what is chess?

i always have loved watching people play chess. i know how to play chess but i am not an expert at it. i have read a lot about chess and the following section is just one of the most interesting articles i have read about the game.

Chess is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks and numbered 1 to 8) and eight columns (called files and labeled a to h) of squares. The colors of the sixty-four squares alternate and are referred to as "light squares" and "dark squares". The pieces are divided into two matching sets, by convention called White and Black. Each player, referred to by the color of his pieces, begins the game with sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. The chessboard is placed with a light square at each player's right on the nearest rank, and the pieces are set out on the two ranks closest to each player, as shown in the diagram. Each queen stands on a square of its own color.

The player who is chosen to be White makes the first move. The players then alternate moving one of their own pieces (with the exception of castling, when a rook and the king are moved simultaneously). Each type of piece has its own unique method of movement. Pieces are moved to either an unoccupied square, or one occupied by an opponent's piece. With one exception (en passant), an opponent's piece is captured and removed from play by moving a piece to the square that the enemy piece occupies. When a piece can be captured on the next move, it is said to be "threatened" or "under attack".

When a player's king is under attack, it is said to be in check. A player is not permitted to make any move that would place his king in check. If his king is in check, he must make a move to take the king out of check. If this is not possible, the player is checkmated and loses the game.

Chess games do not have to end in checkmate — either player may resign if the situation looks hopeless. Games also may end in a draw (tie). A draw can occur in several situations, including draw by agreement, stalemate, threefold repetition of a position, the fifty move rule, or a draw by impossibility of checkmate (usually because of insufficient material to checkmate).

Chess can be played with a time control. This involves assigning each player a set amount of time to make moves. If a player's time runs out before the game is completed, he automatically loses. The timing ranges from up to seven hours for long games to shorter rapid chess games usually lasting 30 minutes or one hour. Even shorter is blitz chess, with a time control of three to fifteen minutes per player and bullet chess, in which the allotment is under three minutes.

i agree with u that chess is a wonderful game. with a board and 32 pieces u can play a marvellous game. i enjoy playing chess and i would say that i 'm a good player though not an expert. i usually like playing correspondance chess.

Chess is one of my favourite games and time just flys when we play the game.