CHESS INFO
Added on: 13th Feb 2016
A COMPUTER CALLED DEEP THOUGHT BECAME
THE FIRST COMPUTER TO BEAT AN INTERNATIONAL
GRANDMASTER IN NOVEMBER 1988, IN LONG BEACH,
CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER, THE COMPUTER DEEP BLUE
WAS THE FIRST MACHINE TO OVERCOME A REIGNING
WORLD CHESS CHAMPION IN A MATCH, WHEN IT
DEFEATED GARRY KASPAROV IN 1997.
THE OLDEST SURVIVING COMPLETE CHESS SETS
WERE FOUND ON THE ISLE OF LEWIS, IN NORTHERN
SCOTLAND, AND DATE TO THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
THEY WERE PROBABLY MADE IN ICELAND OR NORWAY
AND THEIR FORM WAS USED IN HARRY POTTER AND
THE SORCERER’S STONE FOR THE WIZARD CHESS PIECES.
DR. EMANUEL LASKER FROM GERMANY RETAINED
THE TITLE WORLD CHESS CHAMPION LONGER THAN
ANY OTHER PLAYER IN HISTORY: TWENTY-SIX YEARS
AND 337 DAYS, FROM 1894 TO 1921.
THE SECOND BOOK EVER PRINTED IN THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE WAS ABOUT CHESS. THE FIRST WAS A
COLLECTION OF STORIES ABOUT THE TROJAN WAR.
IN 1561 RUY LOPEZ DE SEGURA, A SPANISH PRIEST,
WROTE A BOOK WHOSE TRANSLATION IS A BOOK OF
LIBERAL INVENTION AND THE ART OF THE GAME OF
CHESS. IT WAS THE FIRST COMPLETE STUDY OF THE
GAME. THE RUY LOPEZ OPENING IS NAMED AFTER HIM
AS HE WAS THE FIRST TO ANALYSE IT IN DETAIL.
CHESS IS OFTEN CITED BY PSYCHOLOGISTS AS AN
EFFECTIVE WAY TO IMPROVE MEMORY FUNCTION.
AS CHESS ALSO ALLOWS THE MIND TO SOLVE COMPLEX
PROBLEMS AND WORK THROUGH IDEAS. IT IS NO
WONDER IT IS RECOMMENDED IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST ALZHEIMER’S.
THE WORD CHECKMATE COMES FROM THE PERSIAN
PHRASE SHAH MAT, WHICH IS OFTEN TRANSLATED AS
“THE KING IS DEAD,” ALTHOUGH IT MAY BE MORE
ACCURATE TO SAY, “THE KING IS TRAPPED” OR
“THE KING IS WITHOUT ESCAPE.”
DURING THE 1972 FISCHER-SPASSKY MATCH IN REKJAVIK,
THE RUSSIANS SUSPECTED SPASSKY’S ERRATIC PLAY
HAD TO DO WITH FISCHER’S CHAIR. THE ICELANDIC
ORGANIZATION PUT A TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR POLICE GUARD
AROUND THE CHAIR WHILE CHEMICAL AND X-RAY TESTS
WERE PERFORMED ON THE CHAIR BUT NOTHING
UNUSUAL WAS FOUND.
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