Curious About Chess

PODCAST 216: CURIOUS ABOUT CHESS

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH, 2022

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  THIS WEEK, WE ARE GOING TO LEARN ABOUT A GAME THAT IS BOTH FUN AND CHALLENGING.  IT’S BEEN PLAYED BY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE OVER CENTURIES.  THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD ARE CALLED GRANDMASTERS, BUT EVEN GRANDMASTERS START AS BEGINNERS THAT NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY STRATEGICALLY, AVOIDING BAD MOVES AND THE CONSEQUENCES THAT COME FROM THEIR BAD MOVES, TRYING TO WIN ONE MATCH AT A TIME ON THE ROAD TO BECOMING A BETTER PLAYER.  BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ONCE SAID THE FOLLOWING:  “THE GAME OF CHESS IS NOT MERELY AN IDLE AMUSEMENT.  SEVERAL VERY VALUABLE QUALITIES OF THE MIND, USEFUL IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN LIFE, ARE TO BE ACQUIRED OR STRENGTHENED BY IT.  LIFE IS A KIND OF CHESS, IN WHICH WE HAVE OFTEN POINTS TO GAIN, AND COMPETITORS OR ADVERSARIES TO CONTEND WITH.”  

O:  TRIPLE-MAILBAG!

D:  TRIPLE-MAILBAG!

“HI JACOB AND OLIVIA!  I AM BEN OF SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA.  I AM 6 YEARS OLD.  I LOVE YOUR PODCAST AND MY FAVORITE EPISODE IS CURIOUS ABOUT SLEEP (EPISODE NUMBER ONE!). I AM CURIOUS ABOUT A FEW THINGS:  1. HOW ARE LIGHT BULBS MADE?  2.  WHAT IS THE HARDEST MATH EQUATION IN THE WORLD?  AND 3.  HOW MANY MOVES DOES IT TAKE TO DO THE FASTEST CHECKMATE IN CHESS?

-THANKS, BEN”

“DEAR JACOB AND OLIVIA, WE LISTEN TO YOUR PODCAST IN THE CAR AND WE LOVE IT!  OUR FAVORITE EPISODE SO FAR IS SPIDERWEBS IN SEASON 1!  CAN YOU PLEASE DO A PODCAST ON CHESS OR SMALL BASIC?  MY DAD MADE SMALL BASIC AND WE WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IT!  AND ALSO, I LOVE CHESS!  WE LIVE IN ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON

-SURYA AND NILA”

“HI OLIVIA AND JACOB, MY NAME IS CECILIA AND I AM ALMOST 7 YEARS OLD.  I LIVE IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.  MY LITTLE SISTER MATHILDA AND I LISTEN TO YOUR PODCAST WITH OUR PARENTS WHEN WE GO ON LONG DRIVES.  I WANT TO GET CURIOUS ABOUT DIGESTION AND CHESS.  THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE PODCAST!  -CECILIA AND MATHILDA”

O:  THOSE EMAILS WERE INCREDIBLE.  WE CAN’T WAIT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CHESS FOR BEN, SURYA, NILA, CECILIA, AND MATHILDA.  

D:  I LOVE THAT SOME OF OUR LISTENERS FAVORITE EPISODES ARE THE ONES WE DID A VERY LONG TIME AGO.  

O:  SLEEP WAS EPISODE ONE AND SPIDERWEBS WAS EPISODE NINE.  WE SOUNDED VERY DIFFERENT BACK THEN WHEN WE WERE GETTING STARTED.  IF YOU HAVEN’T HAD A CHANCE TO GO BACK AND LISTEN TO OUR OLDEST EPISODES, YOU SHOULD TOTALLY GIVE THEM A LISTEN.

D:  THAT’S RIGHT, AND THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF PODCASTS.  THE POD IN PODCASTS STANDS FOR PLAY ON DEMAND, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU CAN LISTEN TO ANY OF OUR HUNDREDS OF EPISODES WHENEVER YOU WANT.  FOR NOW, LET’S GET TO THE AWESOME TOPIC OF THIS WEEK’S EPISODE BY KICKING THINGS OFF WITH THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.

