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| | '''Chess''' is an intellectually challenging, [[conservative]] [[board game|game]] of [[chivalry]] between two players. Based purely on skill and merit without any element of chance, chess has long been one of the most popular games in the world, and today chess is played by upwards of 800 million people worldwide. Chess sharpens the mind, improves decision-making skills, helps overcome [[addiction]], drives out [[anxiety]], and builds character. Promoters of chess include [[Benjamin Franklin]]<ref>https://phillybowtietours.wordpress.com/2017/02/08/benjamin-franklin-and-chess/</ref> and [[Thomas Jefferson]]. | | '''Chess''' is an intellectually challenging, [[conservative]] [[board game|game]] of [[chivalry]] between two players. Based purely on skill and merit without any element of chance, chess has long been one of the most popular games in the world, and today chess is played by upwards of 800 million people worldwide. Chess sharpens the mind, improves decision-making skills, helps overcome [[addiction]], drives out [[anxiety]], and builds character. Promoters of chess include [[Benjamin Franklin]]<ref>https://phillybowtietours.wordpress.com/2017/02/08/benjamin-franklin-and-chess/</ref> and [[Thomas Jefferson]]. |
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| − | The goal of the game is to place the opposing king into ''checkmate'', that is, a position in which the king is under attack but cannot escape.
| + | Chess can be helpful in overcoming addictions to anything symbolic or numeric, including [[pornography]], [[gambling]], [[video games]], [[Unplug the NFL|televised football]], and the [[stock market]]. Chess fills the mind with a healthy activity while also reinforcing the consequences of bad decisions.<ref>https://chessimprover.com/chess-and-addiction/</ref> Temerity is punished in chess, as is timorousness. |
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| − | Chess is a mentally invigorating hobby which is widely praised for helping people over harmful addictions. It fills the mind with a healthy activity while also reinforcing the consequences of bad decisions.<ref>https://chessimprover.com/chess-and-addiction/</ref> Temerity is punished in chess, as is timorousness. | |
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| | Confounding [[feminists]], virtually all the best chess players are male, and only about 1% of the 1500 grandmasters are female. Only three women have ever ranked in the top 100, and none has ever been world champion against men. But females can benefit enormously from chess as males can. | | Confounding [[feminists]], virtually all the best chess players are male, and only about 1% of the 1500 grandmasters are female. Only three women have ever ranked in the top 100, and none has ever been world champion against men. But females can benefit enormously from chess as males can. |
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| | The chess board is a square, divided into 64 smaller squares arranged in eight rows of eight. The squares are alternating light and dark, with a light square in the bottom right hand corner. | | The chess board is a square, divided into 64 smaller squares arranged in eight rows of eight. The squares are alternating light and dark, with a light square in the bottom right hand corner. |
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| − | The horizontal rows of squares are referred to as "ranks" and the vertical rows are referred to as "files". | + | The horizontal rows of squares are referred to as "ranks" and the vertical rows are referred to as "files". The goal of the game is to place the opposing king into ''checkmate'', that is, a position in which the king is under attack but cannot escape. |
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| | ==Pieces== | | ==Pieces== |