History of Chess

People used to play Chaturanga or ‘catur’ on an 8×8 grid. This archaic form of chess had pieces that resemble the chess pieces of today. From there, the game slowly spread across South Asia and reached Europe via the western trade routes.

The modern version of the game of chess evolved in the European continent over the next few centuries. Sometime around the 16th century, the game took the shape of the version we can identify with. However, who or what caused this game’s evolution remains a mystery.

Who Invented Chess in India?

While dealing with the theme – ‘how old is chess’, it is pertinent to note that almost all chess observers have reached a consensus that chess has its origins in India. Some researchers opined that chess’s birth occurred in the ancient Indian city of Kannauj when it was the capital of the Maukhari kingdom. One of the historical records states that a Maukhari ruler named Sharva Varman had presented a chaturanga/catur set to the Persian king Khushrau II in exchange for saltpetre.

Further Reading

Now that we have discussed in some detail ‘how old is chess’, we would like you to learn more about the game. Visit the Square Off website today to find more interesting blogs on our favourite strategy game. Also, check out the sublime chess boards that Square Off has ingeniously produced.

A basic chessboard has 32 chess pieces at the start of a game. Each player has control over 16 pieces, and chess piece moves are determined per standard chess rules.

Chess Pieces Names

Pawn – Every player gets eight pawns at the beginning of a game, and they are of the lowest value and can generally move one square/tile forward at a time.

Knight – The first of the ‘minor’ pieces, knights are worth three points. They can be moved in a unique pattern, comprising three squares in an ‘L’ shape in any direction.

Bishop – Another ‘minor’ piece, bishops can only move in the diagonal direction of the board, and this ensures that a bishop will always remain on the same coloured squares from where it starts its play.

Rook – The rook is a ‘major’ chess piece worth five points. Rooks usually come in handy at the latter stages of a match, when there are enough empty ranks and files for the rooks to move freely. 

Queen – The queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard and the second most important after the king. It is worth nine points and can move to any number of squares in any direction.

King – The most valuable piece of them all, a chess match revolves around a player’s capacity to capture the opponent’s king while protecting their own king at all times.

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That concludes our piece on ‘how many pieces in chess’. If you want to know more about chess, visit the Square Off website today.

Several board games rule the charts for some time and slowly make their way into obscurity. But such is not the case with chess. It has stood the test of time and has remained a favorite of many of the global population.

When was chess most popular? No one can say that for sure. Since the game has a fluid background, drawing a concrete ‘history of chess timeline’ is also a near-impossible exercise.

Who Invented Chess?

When dealing with a question such as – ‘Who invented chess?’ finding a straightforward answer can be very difficult. This is because historians and chess observers alike believe that chess most likely has multiple inventors. So, this makes the query – ‘Who invented chess?’ all the harder to answer.

The common consensus is that chess originated in India, where it was once known as ‘chaturanga’. The earliest mention of chess dates back to the eighth century AD when it came up in a Sanskrit treatise in India.

Another chess player and researcher grappling with chess history named Ricardo Calvo had propounded a theory that pointed towards chess’s origins in Iran. He claimed ancient Persian texts talked about chess even before it appeared in Indian literature.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica has posited that no extant evidence suggests the presence of a game that can be identified as an older version of modern chess before the sixth century AD.

Therefore, while considering who invented chess, the best plausible answer would be that it has no single inventor. In other words, more than one entity or culture contributed to the formation and subsequent development of this most brilliant strategy board game.

It was the year 1860 when the present game rules were officially recognised by the leading chess authorities worldwide. These rules and regulations associated with modern chess stemmed from the mind of renowned chess player Howard Staunton.

Most of the conventions that we associate with chess, for example, white pieces getting the first move, pawns having the right to capture rival pawns via the ‘en passant’ movement, stalemates in the game resulting in a draw, etc., were all formulated during this phase of the game’s development. Staunton is widely regarded as the finest chess player of his time, that being the middle years of the nineteenth century.

Audience Craving for More Decisive Outcomes

Chess has been affected by the changing nature of how the game is perceived by the general audience. In fact, after the 2018 world championship bout between reigning champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Fabiano Caruana, it was decided that the modern game needed to be moulded to suit the taste of the contemporary spectator.

This championship contest produced twelve consecutive draws between their generation’s two most outstanding chess professionals. Only a tiebreak at the end could determine a winner, Carlsen. Carlsen and Caruana have occupied the top spots in live chess ratings for quite some time.

The need for this chess update in the game’s basic rules resulted from the call from a section of the crowd that too many draws would eventually harm the sport’s attractiveness and turn away admirers. They voiced their opinion about the need to make sure elite chess competitions produce good results.

Also, the rise of online chess during the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to FIDE acting speedily to think about a chess update at the earliest. During the lockdown months of 2020 and 2021, millions of new chess players registered on online chess portals such as Chess24 and Chess.com and began their tryst with this beautiful game.

No More ‘Draws’ in Competitive Matches 

Taking cognisance of the issue, the international governing body of chess – the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE), has stepped forward to make some changes to the game. In a drastic exercise in early 2021, FIDE decided to do away with ‘draws’ altogether from competitive chess. In any latest chess tournament, the new rules are applied in full force.