O:  THE SECOND BOOK IN HISTORY TO BE PRINTED IN ENGLISH WAS ACTUALLY ABOUT CHESS.  CAN YOU GUESS WHAT YEAR THE BOOK WAS PRINTED?

D:  JUST THE QUESTION ALONE SHOWS YOU HOW OLD THE GAME OF CHESS IS AND HOW IMPORTANT IT HAS BEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME.  

O:  THE GAME OF CHESS LIKELY CAME FROM A VERY SIMILAR GAME THAT WAS BEING PLAYED IN INDIA ABOUT 1,500 YEARS AGO.

D:  THAT GAME WAS CALLED CHATURANGA, WHICH IS A SANSKRIT WORD THAT MEANS MILITARY.  THAT MAKES SENSE, BECAUSE THE GAME OF CHESS HAS THE FEEL OF A MILITARY BATTLE IN MANY WAYS.  IT BECAME A POPULAR GAME PRETTY QUICKLY, AND WAS SOON BEING PLAYED IN PLACES OUTSIDE OF INDIA.

O:  IT SPREAD TO PERSIA AND THEN TO EUROPE.  THE GAME WAS CHANGED AFTER IT MADE ITS WAY TO EUROPE ABOUT 600 YEARS AGO.  LOTS OF CHANGES TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 1470 AND 1495 TO MODERNIZE THE GAME A BIT.  BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE GAME HASN’T CHANGED MUCH AT ALL SINCE 1495.  

D:  ONE OF THE VERY FEW RULES THAT HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 500 YEARS IS THAT THE PLAYER USING THE WHITE CHESS PIECES GOES FIRST.  THE FIRST SET OF FORMAL RULES WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE 1400s, AND THE FIRST CHESS MANUAL WAS WRITTEN BY A CHESS MASTER IN 1561.

O:  THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT TOOK PLACE IN LONDON IN 1851.  INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENTS HAVE BECOME VERY POPULAR, AS THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD COMPETE TO BECOME GRANDMASTERS.

D:  WHEN COMPUTERS STARTED TO BECOME MORE ADVANCED IN THE 1990S, PEOPLE ENJOYED PLAYING CHESS ON THEIR COMPUTERS TOO.  COMPUTERS WERE TAUGHT HOW TO MASTER THE GAME OF CHESS.  THERE WERE EVEN MATCHES BETWEEN HUMAN EXPERTS OF THE GAME OF CHESS AND COMPUTERS.  IN THE YEAR 1996, GARRY KASPAROV, WHO WAS THE CHESS WORLD CHAMPION, PLAYED A SERIES OF CHESS MATCHES AGAINST A COMPUTER CALLED DEEP BLUE, AND HE WON… AGAINST A COMPUTER!  

O:  THAT IS AMAZING, BUT IT’S A BIT OF A BUMMER THAT HE LOST IN A REMATCH AGAINST BIG BLUE THE FOLLOWING YEAR.

D:  IF YOU’VE NEVER PLAYED CHESS, YOU ARE PROBABLY WONDERING HOW IT WORKS, AND MAYBE YOU’RE EVEN THINKING ABOUT GETTING YOUR OWN CHESS SET SO YOU CAN WORK ON BECOMING A GRANDMASTER.

O:  CHESS IS PLAYED BY TWO PLAYERS.  ONE USES THE WHITE SET OF PIECES, WHILE THE OTHER PLAYER USES THE BLACK SET.  EACH SET CONTAINS A TOTAL OF 16 PIECES.  EIGHT OF THOSE PIECES ARE PAWNS.  THERE ARE ALSO TWO KNIGHTS, TWO BISHOPS, TWO ROOKS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY ONE KING AND ONE QUEEN.

D:  THE BOARD THAT THE GAME IS PLAYED ON HAS 64 SQUARES WITH ALTERNATING SQUARE COLORS, USUALLY BLACK AND WHITE.  THE SQUARES ARE DIVIDED INTO AN EIGHT BY EIGHT GAME BOARD, WITH EIGHT ROWS AND EIGHT COLUMNS.  

