Editing Chessboard

{{short description|Any board used in the game chess}}
[[File:Modern Fianchetto Setup. Chess game Staunton No. 6.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|A wooden chessboard with [[Staunton chess set|Staunton pieces]].]]
A '''chessboard''' is a [[game board]] used to play [[chess]]. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the [[chess piece]]s are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the board is oriented such that each player's near-right corner square is a light square.

The columns of a chessboard are known as ''{{chessgloss|file|files}}'', the rows are known as ''{{chessgloss|rank|ranks}}'', and the lines of adjoining same-coloured squares (each running from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge) are known as ''{{chessgloss|diagonal|diagonals}}''. Each square of the board is named using [[Algebraic notation (chess)|algebraic]], [[Descriptive notation|descriptive]], or [[ICCF numeric notation|numeric]] [[chess notation]]; algebraic notation is the FIDE standard. In algebraic notation, using White's perspective, files are labeled ''a'' through ''h'' from left to right, and ranks are labeled ''1'' through ''8'' from bottom to top; each square is identified by the file and rank which it occupies. The a- through d-files constitute the {{chessgloss|queenside}}, and the e- through h-files constitute the {{chessgloss|kingside}}; the 1st through 4th ranks constitute White's side, and the 5th through 8th ranks constitute Black's side.

== History and evolution ==
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| Ashtāpada board on which chaturanga was played.
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The earliest known ancestor of the chessboard is the [[Ashtapada|Ashtāpada]] board. Among other games, it was used to play [[chaturanga]], a historical precursor to chess, beginning around the 6th century in [[India]]. The board uses a single color for all squares and is divided into eight columns by eight rows, with marked squares called ''castles'' in the corners of each quadrant. Unlike in Ashtāpada, castles serve no function in chaturanga.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IyFHvy-SCIYC&q=ashtapada&pg=PA46|title=Sports and Games of Medieval Cultures|last=Wilkins|first=Sally E. D.|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2002|isbn=9780313317118|pages=46–48}}</ref>

The chessboard acquired its modern chequered pattern in the 10th century with the arrival of chess in Europe.<ref>Yalom 2004, p. 17.</ref> This pattern was based on that of the then-5×5 [[draughts]] board.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.checkershistory.com/|title=The Checkered History of Checkers|access-date=July 5, 2018}}</ref> As a result of this change, each diagonal was now highlighted by a continuous sequence of same-coloured squares, which later facilitated the introduction of the modern [[Bishop (chess)|bishop]] and [[Queen (chess)|queen]] movements in the 15th century.<ref>Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 48.</ref>

The [[Libro de los juegos]] (1283) contains a description of the chessboard, describing eight rows and columns as the ideal number, deeming the practice of chess on the 10×10 board too tiresome and on the 6×6 board too quick.<ref>Yalom 2004, p. 62.</ref> In the 13th century, some players began using the convention that the first square of the far right column should be light-coloured; this convention was endorsed by [[Pedro Damiano]] at the end of the 15th century.<ref>Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 47.</ref>

In contemporary chess, a ''digital board'' is a chess board connected to a computer that is capable of transmitting the moves to the computer itself: the information about the moves can be used to play a game against a [[chess engine]], or simply to record the moves sequence of a game in automatic.

A digital board uses sensors to detect the pieces position and each piece move can be recorded.

In 1998 the [[33rd Chess Olympiad]] was held in [[Elista]]: the games were digitally broadcast over the internet thanks the introduction of digital chess boards developed by [[Digital Game Technology]]: 328 boards were used for the event.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digitalgametechnology.com/about-us| title=DGT history }}</ref>

In 2003, the [[List of World Chess Championships|ex-world champion]] [[Garry Kasparov]] faced the [[chess engine]] [[X3D Fritz]] in a series of four matches in a [[Virtual reality|virtual environment]], where the computer-generated board hovered in the air in front of Kasparov, who used special glasses. This was the first man–machine game of chess performed in a completely simulated environment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1269891|title=Kasparov versus X3D Fritz}}</ref>

== Manufacture ==
Chessboards have been made from numerous materials over the years, such as [[ebony]], [[ivory]], [[marble]], [[metal]], [[glass]], and [[plastic]]. They can also be found as decorative elements in plazas, gardens, and living rooms.

High-level games generally use wooden boards, while [[Polyvinyl chloride|vinyl]], [[plastic]], and [[cardboard]] are common for less important tournaments and matches, as well as for home use. Additionally, some very large chessboards are built into or drawn on the ground. Rarely, [[decorative glass]] and marble boards are permitted for games conducted by national or international chess federations.

