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THE NUMBER OF CHESS POSITIONS POSSIBLE

THE NUMBER OF CHESS POSITIONS POSSIBLE

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"There are more chess positions than atoms in the Universe"

Do you know how many chess positions are possible??

Before we come to know that, I need you to know the meaning of ply

Ply = 1/2 Move

Example-

1 Ply = One move of white and 0 moves of black

2 Ply = One Move of White and One move of Black

3 Ply = Two moves of white and One move of black

Hopefully you understood the meaning of ply

Now, it's time to figure out the number of chess positions possible!

Let's know the truth!!

First of all, we are gonna figure out how many positions are possible after Ply 1

In the starting position, only pawns and knights can move

There are 8 pawns in the starting position

One pawn can move on 2 different squares

So, the number of moves pawns can make is 8 x 2 = 16

There are 2 knights in the starting position

One knight can move on 2 different squares

So, the number of moves knights can make is 2 x 2 = 4

The total number of positions after Ply 1 is 16 + 4 = 20

Now let's think the possible positions after Ply 2

After every single move that white plays, black can play 20 different moves

There are 20 possible moves of white

So, the number of possible moves after Ply 2 is 20 x 20 = 400

Guys, we just figured out that there are 400 DIFFERENT POSITIONS possible after Ply two!

And that's not all!

According to Google, there are 8902 POSSIBLE POSITIONS after ply three!!

And, there are literally 318979564000 POSSIBLE POSITIONS after ply four!

You are starting to know why there are more chess positions than atoms in the universe!!

The exact number of positions is a large, uncalculable number!

The number of legal positions possible is around 10 raise to power 44 i.e. 45 zeros after 1!!

1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 - Yeah that is the number🤓🤓🤓

Don't waste your time building a tablebase that can tell if a position is winning for white, draw or winning for black!

Because, Chess can never be Solved!!

Hopefully, this helped you to know the truth about chess and why it cannot be solved in a very ridiculous way😂😂😂

And, don't forget to see my previous blog - WHY GRANDMASTERS HAVE A HIGH IQ

Bye Bye - Have a Good Day - COUNTING THE EXACT NUMBER OF CHESS MOVES POSSIBLE🤣