Mar 09, 2001 12:23 PM
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Chess a game of the mind now played on a checkered board consisting of 64 squares was originally part of Indian courts where Kings used to play with people as real living pieces. The king used to have a large courtyard painted with 64 squares which he used as a chessboard thereby adding another dimension to a live game!
The rook piece as it is called now was then called the elephant, the present day knight was then the horse while the bishop was then the minister and the lowly pawns were then soldiers. All these have now been reduced to lifeless plastic pieces pushed by players on a cardboard, wooden or plastic or metal board on which are painted 64 squares, of which 32 squares are painted white or a light colour while 32 squares are painted black or a dark colour. The king could at one time move more than one square at a time. There are a total of 32 chess pieces in a set of what are called chessmen.
The game is no longer only for the rich as chess pieces and chess boards are easy to come by and cheap. Even shopkeepers in Russell Market, Bangalore have been spotted playing chess in their spare time! In Europe there was a time when chess was actively played in coffee houses giving rise to the term coffee house player to indicate a player who is a strong player but not well acquainted with the theory of the game. There is a rumour that Coffee Day will soon start coffee houses where chess boards will be inlaid in the tables, on the lines of the highly popular cybercafes. Books from which the basics of the game can be learnt are easily available in bookshops around the world. Higher standard books for the average and the advanced players of the game are published by experts in this field such as Max Euwe, Judit Polgar and several others. Magazines dedicated to this game are also available. Chess clubs also sponsor this game such as the Chess International Club of Bangalore( CICB) located next to RBI, Bangalore. Chess software for the player playing the game against the PC such as Chess Master are available. Chess is also played online between players on websites such as Yahoo. Even travellers play the game with the help of magnetic boards.
The player with the help of the chessmen combats a bloodless war of minds against the player on the other side of the board. The players can usually be seen in deep thought as the game lays emphasis on the thinking of the player and the player has to think and reason out various combinations of moves of the pieces all in his head! without the use of pen and paper or a calculator. Great players of the game such as our very own Vishwanathan Anand can visualize the situations that could come up on the board several moves ahead! Some excitable players on losing are known to throw tantrums such as Bobby Fischer. Chess is said to improve the creativity of a person and also the three dimensional reasoning of a person and also the concentration. The game exercises the mind to its fullest capabilities and serious games between players in competitions can leave the players with a sense of exhaustion as well as achievement. The objective of the game is to hold the piece called king of the opposing army of chessmen in such a position known as checkmate or Shah Mak in Arabic meaning The king is dead that is it cannot move and escape from attack.
Play Chess and enjoy it
