A game review by: Lee Sonogan

(6th century) Strategic, tactics

“The game gives us a satisfaction that Life denies us. And for the Chess player, the success which crowns his work, the great dispeller of sorrows, is named ‘combination’.”
― Emanuel Lasker

Chess is a strategy board game played on a chessboard. It is a two player game on 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. Millions of people have played this game. By convention, the game pieces are divided into white and black sets, and the players are referred to as White and Black respectively. You can play this game in a variety of different ways.

Each player begins the game with 16 pieces of the specified color, which consist of one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. The pieces are set out as shown in the diagram and photo, with each queen on a square of its own color, the white queen on a light square and the black queen on a dark.

Chess is believed to have originated in India sometime before the 7th century. The game was derived from the Indian game chaturanga, which is also the likely ancestor of the Eastern strategy games xiangqi, janggi, and shogi. A minority view holds that chess originated in China. The pieces assumed their current powers in Spain in the late 15th century; the rules were finally standardized in the 19th century.

The rules are simple, the pieces are harder to learn. When the respective person loses their king piece, they lose. Every other piece is used to be offensive or defensive to protect the king or kill opponents pieces.  The most pieces you get are pawns. Then you get two Towers, Knights, and Bishops. Then one King and Queen. The Queen is the most offensive piece you have in chess.

Chess pieces and what they can do:

• King – The king can kill. It can go one in all directions. But you only would do that if you know if will not land the king in checkmate
• Queen – The Queen can go anywhere on the board and on all the diagonals. Do not get you powerful queen killed in the next turn though.
• Pawn – Can move 1 or 2 forward on their opening turn. 1 on other turns and diagonal forward to kill a opponents piece.
• Knight/Horse – Moves in a L shape. Move in a direction two spots and then go left or right 1 more time on the diagonal. Horses have more movement varietys then all the other pieces in there own way!
• Bishop – The Bishop is limited to the diagonal colour it is placed on at the start of the game. Lucky you have two.
• Tower/Rook – Left, right, up or down the tower can go a long range to the other side. Best used in the middle of the board, do not get it killed like the queen piece.

The first generally recognized World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886. Since 1948, the World Championship has been regulated by FIDE, the game’s international governing body. FIDE awards titles to skilled players, the highest of which is grandmaster. Many national chess organizations also have a title system; however, these are not recognized by FIDE. Online chess has opened amateur and professional competition to a wide and varied group of players.

Since the second half of the 20th century, computers have been programmed to play chess with increasing success, to the point where the strongest personal computers play at a higher level than the best human players. Since the 1990s, computer analysis has contributed significantly to chess theory, particularly in the endgame. The IBM computer Deep Blue was the first machine to overcome a reigning World Chess Champion in a match when it defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997.

A lot of people have this game at their house online or a board set pieces. I got into chess playing it online. Playing against a computer or friends, old Chess never disappoints. The tactics and moves of the game give you so much options to keep the game moving forward. Knowing what each different piece can do makes you want to observe and predict your opponent more. I recommend this game to anyone who likes strategy games and the young who then can apply it to their life and experience.

7/10

“If u know, Chess is the game that teach u about defense not strike.
Enjoy ur tempo and win the game!”
― Maylanie Citra Liem