chess board
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A chessboard is a used to play
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the board is oriented such that each player's near-right corner square is a light square. The columns of a chessboard are known as ', the rows are known as ', and the lines of adjoining same-coloured squares (each running from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge) are known as '. Each square of the board is named using algebraic, descriptive, or numeric chess notation; algebraic notation is the FIDE standard. In algebraic notation, using White's perspective, files are labeled ''a'' through ''h'' from left to right, and ranks are labeled ''1'' through ''8'' from bottom to top; each square is identified by the file and rank which it occupies. The a- through d-files comprise the , while the e- through h-files comprise the .


History and evolution

The earliest known ancestor of the chessboard is the Ashtāpada board. Among other games, it was used to play chaturanga, a historical precursor to chess, beginning around the 6th century in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The board uses a single color for all squares and is divided into eight columns by eight rows, with marked squares called ''castles'' in the corners of each quadrant. Unlike in Ashtāpada, castles serve no function in chaturanga. The chessboard acquired its modern chequered pattern in the 10th century with the arrival of chess in Europe. This pattern was based on that of the then-5×5
draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
board. As a result of this change, each diagonal was now highlighted by a continuous sequence of same-coloured squares, which later facilitated the introduction of the modern
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
and
queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
movements in the 15th century. The
Libro de los juegos The ''Libro de los juegos'' (Spanish: "Book of games"), or ''Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas'' ("Book of chess, dice and tables", in Old Spanish), was a Spanish translation of Arabic texts on chess, dice and tables (backgammon forebears) games ...
(1283) contains a description of the chessboard, describing eight rows and columns as the ideal number, deeming the practice of chess on the 10×10 board too tiresome and on the 6×6 board too quick. In the 13th century, some players began using the convention that the first square of the far right column should be light-coloured; this convention was endorsed by
Pedro Damiano Pedro Damiano ( pt, Pedro Damião; ''Damiano'' is the Italian form, much like the Latin ''Damianus''; 1480–1544) was a Portuguese chess player. A native of Odemira, he was a pharmacist by profession. He wrote ''Questo libro e da imparare gioca ...
at the end of the 15th century. In 2003, the ex-world champion
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
faced the
chess engine In computer chess, a chess engine is a computer program that analyzes chess or chess variant positions, and generates a move or list of moves that it regards as strongest. A chess engine is usually a back end with a command-line interface wit ...
X3D Fritz in a series of four matches in a
virtual environment A virtual environment is a networked application that allows a user to interact with both the computing environment and the work of other users. Email, chat Chat or chats may refer to: Communication * Conversation, particularly casual * Onlin ...
, where the computer-generated board hovered in the air in front of Kasparov, who used special glasses. This was the first man–machine game of chess performed in a completely simulated environment.


Manufacture

Chessboards have been made from numerous materials over the years, such as
ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...
,
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
,
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
,
metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
,
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
, and
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
. They can also be found as decorative elements in plazas, gardens, and living rooms. High-level games generally use wooden boards, while
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
,
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
, and
cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light ...
are common for less important tournaments and matches, as well as for home use. Additionally, some very large chessboards are built into or drawn on the ground. Rarely,
decorative glass Studio glass is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. The glass objects created are intended to make a sculptural or decorative statement. Though usage varies, the term is properly res ...
and marble boards are permitted for games conducted by national or international chess federations. Wooden boards are traditionally made of unstained woods that are light brown and dark brown in colour. To reduce cost, some boards are made with veneers of more expensive woods glued to an inner piece of plywood or chipboard. A variety of colour combinations are used for plastic, vinyl, and silicone boards. Common dark-light combinations are black and white, as well as brown, green or blue with
buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...
or
cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
. For international or continental championships, FIDE's regulations state that wooden boards should be used. For other FIDE tournaments,
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
,
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
, or cardboard boards may be used, and the board should be rigid in all instances. The board may also be made of
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
, as long as there is an appropriate contrast between the light and dark squares. The finishing should be neutral or frosted but never shiny. The squares should be from 5 to 6 cm in length, at least twice the diameter of a
pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
's base. If the
table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...
and the board are two separate pieces, the latter must be fixed so it stays in place.


