The game of
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 ...
, or rather its immediate precursor, known as ''
shatranj
Shatranj ( ar, شطرنج; fa, شترنج; from Middle Persian ''chatrang'' ) is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire. Its origins are in the Indian game of chaturaṅga. Modern chess gradually developed from this game, as ...
'', was introduced to Europe from the
Islamic sphere, most likely via
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a la ...
(modern
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
), in the 9th or 10th century (possibly as early as at the beginning of the 9th century, and certainly by the mid to late 10th century).
The earliest reference to the game in
Middle Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
is a poem ''
de scachis'', preserved in
Einsiedeln Abbey
Einsiedeln Abbey (german: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a ...
. Chess in medieval Europe was played in monasteries and at feudal courts. An exception is
Ströbeck
Schachdorf Ströbeck is a village in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, which since 1 January 2010 is part of the town of Halberstadt in the Harz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Located about west of the city centre, the ''Schachdorf'' ("chess village" ...
, known as the "chess village",
where chess became popular among the farmers in the early 11th century already.
Modern chess in the UK
England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Jersey and Guernsey all have separate national chess federations, and send their own teams to international chess competitions. The
English Chess Federation, which in 2005 replaced the long established British Chess Federation, is responsible for the organisation of chess in England, and also organises the annual
British Chess Championship
The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...
on behalf of all the UK federations. Tournament organisers and chess clubs send game results and appropriate fees to the ECF which then compiles ratings that measure the playing strength of active players.
The basis of English (ECF) ratings broadly speaking is that the difference in ratings is half the difference in percentage scores. That is, if player A beats player B in a match 8 to 2 (60% difference), you would expect his grade to be about 30 points higher. Grades are calculated by averaging out points gained or lost against opponents whose grades are known already. There are two sets of grades, one for rapidplay games (30 minutes each per game), the other for standard games (two minutes or more average per move).
In addition to games within the club, there are leagues in which clubs compete with each other and these games will also be graded. Aside from the many local leagues, the Four Nations Chess League (
4NCL
{{Unreferenced, date=November 2022
The 4NCL, or Four Nations Chess League, is a chess league in the United Kingdom and named after its four nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. However, the league is truly international, with pl ...
) is effectively a prestigious tournament run on a league format, to which many of the British and world's elite players are attracted.
The most famous tournament held in Britain is probably the
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess tournament which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin t ...
, which runs from late December to early January.
Tournaments usually pay prizes both for the first three or four places and for people who get the most points within a particular range of grades, but the vast majority of players who enter them play for recreation.
See also
*
Chess in early literature
*
Lewis chessmen
References
*
H. J. R. Murray, ''
A History of Chess'', (Oxford University Press)
* Helena M. Gamer, ''The Earliest Evidence of Chess in Western Literature: The Einsiedeln Verses'', Speculum, Vol. 29, No. 4. (October 1954), pp. 734–750.
{{Chess
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...