Chess, originally Chaturanga, flourished in India during the Gupta Empire. It spread to Persia and the Middle East, becoming Shatranj. Later reaching Europe, it evolved into the modern game we know today.

The queen's role in chess has evolved significantly. Initially limited to one diagonal square, it later gained the ability to move two squares diagonally. Isabella's powerful reign in Reconquista Spain made the queen the dominant piece on the board.

The term "Checkmate" has Arabic roots, derived from "shah mat," meaning "the king is dead (helpless)" in English. True chess players often refrain from saying "checkmate" to their opponents, instead opting for a handshake and a simple "good game."

Alan Turing created the first chess program in 1951, but computers lacked the power to run it. DeepThought made history by defeating an international grandmaster in November 1988.

Chess boasts an incredible number of possible positions after just a few moves. With over 318 billion distinct positions after four moves each, the game's complexity dwarfs the number of electrons in the observable universe.

Blindfold chess, a remarkable skill, demands exceptional visualization abilities. In 1960, Janos Flesch astounded the chess world by playing 52 opponents simultaneously while blindfolded, winning 31 games.

Psychologists recognize chess as a memory-enhancing and intelligence-boosting activity. It is even recommended in the fight against Alzheimer's. Chess's impact on young minds led to its introduction in elementary schools, improving children's grades and cognitive abilities.

Chess pieces' appearance was influenced by the Islamic world, where the prohibition on creating statues led to their vague designs. As chess spread to Christian Europe, the pieces remained largely unchanged.

Introduced in 1280 in Spain, "en passant" allowed pawns to move two steps instead of one on their first move. This French term means "in passing."

The mechanical chess clock, invented by Thomas Wilson in England in 1883, revolutionized timekeeping in chess matches, replacing sand glasses with balanced clocks on a seesaw beam.