How Chess Has Evolved Over Time
Hi everyone! I'm Henry Urbanek and this is my first blog. When I am posting this, I am 12 years old. I hope you enjoy reading and please comment below! Follow my blog and send me a friend request!
Agenda
1. The Origin of Chess
2. Rule Tweaks and Variants
3. Famous World Chess Champions
4. Modern Chess
5. The Beginning of Chess Titles
6. A few interesting translations
7. Who is the best chess player of all time?
8. Which countries is best at chess
9. Major Milestones of Chess
10. Outro
The Origins of Chess
Chess is obviously a very old game, the origins of the game dating back to 200 BC. In the earliest forms of chess, it was known as "chaturanga." But how has chess changed since then? Chess first appeared in India in about 6th century AD. By the 10th century, chess had spread to Europe via Persian Traders. It also spread directly from the Middle East to Russia. By the year 1000, chess had spread all throughout Europe. Not to far after, chess had spread all around the world.
Above is the Chaturanga starting position.
Rule Tweaks and Variants
At around the 12th century, chess variants started to take shape. In some variants, you could win by "bare king," taking all of the opponents pieces except the king. Another was that if a stalemate occurred, the stalemated player won. The rules took tiny changes until finally by 1500 CE, chess had evolved into what it is now. In India, there used to be other chess boards, the 10x10 Dasapada, and the 9x9 Sarurankam.
Some people formerly played chess with a dice to decide which piece to move. The Indian use of chess was a tool for military strategy, mathematics, and even gambling.
Famous World Chess Champions
Click here to view all of the past world champions
Of course, there have been many, many, many world chess champions. Names that a chess player should recognize are Bobby Fischer, Magnus Carlsen, JRC, Anatoly Karpov, those are just a couple of players.
Quite a few of the world chess champions have held their throne for a long time. Note that Magnus Carlsen has held the title as world chess champion for a much shorter time than others, such as Kasparov, Botvinnik, Karpov, and Lasker.
Modern Chess
The official world championship began by the late 19th century. Computer engines and databases didn't exist until about the 1990's. Modern players today have access to computer engines, and all kinds of fancy gadgets while before 1980 there was none of that and you had to study with chess books, and other things like that. The biggest chess organization today is FIDE (International Chess Federation). You can make a FIDE account today and start playing tournaments.
The Beginning of Chess Titles
In 1950, FIDE announced chess titles, Grandmaster and International Master, as a way to measure chess ability, or chess achievement. Some of the first chess masters were Jose Raul Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker, and Alexander Alekhine
A Few Interesting Translations
- "Shah," means king in Persian
- "Shah Mat," means checkmate in Persian
The Best Chess Players of All Time
This is an argument that has lasted for a while, but in MY opinion, Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen. Both players were chess prodigies from a very young age, Magnus becoming GM at only 13 years old. Bobby Fischer was champion around the 1980's, while Carlsen is the best player during the time that I am posting this.
Which Countries are BEST at Chess?
Russia is known to be great at chess, they have dominated for many years, with some of the best chess players of all time coming from Russia. However, the USA, Ukraine, India, and France also have many talented players.
The success of Russia is often associated with the definitive of chess that the Soviet Union had. Therefore, chess became extremely popular in Russia, increasing competition, which are one of the many reasons why they are so skillful at chess compared to others.
Major Milestones of Chess
10th century: Dark and light squares introduced on chessboard
1173: Earliest record of chess notation
13th century: Pawns can now move two squares forward on first move
14th century: En Passant is introduced
1422: stalemate=draw
1500: castling and queen and bishop moves start to develop
1575: first known championship between chess masters (titles not introduced yet), Ruy Lopez, Giovanni Leonardo, Paulo Boi, and Alfonso Ceron participated in it.
1620: Gioachino Greco writes a number of chess manuscripts on strategy
NOTHING SIGNIFICANT HAPPENED IN THIS TIMEFRAME
1802: Earliest known Chess book
1849: Staunton chess set is created by Nathaniel Cooke
1852: Sandglasses are used to track time in a game
1867: Mechanical game clocks introduced in games
1886: First Official World Chess Championship happens between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. Final score: 12.5-7.5 favoring Steinitz.
1888: U.S Chess Championship begins
1927: First chess Olympiad held in London, England
1946: Former World Champ Alexander Alekhine passes away in Portugal
1951: First World Junior Chess Championship happens
1958: Bobby Fischer becomes youngest GM. The record held until 1991.
1960-1980: Bobby Fischer RULES CHESS
1991: Judit Polgar of Hungary becomes youngest GM ever, she is the greatest women's chess player by far all time.
2000: Earliest models of chess engines come out
2008: Bobby Fischer dies in Iceland
2009: 18 year old Magnus crosses rating 2800 making him the youngest ever to do so
2009: Garry Kasparov and Karpov play again, a commemoration of their World Championship match a quarter of a century earlier
2010-2020: Magnus Carlsen rules chess, taking multiple World Chess Championships in the process.
2020-2021: Chess hits massive popularity gain due to COVID-19 pandemic and movie series The Queen's Gambit (check it out)
2023: I cross 1900 bullet 
Outro
In conclusion, chess has had a long, long history, with hopefully lots more to come. I thank you for reading this, and please put a comment below of what you thought of my blog, good, fun, bad, boring, and I hope to make another soon.
