Chess Is the Oldest Game in History - Essay Example

Traditional and New Games Chess Game Hussain Mohammed Ruben Goebel Table of Contents Introduction 3 Materials used in Chess 3Chess Board 3 Chess Pieces 4 Clocks 4 Rules of the Game 4 The King 5 The Queen 5 The Bishop 5 The Knight 6 The Rook 6 The Pawns 6 The Objective of playing Chess 6 Chess compared to other Games 8 Conclusion 9 Chess Game Introduction Chess historians claim chess to be the oldest game in history that came into existence in 6th century AD in India. During those days the kings ruling India believed that it was mandatory to teach the soldiers about the values of war. The game was designed in a way so that all the members of the society including the queen could learn the value of the king and sacrifice her life for him without hesitating. The game was a reminder to the queens that their position was beside the kings. The same message went for the soldiers that their life meant nothing compared to the life of the king and if they have the opportunity they must not hesitate to sacrifice their life for the king. Chess is a board game that is played between two players. It is a strategic game that is played to understand and perceive the moves of the opponent and then to break down those moves. The game requires patience to understand how the opponent is making moves and to learn the pattern in which he will continue to do so. In the end, the player who successfully manages to capture the king, most important figure in the game, manages to win the game. Materials used in Chess Chess Board A chessboard is the primary tool for playing the game of chess. It comprises of a board that can be made of wood or plastic with a checkered print on it. The checkered print is usually black and white in colour and is spread across the entire board. There is equal number of black and white boxes on the board. In total there are 64 square boxes, 32 black and 32 white. The opponents playing have to make moves around these boxes (Polgár, 2013). Chess Pieces Chess pieces are figures used in playing the game of chess. All the figures represent a character in the game. Just like a chessboard, chess pieces can be made of different material like wood, plastic and on occasion even more expensive materials like steel and gold. Chess pieces have different appearance so that the characters in the game and their power can be differentiated. The knight for example is identified by the face of a horse and has limited power compared to the Queen who is identified by a crown (Wilson, 1994). Clocks Clocks are also very important for this game as it helps to keep track of time and also warn the players to make their move before the allocated time is over. Not everyone plays using clocks but when they are used then there are two sets of them. As chess is played between two players, each one of them gets a clock. When an opponent has made his or her move then he stops the clock indicating that he made a move within the time required to and that it was the other opponent’s turn to make a move. Both the opponents need to make a move within a period set before the game begins. Time could range between 15 seconds to 30 seconds (King, 2004). Rules of the Game Chess is a strategy game in which a player makes a move and waits for his opponent to then make one. The game is played using a number of characters that are moved according to the rules of the game. The game starts with placing all the chess pieces, figures or characters identically in a row of 64-checkered squares. The game starts with an equal probability for both the players to win it. It all depends on the way players move the characters and try to trap the characters of their opponent (Stean, 2003). He game can also be casually played among friends and family members. A person playing chess with his father would not just need a chessboard and chess pieces. Normally people do not time the moves when playing casually among themselves. A clock won’t be required for a person playing with his father. However, the rules will remain the same. Both the father and son would have to penetrate their opponent’s army and try to attack it. The opponent’s army must be weakened so that the king is vulnerable to attack (Stean, 2003). The King The king is the most important character in the game. The game is played to trap the opponent’s king so that it is impossible for the opponent to make any further move. When the king is trapped then the opponent is checkmated and the game won. All the rest of the characters in the game are used to protect this character. The king can move in all the direction but not more than 1 block or square (Stean, 2003). The Queen The queen is the most powerful protector of the king. When the game starts she is placed right by his side. The queen is regarded as the most power character in the game as just like the king she can move in all the direction. However, the king’s move is restricted to only one space the queen has no such restrictions. The queen can move from one end to the other end of the board all in just one move. The game does not stop when the opponent takes the queen (Stean, 2003). The Bishop There are in total four bishops used in the game of chess, two for each opponent. The bishops are placed right at the side f the king and the queen on the chessboard. They move diagonally on the board. The two bishops that are placed on the board are placed on different coloured squares. One is placed on a black square while one on the white. The bishops can move more than one space diagonally to attack the opponent’s characters (Stean, 2003). The Knight The knights are placed next to the bishops on the board. These are horse shaped figures that make an ‘L’ kind of a move. They move one step ahead then a step on the right or left of the board. The knight can only move two spaces at a time, not more or any less. It cannot break the pattern (Stean, 2003). The Rook There are four rooks in the game two belonging to each player. The four rooks are placed on the four corners of the board. The rooks move forward and back on the board and can move from one end to the other end unless obstructed by the opponent’s players (Stean, 2003). The Pawns The pawns are known as the first line of defence in the game of chess. These are known as the first line of defence as they stand in the first row to protect the king. The game consists of sixteen pawns in total, eight belonging to each player. The pawns can only make a single move forward and once that move is made then it cannot move backwards. They are regarded as the weakest and the least effective in protecting the king. They also bring less amount of threat to the opponent’s major