The most crucial move FIDE has implemented to change the game’s character is clearly doing away with ‘draws’ from all competitive fixtures. As more and more people are being drawn to chess, thanks to several factors, including the lockdown period and the popularity of the Netflix show ‘The Queen’s Gambit’, FIDE must have felt it necessary to cater to the demands of the larger body of chess followers.

A series of draws in any elite chess tournament, they felt, would slowly reduce the following that chess is presently enjoying in the mainstream. From now on, in any latest chess tournament, you will see definitive wins or losses. Earlier, contestants had the option of agreeing to a draw by mutual consent, and this criterion has been struck off from the rule book entirely.

One more significant move that FIDE has taken concerning its effort in bettering the game is moulding the nature of a ‘stalemate’. As many of you would know, a stalemate in chess occurs when one player is pushed to a situation where no more legal move is at their disposal.

Stalemates meant that the game would automatically be designated as a draw. But after FIDE’s 2021 chess update, whichever player retains a stronger position when the game reaches a stalemate will be deemed the victor.

The third notable move that FIDE has ratified relates to the age-old norm that the game automatically becomes a drawn match after three repeated moves. The new chess update has mandated that the player who makes the same move three times will be declared the loser.

And to top it all, to discourage this standard practice, FIDE has invented a new term – ‘Cowardly Master’ or ‘CM’, that will be awarded to any competitor having a tendency to play this technique.

Chess Update Met With Mixed Reception

However, this particular chess update has mixed responses, with several chess observers appealing to FIDE to reconsider its stance. This episode has given rise to a full-scale war of words on various social media platforms. Terms like ‘New Chess’ and ‘#newchess’ have flooded the chess discussion forums since FIDE made the announcement. 

The new moves in chess have been met with mixed reviews. On the one hand, top-level grandmasters like Anish Giri have openly voiced their support for ‘New Chess’. On the other hand, the last player to challenge world champion, Magnus Carlsen for the world title, Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, has called for the withdrawal of these latest moves.

Nepomniachtchi, currently the world number three in live chess ratings, considers these changes a “joke” and has no faith in them. He has declared that he would stick to the traditional rules of the game wherever he competes.

Online chess portal Chess.com, on its part, has set about integrating the newest moves notified by FIDE’S chess update. Earlier, anyone playing games at chess.com had the option of ‘offering’ draws to their rivals, and this avenue has now been removed from the website’s page.

On this topic, chess.com’s Chief Chess Officer, Mr. Danny Rensch, told reporters that the time is ripe for the chess world to accept the changes FIDE has brought forth and that chess’s latest avatar – ‘New Chess’, is something that is here for the long run.
To learn about how chess has metamorphosed over the ages to reach its current form, check out our blog titled ‘Learn the Rich History and Origin of Chess’. to get the complete picture of what the game is all about.

While playing a game of chess, each player must have a good defence strategy to absorb the pressure received from the other end. Generally, since the white pieces start a match, the person with the black pieces gets to face the first round of attack.

So, the player with the black pieces must be knowledgeable about the methods through which they can counter the white opening round attacks. In chess, the best players know how to balance their offensive and defensive stances; this is the only way anyone can excel in chess.

The following are the ten best defences in chess for a player competing with black pieces:

Sicilian Defence

The Sicilian Defence is one of the most popular defensive moves in chess, and it happens to be one of the most reliable of all chess defences. While there is more than one variation of this defensive style, there is a style that is played the maximum number of times.

There is always something new to learn from this technique, no matter how many times you use it during a game. The Sicilian Defence can be applied to a game when the person handling the white pieces moves their pawn to e4. 

In most cases, the opponent would counter by moving their pawn from e7 to e5. But in the case of the Sicilian Defence, the pawn on c7 would be placed on the c5 tile. This is a brilliant move as the black pawn proceeds to control a different part of the centre.

Pirc Defence 

The Pirc Defence chess method is another excellent way to check the approaching danger from the white side. This is a newer defensive technique that has become part of chess folklore relatively recently.

The Pirc Defence is based on the idea that one can begin a game without focusing too much on trying to control the centre. When the white starts taking control of the centre, the person using the Pirc Defence gathers their minor from the flanks on both sides of the chess board. 

To give you an overview of what might happen when a chess opening involves the Pirc Defence, we will provide you with an example. Suppose white plays pawn to e4 to gain control over the centre of the board. Black will refrain from doing the same and instead go with a black pawn moving to g6.

Scandinavian Defence

The Scandinavian Defence is the oldest opening move applied by black in modern chess, which has been the mainstay in the modern era of chess for more than a hundred and fifty years.

Here the white attacks the centre with a pawn to e4, and the black steps up its pawn to d5. The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings classified the Scandinavian Defence under the code ‘B01’. This defensive method is also known by the name ‘Scachs d’amor’. 

Caro Kann Defence

One of chess’s most played defensive tactics, the Caro Kann Defence, is based on countering the white side’s ‘pawn to e4’ strategy. It all starts when the player with the white pieces places a pawn to e4.

In response, a black pawn takes its place on c6, followed by another black pawn going forward to d5. This defence makes the black pieces stand on somewhat equal footing with the white pieces in the centre of the board.

