Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The game is played by millions of people worldwide. Chess is believed to be derived from the Indian game chaturanga some time before the 7th century. Chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of the Eastern strategy games xiangqi, janggi, and shogi. Chess reached Europe by the 9th century, due to the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The pieces assumed their current powers in Spain in the late 15th century with the introduction of "Mad Queen Chess"; the modern rules were standardized in the 19th century.
Zugzwang is a situation found in chess and other games wherein one player is put at a disadvantage because they must make a move when they would prefer to pass and not move. The fact that the player is compelled to move means that their position will become significantly weaker. A player is said to be "in zugzwang" when any possible move will worsen their position.
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. He is a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion and four-time World Blitz Chess Champion. His peak classical rating of 2882, achieved in 2014, is the highest in history. Carlsen first reached the top of the FIDE world rankings in 2010, and trails only Garry Kasparov at time spent as world number one.
Rustam Kasimdzhanov is an Uzbekistani chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Champion (2004-05). He was Asian champion in 1998.
The Scottish Chess Championship is organised by Chess Scotland, formerly the Scottish Chess Association. It has been running since 1884, and nowadays takes the form of a nine round tournament played over two weekends and the week in between. Auxiliary tournaments, such as grading-limited sections and a senior championship take place over the first seven days and there is a Weekend Congress on the second weekend.
Colin Anderson McNab is a Scottish chess player. He is Scotland's second player to be awarded the title of Grandmaster (GM), fulfilling its requirements in 1992 just after Paul Motwani. After achieving his three norms, he strained to get his rating up to the required 2500 level, and is possibly unique among Grandmasters in only achieving a published rating of 2500 some six years after being awarded the title. The FIDE regulations in force at the time stated that an 'intermediate' rating at any stage during an event would suffice, and that ratings between 2498.5 and 2500 would be rounded up, which is indeed what happened in 1992. He is also an International Master of correspondence chess since 1993 and International Master of chess problem solving since 2007.
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The winner of the Candidates earns the right to a match for the World Championship against the incumbent World Champion. The most recent FIDE World Chess Candidates tournament took place in Berlin from 10–28 March 2018.
Arkadij Naiditsch is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster that previously represented Latvia and Germany (2005–2015). As of November 2018, he is ranked as No. 20 in the world rankings.
Jessica Laura Cory Gilbert known as "Jessie" Gilbert was a British chess player.
Flaunden is a village in Hertfordshire, England, on the border with Buckinghamshire. It is in the civil parish of Bovingdon. Old Flaunden was on the banks of the River Chess in Buckinghamshire but owing to constant flooding was moved up the hill into Hertfordshire in the early 19th century. The new church at the top of the hill was built in 1838 and was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
Everyman Chess, formerly known as Cadogan Chess, is a major publisher of books and CDs about chess. "Everyman" is a registered trademark of Random House and the company headquarters is in London. Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov is their chief advisor and John Emms is the general editor, assisted by Richard Palliser. The company is now known as "Gloucester Publishers".
Wen Yang is a Chinese chess player. In 2008, he became China's 25th Grandmaster. He achieved the norms required for the grandmaster title at the 2006 World Junior Chess Championship and the 2007 Asian Chess Championship.
Tan Zhongyi is a Chinese chess grandmaster (GM) and former Women's World Chess Champion (2017–2018).
Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi is a Russian chess grandmaster.
The Irish Chess Union (ICU), is the governing body for chess in Ireland since its formation in 1912. ICU is a member of FIDE since 1933 and the European Chess Union. The ICU promotes Chess in Ireland and maintains the chess rating for players registered with the ICU, which are published three times a year. It runs competitions such as the Irish Chess Championship and selects teams to participate in international competitions for Ireland.
Ellen E. Gilbert was a strong 19th century correspondence chess player, and one of the first significant women players in chess history. She became famous for her match victory against George H. D. Gossip. Gossip, who had won the 1873–74 correspondence chess tournament of the Chess-Players Chronicle, "was thought by some to be the strongest correspondence player known". Gilbert, playing first board for the United States in an 1879 correspondence chess match against England, won all four of her games against Gossip. This enabled the American team to win the match 27–23. Her victories, combined with her announcing mate in 21 moves in one game, and mate in 35 moves in another, "caused a sensation in the chess world". She was hailed as "The Queen of Chess", and poems and at least one chess problem was composed in her honor. Her games were analyzed by Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, who confirmed the accuracy of her analyses. Gossip responded gallantly, dedicating his book Theory of the Chess Openings to her.
Chess Scotland is the governing body for chess in Scotland. It was formed in 2001 with the merger of the Scottish Chess Association (SCA) and the Scottish Junior Chess Association (SJCA).
Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev is a Russian chess grandmaster. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2015 and 2017.
The women's event at the 43rd Chess Olympiad was held from 24 September – 5 October 2018. It was contested by a record number of 151 teams, representing 146 nations. Georgia, as host nation, fielded three teams, whilst the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA), the International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA), and the International Chess Committee of the Deaf (ICCD) each provided one team. A total of 747 players participated in the open event.
