Unique Chess Group

1] Did you know the number of possible ways of playing the first four moves for both sides in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000 ? 2]  The longest game of chess that is theoretically possible is 5,949 moves. 3] The new pawn move, where pawns were allowed to advance two squares on its first move instead of one, was first introduced in Spain in 1280. 4] The first chess game played between space and earth was on June 9, 1970 by the Soyez-9 crew. The game ended in a draw.

1] Chess is called the game of kings, because for many centuries it was played primarily by nobility and the upper classes. 2] The Isle of Lewis chess pieces are the oldest surviving complete chess set known. Discovered on they Isle of Lewis, they are made from walrus tusks and show their characters in a range of bad moods - from anger to depression. 3] The rook is named from an Arabic word rukh, meaning chariot. This reflects its ability to move quickly in straight lines, but not leap over obstacles. During the Middle Ages, when chariots were no longer in use, the rook was gradually modified to look more like the turret of a castle. 4] The folding chess board was originally invented in 1125 by a chess-playing priest. Since the Church forbid priests to play chess, he hid his chess board by making one that looked simply like two books lying together

1] A chess player by the name of Macleod has the record for worst performance in a tournament. Losing 31 games in the New York double-round robin of 1889. 2] The word ''rook" is believed to be derived from the the word ‘recruit’. 3] The Gupta Empire of India originated the game of chess. It later spread to Persia after the Muslims conquered that territory. The game eventually spread next to Europe and Russia. 4] Russia has the most grandmasters of any other country, totaling 156 GMs. Germany is second with 61 and the United States trails with 60. 5] Shah Mat, the Persian word for chess, literally translates to “the king has been ambushed.”

1]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. 2]The first mechanical Chess Clock was invented by Thomas Wilson in 1883. Prior to that, Sandglasses were used. Sandglasses were first used in London in 1862. The present day push-button Clock was first perfected by Veenhoff in 1900. 3]The first Computer program that played proper Chess was written at MIT by Alex Bernstein in 1959.  The first Chess tournament in which the only players were Computer programs was held in New York in 1970. 4]The number of possibilities of a Knight's tour is over 122 million. 5]In 1985, Eric Knoppert played 500 games of 10-minute Chess in 68 hours.

1] The longest chess game  approximately possible is 5,949 moves. 2] Record of moves without capture is of 100 moves the Match between Thorton and  Walker in 1992. 3] After both side has played 3 moves,  pieces could form any one of over nine million  positions on the board. 4]Longest time recorded for a Chess player to make a move, goes to the International Grand Master Trois  with 2 hours and 20 minutes on the 7th move. 5]First mention of Chess game in America was in the year of 1641 in Esther Singleton's history of Dutch settlers. First American Chess tournament was held at New York in 1843.

1]The Chinese Emperor Wen-ti executed two foreign Chess Players after learning that one of the pieces was called 'Emperor.' He was upset that his title of Emperor could be associated with a mere game and forbade the game. 2]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 were on the team which broke the Nazi Enigma code. 3]According to the America's Foundation for Chess, there are 169, 518, 829, 100, 544, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000 ways to play the first 10 moves of a game of Chess 4]Blathy, Otto (1860-1939), credited for creating the longest Chess Problem, mate in 290 moves. 5]The shortest game ending in mate after two moves: 1. g4 e6 or e5, 2. f3 or f4 Qh4 mate.

1]There were 72 consecutive Queen moves in the Mason-Mackenzie game at London in 1882. 2]The number of possibilities of a Knight's tour is over 122 million. 3]From the starting position, there are eight different ways to Mate in two moves and 355 different ways to Mate in three moves. 4]Dr. Emanuel Lasker from Germany retained the World Chess Champion title for more time than any other player ever: 26 years and 337 days. 5]The worst loss by a player was Macleod of Canada who lost 31 games in the New York double-round robin of 1889.

1]The rook is named from an Arabic word rukh, meaning chariot. 2]Folding chess board was invented by a priest in the medieval ages. 3]The match between Britton and Crouch in 1984, the Black player Checked his opponent 43 consecutive times! 4]The first Chessboard with alternating light and dark squares appears in Europe in 1090. 5]The very first postage stamp of a Chess motif was issued in Bulgaria in 1947.

1]The number of unique chess games is greater than the number of electrons in the universe. The number of electrons is estimated to be a mere 10to the power 79 while the number of unique chess games is 10 to the power 120. 2]The word "checkmate" comes from the Persian phrase "shah mat," which means "the king is trapped." 3]Chess is called the game of kings, because for many centuries it was played by the rulers. 4]The knight's role has been stable over time. In the earliest versions of the game, it represented the cavalry and had the unique ability to leap over its opponents. 5]The longest game of chess that is theoretically possible is 5,949 moves. 6] The longest chess game ever played was by I.Nikolic - Arsovic at Belgrade in 1989, which ended in 269 moves but with a blood chilling draw. 7]Computer called Deep Thought became the first ever computer to beat an grandmaster in November 1988 at Long Beach, California. 8]Did you know that the number of...