Why is chess so popular around the world

Chess spread from east to West through different channels such as trade, war, religion and diplomacy, and its route was roughly: India - Iran (Persia) - Central Asia - Arab countries - Europe. In Iranian historical texts, there are references to chess dating back to the Karnamak period of Middle Persia (about 590-620 AD), and it is said that Indian diplomats brought the game with them. In 638, the Arabs conquered Iran and learned chess from there, and the game soon became popular among the Arab high society. In the 8th century, the Arabs conquered Spain, and chess was gradually brought back to Europe.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, chess was finally settled into its modern form. Since then, the direct proportional relationship between national and chess is more clearly visible.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Italian romantic chess school dominated the international chess world, and the Italian opening was popular at that time, which was not unrelated to the fact that Italy was the cradle of the Renaissance.

From the 18th to the first half of the 19th century, British and French chess players emerged from the world. The British economy took off after the Industrial revolution, and what attracted attention was that after the book "Chess" was published by Garston, the British chess trend was flourishing. France took control of chess before and after Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor. Since then, the English opening and the French defense have become popular.

In the second half of the 19th century, Germany and the United States gradually became stronger, and chess also led the world. In 1851, the first international round robin tournament in the history of chess was held, and the German mathematics teacher Anderson won the championship. After that, Lasker, a German doctor of philosophy, held the title of World Chess champion for 27 years from 1894 to 1921.

Under the strong advocacy of the revolutionary mentors Lenin and Stalin, the former Soviet Union has become a "superpower" in the world chess since the mid-20th century. For more than 40 years, the former Soviet players were invincible and almost dominated the chess world. In the former Soviet Union, chess was as much a matter of pride as its strong national defense and advanced technology. However, after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, chess, which has always been regarded as "national chess", also suffered losses.

In 1991, the former Soviet Union chess player Chiboldanidze, who had been the world champion "queen" for 13 years, lost his crown to the young Chinese chess player Xie Jun, one of the reasons was that the rear was unstable and lost a strong backing.

In recent years, in addition to the traditional powers of Europe, due to the increasing economic strength and the increasingly frequent foreign exchanges, China, India and Vietnam and other developing countries have made rapid progress in the level of chess, especially in the women's field, China has four world chess, the overall strength has occupied a leading position.

2. Introductory knowledge

Chess is an intellectual game that simulates two armies against each other.

The chess board is the equivalent of a battlefield between two armies. It is square and consists of 64 black and white squares on which the pieces walk. Chess pieces are divided into dark and light two colors, the light is called white, the dark is called black. Each side consists of 16 pieces: eight pawns, one king (emperor), one queen (queen), two elephants (bishop), two horses (knight) and two rook (castle). The six arms on each side have different moves, such as the chariot walking in a straight line, the elephant walking in a diagonal line, the rear move is equivalent to the combination of the chariot and the elephant (and therefore the most powerful), the king's move is the same as the rear but can only walk one square at a time (not going far, commonly known as "short legs"), the horse walking "day" (but not legs), the soldier's move is straight and can't walk backwards. However, charging to the bottom line can be promoted to other pieces other than Kings and pawns.

There are three kinds of chess results: win, lose and draw. The warring parties who first captured the other king (that is, checkmate) even if who wins, neither can checkmate the other king even if the draw. So, it could be said that the task of all the pieces on both sides or the purpose of playing chess, is to protect their king and attack the opposing king, and of course attack the opposing pieces protecting the king. In this sense, chess is a strategy game about offense and defense. In the course of the battle, a game can be roughly divided into the opening, the middle game and the end of three stages, each stage has its own different operational characteristics. The opening of chess is very rich, and the tactics of the middle and end games are varied and interesting, which makes the lovers experience endless fun in the game of wits and courage.

3. Organizational system

After the founding of New China, chess was listed as an official national sport in 1957. In 1962, the National Chess Association was established, and the International Chess Association was affiliated with the Chess Association. In 1986, the China Chess Association was formally established as a national mass sports association with independent legal personality. Chess activities throughout the country are organized by chess institutes and chess and card sports management centers under the sports bureaus of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. In addition, local folk chess clubs have developed strongly in recent years, becoming a powerful force for social sports and promoting the popularity of chess.

4. World Map

International Chess Federation
The International Chess Federation (FIDE), the world chess organization, was founded in 1924 and currently has 171 member countries (regions). Fide was officially recognized as an international sports organization by the International Olympic Committee in 1999, becoming one of the members of the Olympic movement family and gaining wide recognition from the international community. Fide is also an important member of the International Federation of Mind Sports (IMSA).
The major world competitions organized by FIDE include the biennial Olympic Team Championships, the Men's and Women's World Team Championships, the Men's and Women's World Champions Championships (also known as the World Chess Queen Championship), the Men's World Cup, the Men's and Women's World Youth Championships, and the World Junior Championships.
In addition, there are the World Under-16 Olympic team competition, the World University Competition and the World School Championships.
Grand Slam Chess Association
Grand Slam Chess Association is a new competition organization that combines traditional and new super tournaments to form the world's highest series of Grand Prix, so as to attract more sponsor support and social attention. There are five Grand Prix races included: Vianze in the Netherlands, Linares in Spain, Sofia in Bulgaria, Romania and Nanjing in China. Finally, the final was held in Bilbao, Spain.
Nanjing, China successfully hosted the first Super Grand Prix in 2008 and was approved by the Grand Slam Chess Association as an integral part of the Grand Slam tournament.
In 2009, Chu Bo was elected vice president of the Grand Slam Chess Association. Dong Wei, Secretary-General of the Organizing committee of Nanjing Grand Slam Super Tournament and Minister of Publicity Department of Nanjing Pukou District, was elected as the director of the Grand Slam Chess Association.
Asian Chess Federation
The Asian Chess Federation was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. The Asian Chess Federation currently has 44 member states and regions. The annual Asian Team Championships and Asian Individual Championships, Asian Junior Championships and Asian Schools Championships are organized by the Asian Chess Federation.
In 2010, Chu Bo, president of the Chinese Chess Association, was elected chairman of the Independent Region of China and Executive Committee of the Asian Chess Federation. In 2010, Ye Jiangchuan, Secretary-General of the Chinese Chess Association, was elected as the Executive Committee of the Asian Chess Federation and a member of the Asian Chess Federation Coaching Committee. Tian Hongwei, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Chess Association, was elected as a member of the Asian Chess Competition Committee.