O:  HERE IS SOME CHESS LINGO:  THE ROWS IN CHESS ARE ACTUALLY CALLED RANKS, AND THE COLUMNS ARE CALLED FILES.    

D:  BOTH PLAYERS ALTERNATE TURNS, STARTING WITH THE PLAYER USING THE WHITE SET.  DURING EACH TURN, A PIECE CAN EITHER BE MOVED TO AN EMPTY SQUARE, OR IT CAN BE MOVED TO A SQUARE THAT’S OCCUPIED BY THE OTHER PLAYER’S PIECE.  IF THAT HAPPENS, THE OTHER PLAYER’S PIECE IS CAPTURED AND REMOVED FROM THE BOARD.  

O:  EACH OF THE DIFFERENT PIECES MOVE IN DIFFERENT WAYS.  LET’S TAKE PAWNS, FOR EXAMPLE.  THEY ARE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD, BUT IF THEY ARE BEING USED TO CAPTURE ONE OF THE OTHER PLAYER’S PIECES, THEY CAN MOVE DIAGONALLY.  

D:  KNIGHTS MOVE IN THE SHAPE OF THE LETTER “L”.  THEY CAN MOVE TWO SQUARES VERTICALLY AND ONE SQUARE HORIZONTALLY, OR THEY CAN MOVE TWO SQUARES HORIZONTALLY AND ONE SQUARE VERTICALLY.  THEY HAVE A COOL ABILITY THAT NONE OF THE OTHER PIECES HAVE.  THEY ARE ABLE TO JUMP OVER OTHER PIECES ON THE BOARD.  

O:  BISHOPS MOVE DIAGONALLY, FORWARDS OR BACKWARDS, BY ANY NUMBER OF SPACES.  ROOKS CAN MOVE HORIZONTALLY OR VERTICALLY, FORWARDS OR BACKWARDS, ANY NUMBER OF SPACES.

D:  THE QUEEN IS VERY VERSATILE AND CAN MOVE IN ANY DIRECTION, HORIZONTALLY, VERTICALLY, OR DIAGONALLY, FOR ANY NUMBER OF SPACES.

O:  KINGS ARE KIND OF LAZY IN CHESS AND CAN ONLY MOVE A SINGLE SQUARE IN ANY DIRECTION.  

D:  KNOWING WHAT WE’VE ALREADY LEARNED, IT MAY BE EASY TO COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE GAME IS WON WHEN ONE PLAYER CAPTURES ALL OF THE PIECES OF THE OTHER PLAYER, BUT THAT’S NOT THE CASE.

O:  THE GAME OF CHESS ENDS IN A CHECKMATE.  HERE’S HOW THAT WORKS.  IF ONE PLAYER MAKES A MOVE THAT ATTACKS THE KING OF THE OTHER PLAYER, THAT KING IS IN CHECK.  THE PLAYER IN CONTROL OF THAT KING NEEDS TO MAKE A MOVE TO RESCUE THE KING AND GET HIM OUT OF CHECK.

D:  THAT CAN BE DONE IN ONE OF THREE WAYS.  EITHER, THE KING CAN BE MOVED OUT OF DANGER, THE PIECE THAT IS THREATENING THE KING CAN BE CAPTURED, OR ANOTHER PIECE IS MOVED BETWEEN THE KING AND THE PIECE THAT IS THREATENING THE KING.   

O:  IF THE PLAYER WITH THE KING CAN’T DO ANY OF THOSE THREE THINGS TO PROTECT THEIR KING, IT IS CALLED A CHECKMATE, AND THAT PLAYER LOSES THE GAME.  

D:  THERE ARE OTHER FUN RULES.  ONE OF MY FAVORITES IS CALLED PROMOTION.  IF YOU ARE ABLE TO GET ONE OF YOUR PAWNS ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE BOARD TO THE EIGHTH ROW, OR RANK, YOU CAN TRADE YOUR PAWN IN FOR ONE OF YOUR PIECES THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN CAPTURED.  

