by Shawn Goretsky (6th)
What is Chess?
Board games, the staple of forced family bonding time. Most board games have a lot of players in them, like Monopoly. Chess is a different story. Unlike most games that either use cards to dictate what you do or die, Chess involves very little luck, and a lot of skill and strategy. Only two players can play at a time and it's really good if you want to exercise your brain.
How do you play chess?
Now there is a question you probably are wondering. How do you play this game called chess? Well, there are 32 pieces in chess. 16 on each side. You set up your side of the board by putting the king and queen in the 2 middle squares of the bottom row, you put the rooks in the corners and the knights next to the rooks. The bishops are next to the king and queen and the pawns on the second row. The pawns move forward but can take pieces diagonally, the knights move in an L shape, the bishop moves diagonally as much as you want it, the rook moves horizontally and vertically as much as you want it, the queen moves in any direction and the king moves any direction by one space. There are a couple other things you can do but that's the gist of it.
Who is the best chess player?
With a complex game like this there has to be a best player. I would like to think I am but I'm not even close. Neither is my friend Oren who claims he is the first, second and third best chess player. Well to answer your question the best player is named Magnus Carlson. He has been a 5 time world champion and he could've still had it if he didnt decline the opportunity. He is really good.
What are different chess tournaments?
Now you might be wondering if there is anywhere chess is played professionally. Chess isnt a set sport that is on a sports channel. However, there are a lot of different tournaments that may or may not be broadcasted. The most prestigious tournament is the world chess championship where people compete for the title of world championship. There are two different types of tournament styles, round robin, and swiss. Round robin is where you have to win the most matches in a specific amount of time, it's usually a long period of time. You get to play pretty much everyone during that time. The swiss mode is elimination. You play an opponent and the winner moves on. This keeps happening until there is one person left standing.
Who plays chess?
I've been talking about chess this whole time, but we haven't found out who plays chess. I do, but I'm not the only human who plays chess. For starters, 605 million adults play chess regularly and 25 million kids play chess. Countries that chess is popular in are the US, UK, Germany, Russia, and India. There are a lot of famous people who play chess as well. People like Will Smith, Madonna, Bill Gates and even the late Kobe Bryant.
Conclusion
All and all, Chess is a fun game. It's complicated, but not too complicated to make you rage quit. There are a lot of people that play it as well. I hope I have convinced you to try out chess.