Sports & Chess
Chess in my opinion is a hidden gem in the world of Sports.
Yes guys Chess is indeed a sport, with crazy tournaments and being able to walk around with the title Grand Master, what’s there not to love.
While chess tournaments don’t contain the same physical action as what is displayed on a football field, it is a fallacy to believe that chess players don’t require both mental and physical exertion. There may not be a more demanding game for mental acuity, but being in good physical shape is also a prerequisite for the world’s most competitive players.
Here is some interesting facts about chess:
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There are 400 different possible positions after one move each. There are 72,084 different possible positions after two moves each. There are over 9 million different possible positions after three moves each. There are over 318 billion different possible positions after four moves each. The number of distinct 40-move games in chess is far greater than the number of electrons in the observable universe. The number of electrons is approximately 10^79, while the number of unique chess games is 10^120.
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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.
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During World War II, some of the top Chess players were also code breakers. British masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry and H. O’D. Alexander was on the teamwhich broke the Nazi Enigma code.
Notable Chess players:
- GM Magnus Carlsen is the current world chess champion. To many people, he’s the best to ever play the game, although GMs Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer remain in the conversation.
- GM Alireza Firouzja is an Iranian-born grandmaster living in France, a world-class player and the youngest player in the world rated over 2700. He is a two-time Iranian champion and the reigning European Fischer Random champion
- GM Ding Liren is a Chinese super grandmaster who many people consider to be a primary contender for Magnus Carlsen’s world title. Ding won his first Chinese Chess Championship at the age of 16, making him the youngest to ever do so.
- GM Fabiano Caruana is the prodigy who broke the record held by GM Hikaru Nakamura for America’s youngest chess grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana, has climbed the mountain of chess and reached the summit.
Here are some Sports Players who play Chess:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - he loved reading Chess Tactics for Champions by Susan Polgar.
Shaun Alexander - plays and promotes chess through the America Foundation for Chess (AF4C).
LaVar Arrington - loves Chess to the point that his house is devoted to Chess.
Kobe Bryant - he was quoted saying “These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.”
Guys, let me know which Sports player would be the best at playing Chess. Would love your feedback as Chess is becoming more adopted.
