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4 Chess Facts That Got Me To Revisit The Game In My 20s

Chess is one of the oldest games of the world which originated around the 6th century. While many love the brain based head to head drama that chess brings, others simply despise it for its difficult nature. Either way, chess is a fair head-to-head battle between two minds where the circumstances, referee or a pair of dice cannot change the outcome of the game. Being one of the oldest games in human history, there are many facts about chess that are often overlooked. Here are 5 mind boggling chess facts that will change your perspective on the board game



1 - Origin


Although not specific, world historians agree that chess originated in its rudimentary form during 6th century India, where it was played with rectangular die. It took around 200 years to reach the West by the 9th century and slowly morphed into the beloved game we know today. To put things into perspective, the rule of allowing pawns to movie 2 spaces from their original position was introduced in Spain during the 13th century.

2 - Not as Boring as you might think


Chess is a complex game made up of an 8x8 board consisting of 64 spaces and 16 pieces on each side. This lends to the fact that there are 318,979,564,000 possibilities for the outcome in the first 4 moves of your game itself. This helps to ensure that no game of chess is played twice and moreover enhances the importance of recognizing patterns and position specific strategies

3 - Chess is Mandatory in Armenian schools


Armenia recently made chess a compulsory part of their country's school curriculum, making them the first country in the world to take this initiative. The country believes that chess helps develop logical reasoning, leadership qualities, quick decision making and strategic skills that help youngsters over the course of their entire lives. "The future of the world depends on such creative leaders who have the capacity to make the right decisions." said Armenia's Education Minister Armen Ashotyan


4 - The Evolution of the Queen

Many believe the Queen to be one of the most important pieces in the game of chess due to its ability to move virtually anywhere on the board. But this was not the case when the game originated. During the initial years, queen was allowed to only one space diagonally which was later changed to two spaces in the coming years and eventually could move like a knight years later. Initially known as a 'fers' or advisor to the king, Europeans later changed the rules for the queen in the 1400s to make it the most powerful piece in chess.

Just like humans and our culture, chess has seen major makeovers in its rules and strategies over the course of time. With the introduction of chess computers that compete with world class chess masters, the world of chess is more competitive than ever before. We hope these 4 facts helped shed some light on the game. Feel free to share your views in the comments below

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