

Many strong players contested the world championship, with legends like Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, and Garry Kasparov emerging as victors.

The international chess federation, FIDE, was founded in 1924, and it began to administer the world chess championship in 1948. In the 20th century, chess competition became a worldwide affair. The first world chess championship was contested in 1886, with Wilhelm Steinitz emerging victorious over Johannes Zuckertort. Jaques of London designed the classic Staunton pattern set around this time, which is still widely in use to this day. Modern competitive play began in the second half of the 19th century, and early European tournaments featured Romantic masters like Howard Staunton, Paul Morphy, and Adolf Andersson. Authors began publishing books on chess, and works by chess masters such as Luis Ramierez de Lucena, Ruy Lopez de Segura, and Gioachino Greco influenced the development of the study of chess that persists to this day. The modern rules of chess emerged in Italy and Spain by the dawn of the 15th century. An example of an early European chess set is the Isle of Lewis chessmen.Īs chess spread through the Islamic world and then Europe, its rules were modified and pieces were renamed. Islamic influence then spread the game to southern Europe, reaching western Europe by about 1000 CE. The game spread from India to Persia in the 7th century and then westward to the wider Muslim world following the Islamic conquest of Persia. The pieces originally represented the military units common in warfare at that time: infantry, cavalry, elephants, chariots, a general, and a king. Invented in India in the 6th century CE, its earliest known form was called chaturanga. People have been playing chess for more than 1500 years. History of Chess How the Pieces Move Setting Up the Chess Board Special Moves Ending the Game Basic Strategies Starter Chess Gear
