black and white photograph, a young boy playing chess with a large crowd of men looking on.
Tarina

Checkmate! 7 fascinating facts about chess

Exploring the history and culture of chess

by
Aleksandra Strzelichowska (avautuu uuteen ikkunaan) (Europeana Foundation)

The Netflix's hit TV series The Queen's Gambit has started a massive surge of interest in chess.

Whether you bought your first set inspired by the story of Beth Harmon or you played chess 'before it was cool', let's explore seven fascinating facts about this game.

1. Checkmate

The word 'Checkmate' takes its origin from the Persian phrase 'Shah Mat' which means 'the king is dead'.

colour photograph of a man and woman playing chess outdoors in a nocturnal urban landscape, a small child sits nearby.

2. Record breaker

The title holder of the World chess championship for the longest is Doctor Emanuel Lasker from Germany.

He held this title for 26 years and 337 days. Emanuel Lasker was a good friend of Albert Einstein.

black and white photograph, a standing man playing chess games against a large crowd of people.
black and white photograph, a man and woman standing in a city street.

3. Time keeping

The first mechanical chess clock was invented by Thomas Wilson in 1883.

Before this discovery, hourglasses with sand were used to track time during the games.

colour photograph of a chess clock, with two clock faces, the arms point to the 10 and 2 on the clocks.

4. Print pioneers

The second-ever book in history to be printed in English was about chess.

William Caxton translated it from French into English, and it was printed in 1474.

book cover of 'The Game of Chesse' with red and black text and a simple illustration.

5. Blindfolded

Blindfold chess is a way of playing chess when the players do not see the pieces and have to memorise their positions.

For centuries, it was considered a skill only prodigies had. Nowadays, the best players can play multiple blindfold games simultaneously.

black and white engraving, a group of men gathered around a table while one man plays a game of chess with a blindfold on.

6. For all ages

Chess is one of the few sports and activities where children can compete with adults.

Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) was an early child prodigy, who learned to play chess at the age of four. By the age of eight, he was winning against accomplished players in simultaneous games.

black and white photograph, a young boy playing chess with a large crowd of men looking on.

7. Surviving sets

The Lewis Chessmen are one of the oldest surviving complete chess sets in the world. They were found on the Isle of Lewis and date to the 12th century.

monochrome drawing of a number of chess pieces.
colour illustrations of chesss pieces.

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