Arnold Schoenberg invented a variation of chess that mimicked geopolitics.

Arnold Schoenberg's atonal music influenced generations of musicians who followed.

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.

Arnold Schoenberg expanded the confines of music by abandoning traditional chords and embracing dissonance.

Arnold Schoenberg, a pioneer of modern music, and painter Wassily Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstract art, were close friends who inspired one another's work.

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 the paintings of Arnold Schoenberg, the classical composer who also explored expressionist painting.

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

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.

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.

Arnold Schoenberg designed a musical typewriter that transcribed complex compositions with a simple keyboard.

Rewrite 1930s Germany with this alternative history game of politics

You are at the head of the Social Democratic Party in Germany in 1928 and must use parliamentary politics, the media, and more to oppose the ascendant National Socialists. This text-based, narrative simulation becomes a lesson in the complexities of political history.

A coalition government forms when two or more political parties cooperate to govern in a multiparty system.

Arnold Schoenberg's experimentations with dissonance and sound influenced the way films are scored.

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.

'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.

Cold War rivalries fueled fierce competition in international sports

From Olympic medal counts to hockey showdowns, the US and USSR used sports to showcase ideological superiority. Athletic victories were framed as proof that each system—capitalist or communist—produced stronger, more disciplined citizens.

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.

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.

Listen to Arnold Schoenberg's Holocaust tribute, 'A Survivor from Warsaw.'

Wartime conferences exposed cracks in the US–Soviet alliance

At the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, Allied leaders coordinated WWII strategy—but deep disagreements over postwar Europe foreshadowed the Cold War. The USSR’s push for influence in Eastern Europe clashed with US and British calls for self-determination.

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.

Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion, is a critic of authoritarian regimes

World champion from 1985 to 2000, Kasparov was politically outspoken during the Soviet era, clashing with authorities over censorship and restrictions. After retirement, he became a leading Russian dissident and fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, eventually fleeing the country in 2013.

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.

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.

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.

Fed up with difficult audiences, Arnold Schoenberg started a private concert club that prohibited audible reactions.

Chess unfolds in three phases: opening, middlegame, and endgame

Strong play requires adapting across phases: developing pieces and controlling the center in the opening, using tactics and strategy in the middlegame, and applying precise calculation and king activity to convert advantages in the endgame.

John Steinbeck's philosophical ideas, which he often explored in his novels, wrestled with the role of the individual and the power of community.

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

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.

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.

Exploring Oskar Schlemmer's 'Triadic Ballet,' a Bauhaus-inspired performance piece

The "symphonic dance of threeness" brought together Bauhaus' varied artistic interests and offered a fable in which collectivism wins. This history and timeline of the work details its origins as well as its near-destruction at the hands of the Nazis, who considered it profane.

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.

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.

The US and the USSR backed opposing sides in dozens of proxy wars during the Cold War

To avoid direct confrontation, the superpowers supported rival factions in conflicts around the world—including in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, and Afghanistan.

A 1983 NATO war simulation provoked the Soviets to prepare for war

The "SNAFU" podcast, hosted by actor and comedian Ed Helms, explores some of the biggest blunders in history. Season one focuses on the 1983 NATO Able Archer military exercise, a war game that simulated nuclear attacks on the Soviet Union. The USSR mistook the exercise for a genuine threat and prepared its forces for war. Helms recounts this almost catastrophic event in world history with his signature humor.

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.

The board game Risk was created by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter.

Proponents argue that abandoning the rules-based order risks a return to the chaos that led to 2 world wars

Brookings scholar Robert Kagan warns that if China and Russia gain regional dominance, the world could return to the unstable conditions of the late 19th century—the same chaos that led to two devastating world wars.

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

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.

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.

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.

Since World War II, formal declarations of war and peace treaties have become increasingly rare, replaced by cease-fires, authorizations of force, and "special military operations."

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.

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.

The Concert of Europe was an earlier attempt to manage great power relations through shared rules

After the Napoleonic wars, European powers established a system of regular consultation to manage conflicts and maintain the balance of power. It offered relative stability for nearly a century before deteriorating.

A collection of contemporary maps from World War II

Newspapers published detailed maps of the conflict in real-time. See different portrayals of the situation, ranging from propaganda maps to speculative maps about the war's outcome. The fascinating depictions reveal how maps can show us the aspirations and intentions of different players in a global conflict.

The game 'Counter-Strike' was developed in a dorm room

College student Minh Le designed the game through "modding," effectively building on the code of a preexisting game, the game "Half-Life" in his spare time.

In 1914, the Financial Times asked readers to redraw Europe for cash prizes

Two months in World War I, the newspaper invited readers to sketch postwar borders and submit peace terms for cash prizes. The contest captured public attempts to predict a new world order and foreshadowed modern crowdsourced forecasting. It's a wild look at how uncertain Europe's future was at the time.