5 Things you didn’t know about chess
Hey Guys!
This is FM Viktor Neustroev and in this video I’m going to tell you about 5 things (or facts) that you probably didn’t know about chess. I’m sure you’ll find them interesting and what is more important, a knowledge of them can help you in OTB games.
Enjoy this video and watch it up to the very end, because with the last thing I’m going to show a really beautiful combination applied by Garry Kasparov in this game against Anatoly Karpov!
Ok, this is FM Viktor Neustroev and “5 Things you didn’t know about chess”!
Facts about a Bishop
A bishop, I think, is the most contradictory piece. First, let’s go back to chess history and discuss what we know about this piece. Before chess were invented there was a similar game called Shatrange. And the bishop there wasn’t a bishop at all. It was an elephant with 2 tusks. The bishop moved diagonally in 2 squares and could jump over a piece or pawn.
Chess came to Europe when Arabians occupied Sicily and Spain. They depict an elephant like this. It’s divided into 2 parts, what probably means 2 tusks of an elephant.
But peoples of Europe after looking at this piece decided to call it in a different way, depends on what they could imagine by looking at this piece. French people call it “Crazy” (what means “fool”). In Germany it’s a “Runner” or “Messenger”. In Ukraine and Bulgaria it’s an “Officer”. In Russia it’s still an elephant. But English, Spanish and Italian players considered this piece to be a bishop, that’s why this name is widespread.
Illegal move
Of course, you can’t play an illegal move online, but you can make it in thegame in OTB tournament. I’m a FIDE Master and sometimes I also played illegal moves.
Let me explain, 1 thing that you should definitely know. If you are under a check and you didn’t notice it, but made a move with the other piece, this move will be considered illegal and you have to make a new legal move with the same piece you moved (if it’s legal, of course).
This is how you may lose the game!
Draw after 75 moves
I’m sure you know about 50 moves rule, when one of players can claim a draw. But what if nobody wants to claim a draw. Will the game then last forever? No. 75 moves rule can be applied.
This is one of the newest chess rules, adopted in 2016. Any series of at least 75 moves have been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without any capture will be considered a draw and fixed by the arbiter. Of course, if the last move resulted in checkmate, that shall take precedence.
5-Fold Repetition
There are five reasons why a chess game may end in a draw, and I’m sure you know about threefold repetition rule. This rule states that if the same position is repeated three times and no progress is made, you can claim a draw. So, it’s very simple, you just have to keep an eye out for it.
But again, what if none of players wants to claim a draw, but plays for a victory. If so, there is a rule of fivefold repetition.
If the same position repeats for 5 time the arbiter may fix a draw. The key word here is may. He may enjoy this repetition and get some fun from it and allow players to continue, but may stop the game and consider it a draw.
Pawn promotion
By the first glance there is nothing easier than a pawn promotion. However, sometimes in real tournament games you can face with some problems. Let me illustrate how by the example of the game played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Linares in 1993.
In this position Garry Kasparov (who played with black pieces) took the rook on d1 and said “Queen”, but there was no second black queen near the board.
Time was ticking and Garry left the pawn on the board and pressed on the clock. After that Anatoly Karpov called the arbiter and claimed to consider this move as illegal move. And he was right, however, it didn’t help him. 2 minutes were added to Karpov’s clock, but then the game continued and he lost.
Nowadays, if there is no second queen near the board, you can pause your clock, call the arbiter and claim it. However, if you didn’t do this and left the pawn on the board, the move will be considered illegal, but then the game should be continued with the queen on the board.
In this video you learned 5 new things about chess. Thank you for watching and make sure to like this video, subscribe to my channel and share it with your friends - chess players.
If you have ever face with any unusual rules of chess or any weird situations in chess games, please, share them into the comment section below this video!