One of the principal advantages of playing the Caro Defence is that the black side cancels out the initial superiority of the white side early in the game. This goes a long way in determining how the match would turn out.

French Defence

Another notable opening defensive move favoured by the black side, the French Defence is ranked as the second most go-to move after the Sicilian Defence. Its popularity stems from the black side throwing the white off-balance with this technique.

For the French Defence to gain ground, the white has to first play its pawn to e4. As a counter, the black will now move its pawn to e6. This move can be a big surprise when your opponent expects the more common pawn to e5 action.

Dutch Defence

The Dutch Defence is a brilliant way for the black side to take partial control of the centre of the chess board while attacking the kingside of the white pieces. One can play this technique when a white pawn is moved to d4.

By moving a black pawn to f5, the channel is opened for several counter-attacking options by the player handling the black pieces. However, one has to be careful using this move since it leaves the ‘f7’ tile of the chess board an easy target for the white side.

Alekhine Defence

The black uses this defensive move to play an aggressive game of chess. What happens here is that white plates, the usual e4, move. In response, black refrains from playing a pawn to a higher square. Instead, black moves one of its knights ahead.

This gives white to begin chasing the black knight all over the board. However, using this distraction, black builds up its other major pieces to inflict an attack on the white king.

Benoni Defence

This is another aggressive technique that is used by black in competitive games. When white starts a game with the typical pawn to e4 move, black responds by moving two of its pieces, usually a pawn and a knight, to two light squares.

This technique aims to gain control of the dark centre squares of the chess board by the black. The bishops become vital pieces for the black while applying this technique in the opening rounds of the game.

Slav Defence

The Slav Defence is a favourite of many global grandmasters (GMs). This defensive technique is the most common response to the white’s Queen’s Gambit opening trick.

While using the Slav Defence, black targets the centre of the chess board early to seize its control from white. The Slav Defence is played by many GMs in elite tournaments to check the advancing white.

Grunfeld Defence

A hypermodern defensive technique, the Grunfeld Defence is a tactical approach that does not look to take control of the centre in the opening rounds of the match. On the contrary, black builds up its flanks to better prepare for the white’s impending onslaught in the middle game.

For the black side, minor pieces take centre stage in this style of play, and this is because it is the minor pieces that attack the centrally located white pieces on the board once the build-up is more or less complete.

As you have seen, the best defences in chess take shape in the opening minutes of the game, and this is when the game’s tone is set. Therefore, it is always helpful to be thorough with the best defence moves in chess. Always remember that the best way to defend in chess is to continuously update one’s tactical knowledge. 
Now that you have learned about the best defences in chess, check out our other blog discussing the best chess openings. Click on the link now!

Online Chess with Square Off

You can now watch professional chess tournaments live right here, with Square Off Live and learn master strategies as you stream them and you can also test your chess prowess and improve your strategies with Square Off Puzzles as you take on these challenging puzzles with varying difficulty levels

Chess and checkers are two board games usually thought to be one and the same. But the reality is far from it. Chess and checkers are totally different from one another. In this article, we will discuss the characteristics of these popular games and analyse their essential themes.

The chief difference between chess and checkers lies in the fact that in the latter, the primary objective is to get rid of all your opponent’s pieces. In chess, however, the target is to capture or ‘check’ the rival king.

Image Credits: Wooden Earth

Checkers vs Chess Board

The chief connection that the two top board games have is the way the boards on which they are played look. For chess and checkers, we use a 64-square board with alternating blocks/tiles/squares.

One more similarity that chess and checkers share is when a piece gets promoted to a higher piece upon reaching the last square of the board. In the case of checkers, you may get your pieces promoted to a ‘king’. Chess pawns can be upgraded to a queen, a bishop, a knight, or a rook upon reaching the last square of the chess board.

How to Play Checkers?

Checkers is also called ‘draughts’ and is played in almost every part of the world. It is a strategy game that requires skill and expertise in equal measure. The final goal while playing checkers is to eliminate all your opponent’s pieces from the board.

Only two players can play checkers at any given time. This aspect of the game is similar to that of chess. In checkers, each player takes turns making a move just like in chess.

If you look at the checkers playing board, you will find two types of tiles- light-coloured and dark-coloured. The dark tiles are meant to remain filled with pieces, and the light ones are supposed to be kept empty. 

Unlike chess, pieces in checkers can be moved only in a diagonal direction. Each player begins the game with 12 pieces, and all pieces of one player are of the same type.

With these 12 pieces, competitors aim to finish the game with the most pieces left on the board. To capture pieces in a game of checkers, a player has to make one of their pieces jump over the rival pieces by one or more tiles.

In chess, a convention says black makes the first move in every game, and however, in checkers, it is the direct opposite. Here, the player with the black/dark pieces will make the first move.

Chess vs Checkers Online

Both chess and checkers are played by millions of people every day on the internet. While chess has its online playing dedicated portals such as ‘Chess.com’ and ‘Lichess.org’, checkers too can be played on sites like ‘247checkers.com’, ‘Mathsisfun’, and ‘Chessandcheckersio’.

The increase in the number of online players in chess and checkers took a sharp turn in early 2020. This happened due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus and consequent lockdowns in many parts of the world.