Board notation

There are various systems for recording moves and referring to the squares of the chessboard; the standard contemporary system is algebraic notation. In algebraic notation, the files are identified by the letters ''a'' to ''h'', from left to right from the white player's point of view, and the ranks by the numbers ''1'' to ''8'', with 1 being closest to the white player. Each square on the board is identified by a unique coordinate pairing, from a1 to h8. In the older
descriptive notation Descriptive notation is a chess notation system based on abbreviated natural language. Its distinctive features are that it refers to files by the piece that occupies the back rank square in the starting position and that it describes each square ...
, the files are labelled by the piece originally occupying its first rank (e.g. queen, , ), and ranks by the numbers ''1'' to ''8'' from each player's point of view, depending on the move being described. This method is no longer commonly used. FIDE stopped using descriptive notation in 1981. ICCF numeric notation assigns numbers to both files and ranks, with rank 1 being the one closest to the player with the white pieces. The file leftmost to the white player (''a'' in algebraic notation and ''QR'' in descriptive notation) is file one and the rightmost to them (''h'' in algebraic notation and ''KR'' in descriptive notation) is file eight.


Variant boards

Variant chessboard shapes and sizes go back to the
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
origins of the game in the 10th century, when the book ''Muraj adh-dhahab'' (Board of the Gods) described six different variants of chess, including
circular Circular may refer to: * The shape of a circle * ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega * Circular letter (disambiguation) ** Flyer (pamphlet), a form of advertisement * Circular reasoning, a type of logical fallacy * Circular ...
and
cylinder chess Cylinder chess (or cylindrical chess) is a chess variant. The game is played as if the board were a cylinder, with the left side of the board joined to the right side. Cylinder chess is one of six chess variants described by the Arabic historian A ...
. Due to the widespread creation of new variants, a wide variety of sizes can be found.
Gliński's hexagonal chess Hexagonal chess is a group of chess variants played on boards composed of hexagon . The best known is Gliński's variant, played on a symmetric 91-cell hexagonal board. Since each hexagonal cell not on a board edge has six neighbor cells, there ...
utilises a board with 91 hexagonal spaces of three different colours. One innovation of the 13th century was the cylindrical board for use in cylinder chess. The board used for the Persian Tamerlane chess is one of the first recorded variant chessboards, with eleven columns by ten rows along with two citadels. Each player has a citadel to the right of their second rank, which may be occupied by the opponent's
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, in which case that opponent may declare a
draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
. In 1617,
Pietro Carrera Pietro Carrera (July 12, 1573 – September 18, 1647) was an Italian chess player, historian, priest and author. Biography Pietro Carrera born in Sicily, in Militello in Val di Catania ( Province of Catania), located in the Valley of Noto; he ...
proposed a variant that received his name, Carrera's Chess, with a 10×8 board, later used in other variants such as
Capablanca chess Capablanca chess (or Capablanca's chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca believed that chess would be played out i ...
and Gothic Chess. Other sizes, with ten rows by ten columns, are used in Omega Chess and Grand Chess; Omega Chess has four additional squares, one in each corner of the board. Los Alamos chess uses a smaller 6×6 board. Japanese shogi uses a board with nine columns by nine rows. The board of Chinese xianqi consists of nine columns by ten rows; here, the pieces are placed on the intersections of the lines that divide the squares, rather than within the squares themselves. Each player has a 3×3 palace in the central three columns and the closest three rows, within which the player's general and advisors must stay. Between the central two rows is a river that the elephant cannot cross and past which the soldier increases in strength. A similar board without a river is used in Korean janggi. Some chess variants use more than a single board per match. Bughouse chess, for example, involves four players playing two simultaneous matches on separate boards.
Alice Chess Alice chess is a chess variant invented in 1953 by V. R. Parton which employs two chessboards rather than one, and a slight (but significant) alteration to the standard rules of chess. The game is named after the main character "Alice" in Lewis C ...
is a popular variant which is usually played on two boards to facilitate the movement of pieces between the boards.
Three-dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informa ...
boards are often represented by multiple two-dimensional boards. Variants may use anywhere from two to eight boards. For example, Raumschach utilises five boards of twenty-five squares each, totaling 125 squares. Another noteworthy variant, ''Star Trek'' Chess, utilises a board of sixty-four squares divided into seven levels. ''Star Trek'' Chess uses a board with movable parts divided into seven levels. In the initial position, each player occupies two of the movable four-square attack boards. The white pieces start in the lower level, using attack boards connected to this level and the first two rows of the board, while the black pieces start at the top, using the attack boards and first two rows of the third level.


