Chess

In chess two players each command 16 pieces on a board of 64 squares; the aim is to checkmate the opponent's king. The International Olympic Committee recognises chess as a sport.

History

Chess descends from chaturanga, which appeared in India in the sixth century; it developed in Persia as shatranj and reached Europe through the Islamic world. The official title of world champion has been contested since 1886. FIDE, the international chess federation, was founded in Paris in 1924, and the Chess Olympiad has been held since 1927.

Major competitions

The World Championship match, the Candidates Tournament, the World Cup, the Chess Olympiad, the World Rapid and Blitz Championships and the European Team Championship.

Chess in the Turkic world

Azerbaijan is one of the centres of world chess: the 13th world champion Garry Kasparov was born in Baku, and the Azerbaijani men's team won the European Team Championship in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Baku hosted the 2016 Chess Olympiad and the 2015 and 2023 World Cups, and Teimour Radjabov won the World Cup in 2019.

Uzbekistan won the Chess Olympiad in Chennai in 2022; Rustam Kasimdzhanov became FIDE world champion in 2004 and Nodirbek Abdusattorov world rapid champion in 2021. Kazakhstan's Bibisara Assaubayeva was women's world blitz champion in 2021 and 2022.

Hungary won the Chess Olympiad in 1978 and hosted it in Budapest in 2024. The Hungarian Judit Polgár is regarded as the strongest woman player in history — in 2005 she entered the world top eight. The Kazakh and Kyrgyz game of togyz kumalak is another mind sport of the Turkic world.

Famous Turkic chess players

Teimour Radjabov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vugar Gashimov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Zhansaya Abdumalik and Judit Polgár.