Portal:Chess
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Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two players. The current form of Chess (sometimes called Western chess or international chess) has an international pedigree which evolved from similar, much older games in India and Persia. The modern form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.
The game is played on a square chequered chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight square. At the start, each player (one controlling the white pieces, the other controlling the black pieces) controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in "check") and there is no way to remove it from attack on the next move. The tradition of organized competitive chess started in the sixteenth century and has developed extensively. Chess today is a recognized sport of the International Olympic Committee. The first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is the current World Champion. Theoreticians have developed extensive chess strategies and tactics since the game's inception. Aspects of art are found in chess composition. Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924), nicknamed "Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years. At one point he was the world's second most successful player, with a string of tournament victories behind him, but he really enjoyed popularising chess by giving simultaneous and blindfold displays around the country. Blackburne also published a collection of his own games, and was a chess correspondent for a leading journal until his death. He was also noted for heavy drinking of Scotch whisky, especially during exhibition games, and this became the subject of many anecdotes. However he occasionally became violent when drunk, and his victims included other chess players.
Template:/box-header For chess news, see 2015 in sports, the 2015 in chess category, the current sports events portal, or the Wikinews sports portal. Below is the FIDE rating list of the top 20 players as of May 2015.
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