February, 28 2014
How-to description
Chess is a very complex and unique game that involves many strategies and test your ability in strategizing. The history of chess goes way back and is involved in many cultures. A short history lesson about chess can give you an overall better understanding and shows a different perspective. The origins of chess are not exactly clear, though most believe it evolved from earlier chess-like games played in India almost two thousand years ago. The game of chess we know today has been around since the 15th century where it became popular in Europe. The variation familiar to Europeans and Americans traveled through Iran to the main commercial centers of Italy and Spain by about 1000 AD. A bit later, sea-faring Vikings carried the game into Scandinavia and Iceland. By 1100-1200 AD, the game became known in central Europe, and was well-established across all of Europe.
Chess is a game played between two opponents on opposite sides of a board containing 64 squares of alternating colors. Each player has 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns. The goal of the game is to checkmate the other king. Checkmate happens when the king is in a position to be captured and cannot escape from capture. At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has the white color square in the bottom right-hand side. The chess pieces are then arranged the same way each time. The second row is filled with pawns. The rooks go in the corners, then the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who always goes on her own matching color, and the king on the last square. The player with the white pieces always moves first. Therefore, players generally decide who will get to be white by chance or luck such as flipping a coin or having one player guess the color of the hidden pawn in the other player's hand. White then makes a move, followed by black, then white again, then...