An 1844 chess match via telegraph anticipated the board game's online popularity.

The first official World Chess Championship was held in 1886

The inaugural world championship took place across New York, St. Louis and New Orleans in 1886, where Wilhelm Steinitz defeated Johannes Zukertort. Steinitz became the first recognized world champion, establishing the modern era of organized competitive chess.

Chess is played by an estimated 600 million people worldwide

Chess remains one of the most popular games in history, with roughly 600 million players across the globe. The game thrives casually in homes, schools, and parks, while also sustaining robust online communities and professional tournaments.

Around 380 underwater cables power the Internet across the world.

On July 29, 1858, two steam-powered battleships met in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There, they connected two ends of a 4,000 kilometer (2,500 mile) long, 1.5 centimeter (0.6 inch) wide cable, linking for the first time the European and North American continents by telegraph.

Chess traces its roots to chaturanga in sixth-century India

The earliest form of chess, known as chaturanga, emerged in India around the sixth century. The game simulated four divisions of the military—infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots—and laid the foundation for modern chess’ structure and strategy.

Browse a timeline of the fascinating history of board games in America.

Trade and conquest carried chess into Europe by the 11th century

After spreading through Persia, chess traveled along Islamic military and trade routes into North Africa and Moorish Spain by the 10th century. By the 11th century, it had taken root across much of Europe, flourishing in courts and monasteries.

GothamChess built the largest online chess audience in the world

International Master Levy Rozman, known as GothamChess, has more than 6 million YouTube subscribers and billions of views. His mix of tutorials, commentary, and humor has introduced millions of new fans to the game in the digital era. In this video, he discusses his decision to challenge Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen.

The longest official chess game lasted 269 moves and over 20 hours

In 1989, Ivan Nikolić and Goran Arsović played a marathon 269-move match in Belgrade. Lasting more than 20 hours, the game ended in a draw.

Hikaru Nakamura became a chess star both on the board and online

A five-time US champion, Hikaru Nakamura helped chess expand its popularity through streaming. His Twitch and YouTube audiences number in the millions, drawing younger fans and fueling the game’s surge in popularity worldwide.

The Civil War introduced many technological advances to both society and warfare.

The first chess game in space ended in a draw in 1970

Soviet cosmonauts Andriyan Nikolayev and Vitaly Sevastyanov played a game of chess against mission control while orbiting Earth aboard Soyuz 9 in 1970. The match ended in a draw—the first recorded game in space.

Arnold Schoenberg invented a variation of chess that mimicked geopolitics.

'Staunton design' became the universal chess set in 1849

Introduced in London in 1849, Staunton chess pieces featured simple, uniform shapes that made every piece easy to recognize. Endorsed by champion Howard Staunton, the design quickly became the international standard and remains the only style approved for tournament play.

James Garfield's 79-day decline hooked America on news updates

After he was shot while departing Washington, DC, in 1881, the president was treated for his wounds and cared for at the White House. Since 1861, telegraphs had spanned the continent, and the Associated Press pooled sources to share telegraph news. The public, seeking updates on the president's condition, was able to receive them regularly for the first time due to this network, laying the foundation for the continuous news cycle.

Chess can be played at lightning-fast or classical speeds

Time controls shape how the game is played—from bullet matches under three minutes, to blitz games under 10, to classical contests lasting over an hour. Each format demands different skills, from rapid intuition to deep calculation.

Chess is played on an 8×8 board with 16 pieces per side

Chess begins with two players facing off on a checkered 64-square board. Each controls 16 pieces—king, queen, rooks, bishops, knights, and pawns—with the goal of checkmating the opposing king.

FIDE has governed international chess since 1924

The Fédération Internationale des Échecs was founded in Paris in 1924 to unify global chess rules and competitions. Today, it oversees world championships, regulates ratings, and serves as the official governing body for millions of players worldwide.

Explore (digitally) the Computer History Museum

When IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer won its famous chess rematch with then world champion Garry Kasparov in May 1997, the victory was hailed far and wide as a triumph of artificial intelligence. But John McCarthy—the man who coined the term and pioneered the field of AI research—didn’t see it that way. An obituary about McCarthy—who passed in 2001—and his ideas.

There are more chess game variations than observable atoms in the universe

Mathematician Claude Shannon estimated there are 10 to the 120th power variations of chess games possible. Known as the "Shannon number," this is more than the estimated number of atoms in the cosmos.

How Scrabble got its name

Alfred Butts, a newly unemployed architect during the Great Depression, created Scrabble. But the game was named by James Brunot, who used the word to describe the most common action its players take part in: digging frantically.

Bobby Fischer’s 1972 victory ended Soviet dominance of chess

In Reykjavik, American Bobby Fischer defeated Soviet champion Boris Spassky to claim the world title. The Cold War showdown drew global attention, breaking the USSR’s 24-year grip on the championship.

Relive Bobby Fischer’s Cold War victory with 'Drunk History'

Comedy Central’s "Drunk History" retells Bobby Fischer’s 1972 win over Boris Spassky with irreverent humor. The sketch hilariously highlights how a chess match became a Cold War spectacle, turning Fischer into an unlikely American celebrity.

Mark Twain invented an unsuccessful board game

“Memory Builder” was based on pinning historical events in their correct chronological order. It was test-marketed in 1891, but never took off. One critic said, “The game looked like a cross between an income tax form and a table of logarithms.”

IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue beat chess superstar Garry Kasparov in 1997, marking a pivotal moment in the development of artificial intelligence.

A 1930s card game birthed modern fantasy sports

"National Pastime" used the statistics of real Major League Baseball players to determine a winner, creating the template for the modern fantasy sports model.