O:  AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, WITH ALL OF THE PIECES ON THE BOARD AND ALL OF THE SPACES THAT CAN BE OCCUPIED, THERE ARE LOTS OF POSSIBLE WAYS THAT A CHESS GAME CAN BE PLAYED.  

D:  THE NUMBER HAS ACTUALLY BEEN CALCULATED.  THE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL CHESS GAMES IS 10 TO THE 120TH POWER.

O:  WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT MEAN?  10 TO THE 120TH POWER?

D:  THAT MEANS THE NUMBER ONE FOLLOWED BY 120 ZEROS.  HOW BIG IS THAT NUMBER?  OBVIOUSLY, IT’S ENORMOUS, BUT CONSIDER THIS.  IT’S BIGGER THAN THE NUMBER OF ALL OF THE ATOMS IN THE UNIVERSE COMBINED, WHICH IS ESTIMATED TO BE 10 TO THE POWER OF 80, OR ONE FOLLOWED BY 80 ZEROS.

O:  CHESS GAMES CAN BE QUICK, BUT THEY CAN ALSO LAST A LONG TIME.  BASED ON DIFFERENT MOVEMENT COMBINATIONS, A GAME OF CHESS CAN LAST ABOUT 5,900 MOVES TOTAL.  I WOULD PROBABLY BE BORED LONG BEFORE I GOT TO THAT MANY MOVES.  

EVEN THOUGH GAMES COULD BE CRAZY LONG, THE AVERAGE GAME LASTS 38 MOVES. 

D:  EVEN THOUGH GAMES OF CHESS CAN GO ON FOR QUITE A WHILE, THEY CAN ALSO END VERY QUICKLY.  WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT IF I TOLD YOU THAT A GAME OF CHESS CAN BE WON BY MAKING JUST TWO MOVES?  THIS SCENARIO IS OFTEN CALLED FOOL’S MATE OR TWO-MOVE CHECKMATE.

O:  THIS IS HOW THE TWO-MOVE CHECKMATE WORKS.  IN ORDER TO VISUALIZE THE SEQUENCE, IT HELPS TO GIVE A LETTER AND NUMBER TO EACH SPACE ON THE BOARD.  LET’S GIVE THE LETTERS A THROUGH H TO ALL OF THE SPACES GOING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT.  LET’S GIVE THE NUMBERS 1 THROUGH 8 TO ALL OF THE SPACES BOTTOM TO TOP.  THAT MEANS THAT THE SPACE AT THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER WOULD BE A-1.  THE SPACE IN THE TOP RIGHT CORNER WOULD BE H-8.   

D:  SO, WHITE GOES FIRST.  LET’S SAY THE PLAYER PLAYING WITH THE WHITE PIECES MOVES THE PAWN FROM SPACE F2, WHICH IS A PAWN IN FRONT OF ONE OF THE WHITE BISHOPS.

O:  FROM THERE, THE PLAYER PLAYING WITH THE BLACK PIECES MOVES THE PAWN IN FRONT OF HIS KING, WHICH WAS IN SPACE E-7, UP A SPACE.  THIS CLEARS A PATH FOR THE BLACK QUEEN TO MOVE DIAGONALLY.

D:  THEN, IF THE WHITE PAWN THAT STARTED IN G-2 IS MOVED FORWARD, THE WHITE KING IS EXPOSED WITH NOWHERE TO HIDE.

O: AT THIS POINT, THE BLACK QUEEN JUST NEEDS TO MOVE DIAGONALLY TO THE SIDE OF THE BOARD, SPACE H-4, ENDING THE GAME IN A CHECKMATE AFTER JUST TWO MOVES.        

