CHESS History Explained in BATTLE terms w/ bloopers @ end
Channel: Scout Eric Adventures
Date: 10/07/2020

Did you know Chess was developed from real military strategy.  We will explore the history of chess and why each piece moves according to military history. 

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Chess Facts:
1. The number of possible unique chess games is much greater than the number of electrons in the universe. The number of electrons is estimated to be about 10^79, while the number of unique chess games is 10^120.
2. The longest chess game theoretically possible is 5,949 moves.
3. The word “Checkmate” in Chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which means “the King is dead.”
4. The Police raided a Chess Tournament in Cleveland in 1973, arrested the Tournament director and confiscated the Chess sets on charges of allowing gambling (cash prizes to winners) and possession of gambling devices (the Chess sets).
5. The longest official chess game lasted 269 moves (I. Nikolic – Arsovic, Belgrade 1989) and ended in a draw.
6. From the starting position, there are eight different ways to Mate in two moves and 355 different ways to Mate in three moves.
7. The new Pawn move, advancing two squares on its first move instead of one, was first introduced in Spain in 1280.
8. The first Chessboard with alternating light and dark squares appears in Europe in 1090.
9. During World War II, some of the top Chess players were also code breakers. British masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry and H. O’D. Alexander was on the team which broke the Nazi Enigma code.
10. The folding Chess board was originally invented in 1125 by a Chess-playing priest. Since the Church forbids priests to play Chess, he hid his Chess board by making one that looked simply like two books lying together.
11. Frank Marshall (1877-1944) was the first American to defeat a Soviet player in an international tournament in New York, 1924. He reigned as U.S. Champion for 30 years, but only defended his title once when he defeated Ed Lasker (5-4) in 1923. He was the first master to play more than 100 games simultaneously.
12. In 1985, Eric Knoppert played 500 games of 10-minute Chess in 68 hours.
13. Rookies or, players in their first year, are named after the Rook in Chess. Rooks generally are the last pieces to be moved into action, and the same goes for Rookies.
14. Blindfold chess is an impressive skill that many stronger chess players possess. It certainly requires a keen ability to see the board clearly, which can get difficult after many moves. The record was set in 1960 in Budapest by Hungarian Janos Flesch, who played 52 opponents simultaneously while blindfolded – he won 31 of those games.
15.There are well over 1,000 different openings, including variations within larger openings/defenses that one can learn.
16. Chess is often cited by psychologists as an effective way to improve memory function. Also allowing the mind to solve complex problems and work through ideas, it is no wonder that chess is recommended in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Some contend that it can increase one’s intelligence, though that is a more complex topic. The effects of chess on young individuals had led to chess being introduced in school districts and various countries. It has been shown to improve children’s grades and other positive effects as well.
17. The second book ever printed in the English language was about chess!
18. The first computer program for playing chess was developed in 1951, by Alan Turing. However, no computer was powerful enough to process it, so Turing tested it by doing the calculations himself and playing according to the results, taking several minutes per move.
19. The oldest recorded chess game in history is from the 900s, between a historian from Baghdad and his student.
20. The oldest surviving complete chess sets were found on the Isle of Lewis, in northern Scotland, and dates to the 12th century. They were probably made in Iceland or Norway, and their appearance was used in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the wizard chess pieces.
21. About  (Six hundred million) people know how to play chess worldwide!
22. In many languages, the Pawn is a foot soldier, but in German and Spanish, it’s a peasant or farmer, instead!
23. The reason why traditional chess pieces don’t look like actual soldiers, bishops, and kings is because before the game reached Europe, it passed through the Islamic world. Islam forbids making statues of animals or people, so chess pieces became vague-looking. When the game spread to Christian Europe, the pieces didn’t change much.
24. Initially, the Queen could only move one square at a time, diagonally. Later, she could move two squares at a time, diagonally. It wasn’t until Spain, with its powerful queen Isabella, that the Queen became the strongest piece on the board.

More Facts: www.thechessworld.com/
Music: Bensounds.com