Chess is a very popular game worldwide although it is not promoted much in Guyana, this column is dedicated to educate and inform anyone interested in the game.
What is chess?
Many of you know it to be just a board game or something similar checkers. Chess is a 2 player board game with the main objective to capture your opponents King.
History
The most commonly held belief is that chess originated in India, where it was called Chaturanga, which appears to have been invented in the 6th century AD. Although this is commonly believed, it is thought that Persians created a more modern version of the game after the Indians. In fact, the oldest known chess pieces have been found in excavations of ancient Persian territories.
Chess eventually spread westward to Europe and eastward as far as Japan, spawning variants as it went. The entrance of chess into Europe, notably, is marked by a massive improvement in the powers of the queen.
Benefits?
Chess is proven beneficial to everyone. How? Well simply put, chess teaches you strategy- how to think ahead, improves your memory, promotes brain growth, increases your problem solving skills. These skills can be very useful to any age group. Another question you may ask is how can chess do all of that? The answer is simple, since chess is a strategy game it requires us to think ahead, plan and execute your decisions.
Board & Pieces
This is a board with 64 little squares with half of them being black and the other being white. They are divided into rows and columns: the rows are numbers 1-8 and the columns are lettered a-h. Simple enough right? There are a few ways to make sure you set up the board correctly is that the white square is always to your right, ensure the white Queen on on the white square likewise for the black.
Now onto the pieces, this is where it gets a little complex since there are six (6) different pieces which can move in 6 different positions.
1. The Pawns can only move forward one space at a time with the exception of two spaces on their first move only. Pawns can only capture the enemy’s piece diagonally.
2. The Knight is the only piece that can jump over any piece on the board and only in a L shape.
3. The Bishop moves along the vacant diagonals in a straight line of the board. Since there are two bishops, one controls the black squares and the other with the white squares.
4. The Rook moves in a straight line either front, back, left or right.
5. The Queen: This is the most powerful piece in the entire game, she is allowed to move in any direction with the exception of the Knight.
6. The king: The most important piece of the game- his majesty can only move one space at a time in any given direction.
In the next article we will learn about the Special Moves in chess as well as the Notation.
