CHESS INFO

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.