Introduction
Chess is a board game played between two players. It is sometimes called Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from related games such as xiangqi and shogi. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from chaturanga, a similar but much older game of Indian origin. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide.
Chess is an abstract strategy game and involves no hidden information. It is played on a square chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player (one controlling the white pieces, the other controlling the black pieces) controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in "check") and there is no way for it to escape. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw.
Organized chess arose in the 19th century. Chess competition today is governed internationally by FIDE (International Chess Federation). The first universally recognized World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; Magnus Carlsen is the current World Champion. A huge body of chess theory has developed since the game's inception. Aspects of art are found in chess composition, and chess in its turn influenced Western culture and art and has connections with other fields such as mathematics, computer science, and psychology. (Full article...)
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The Queen's Gambit is a 2020 American coming-of-age period drama streaming television miniseries based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. The title refers to the "Queen's Gambit", a chess opening. The series was written and directed by Scott Frank, who created it with Allan Scott, who owns the rights to the book. Beginning in the mid-1950s and proceeding into the 1960s, the story follows the life of Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), a fictional chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency.
Netflix released The Queen's Gambit on October 23, 2020. After four weeks it had become Netflix's most-watched scripted miniseries, making it Netflix's top program in 63 countries. The series received critical acclaim, with particular praise for Taylor-Joy's performance, the cinematography, and production values. It also received a positive response from the chess community for its accurate depictions of high-level chess, and data suggests that it increased public interest in the game. (Full article...)General images
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FIDE world ranking
Rank | Rank change* | Player | Rating | Rating change* |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
![]() |
2864 | ![]() |
2 | ![]() |
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2806 | ![]() |
3 | ![]() |
![]() |
2804 | ![]() |
4 | ![]() |
![]() |
2786 | ![]() |
5 | ![]() |
![]() |
2776 | ![]() |
6 | ![]() |
![]() |
2773 | ![]() |
7 | ![]() |
![]() |
2770 | ![]() |
8 | ![]() |
![]() |
2766 | ![]() |
9 | ![]() |
![]() |
2765 | ![]() |
10 | ![]() |
![]() |
2761 | ![]() |
11 | ![]() |
![]() |
2760 | ![]() |
12 | ![]() |
![]() |
2753 | ![]() |
13 | ![]() |
![]() |
2753 | ![]() |
14 | ![]() |
![]() |
2751 | ![]() |
15 | ![]() |
![]() |
2750 | ![]() |
16 | ![]() |
![]() |
2750 | ![]() |
17 | ![]() |
![]() |
2747 | ![]() |
18 | ![]() |
![]() |
2744 | ![]() |
19 | ![]() |
![]() |
2742 | ![]() |
20 | ![]() |
![]() |
2730 | ![]() |
*Change from the previous month |
Top 10 WikiProject Chess Popular articles of the month
Did you know...
- ... that in 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel, chess pieces can move between different versions of the board in time, hence creating "parallel timelines"?
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Chess from A to Z
Index: | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z (0–9) |
Glossary: | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
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