Chess Trivia & Records

More Possible Games Than Atoms in the Universe

The Shannon Number estimates there are approximately 10^120 possible chess games. The observable universe contains roughly 10^80 atoms. Chess is, in a very real sense, infinite.

The Longest Possible Chess Game

Under the 50-move rule, the longest possible chess game is approximately 5,949 moves. No actual game has come close; the longest recorded tournament game lasted 269 moves.

Chess Once Had a Drug Scandal

At the 2008 Dresden Olympiad, three players were expelled for refusing to provide urine samples. FIDE had implemented anti-doping rules to comply with International Olympic Committee requirements. Chess has no performance-enhancing drugs, but the rules stand.

The Vatican Has a Chess Team

The Vatican City is a member of FIDE and has sent teams to chess competitions. Pope John Paul II was known to be a chess enthusiast.

Napoleon Played Chess

Napoleon Bonaparte was an avid chess player, though not a strong one. He was repeatedly beaten by The Turk, a famous chess automaton that was secretly operated by a human player hidden inside.

Ben Franklin Wrote About Chess

Benjamin Franklin wrote “Morals of Chess” in 1750, one of the earliest chess articles published in America. He argued that chess taught foresight, circumspection, and caution.

The “Immortal” and “Evergreen” Were Informal Games

Neither the Immortal Game (1851) nor the Evergreen Game (1852) was played in the main tournament at London 1851 or any formal competition. Both were casual games played between rounds.

Chess Is Mandatory in Some Schools

Armenia made chess a mandatory subject in all primary schools in 2011. The decision was made after Georgia's success in chess, and Armenia has since produced many strong players.

The First Chess Computer Was Human

The Turk (1769) was a mechanical chess “machine” that defeated Napoleon, Benjamin Franklin, and many others. It was actually operated by a hidden human player. It took nearly 70 years for the secret to be fully revealed.

Kasparov Was Only 10 When He Beat a Grandmaster

Garry Kasparov defeated Grandmaster Yuri Balashov in a simultaneous exhibition when he was just 10 years old. By age 12, he was the Soviet youth champion.

The Word “Checkmate” Comes From Persian

“Checkmate” derives from the Persian “shah mat,” meaning “the king is helpless” or “the king is dead.” Despite popular belief, it does not mean “the king is dead” literally, as the king is never actually captured in chess.

The Queen Was Once the Weakest Piece

In the original form of chess (chaturanga/shatranj), the queen (called the firzan or counselor) could only move one square diagonally. The modern queen gained her power in the 15th century, likely in Spain. Some called chess with the powerful queen “mad queen chess.”

A World Championship match decided by a phone call: In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title against Karpov. FIDE tried to negotiate by phone. Fischer hung up, and Karpov became champion by default.

A game decided by a nosebleed: During the 1978 World Championship match between Karpov and Korchnoi, Korchnoi complained that a parapsychologist in the audience was hypnotizing him. The arbiters eventually moved the parapsychologist. Karpov still won.

The only Olympic sport where sitting is required: Chess is recognized by the International Olympic Committee but is not an Olympic sport. It was seriously considered for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

A grandmaster who played while imprisoned: During World War I, Akiba Rubinstein was confined to Poland but continued to play in local events. Several Soviet grandmasters continued their careers from the gulag.

The chess prodigy who became a spy: Harry Golombek, a British chess international master, worked at Bletchley Park during World War II as a codebreaker alongside Alan Turing. Chess skills proved useful for cryptography.