characters like the king and queen (Stean, 2003). The Objective of playing Chess The entire game revolves around the king. Both the players attempt to weaken their opponents by taking other characters so that the king becomes vulnerable. Although the objective of the game is to trap the king there can be three outcomes attained in the process. First, a player can checkmate their opponent. In this situation, the opponent is left with no option to make a move. The king is trapped and the game is lost (Hale, 2013). The second option is agreeing a stalemate. In this situation, an opponent’s king might be under threat. It could be checkmate in the next move. Both the players might fall short of moves and may be forced to end the game with a draw (Hale, 2013). The third outcome occurs when the two opponents are playing a timed game. Each opponent gets to make a move within a particular timeframe. If an opponent exceeds that time then he could end losing the game regardless of the figures he has left on the playing board (Hale, 2013). Psychological, Social and Physiological effects of Playing Chess Chess is a game of patience that involves a lot of skills. Some of the skills are required to play this game like being sharp in interpreting moves while some skills are developed as a person continues to play this game. One of the most important parts of the game is to calculate the move of the opponent. It is what every player attempts to learn while playing the game. When a child learns to play chess at an early age then he or she tends to be more calculative (Saariluoma, 1995) Playing chess has been penetrated to change the behaviour of the people involved in it. A child learns to be more calculative with the approach he or she makes with other people in society. Research has shown that a child who plays chess seems to be 30% more intelligent than children who do not play the game (Hearst, 2009). They tend to be more intelligent as they like to predict and calculate things in advance. They like to get into the mid of others and think from that point of view. This is how chess psychologically makes a child much more alert than the others. This is also true for adults. Adults who play chess are found to be intelligent than the adults who do not play chess. Though they are not found to be 30% more intelligent like young children do but they are found to be much more patient in nature and dealing with other people. In adults, chess helps to shape up patience in them. Adults who play chess are more polite and less aggressive than other people in society. They interact well with everyone and try to hear out their point of view rather than just claiming what they know (Hearst, 2009). Children who play chess also enjoy playing more strategy games. Chess is found to be an addictive game as it helps children to form their own strategies with the given number of pieces. It helps them to test their ability and they try to force different ways and techniques in making their opponent commit an error. Children who like to play chess are found to be more interested in playing other strategy games on the computer rather than playing physical games like football and cricket. This is always not the case. Online games are very popular these days and they people who play them have quite a big social circle. Playing chess does not leave a child to be less interactive socially (Hearst, 2009). Chess compared to other Games Chess is a strategy-based game where the skills of a person are tested to the limit. It is a game played to comprehend the mind of the opponent and what their next possible move could be. It is a game played to make a move and force an error from the opponent. There are not many games that involve such strategies. Cricket and football for example are also strategy based games but very different from chess (Groot, 2008). Cricket and football are more focused on individual skills and unity in team rather than reading the moves of the opponents. A stronger team like Australia in cricket and Germany in football would always have a higher probability to win against their weaker opponent. However, this is not what happens in chess. Both players’ start with an equal probability and their skills are as important as measuring the skills of their opponents (Groot, 2008). Chess can be better compared with poker. In poker all the players try to measure the moves of each of their players. They do play the cards as much as they play with the players. These two games are identical as it utilizes the same skills needed to play the games. Mind reading, patience and forcing others to make a mistake are all the three most important components of both the games (Groot, 2008). Chess could also be compared to the famous video game called counter strike. Counter strike is a highly tactical game in which two groups, terrorists and counter terrorists, try to battle it out among themselves. The game is played between 2 or more people. The aim of the game is that the counter-terrorist has to discover and find the location where the terrorist group has planted a bomb. The bomb has to be located and defused. If the counter-terrorist doesn’t discover the bomb then they lose. The game is tactical just like chess as both the groups have to fight and kill the members of the other group to achieve their target. Conclusion Chess is a game that involves a lot of strategies. It is not a game that is run on a particular pattern or move but it involves making different moves to win the game. It requires intelligence, patience and the ability to make the opponent force errors. It is wrong to assume that the game is not for everyone as it sharpens the skills and intelligence of people who play it. If the game is played frequently then it has the potential to make a person more intelligent especially when he or she is a child as founded in a research. Chess can be compared to poker as both these games require similar strategies to win the game and the opponents. References Groot, A. D. (2008). Thought and Choice in Chess. London: Amsterdam University Press. Hale, B. (2013). Philosophy Looks at Chess. Illinois: Open Court. Hearst, E. (2009). Blindfold Chess: History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records. Jefferson: McFarland. King, D. (2004). Chess: From First Moves to Checkmate. London: Kingfisher Publications. Polgár, L. (2013). Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. Saariluoma, P. (1995). Chess Players Thinking: A Cognitive Psychological Approach. London: Routledge. Stean, M. (2003). Simple Chess. New York: Dover Publications. Wilson, F. (1994). 101 Questions on How to Play Chess. Toronto: General Publishing Company Limited. Read More