D:  MANY OF THE MOST SKILLED CHESS PLAYERS IN THE WORLD ARE ABLE TO PLAY CHESS BLINDFOLDED.  THEY ARE ABLE TO MOVE THEIR CHESS PIECES BY CALLING OUT A LETTER AND NUMBER THAT REPRESENT THE POSITION OF A PIECE ON THE CHESS BOARD, THE SAME WAY WE JUST GAVE LETTERS AND NUMBERS TO ALL THE SPACES.  THEY ESSENTIALLY SEE THE BOARD AND THE POSITION OF ALL OF THE PIECES IN THEIR MINDS.  

O:  THAT IS RIDICULOUS, BUT EVEN MORE CRAZY IS THAT A FEW GRANDMASTERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PLAY BLINDFOLDED CHESS WHILE PLAYING ABOUT 50 GAMES AT THE SAME TIME.     

D:  RUSSIA HAS MORE GRANDMASTERS THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, WITH 256 AS WE RECORD THIS EPISODE.  THE UNITED STATES IS SECOND, WITH 101 GRANDMASTERS.  ROUNDING OUT THE TOP FIVE ARE GERMANY, UKRAINE, AND INDIA.  

O:  CHESS WAS THE FIRST GAME PLAYED IN SPACE, BACK IN 1970.  THE GAME, PLAYED BETWEEN RUSSIAN ASTRONAUTS AND THEIR GROUND CONTROL ENDED IN A DRAW.  

D:  CHESS IS A FANTASTIC GAME, AND CHESS PLAYERS LEARN SO MANY IMPORTANT THINGS, LIKE CREATIVE THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, PATTERN RECOGNITION, PATIENCE, SPORTSMANSHIP, AND SO MUCH MORE.  

O:  THE GAME IS SO EDUCATIONAL.  IN ARMENIA, CHESS IS A MANDATORY CLASS TO BE TAKEN IN SCHOOL.  OTHER COUNTRIES ARE ALSO CONSIDERING MAKING CHESS MANDATORY.

D:  EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE THEY OFFER CHESS IN SCHOOL, THERE ARE TONS OF CHESS CLUBS AND CHESS PROGRAMS OUT THERE.  IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE FINDING ONE LOCALLY, THERE ARE EXCELLENT CHESS RESOURCES AVAILABLE ONLINE AS WELL.  ALRIGHT OLIVIA, LET’S ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  THE SECOND BOOK EVER PRINTED IN ENGLISH WAS ABOUT CHESS.  IN WHAT YEAR WAS THAT BOOK PRINTED?

O:  THE BOOK, CALLED “THE GAME AND PLAYE OF THE CHESSE” WAS PRINTED IN THE YEAR 1476.  THAT’S 546 YEARS AGO!

D:  AND SINCE THEN, THOUSANDS OF OTHER BOOKS ON THE STRATEGIC GAME OF CHESS HAVE BEEN PRINTED.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O: 216 - CHESS.

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB BEN, SURYA, NILA, CECILIA, AND MATHILDA FOR SUGGESTING WE GET CURIOUS ABOUT THE KING OF ALL BOARD GAMES.  BEFORE WE GO, WE HAVE SOME AMAZING LISTENERS TO THANK.

O:  WE WANT TO THANK LUCY, NORA, SCOUT, AND TAGG FOR THE INCREDIBLE FIVE STAR REVIEW.

D:  IT SAYS “GREAT PODCAST FOR KIDDOS!  HI JACOB AND OLIVIA.  WE LIVE IN NORTH OGDEN, UTAH.  WE LOVE LISTENING TO CURIOUS KID PODCAST IN THE CAR TO STRETCH OUR BRAINS AND LEARN COOL NEW STUFF!  THANKS FOR WHAT YOU DO!”

O:  WOW, WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR THAT REVIEW.  REVIEWS GO A LONG WAY IN HELPING NEW PEOPLE DISCOVER OUR PODCAST, AND THEY ONLY TAKE A MINUTE OR TWO.  

D:  WE ALSO READ EVERY SINGLE REVIEW WE GET, AND WE SOMETIMES EVEN READ THEM IN AN EPISODE.  JOIN US NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT GIRAFFES FOR LISTENERS IN CALIFORNIA AND ENGLAND.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.