As people were locked inside their homes, they turned their attention more toward the old classic board games of chess and checkers. Several online surveys have revealed that from the middle of 2020 to the beginning of 2021, there was an unprecedented rise in online chess and checkers registrations. 

Is Chess or Checkers Older?

It is widely believed that checkers existed much before chess found its way into the lives of human beings. Scholars of history and archaeology have estimated checkers to have been present as weary as 3000 BC.

According to some studies, people living in the ancient city of Ur, Mesopotamia (located in present-day Iraq), had board games resembling the modern version of the game.

Conversely, chess is considered around a millennium and a half years old, and it originates in India’s subcontinent in the middle of the second millennium AD. In its earliest form, chess was known as ‘chaturanga’ – an ancient Indian board game.

From there, it began its evolutionary journey to reach its modern version sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. The current rules and regulations of chess were recognised and ratified in the 1850s.

Checkers vs Chess Complexity

It is not true that checkers is the easier one out of the two. Both chess and checkers have dimensions that are hard to master. Like in chess, a checkers player must remember an infinite number of calculations to get to that perfect move.

Some observers say that checkers is less interesting than chess due to its inherent monotony. However, as many would know, a variety of checkers’ versions played around the world have little to no differences, and this indeed takes care of the tediousness.

If we consider the difficulty level of chess and checkers, most observers would say the former is the tougher one out of the two. This is because chess has more variant pieces to begin with, and chess pieces can also move more than one way.

People who are competent in both chess and checkers have stated that it takes more time to master chess. But that does not count out the fact that becoming good at checkers also takes time.

To conclude this piece, we can say that both chess and checkers are fantastic strategy board games that give contestants and audience members a high dose of entertainment. These games have been around for centuries owing to their ever-increasing popularity.

At the end of the day, learning both chess and checkers is always beneficial to stay sharp and mentally clear. Scientific studies have pointed out that playing chess or checkers or both at regular intervals keeps the human brain healthy for a longer period of time.
To expand your chess knowledge, click on our other article titled ’41 Terms of Chess to Get You Started’

Chess and poker have been around for several centuries. These popular strategy games tend to be entertaining and nerve-wracking at the same time. Both require a healthy set of skills and a few strokes of luck.

Anyone willing to take up any one of these two excellent generally gets stuck with the thought of which one they should go for. Also, a standard query is about the hardness level of each of these games.

Does Poker Make You Smarter?

The general view is that poker is more challenging to master at any given time and age, and that is because it takes more skills and intelligence to win poker games than chess matches.

Poker players rely more on their intuition and situational understanding than their chess counterparts. This is because one needs to be excellent at reading people’s minds to win poker games. Whereas chess players mostly rely on their chess board skillset, poker players make their moves by their opponents’ reactions.

Where chess players compete using their understanding of the game’s rules and regulations, poker players mix skills with their overall emotional intelligence. With poker, one has to be equally sharp in dealing with specific situations that creep up during any contest duration.

How to Play Poker?

The underlying idea of poker is to beat one’s opponent with the aid of a potent mixture of mathematics, representation, and a touch of luck. In poker, the ultimate aim of any player is to make the opponent submit to the whims and strategies that one is applying to the game.

Once your competitor believes they possess the winning hand, they would be compelled to bet on their chips. This is when the game is at its best, and one false move can lead to utter defeat.

In poker, each player takes turns to opt for any of the following moves – raise, fold, check and call. Out of these, a maximum of three actions can be played simultaneously. Poker players do not get options while opting for their moves, as the choices are limited. However, it is still an elite game as it depends on the ‘general population tendency’.

In other words, in poker, one has to get inside the opponent’s mind to have a better chance of winning. The person who can do this masterfully goes on to win the game.

If your opponent thinks they are making all the correct moves and you are doing the opposite, you are halfway through to victory. 

Poker vs Chess Complexity

It is widely believed that the game of poker is a bit more complicated than chess, mainly because poker gives players more options than chess. As most poker is based on the guessing game, it automatically qualifies as the more complex of the two. Only when you start to understand how your opponent is thinking will you be able to begin your own planning.

This particular insight, however, remains unavailable to all poker players. Hence, poker automatically becomes the more complicated of the two, as it presents sufficient data to a player.

Poker depends a lot on assumptions. In chess, some rules and conventions have been in place since the modern version established itself sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. With poker, the parameters change entirely, and what was held to be the chief performance scale fifty years ago will not make a victor out of a current player. In poker, styles and conventions keep changing with time.

On the other hand, chess players will always look forward to making their best moves on the board within the boundaries of the established norms and conventions. Chess allows a player to use an array of calculations to reach the optimal movement needed in a particular situation. On the other hand, poker is much more fluid and does not rely much on set rules. The element of uncertainty is what gives poker its risky nature. For this reason, upsets are way more common in poker than in chess.

Chess Players Who Play Poker

Both chess and poker are considered games that need a tremendous amount of intelligence to master. Typically, it does not take much time to learn the rules of both these games. But to become a good player in either of them takes a long time.

Surprisingly, some individuals have been able to become seasoned chess and poker competitors in the same lifetime. Here we will share a few names of people who have defied the odds and excelled at both.

