Open chess Museum

The longest theoretically possible chess game can extend to 5,949 moves

The longest time for a castling move to occur was in the game between Bobotsor and Irkov in 1966, where castling took place on move 46 (46. 0-0)

As late as 1561, castling involved two moves. The rook was moved first, followed by the king on the next move

The term "checkmate" originates from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is dead"

Otto Blathy (1860-1939) is credited for creating the longest chess problem, mate in 290 moves

In 1973, police raided a chess tournament in Cleveland, arrested the tournament director, and confiscated the chess sets on charges of allowing gambling (cash prizes for winners) and possession of gambling devices (the chess sets)

The number of possible "knight's tours" exceeds 122 million

The longest official chess game lasted 269 moves (Nikolic vs. Arsovic, Belgrade 1989) and ended in a draw

From the starting position, there are eight different ways to achieve checkmate in two moves and 355 different ways to achieve checkmate in three moves

The new pawn move, advancing two squares on its first move instead of one, was first introduced in Spain in 1280

Dr. Emanuel Lasker from Germany retained the World Chess Champion title for more time than any other player ever: 26 years and 337 days

In 1985, Soviet player Garry Kasparov became the youngest World Chess Champion at the age of 22 years and 210 days. His record was surpassed in 2024 by 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju

The first chessboard with alternating light and dark squares appeared in Europe in 1090

During World War II, some of the top chess players were also codebreakers. British masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry, and Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander were part of the team that broke the Nazi Enigma code

During the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match in Reykjavik, the Russians attributed Spassky's erratic play to Fischer's chair. The Icelandic organization placed a 24-hour police guard around the chair while chemical and x-ray tests were conducted. Nothing unusual was found

The first mechanical chess clock was invented by Thomas Wilson in 1883. Before that, sandglasses were used, with the first recorded use in London in 1862. The modern push-button clock was perfected by Veenhoff in 1900

The folding chessboard was invented in 1125 by a chess-playing priest. Since the church forbade priests from playing chess, he cleverly disguised his board to look like two books lying together

The worst performance by a top-level player was by Macleod of Canada, who lost 31 games in the New York double-round robin of 1889

Frank Marshall (1877-1944) was the first American to defeat a Soviet player in an international tournament, achieving this feat in New York in 1924. He reigned as U.S. Champion for 30 years, though he only defended his title once, defeating Edward Lasker 5-4 in 1923. Additionally, Marshall was the first master to play more than 100 games simultaneously

In 1985, Eric Knoppert played 500 games of 10-minute chess in 68 hours

Albert Einstein was a good friend of World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker. In a 1936 interview with the New York Times, Einstein said, “I do not play any games. There is no time for it. When I get through work I don’t want anything which requires the working of the mind.” However, he did take up chess later in life

There were 72 consecutive queen moves in the Mason vs. Mackenzie game in London in 1882

The record for the most moves without a capture is 100 moves, set during the game between Thornton and Walker in 1992

Rookies, or players in their first year, are named after the rook in chess. Rooks are generally the last pieces to be moved into action, and the same goes for rookies

A program named Deep Thought became the first computer to beat a grandmaster in a regular tournament game when it defeated Bent Larsen in 1988

Blindfold chess is an impressive skill that many strong chess players possess. It requires a keen ability to visualize the board clearly, which can become challenging after many moves. The Guinness World Record belongs to GM Timur Gareyev, who played 48 games in 2016 winning 35 games. He eclipsed the previous mark of 46, set by German IM Marc Lang in 2011

There are well over 1,000 different openings, including variations within larger openings and defenses, that one can learn

Chess is often cited as an effective way to improve memory and solve complex problems, making it recommended for fighting Alzheimer's. Its positive effects on young individuals have led to its introduction in schools, showing improvements in grades and other areas

The first computer program for playing chess was developed by Alan Turing in 1951. However, no computer was powerful enough to process it at the time, so Turing tested it by performing the calculations himself and playing according to the results, which took several minutes per move

The total number of ways to play the first four moves for both players in a chess game is 318,979,564,000

The second book ever printed in the English language was about chess!

The oldest recorded chess game in history is from the 900s, between a historian from Baghdad and his student

The oldest surviving complete chess sets were found on the Isle of Lewis, in northern Scotland, and dates to the 12th century. They were probably made in Iceland or Norway, and their appearance was used in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the wizard chess pieces

About 600,000,000 (six hundred million) people know how to play chess worldwide

In many languages, the pawn is referred to as a foot soldier. However, in German and Spanish, it is called a peasant or farmer

The reason why traditional chess pieces don’t look like actual soldiers, bishops, and kings is because before the game reached Europe, it passed through the Islamic world. Islam forbids making statues of animals or people, so chess pieces became vague-looking. When the game spread to Christian Europe, the pieces didn’t change much

Chess began in India during the Gupta Empire, spreading to the Persian Sassanid Empire, and then to the Middle East after Muslims conquered Persia. From there, it spread to Europe and Russia

Initially, the queen could only move one square at a time, diagonally. Later, she could move two squares at a time, diagonally. It wasn’t until Reconquista Spain, with its powerful queen Isabella, that the queen became the strongest piece on the board

In Shatranj, the predecessor of chess, the queen was originally a minister or vizier, and in many languages, it retains this designation

The first-ever outer space chess game took place on June 9, 1970, between the Soyuz-9 crew and Earth. The game ended in a draw

Dr. Emanuel Lasker from Germany held the World Chess Champion title for over 26 years and 337 days, longer than any other player in history

Vishwanathan Anand is the only chess champion to have won the world championship in all three formats, including knockout, tournament, and match

Janos French, a Hungarian player, set the record in 1960 for playing 52 different opponents concurrently, blindfolded

The tiniest handmade chess set is 8 mm x 8 mm or 0.32 in x 0.32 in size

The tallest chess piece in existence is a king piece, standing at an impressive 6.09 meters (20 feet) tall. In 2018, the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), created this piece and secured the world record

The largest chess lesson had 1,459 participants. This Guinness World Record was set in 2018 by two chess clubs and two schools in Muttenz, Switzerland

The oldest chess manual was written by al-Adli ar-Rumi (800–870), a famous Arab chess player

The world’s most expensive chess set, which includes diamonds and emeralds, is worth more than $9.8 million. This is the magnificent Jewel Royale Chess Set, commissioned by the Royale Jewel Company and created in Great Britain