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chess: Quick Facts

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Photos

A chessboard showing the standard starting position for a game, with white and black pieces arranged in two rows on each side: rooks, knights, bishops, queen, and king on the back row, and pawns in front.
A chessboard with a king piece at the center, surrounded by arrows pointing in all eight directions, illustrating that the king can move one square in any direction.
A chessboard with a black rook at the center, and arrows showing that the rook can move any number of squares vertically or horizontally across the board.
A chessboard with a bishop in the center square and four arrows extending diagonally from it, illustrating that the bishop moves any number of squares diagonally in all directions.
A chessboard diagram with a queen at the center, showing arrows in all eight directions-vertical, horizontal, and diagonal-to illustrate how the queen can move any number of squares in those directions.
A chessboard diagram with a knight in the center square, showing eight arrows that illustrate the L-shaped moves the knight can make in any direction.
A chessboard showing two black pawns: one with an arrow indicating a forward move, and another with an arrow pointing diagonally to a square, illustrating how pawns move and capture.
A Chinese chess board with a yellow grid, labeled rows and columns, and two sets of round playing pieces-black at the top and red at the bottom-arranged in their starting positions, separated by a central river.
Close-up of Lewis Chessmen, intricately carved ivory chess pieces with expressive faces, arranged on a chessboard.
Zsófia, Susan, and Judit Polgár
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Key People

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Rudolph Reti
Austrian music scholar
Gukesh Dommaraju
Gukesh Dommaraju
Indian chess player
Viswanathan Anand wearing glasses, a blue suit jacket, and a checkered shirt, standing in front of a black-and-white chessboard pattern background.
Viswanathan Anand
Indian chess player
Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Norwegian chess player
Ding Liren
Ding Liren
Chinese chess player
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Vladimir Kramnik
Russian chess player
Susan Polgar.
Susan Polgar
American chess player
Garry Kasparov in 2019, wearing a light gray jacket over a black shirt, looking at the camera with a neutral expression.
Garry Kasparov
Soviet-born chess player
Ju Wenjun
Ju Wenjun
Chinese chess player
Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
American-born chess master
Kosteniuk, Alexandra Konstantinovna
Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
Russian chess player
Karpov, Anatoly Yevgenyevich
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov
Russian chess player
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Elizaveta Ivanovna Bykova
Russian chess player
Zhu Chen
Zhu Chen
Chinese chess player
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Ludmilla Vladimirovna Rudenko
Ukrainian chess player
Stefanova, Antoaneta
Antoaneta Stefanova
Bulgarian chess player
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Olga Nikolayevna Rubtsova
Russian chess player
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Xu Yuhua
Chinese chess player
Hou Yifan.
Hou Yifan
Chinese chess player
Maurice Ashley
Maurice Ashley
Jamaican American chess player

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