Dan Harrington

Dan Harrington is a prime example of someone who has collected laurels in a long career spanning decades in both chess and poker. Mr. Harrignton began his career playing chess and won the Massachusetts Chess State Championship in 1971.

After spending some time being a backgammon player, Harrington made headway into the poker world. He went on to dominate the game by collecting notable prizes such as the World Poker Tour (WPT) and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) titles on more than one occasion. He made headlines by winning the 1995 Main Event, widely accepted as the ‘Real World Poker Championship’!

James Obst

A child prodigy in chess, James Obst from Australia quickly rose to 2100 chess rating at only 15. He participated in a handful of chess World Youth Championships during this time. But alongside chess, Obst was also playing poker from an early age.

Even before turning 20, Obst had already won more than a million Australian dollars in online poker. His first big title came in 2017 when he topped the WSOP with AUD 265k as prize money. Cumulatively, Obst has collected over 3 million from various poker competitions.

Ylon Schwartz

Fide Master (FM) Ylon Schwartz began his professional career by competing in chess tournaments in and around the New York area in the United States. He soon made the giant leap from chess to poker in the year 200 and has not looked back ever since.

Even after going on full-on with poker, Schwartz never really said goodbye to chess and is still playing it once in a while. But his main area of interest has shifted to poker, from which he has earned a reported more than USD 5 million in prize money.

Alexander Grischuk

Super Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk is one of those rare personalities who embodies the best of both chess and poker. Rated among the best chess players of his generation, Grischuk took his love of strategy board games over to poker and nailed it.

He has amassed quite a fortune playing in poker championships. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Grischuk participated in the online version of the WSOP and won more than USD 30k.

Jennifer Shahade 

One of the greatest female chess players to have come out of the United States, Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Jennifer Shahade, took the chess circuit by storm when she emerged victorious in the US Women’s Championship in 2002 and again in 2004.

She got into poker around the same time and rapidly progressed up the ranks. In 2014, Shahade finished first in the Chinese Poker HighRoller Tournament held in Prague, Czech Republic, and was awarded an amount of EUR 100k. After that, she was made an ambassador of Pokerstars. Never shying away from displaying her skills in poker, Shahade has made more than USD 350,000 in online poker competitions.

Almira Skripchenko 

It is definitely great to be born into a chess family. Almira Skripchenko’s parents were chess coaches, and naturally, she became inclined to the game at a very early age. Almira shone brightly in one of her first significant competitions and won the U16 Girls World Championship medal.

Then, in 2001, Almira made headlines again by winning the European Championship crown. Once she became a French citizen, she started competing in the French national chess tournaments. Here, Almira Skripchenko grabbed the Women’s French Championship title six times.

Almira’s transition to poker took place in the mid-2000s. In the WPT Celebrity Invitational poker competition, Almira finished in the second position and took home a whopping USD 50k. 

Poker vs Blackjack

Both poker and blackjack are forms of gambling, and the main difference between the two lies in that blackjack is more of a team game than poker. In poker, each player plays to win a sum of money that they are allowed to take home once the game ends.

On the other hand, blackjack is a game banked by a house. So, if players competing in a blackjack game lose, the entire house also loses. In poker, an individual player must only pay a small fraction of the winning sum as a participation fee.

So, from our discussion about ‘Poker vs Chess’, we have established that several chess champions have gone on to win poker tournaments, proving the deep connection between the two strategy games.
If you want to know about chess pieces and moves, check out our blog titled, ‘Chess Pieces Names and Moves: The Complete Guide (2022)’

Questions have been raised about whether chess can be classified as a sport or merely a board game. In this article, we will strive to clear your doubts regarding this age-old dilemma.

What Is a sport?

The prestigious Oxford English Dictionary states that an activity is deemed a sport when a person engages in any physically challenging exercise. This engagement may or may not be to reach a particular objective, mainly a rewarding experience.

A sport is played by an individual or group with the will to win a competition. This spirit of competitiveness aims to bring glory to a specific entity and give wholesome entertainment to the population witnessing the same.

Is Chess a Sport?

Since sport is generally considered to have a physical aspect, chess has never been seriously considered a sport. Chess is regarded as a ‘game’ rather than a ‘sport’.

On the other hand, it is widely accepted that chess does have elements that are integral to any sport. When two chess players face off against each other, one gets to see a level of competitiveness, skill, application of mind and strategy in popular sports such as football, cricket, basketball, and badminton.

Is Chess an Olympic Sport?

Even though the more significant chunk of popular opinion supports the view that chess is more of a game than a sport, the International Olympic Association (IOC) has taken the step to declare chess a sport. Along with the IOC, over a hundred countries worldwide have recognised chess as a sport.

After giving recognition to chess for its sportlike qualities in 2000, the IOC showed signs that it would be part of future Olympic meets. Taking a cue from the IOC’s historical step, organisers of the Asian Games 2006 at Doha included chess as a separate event. It won’t be long before chess becomes a regular at all the world’s major sporting events.

The stance taken by the IOC has naturally given rise to many movements which call for the dissolution of chess’s status as a sport.

Why Is Chess Not a Sport?

