|
Chess
Chess, perennially popular
game of skill between two players, invol ving
intense intellectual competition, with almost no
element of chance. Each player has 16 chess
pieces, one set being called White, the other
Black. Each set consists of a king, queen, two
bishops, two knights, two rooks (or castles),
and eight pawns. The game is played on a square
chessboard, divided into 64 alternate light (or
white) and dark (or black) squares, that is
always placed between the players so that the
corner square to the right of each player is
white. The eight vertical rows of squares
running from the front edge of the chessboard
nearest one player to that nearest the other are
called files; the eight horizontal rows that are
at right angles are called ranks; and the rows
of squares extending diagonally across the board
are called diagonals.
A chess board consists of 8 rows of 8
alternately light and dark squares. There are 64
squares in total. Each player commands 16 pieces
of 6 different types. Each type of piece can
move in a certain way, either by rank (from side
to side), by file (forward and back),
diagonally, or a combination of these ways. Most
pieces can move only along a path unobstructed
by other pieces. Most pieces capture other
pieces by moving into a square that the opposing
piece occupies. Once captured, a piece is
removed from play. The object of the game is to
force the opponent's king into a position from
which it cannot escape. This is called
checkmate.
The object of the game, which symbolizes
warfare, is to capture—that is, “checkmate”—the
opposing king. The defeated king is never
removed from the board, however, as are the
other pieces and pawns when they are captured.
The basic rules and principles of chess are
easily mastered, but the subtleties of advanced
play require intensive study and concentration.
Because of this characteristic, chess is one of
the few games that everyone can enjoy; weak or
inexperienced players will gain as many thrills
and pleasures in games with opponents of their
approximate strength as will two master
tournament competitors.
Over the centuries chess pieces have been made
in many forms, representational and abstract,
and in a wide variety of materials. Wood or
stone, ivory or bone, silver, gold, and bronze,
alabaster, crystal, and china have all been
worked by master artisans to produce sets of
incomparable beauty and value. Modern chess,
however, is primarily played with pieces of wood
or plastic in the classic design known as the
Staunton pattern, which was devised in the 19th
century in Great Britain. So popular is chess
that small portable sets are manufactured for
convenient play when traveling; by the late
1970s technological advances made it possible
for more and more players to pit their skills
against sophisticated electronic computer games
that simulate master play. The 1990s saw the
growth of chess played across the Internet.
Chess In India
India's chess scenario is
indeed rosy with a bevy of youngsters making it
big at the international stage. India is fast
emerging as a chess powerhouse thanks to the
growing number of International Grandmasters.
With more and more young kids taking to the
game, the domestic tournaments have witnessed a
healthy competition and a considerable
improvement in the overall standard of the game.
With young talents giving their older peers a
good run for their money, parents are
encouraging their wards to consider chess a
career option.
<<<Back |