Wooden boards are traditionally made of unstained woods that are light brown and dark brown in colour. To reduce cost, some boards are made with veneers of more expensive woods glued to an inner piece of plywood or chipboard. A variety of colour combinations are used for plastic, vinyl, and silicone boards. Common dark-light combinations are black and white, as well as brown, green or blue with [[buff (colour)|buff]] or [[cream (colour)|cream]].

For international or continental championships, [[FIDE]]'s regulations state that wooden boards should be used. For other FIDE tournaments, [[wood]], [[plastic]], or cardboard boards may be used, and the board should be rigid in all instances. The board may also be made of [[marble]], as long as there is an appropriate contrast between the light and dark squares. The finishing should be neutral or frosted but never shiny. The squares should be from 5 to 6 [[Centimetre|cm]] in length, at least twice the diameter of a [[Pawn (chess)|pawn]]'s base. If the [[Chess table|table]] and the board are two separate pieces, the latter must be fixed so it stays in place.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FIDE Handbook C. General Rules and Technical Recommendations for Tournaments / 02. Standards of Chess Equipment, venue for FIDE Tournaments, rate of play and tie-break regulations |url=https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/C02|access-date=12 July 2020|website=FIDE}}</ref>

==Board notation==
{{Main|Chess notation}}
{{See also|Chess#Setup}}
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| A chessboard diagram with [[Algebraic notation (chess)|algebraic notation]], generally used for printing or computer displays. 
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There are various systems for recording moves and referring to the squares of the chessboard; the standard contemporary system is [[Algebraic notation (chess)|algebraic notation]]. In algebraic notation, the files are identified by the letters ''a'' to ''h'', from left to right from the white player's point of view, and the ranks by the numbers ''1'' to ''8'', with 1 being closest to the white player. Each square on the board is identified by a unique coordinate pairing, from a1 to h8.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Just |first1=Tim |last2=Burg |first2=Daniel B. |title=United States Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess |date=2003|publisher=Random House Puzzles & Games |isbn=0-8129-3559-4 |page=227 |edition=Fifth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTgfWTsAF6IC&q=The+guideline+for+determining+the+proper+square+size+for+a+Staunton+chess+set+is+that+the+king+should+occupy+around+78+percent+of+the&pg=PA227 |access-date=5 December 2014}}</ref>

In the older [[descriptive notation]], the files are labelled by the piece originally occupying its first rank (e.g. queen, {{chessgloss|king's rook}}, {{chessgloss|queen's bishop}}), and ranks by the numbers ''1'' to ''8'' from each player's point of view, depending on the move being described. This method is no longer commonly used. FIDE stopped using descriptive notation in 1981.

[[ICCF numeric notation]] assigns numbers to both files and ranks, with rank 1 being the one closest to the player with the white pieces. The file leftmost to the white player (''a'' in algebraic notation and ''QR'' in descriptive notation) is file one and the rightmost to them (''h'' in algebraic notation and ''KR'' in descriptive notation) is file eight.
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== Variant boards ==
{{See also|Chess variant}}
Variant chessboard shapes and sizes go back to the [[Persian people|Persian]] origins of the game in the 10th century, when the book ''Muraj adh-dhahab'' (Board of the Gods) described six different variants of chess, including [[Circular chess|circular]] and [[cylinder chess]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/oldtexts.htm|title=Earliest books of chess|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121202800/http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/oldtexts.htm|archive-date=January 21, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=October 24, 2010}}</ref> Due to the widespread creation of new variants, a wide variety of sizes can be found. [[Hexagonal chess#Gliński's hexagonal chess|Gliński's hexagonal chess]] utilises a board with 91 hexagonal spaces of three different colours. One innovation of the 13th century was the [[Cylinder|cylindrical]] board for use in cylinder chess.<ref>Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 100.</ref>

The board used for the Persian [[Tamerlane chess]] is one of the first recorded variant chessboards, with eleven columns by ten rows along with two citadels. Each player has a citadel to the right of their second rank, which may be occupied by the opponent's [[King (chess)|king]], in which case that opponent may declare a [[Draw (chess)|draw]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://history.chess.free.fr/tamerlane.htm|title=Tamerlane Chess|last=Cazaux|first=Jean-Louis|access-date=July 5, 2018}}</ref> In 1617, [[Pietro Carrera]] proposed a variant that received his name, Carrera's Chess, with a 10×8 board, later used in other variants such as [[Capablanca chess]] and Gothic Chess. Other sizes, with ten rows by ten columns, are used in [[Omega Chess]] and [[Grand Chess]]; Omega Chess has four additional squares, one in each corner of the board. [[Los Alamos chess]] uses a smaller 6×6 board.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessvariants.com/historic.dir/carrera.html|title=Carrera's Chess|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref>

Japanese [[shogi]] uses a board with nine columns by nine rows. The board of Chinese [[xianqi]] consists of nine columns by ten rows; here, the pieces are placed on the intersections of the lines that divide the squares, rather than within the squares themselves.<ref>Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 369.</ref> Each player has a 3×3 palace in the central three columns and the closest three rows, within which the player's general and advisors must stay. Between the central two rows is a river that the elephant cannot cross and past which the soldier increases in strength.<ref>Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 78.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chess.com/article/view/origins-of-chess|title=Origins of chess|date=11 December 2008 |access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref> A similar board without a river is used in Korean [[janggi]].

