argued that deliberate practice is sufficient for reaching high levels of expertise in chess. ^[105] Recent research indicates that factors other than practice are also important. For example, Gobet and colleagues have shown that stronger players start playing chess earlier, that they are more likely to be left-handed, and that they are more likely to be born in late winter and early spring. ^[106]

Variants

Chess variants are forms of chess where the game is played with a different board, special fairy pieces, or different rules. There are more than two thousand published chess variants, the most popular being xiangqi in China and shogi in Japan. ^{[107] [108]} Chess variants include:

• Direct predecessors of chess ( chaturanga and shatranj)
• Traditional national or regional chess variants like xiangqi, shogi, janggi, and makruk, which share common predecessors with Western chess
• Modern variants of chess, such as Chess960, where the initial position is one selected randomly from a possible 960 starting positions. This random positioning makes it more difficult to prepare the opening play in advance. ^[109]

See also

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

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Further reading

• Fine, Reuben (1983). The World’s Great Chess Games. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-24512-8. OCLC 9394460
• Mason, James (1947). The Art of Chess. Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-20463-4. OCLC 45271009 (see the included supplement, « How Do You Play Chess »)
• Dunnington, Angus (2003). Chess Psychology: Approaching the Psychological Battle Both on and Off the Board. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-326-4
• Rizzitano, James (2004). Understanding Your Chess. Gambit Publications. ISBN 1-904600-07-7. OCLC 55205602
• Hale, Benjamin (2008). Philosophy Looks at Chess. Open Court Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8126-9633-2

External links

Find more about Chess on Wikipedia’s sister projects:
	Definitions from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

International organizations

• World Chess Federation

• Official rules – FIDE Laws of Chess
• FIDE list of top rated players

• International Correspondence Chess Federation
• Association of Chess Professionals

News

• Chessbase news
• The Week in Chess

Other

• ChessGames.com – online chess database and community
• Chess records -details of longest game, most passed pawns, fewest captures etc.
• A sample chess game
• The Chess Encyclopedia

 

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