Chess Fun Facts That Will Blow Your Mind!

Hey all,

Here's some fun chess facts you might not have heard before!

Chess is out of this world

There are more possible chess games than there are atoms in the entire universe. There are about 10 to the power of 120 possible games of chess, and 10 to the power of 80 atoms in the universe!

No more Checkmates

There has not been a checkmate in a world chess championship match since 1929. This happened in game 8 of the championship match between Alexander Alekhine and Efim Bogoljubov.  Since then, many games have ended in resignations just before checkmate, but this was the last time checkmate was on the board in a World Chess Championship.

Check Mate=The King is Slain.

You might know that the word Checkmate comes from Persian phrase Shah Mat. But what many don't know is that Shah Mat actually means "the king is slain".  The word "Shah" refers to a king and the word "mat" is slain.

It's the chair's fault

In the wake of perhaps the most famous chess match of all time, Fischer vs Spassky, the soviets pushed for Bobby Fischer's personal chair that he used in the match to be investigated. They even used x-rays to inspect the chair, but they never found anything that would suggest cheating.

Talk about a classic!

One of the oldest books ever to be printed was "Game and Playe of the Chesse" by William Caxton. The book was published in 1474 and is thought to be the first book ever printed in England.

Chess ain't Cheap!

The Jewel Royale Chess Set is worth roughly 9.8 million dollars. It includes lots of diamonds, gold and rubies.

Thanks for Reading!

God Bless!

Find more facts here!

https://www.chessjournal.com/chess-facts/#24_Chess_was_the_Second_Book_in_English