Other representations

The game of chess has been represented in the arts since its creation. Chess sets usually had considerable artistic value; they were made of noble materials, such as ebony and ivory, and in large sizes. Many of the pieces in these sets were offered to churches as relics. The book Liber miraculorum sancte Fidis tells a story in which a nobleman, after miraculously escaping from prison, is forced to carry a chessboard until a sanctuary as gesture of gratitude. However, more frequently, there are stories in which the chessboard is used as a weapon. The French tale of
Ogier the Dane Ogier the Dane (french: ; da, ) is a legendary paladin of Charlemagne who appears in many Old French '' chansons de geste''. In particular, he features as the protagonist in ''La Chevalerie Ogier'' (ca. 1220), which belongs to the ''Geste de D ...
reports how the son of
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
brutally kills one of Ogier's sons with a chessboard after losing a match, although there is no evidence confirming the veracity of the story.Yalom 2004, pp. 84–85. In 1250, a sermon called ''Quaedam moralitas de scaccario per Innocentium papum'' (The Innocent Morality) showed the world as being represented by a chessboard. The white and black squares represented the two conditions of life and death or praise and censure; over these, the pieces, representing humanity, would confront each other in the adversities of the game, which symbolised life. Due to its simple geometry, the chessboard is often used in mathematical puzzles or problems unrelated to chess, such as the wheat and chessboard problem and the mutilated chessboard problem. The term ''infinite chessboard'' is sometimes used to refer to a grid.


Gallery

File:ChessTable.png , A chessboard is often painted or engraved on a
chess table A chess table is a table built with features to make it useful for playing the game of chess. A chess board is usually integral to the table top and often two drawers are provided to hold the pieces when not in use. Chess tables can be extreme ...
File:Empty wooden chessboard.jpg , A folding wooden chessboard File:Swedish chess set.jpg , A Swedish competition standard chessboard made of
masonite Masonite is a type of hardboard, a kind of engineered wood, which is made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood fibers in a process patented by William H. Mason. It is also called Quartrboard, Isorel, hernit, karlit, torex, treetex, and ...
File:Olimpiada Bled Slovenija deska.jpg , DGT Electronic Chessboard that detects moves and interfaces to
chess clock A chess clock consists of two adjacent clocks with buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, so that the two clocks never run simultaneously. Chess clocks are used in chess and other two-player games where the players move in turn, and ...
and computers File:GlassChessSet2.jpg , A decorative chessboard made of glass File:Rollup chessboard.jpg , A portable green and buff vinyl rollup board File:Knight-chess.jpg , A portable green and white mousepad style board designed to lie perfectly flat File:Chess board in park, kiev.JPG , Social play on a vinyl board in a park in
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...
File:Rundskak foto.jpg, A board of circular chess, one of the many variants of traditional chess File:Cylindrical chessboard 2.jpg,
Cylinder chess Cylinder chess (or cylindrical chess) is a chess variant. The game is played as if the board were a cylinder, with the left side of the board joined to the right side. Cylinder chess is one of six chess variants described by the Arabic historian A ...
, another variant of traditional chess File:Hexagonal chess.svg,
Gliński's hexagonal chess Hexagonal chess is a group of chess variants played on boards composed of hexagon . The best known is Gliński's variant, played on a symmetric 91-cell hexagonal board. Since each hexagonal cell not on a board edge has six neighbor cells, there ...
is a variant with a
hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...
al board File:Blindenschachbrett.jpg, Chessboard adapted for
visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment ...
people File:Tablero mundial ajedrez 2018.jpg, Chessboard of the
World Chess Championship 2018 The World Chess Championship 2018 was a match between the reigning world champion since 2013, Magnus Carlsen, and the challenger Fabiano Caruana to determine the World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. The 12-game match, organised by F ...
File:Giant chess board on grassed area.jpg, A giant outdoor chessboard, with pieces about three feet (91 cm) tall.


See also

*
Chess equipment Chess equipment are the tangible items required to play a game of chess. To have an (OTB) chess tournament the equipment required includes: chess pieces, chessboard, chess clock, , pen to record the moves and table. A chess player playing a ...
*
Board representation (chess) Board representation in computer chess is a data structure in a chess program representing the position on the chessboard and associated game state. Board representation is fundamental to all aspects of a chess program including move generation, ...
* Checkerboard *
Chess set A chess set consists of a chessboard and White and Black in chess, white and black chess pieces for playing chess. There are sixteen pieces of each color: one King (chess), king, one Queen (chess), queen, two Rook (chess), rooks, two Bishop (chess ...
* Rules of chess *
White and Black in chess In chess, the player who moves first is called White and the player who moves second is called Black. Their pieces are the white pieces and the black pieces. The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some other colors, usually a lig ...


References


External links


Standards of Chess Equipment
at FIDE website * {{Authority control Chess equipment