Seeing as we have dealt with the question, “Is chess a sport?’, it is time now to consider the other side of the debate. The following are 3 reasons why chess is not a sport:

1. The principal point put forward to argue that chess cannot be notified as a sport is that it lacks the physical ingredient inherent to a sport.
2. Many believe that chess should not be named a sport because it does not require players to get physically fit in a gym.
3. Like other indoor games like carrom, monopoly, Pictionary, and scrabble, chess can be played without going out of one’s house.

What Type of Sport is Chess?

From handling the question, ‘Is chess a sport?’, we now have to look carefully at chess’s inherent attributes. Despite the more decisive view that chess cannot be put under the same category as other traditional sports such as rugby and baseball, it still commands sufficient respect to stand its own ground in the sporting arena.

Even if chess players need to not move out of their seating position for the entirety of a match, the game has several qualities similar to any other mainstream sport.

Both players must shake hands during a chess game as a mark of mutual respect and camaraderie. The game rules are strict enough to find any professional who fails to follow these guidelines.

Top chess players find it easier to produce better results if they stay in shape. This is akin to any other sport, where individuals stick to diets and exercise regimens to keep their performance levels high.

One of the greatest chess players of all time, Bobby Fischer, commented on how he kept himself physically fit to better perform at tournaments. One of the advantages of being in shape is that it promotes better blood circulation to the brain. And chess being supremely dependent on a player’s mental prowess, a charge-up brain will result in sharper decision-making and concentration.

To take the case of reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, the young Norwegian travels overseas to participate in chess tournaments with a team that consists of fitness coaches and dieticians. 

Are Chess Players Athletes?

We have discussed both sides of the argument on the question – ‘Is chess a sport?’ It is time now to discuss the athleticism of chess players. Not all chess players are athletes.

But most of the current batch of chess professionals are openly advocating the importance of physical fitness in competitive chess. One of the foremost chess players on the present roster, Levon Aronian, regularly plays football to stay in shape.

The mental exertion that is part and parcel of all competitive chess bouts makes it necessary for all severe contenders to follow a healthy diet and exercise plan. It may seem that competing in a chess game does not take much. But it is the total opposite.

Forcing one’s brain to work at peak level for a long time takes a toll on the human body. This may result in heightened palpitation, increased blood pressure, sweating, etc. The only way to counter the ill effects of these physical outcomes of stress and tension is to take care of one’s health religiously.

Is Chess an Individual Sport?

Chess is more famous for being an individual sport than a team-based one. The answer is that the game’s superstars have become larger-than-life figures over the years. Garry Kasparov, Vishwanathan Anand, and most recently Magnus Carlsen have all entered households where chess is played with love and enthusiasm worldwide.

On the contrary, the recently-concluded World Chess Olympiad, held in Chennai, India, demonstrated the popularity of chess as a team sport. Despite being more of an individualistic game, chess also reserves the versatility of being pitted as a team sport.

Now that we have tackled the question, ‘Is chess a sport?’, it is time for you to raise your awareness about chess’s origins and its fundamental rules. Check out our blog,’ Learn the Rich History and Origin of Chess’.

This article will revolve around the query, ‘How does the bishop move in chess?’, along with other critical topics such as, ‘How bishop moves in chess’ and ‘How far can bishop move in chess?’ We will begin by delving into the nature of the chess pieces known as the ‘bishop.’

The bishop is one of the ‘major’ chess pieces on a chessboard. So, knowing about how the bishop moves will equip a chess player to level up and polish one’s game standards.

Bishops are particularly helpful to a chess player when initiating long-range attacking moves on the opponent. Over the past hundred years or more, many great players have used the bishop repeatedly to win notable games.

How Does a Bishop Look?

A bishop has a rounded top or head, and there exists a single slit carved over it. At the beginning of a chess game, four bishops will be on the chessboard, with each player controlling two. Both bishops rest to the side of the king and the queen, with the latter two standing side by side at the very centre of the last rank.

All chess pieces have a specific value attached to them. On the same note, bishops have the value of three points, and they share this chess value with knights, who also have the value of three points. Bishops are more valuable than pawns, but less than rooks and queens, having values of five points and nine points, respectively.

How Does the Bishop Move In Chess?

Bishops can only move diagonally on a chessboard, and they cannot move horizontally and vertically like rooks, queens, and pawns when they are going for the ‘en passant’ move.

Also, bishops remain restricted to the same-colour squares/tiles throughout a game. That is to say, one bishop will remain confined to the square colour, either black or white, for the entirety of a match.

The rules that govern chess state that there is no limit to how far a bishop can move in chess. However, this can only be applicable if there are no other chess pieces blocking the path of the moving bishop. Bishops can only capture enemy pieces lying on their diagonals by taking up the captured pieces’ spots.

The bishop, which starts a game sitting on top of a white square, is referred to as a ‘light square bishop.’ Similarly, a bishop that occupies a black square on the chessboard at commencement is called the ‘dark square bishop.’

How To Use the Bishop to Get Better at Chess?

Now that we have covered the part dealing with ‘How does the bishop move in chess?’, let us focus on how bishops help win chess games.

To utilise the full potential of the bishop, one needs to know how it needs to be deployed during a game of chess to get maximum leverage. The following chess tactics and strategies involving the bishop will most definitely raise the game level of any chess beginner.

Look out for open diagonals: While handling bishops, it is imperative that a chess player tries to find open diagonals for the bishops to be influential on the opponent.

