Chess is a two-player board game that is sometimes referred to as Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from related games like xiangqi and shogi. The game’s current form emerged in Spain and the rest of Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century, evolving from chaturanga, a similar but much older game of Indian origin. Chess is now one of the most popular games in the world, with millions of people playing it worldwide. But did you know a chess player in the Dutch Open Championship deliberately threw his game?
In the early 1990s, a chess player in the Dutch Open Championship purposefully threw a game, getting mated in three moves, because he had tickets to a Madonna concert and didn’t want to be late.
The History of Chess
Before the 600s AD, the Indian game chaturanga gave birth to chess as we know it today. Over the next few centuries, the game spread throughout Asia and Europe, eventually evolving into what we now call chess around the 16th century. Ruy Lopez, a Spanish priest, was one of the game’s early masters. Although he did not invent the opening that bears his name, he did analyze it in a book published in 1561. Chess theory was so primitive back then that Lopez advocated playing with the sun in your opponent’s eyes. (Source: Chess)
Amusing Ways to Lose a Chess Game
If you’ve ever felt silly after allowing your opponent to take your queen or missing a mate in one, guess what? It could be a lot worse.
Stop feeling guilty when this happens to you. The chess world is full of bizarre stories, and there are far more unusual ways to lose than making wrong moves. Here are the most ridiculous, strange, and surprising reasons for losing a chess game. (Source: Chess)
Unaware of the Tournament’s Time Limit
You may believe this is impossible because everyone knows the current tournament’s time limitations. What if I told you that Magnus Carlsen himself lost a game because he didn’t know it? And it happened at a tournament in his own country.
In the first round of the 2015 Norway Chess, the world champion arrived late, so he missed the judge’s indications that after the first time control at the 40th move, they would add one hour to the clock plus 30 seconds of increment per move. However, Carlsen believed that after the 60th move, they would be given more time. (Source: Chess)
Attending a Madonna Concert
In the early 1990s, at the Open Dutch Championship, a player unusually lost a game:
The main character in this story, who also happens to be the current press chief of the famous Wijk aan Zee tournament, admitted to getting mated in three moves because he had tickets to a Madonna concert and didn’t want to be late. This line is known as the Madonna Gambit in the Netherlands. (Source: Chess)
Playing While Intoxicated
One of the most famous incidents of chess drunkenness occurred in the third round of the 2009 Kolkata Open when a strong grandmaster and former European champion sat down to play with apparent signs of intoxication. He fell asleep several times during the game until he eventually lost track of time while sleeping. (Source: Chess)
Image from CodingHero