Chess - What is it and what effects does it have on us?

Overview

Chess is a two-player strategy game that is known all over the world. At the beginning of each game, a player is given a set of pieces, those being eight pawns, which can move one space forward at a time, and take pieces of the other player one space diagonally, two rooks, which can move in vertical and horizontal lines across the board, two knights which can move 1 space forward and two left or right, or 2 spaces forward and 1 left or right respectively, and is the only piece capable of passing over others, two bishops, which can move diagonally across the board with no limits, one queen, which is the most powerful piece in a chess game, being able to move vertically as well as horizontally and diagonally, as well as a king, who can move one space in each direction. The aim is to checkmate the other player's king, meaning it is being directly attacked by a piece, and cannot move anywhere with the same happening, while also protecting your own. Along the way, you will lose pieces to the other player, as well as take their pieces with your own. The concept has been around for millennia, as early as the ancient Romans, and has millions of players worldwide.

Effects on society and your own mind

Chess as a game requires a lot of attention and strategic reasoning, as one needs to have an open mind, and keep their eyes on the entire board at all times, as one wrong move can lead to you losing an advantage over the other player, or even checkmate. It has been proven to be extremely healthy to play chess, as it encourages concentration and logical thinking, as well as many other qualities related to strategy, which are qualities that are acknowledged as being very important in our society, as well as most fathomable situations. An example of this would be in a job such as management of a business, this being because one always has to be in front of the concurrence to be successful, and realize what customers want, as well as always seeing the whole picture and taking what you can out of any situation. Throughout the years, chess has been weaved into our society and is today the most played board game in the world. This has left very recognisable marks, with chess software, the leading one of which is Chess.com, bringing chess into the new generation. This is also aided by extremely popular series and movies, such as the queen’s gambit, and social media sensations, like mittens, a chess.com bot who rose to fame due to his reputation of being nearly unbeatable and bringing hundreds of thousands of new users to the software.

Chess in OIS

In year 8.2, chess has become quite popular, with us playing the game during tutor time and when we finish work in class, and it has created a nice environment in the class, with each of us trying to best the other. This is a very beneficial and welcome experience for us, as chess helps our mind relax in a way, as well as trains the same to work move efficiently later. For our class, this phenomenon began when one of my classmates began boasting about his chess skills that he had developed over social media and playing online during one weekend in early January. This started a period of multiple following days where we thought about little else other than chess and chess strategies. Now, we play chess often and still strive to best each other, playing as many as four to five ten-minute games a day. Around the school, I have been glad to see something similar happening with students of many different age groups. Although many attempts of creating a chess club have failed, I think it might be a great time to attempt such a feat again, as I, personally, would be very interested in developing my strategy and learning through professional and tried ways.