When placed on top of a square having a long and open diagonal without obstruction/s, the bishop becomes a deadly tool in the hands of a chess player. To achieve this, the player has to ensure the bishop’s path is not guarded by both friendly and rival chess pieces.

The bishop can be a resourceful piece on the chessboard even when they are positioned somewhere at the centre. Generally, major chess pieces are the most threatening when placed somewhere in the centre of the chessboard. However, in the case of the bishops, they can be threatening from any part of the chessboard, considering they have a clear diagonal on either side.

Like rooks and queens, bishops start a chess game blocked to their starting positions by the pawns standing in front of them. Hence, it takes a little time for them to enter the game’s fray and begin manoeuvring the opponent’s demise. For this reason, bishops are most productive during the middle game phase of a chess game, and they also go on into the endgame phase and aid in capturing the rival king.

The ‘good bishop’ and the ‘bad bishop’: In chess terminology, there is something known as the ‘good bishop’ and the ‘bad bishop.’ The terms’ good’ and ‘bad’ are attached to a bishop when seen from its position on a chessboard.

In case one of the two bishops that a player starts with is in a place where there is a large concentration of pawns placed in the same colour where the bishop stands, the movement of the said bishop becomes severely restricted. This then is referred to as the ‘bad’ bishop.

Likewise, if a bishop is positioned somewhere on the chessboard where there are scant pawns next to it on the same colour squares, thus giving it ample space to move around the board, this bishop becomes the ‘good’ bishop.

However they sound, both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bishops have pluses and minuses. Whereas the ‘bad’ bishop tends to defend friendly pawns better, the ‘good’ bishop works well to attack enemy chess pieces due to freedom of mobility.

Increase the number of ‘active’ bishops: Under any circumstance, chess players should try and increase the chances of the two bishops under their command from being ‘passive’ bishops to ‘active’ bishops. This is imperative while applying the knowledge gained from understanding ‘How does a bishop move in chess?’

This means that a bishop surrounded by friendly pawns and, therefore, cannot actively participate in the game becomes ‘passive’ and stationary. On the other hand, the bishop that has freed itself of the friendly pawns lying close to it and placed on the same colour squares automatically gets ‘active’ on the board.

It is interesting to note here that both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bishops can be ‘active’ and ‘passive’ at any point in the game of play, depending on the situation. But at the end of the day, an ‘active’ bishop will be better suited to inflict damage on the rival chess pieces and thus increase the chances of a win, all because of span and pliability.

Attempt the move called a ‘fianchetto’: The term ‘fianchetto’, originally Italian, is used in connection to the development of a bishop during the opening rounds of a chess game. It denotes the sequential growth of chess pieces to achieve bishop progression somewhat faster than the usual rate.

To execute a fianchetto, a player at first moves the pawn at file g or file b a single or a couple of squares forward. Once the pawns clear the way ahead for the bishops, they could be moved one square on.

By executing a fianchetto in the opening rounds of a match, a player gains immediate control of a large region of the chessboard. Alongside this, the bishop, when moved to the second rank, gives better protection to the castled king to its back.

If a player has white chess pieces to play with, a fianchetto can be used to press the rival chess pieces. When playing with black pieces, a fianchetto can initiate a counter-attack on the opponent while gaining quick control over the centre of the chessboard.

Learn to use bishops in the endgame: The bishops, along with the rooks and the queen, are those chess pieces that are extremely handy in the last phase of chess matches, known as the ‘endgame’. Here, both players are usually down to a few chess pieces, and the competition to get that win gets intensified.

Both sets of players are left with a few pawns and without significant chess pieces at this stage. At this juncture, the bishop’s strengths come into play big time. Its extended range mobility makes it a real threat to the rival king, and it also protects the remaining friendly pieces on the board at the same time.

However, two remaining bishops at the last phase of a chess match are not usually enough to deliver checkmate, and they need at least one more major chess piece, like a queen, rook, or knight, to help get to the point of checkmate.
Now that the question ‘How does the bishop move in chess?’ is pretty much straightforward, why not check out our blog titled ‘Learn How Pawns Move In Chess?’ Click on the link to understand how pawns, although of the most negligible value on the chessboard, can turn the tide in the favour of any player.

At the start of a chess game, players gain control over two rooks each. When the chess pieces are arranged in the beginning, rooks take up the corner squares of the last row of the board. In chess parlance, the white rooks will be positioned at a1 and h1, and the black rooks will occupy a8 and h8.

Standard chess rules state that a chess rook is a ‘major’ piece worth five points. In the value scale, the chess rook is placed only below the queen, which has a value of nine points. The rest of the chess pieces – the bishop, the knight, and the pawn have lower values than the rook.

This makes it a valuable piece on the board, and understanding its strengths and weaknesses can go a long way in transforming anyone into a much better chess player.

How Do Rooks Move In Chess

One of the first questions that come to mind while learning about chess rooks is, ‘How do rooks move in chess?’ We have already mentioned that the chess rook is a powerful piece, second only to the queen in versatility.

So, it is no wonder it can move to its front, back and sideways. It can do so on any rank or file on the chess board. Its only limitation is its inability to move in the diagonal direction. Here lies the difference between the chess rook and the chess queen.

