Chess is a game full of fascination and today we discuss 5 fascinating chess facts for kids!
Chess is one of the most interesting games. It started back in the 7th or 6th century AD in India and has gone through many changes.
Because of the developments over the years, chess has become more sophisticated and popular.
Chess has 64 squares, 32 pieces, and 2 colors but it features nearly endless patterns, strategies, tactics, attacks, etc, etc.
In this article, we will look at some of the coolest chess facts for kids related to science, history, chess computers, and more.
Ready to know them? Let’s begin!
5 Amusing Chess Facts for Kids!
1. The number of potential chess moves is greater than the total number of atoms in the universe.
Yep, that’s right!
According to this magazine, the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe is between 1078 to 1082.
Whereas, in a game of chess, the estimated number of possible moves is between 10111 to 10123.
Clearly, the number of chess moves far exceeds the number of atoms.
But there’s a catch here. The number of possible moves in a chess game also includes illegal moves. If we roll out the illegal moves, there are still 1040.
Without considering the illegal moves, the possible chess moves in a game are still a lot!
With these many possible moves, imagine how complex and interesting it is to learn and play chess for kids.
2. The very first modern chessboard was created back in 1090 AD in Europe.
If you love history, you’ll like this one because this chess fact for kids is historical in nature.
Chess was invented in the 7th century as Chaturanga but what about the chessboard?
Was chaturanga played on the same chessboard on which we play chess today?
Not really.
Chaturanga was played on a similar but different board. Chaturanga was played on a plain non-checkered board.
It is said that the chaturanga board was borrowed from another game and had markings on it which were totally irrelevant.
Centuries later, the first modern chessboard was invented in Europe. This one had alternative light and dark squares exactly like the chessboard on which we play chess today!
3. The number of possibilities for achieving ‘Knight’s Tour’ is about 122 million!
The knight is perhaps the trickiest piece in chess. This chess fact for kids is totally related to the knight and the knight’s tour.
But what is a knight’s tour?
A knight’s tour is basically a sequence of moves of a knight starting at any square on a chessboard such that it visits the rest of the 63 squares without ever landing on the starting square.
Sometimes this situation is also referred to as the ‘knight tour’s problem’ and it first appeared around the ninth century.
The two solutions to the knight’s tour problem are the closed knight’s tour and the open knight’s tour.
4. The first computer that defeated a Grandmaster in 1988 was known as ‘Deep Thought.’
Deep Thought was developed by Feng-Hsiung Hsu at Carnegie Mellon University.
It was actually the second chess computer developed by Hsu but it became the first of its kind to defeat a chess Grandmaster.
Deep Thought participated in a regular tournament and defeated Bent Larsen in 1988.
However, the engine couldn’t stand a chance against the world champion Garry Kasparov in 1989.
Even if Deep Thought couldn’t defeat Kasparov, the supercomputer ‘Deep Blue’ was very successful in completing that task in 1996.
This event has also been featured in one of the best chess movies called Game Over.
5. The first game that was ever played in space was chess!
This chess fact for kids makes the game even cooler, doesn’t it?
The first game to be ever played in space was chess and it was played in 1970 between two Soviet astronauts Andrian Nikolayev and Vitaly Sevastyanow.
According to The New York Times, the two astronauts in space played a consultation game against their fellow astronauts on earth.
This is one of the noteworthy benefits of online chess. It could be played from literally anywhere (and in this case – from space!).
So the space chess game lasted for a few hours and ended up in a draw!
Conclusion
These were some of the handpicked chess facts for kids related to different things like history, computers, etc.
If you enjoy reading these chess facts, comment with your feedback below and we’ll be back with part 2 of – 5 of the most amusing chess facts for kids!