Mind boggler. Review on Chess

This is a review about Chess - a game where extensive thinking has to be done in order to outsmart and defeat your opponent. Although, this has not been my favourite game, I have played it many times with my friends, family and also a couple of times in school competitions. I am not a great player in chess and have lost many times, especially with tough competitors.However, this game has made me think and develop strategies, which I feel is an important part in developing the mind to accept certain challenges and tackling them properly.

Coming back to the game, there will be 2 sets of teams - white and black. There are over 8 pawns, 2 horses/knights, 2 bishops, 2 rooks/castles, 1 king and 1 Queen in each team. The Chess board consists of alternative black and white squares. I am sure many of you'll reading this review would be knowing chess very well or atleast would have an idea about it, but still I find it somewhat necessary to specify the gameplay.

Each person would be given alternative turns to play or attack with his set of players/units. The gameplay is further discussed below:

1) The pawn is the simplest of all units and possibly the weakest. The pawn can move only 1 step ahead each time and could kill the opponent's unit ahead of it just 1 step diagonally, left or right.It cannot move in the backward direction.However, once the pawn manages to reach the other end of the board, it can choose to become any other unit i.e Queen,knight,rook,bishop or remain a pawn, except the King.This occasionally makes it a powerful unit.

2) Next, the knight is a key player in the game. It can move a step ahead and 2 steps in the left or right directions i.e 'L' shaped moves. It can also move 2 steps ahead and 1 step in the left or right direction.It could also It has a unique ability to jump over units, which other units can't do.

3) The bishop is a powerful unit since it can move any number of steps diagonally, left or right from its current position.

4) The rook is also another poweful unit and it can move any number of steps straight as well as sideways, but not diagonally. It is often used to trap the king along with the Queen and would force the opponent to lose.

5) The Queen, the most versatile and powerful unit can pose a real threat to the king as well as the other units.It can move any number of steps either straight,sideways or diagonally. One must be aware of the Queen's moves before taking decisions.It is the 2nd most valuable unit and losing a Queen could be disastrous for the game.

6) The King is the most valuable unit in the whole game.The game would end if the King is killed or if a 'Checkmate' occurs. A 'Checkmate' occurs if and only if the King is completely trapped by the opponent and has no way to escape.The King moves are greatly restricted and it moves only 1 step at a time in any direction, making it less powerful than any other unit. Proper strategy has to be planned to protect the King until the end.

These are just the basic features of the game and there are a few more which I haven't mentioned.

So, the game of chess is not as easy as we think. Anyway, it has helped me quite a lot and I would recommend it to anyone who loves strategies and challenges.