Fantasy sports' roots go back to an 1860s parlor game that simulated real-world baseball.

The transatlantic cable allowed for communications between North America and Europe

It had significant impacts on just about every industry, including finance. Specifically, the transatlantic cable made it so that real-time financial transactions could take place across the Atlantic, and allowed for much faster sharing of information that increased global market accuracy.

A 13-year-old Magnus Carlsen challenged Garry Kasparov in 2004

In 2004, prodigy Magnus Carlsen faced reigning world number one Garry Kasparov in a rapid game at age 13. Carlsen held a strong position and nearly defeated Kasparov, signaling the rise of a future world champion.

Twain claimed to possess 'mental telegraphy'

In an 1891 essay, the writer claimed to possess psychic powers. It’s something that seemingly supported by his mother and his own death: Twain predicted he would die the day after Halley’s Comet returned in 1910, which did indeed happen.

As technology evolved, so did Wall Street

Before the telephone was invented in the mid 1800s, people had to trade stocks in person. But once office telephones and computers became commonplace, banks and other financial institutions didn't necessarily need to have their headquarters near exchanges like Wall Street's New York Stock Exchange.

Why millions of telegrams are still sent every year

Telegrams enabled much faster communication across distances when they were invented in the 1800s, but they became generally obsolete after emails and cell phones were widely adopted. So why are 17 million still sent every year? A combination of factors: the legal requirement to send paper documents far and fast, the resistance to updating processes, and nostalgia. Explore more with this video.

A Guardian writer turned midlife chess slump into an obsession

Journalist Stephen Moss embarked on a chess self-improvement journey described in "The Guardian." Not a how-to, but a reflection on loss, drive, and whether mastering chess can mean mastering oneself.

'Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.'

- Alexander Graham Bell's first words transmitted via telephone (March 10, 1876)

In 1898, Nikola Tesla wowed a crowd by controlling a boat with no visible connection

Some onlookers thought it was a trick, such a a monkey being inside the boat, rather than mind control or some other metaphysical phenomenon. In reality, Tesla was pioneering radio waves, proving wireless control was possible.

Clue, the murder-mystery board game, was designed during World War II air raids.

The Royal Game of Ur, which dates back as far as 2600 BCE, is believed to be one of the oldest board games in the world.

Table tennis originated as a leisure activity for the upper class

The sport's origin story can be traced back to 19th-century England, where it was known as "whiff-whaff." Players initially used a dinner table to play. After decades of evolution, ping-pong reached its "Golden Age" of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.

Magic: the Gathering was inspired by baseball cards

Richard Garfield originally pitched a game publisher on a more complex game about programming robots, but he was told that they were looking for something less expensive and more portable. Inspired by the way baseball cards were collected and traded, he came up with the idea for Magic: the Gathering, which gave players packets of random cards, effectively pieces of the whole game, rather than the entire deck.

Billie Jean King's victory at the 'Battle of the Sexes' drew over 90 million viewers

After Bobby Riggs trounced No. 2-ranked Margaret Court in the first Battle of the Sexes, he challenged superstar Billie Jean King to a match. King beat Bobby Riggs in a match at the Astrodome, which drew 90 million viewers worldwide, leading to the WTA's first TV deal in 1975. Using historic photos, this Sports Illustrated story dives into the spectacle surrounding the event, why King agreed this time, and the impact the match had on King, as well as the future of women's tennis as a whole.

A look at historical ciphers, from the Spartan 'scytale' to the Navajo Code Talkers

From the Greek word for "hidden writing," cryptography in Ancient Greece took the form of batons around which a long strip of leather or parchment was wrapped, after which messages were written. Recipients needed a scytale of the correct width to encircle received ribbons and reveal the message. Members of the Navajo Nation created a code that remained unbroken throughout its use in World War II.

Play a game of 1440's Tetris.

The New Year's ball was based on a navigational tool

Robert Wauchope, a member of the Royal Navy, developed the contraption in 1818 so crews could know the time while out at sea. The ball would descend at the same time every day, allowing ships to set their clocks accordingly.

Monopoly was based on the satirical Landlord's Game, which criticized the abilities Monopoly rewarded.

GZA of Wu-Tang Clan says chess taught him strategy in life and music

In a VICE interview, rapper GZA revealed how speed chess sharpened his mind on tour and shaped his creative strategy. Chess, for him, is more than a game—it’s his framework for life.

The QWERTY layout first appeared in the Sholes and Glidden typewriter, sold starting in 1874 by the E. Remington and Sons gun manufacturer, which was looking to diversify after the Civil War.

The Hans Niemann scandal rocked chess in 2023

In 2022, GM Hans Niemann was accused by Magnus Carlsen of cheating—a controversy that led to an internal Chess.com report alleging Niemann "likely cheated" more than 100 times in online games.

Railroads and long-distance communication led to the development of time zones, with Greenwich established as the prime meridian—the longitude of 0 degrees—due to British advancements in star mapping and navigation.

The first MLB All-Star Game was designed by a sports journalist who believed the spectacle would boost baseball's reputation during the Great Depression.

Magnus Carlsen became world champion at just 22 years old

Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen won the World Chess Championship in 2013 at age 22, one of the youngest champions in history. He went on to dominate for a decade, peaking at an Elo rating (a modern measure of chess ability) of 2882—the highest ever recorded.

A joke about mercury in an elevator led to the invention of emoticons

A false message about mercury contamination was posted in response to a physics problem on Carnegie Mellon's discussion board in 1982, which some users took seriously. The need to indicate which messages were jokes led to the creation of facial expressions using special characters.