Now you may be wondering how far rooks can move in chess. A chess rook can move as many squares/tiles in the upwards or downwards as well as lateral direction, considering those squares are not occupied. This also answers another query that many newcomers in chess have, i.e., ‘Can rooks move sideways in chess?’

These characteristics of the chess rook make it a deadly piece in the middle and the endgame when both chess players look to destabilise their opponents and win the match. Especially towards the final phases of a chess match, when the board becomes open and spacious, rooks become doubly active and go for the kill swiftly.

Rooks capture rival chess pieces by moving over to their spots. It does not have the novel feature of the knight being able to jump over pieces to reach its objective destination. If the path of the chess rook is blocked by a similar colour piece, it is forced to remain stationary at its place.

How To Checkmate Using The Chess Rook

While reading about ‘How do rooks move in chess?’, it is critical to know the ways they can be used to gain advantage during a match. Rooks are versatile chess pieces that can checkmate in a variety of ways. Out of the many, three typical rook-based checkmates are very popular among established chess players. They are known as:

Single Rook Mate – In this type of checkmate, the rook forces the rival king into submission with the help of the same side king. This situation arises towards the end of a chess match when the board is almost out of chess pieces, and the kings become the cynosure of all the action.

Double Rook Mate – When two rooks start working in tandem on the chess board, it rarely bodes well for the opposition’s chess pieces.

Back-Rank Mate – Arguably the most well-known checkmate involving rooks, the bank-rank mate is a highly effective tool to corner the enemy king. This occurs when a player finds the opponent’s king in a precarious position, i.e., placed at the last rank of the chessboard with no empty square/tile to escape to in the case of an impending check.

How To Make The Best Use Of The Chess Rook

Like all chess pieces, rooks, too, have their strengths and weaknesses. Being the second most powerful chess piece on the chessboard after the queen, the rook becomes highly valuable during the middle and the endgame when players try to go for the win.

For a rook to be the most effective, the files and ranks must be open to the front/back and side/s. Cramped-up spaces are the bane for rooks on a chessboard. It is no wonder that rooks become part of the more extensive play not before the middle game but most during the endgame phase.

To bring the rooks into action early in a chess game, a player must be willing to play their pawns systematically so that enough space is created for them to enter the fray. To this end, a player could even have to sacrifice a few pawns to facilitate the entry of the rooks into the open board. 

Chess rooks are helpful in providing support to other chess pieces during play. While attempting to attack enemy pieces, good players tend to back their bishops or knights with rooks. Rooks also come in handy when a player’s pawns try to reach the other end of the board to be promoted to a higher piece.

Once a player successfully places a rook on an open rank or file, that entire zone is controlled by the same. This gives a great advantage to the person applying that strategy. In the latter stages of a chess game, rooks begin to show their potential by limiting the movement of the rival king.

Since rooks are considered as ‘high’ value chess pieces, they are often constantly under attack from the opponents’ pieces during a game. The bishops, knights and pawns are always looking to take out the enemy rooks on the board.

One of the objectives that all chess players should have is to try and free their rooks from the extreme corners of the chess boards by the time the game reaches the middle phase. That would allow any player to think and strategise better, enabling faster victories.

Due to positional restrictions, rooks come into the larger picture relatively late into the game when both players have already set up the momentum pretty well.

This article has spoken of all a beginner in chess, or a general reader should know about the chess rook. From ‘How do rooks move in chess?’ to ‘How far can rooks move in chess?’ and ‘Can rooks move sideways in chess?’, we have covered the significant aspects of this vital chess piece.

To learn more about chess and the essential pointers one should keep in mind while learning to play, check out our blog titled ‘How To Win Chess Games’, where you will find the basic ideas for how to go about winning your first chess games. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do rooks move in chess when one uses the ‘rook lift’ technique’?

The ‘rook lift’ technique involves the pawns placed directly in front of the two rooks on the chessboard at the beginning of a match. As rooks are generally clustered at the corners of the board on both sides, the method of the pawns two places ahead from their starting position allows the rooks behind them to get ahead by two squares. This technique is beneficial when a player brings the rooks into play early in a match.

2. Is it possible to move the chess rook backwards?

Yes, it is possible to move the chess rook backwards, considering there is space for the rook to move. If the rank or files are occupied with chess pieces of the same colour, then the rook will not be able to progress along the rank or file.

This feature of the rook, of being able to move backwards, is shared by the queen and the knight to some degree, but not by the bishops and the pawns.

3. Do chess rooks move along the chessboard in the diagonal direction?

Unlike the bishops, the chess rooks do not move in the diagonal direction. They may move either up or down and right or left on the board, depending on the space they get.

Among the chess pieces that have the capacity to move diagonally, there exist the king, the queen, the bishop, and at times the pawn when they complete the ‘en passant’ move.

4. Can rooks move when they are at the starting position?

No, it is not possible to move rooks when they are stationed at their respective starting positions to the extreme corners of the chessboard.

Only when the rank or file next to them is clear can they begin their movement.

The only chess pieces on a standard chessboard that can start moving without requiring the pawns in front of them to give them space are the knights. Knights have the fantastic property of jumping over the pawns standing in front of them to enter the central part of the board.