How many legal (possible) positions are there in chess?

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The_Swing_of_Life

I wonder if someone has worked out the exact number...

The_Swing_of_Life

[Answer 1]

Wait a minute, I'm reaching my chess set... One, two, three... 100, 101... (Have I seen this before?) Give me another minute!

The_Swing_of_Life

[Answer 2]

Is this really a difficult problem? There is only one if you're playing OTB, but it can be more if playing a simul.

The_Swing_of_Life

[Answer 3]

I could hardly post here because my computer is, uhh... oot detseretni ni siht!

RG1951
Violet_Dreamer wrote:

I wonder if someone has worked this out...


        No. The number is astronomical. Consider that 400 possible positions can result after the first move on both sides and that then the posibilities multiply at a huge rate.

Dingoman25

http://www.chess.com/chessopedia/view/mathematics-and-chess

ninoak
Dingoman25 wrote:

http://www.chess.com/chessopedia/view/mathematics-and-chess

I agree only on first paragraph. Matematicaly and logicaly it is not interesting what is logical position but what is the number of all formaly different possible positions, The numbers are much greater , exponentialy. I have started to tyhink about it and came to conclusion that I would need at least 1 year, working 8 hours a day to calculate all possible positions, avoiding impossible once.