[[File:Bughouse game.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Chessboards during a match of [[Bughouse chess|Bughouse]]]]
[[File:Raumschach.JPG|thumb|150px|right|Spatial position of the boards in Raumschach]]
Some chess variants use more than a single board per match. [[Bughouse chess]], for example, involves four players playing two simultaneous matches on separate boards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessvariants.com/multiplayer.dir/tandem.html|title=Bughouse Chess|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref> [[Alice Chess]] is a popular variant which is usually played on two boards to facilitate the movement of pieces between the boards.<ref>Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 11.</ref> [[Three-dimensional chess|Three-dimensional]] boards are often represented by multiple two-dimensional boards. Variants may use anywhere from two to eight boards.<ref name=":1" /> For example, [[Three-dimensional chess#Raumschach|Raumschach]] utilises five boards of twenty-five squares each, totaling 125 squares.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessvariants.com/3d.dir/3d5.html|title=Raumschach|access-date=July 5, 2018}}</ref> Another noteworthy variant, ''Star Trek'' Chess, utilises a board of sixty-four squares divided into seven levels.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessvariants.com/3d.dir/startrek.html|title=3D Chess from Star Trek|access-date=July 5, 2018}}</ref> ''Star Trek'' Chess uses a board with movable parts divided into seven levels. In the initial position, each player occupies two of the movable four-square attack boards. The white pieces start in the lower level, using attack boards connected to this level and the first two rows of the board, while the black pieces start at the top, using the attack boards and first two rows of the third level.<ref name=":2" />
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== Other representations ==
[[File:Šachovnice.jpg|thumb|right|Illustration from the book ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' by [[Lewis Carroll]], where the chessboard is represented by fields and brooks that Alice must traverse]]
The game of chess has been [[Chess in the arts|represented in the arts]] since its creation. Chess sets usually had considerable artistic value; they were made of noble materials, such as ebony and ivory, and in large sizes. Many of the pieces in these sets were offered to churches as relics. The book [[Liber miraculorum sancte Fidis]] tells a story in which a nobleman, after miraculously escaping from prison, is forced to carry a chessboard until a sanctuary as gesture of gratitude. However, more frequently, there are stories in which the chessboard is used as a weapon. The French tale of [[Ogier the Dane]] reports how the son of [[Charlemagne]] brutally kills one of Ogier's sons with a chessboard after losing a match, although there is no evidence confirming the veracity of the story.<ref>Yalom 2004, pp. 84–85.</ref>

In 1250, a sermon called ''Quaedam moralitas de scaccario per Innocentium papum'' (The Innocent Morality) showed the world as being represented by a chessboard. The white and black squares represented the two conditions of life and death or praise and censure; over these, the pieces, representing humanity, would confront each other in the adversities of the game, which symbolised life.

Due to its simple geometry, the chessboard is often used in mathematical puzzles or problems unrelated to chess, such as the [[wheat and chessboard problem]] and the [[mutilated chessboard problem]]. The term ''infinite chessboard'' is sometimes used to refer to a grid.

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="nolines" widths="200px">
File:ChessTable.png | A chessboard is often painted or engraved on a [[chess table]]
File:Empty wooden chessboard.jpg | A folding wooden chessboard
File:Swedish chess set.jpg | A Swedish competition standard chessboard made of [[masonite]]
File:Olimpiada Bled Slovenija deska.jpg | DGT Electronic Chessboard that detects moves and interfaces to [[Game clock|chess clock]] and computers
File:GlassChessSet2.jpg | A decorative chessboard made of glass
File:Rollup chessboard.jpg | A portable green and buff vinyl rollup board
File:Knight-chess.jpg | A portable green and white mousepad style board designed to lie perfectly flat
File:Chess board in park, kiev.JPG | Social play on a vinyl board in a park in [[Kyiv]]
File:Rundskak foto.jpg|A board of [[circular chess]], one of the many variants of traditional chess
File:Cylindrical chessboard 2.jpg|[[Cylinder chess]], another variant of traditional chess
File:Hexagonal chess.svg|[[Hexagonal chess#Gliński's hexagonal chess|Gliński's hexagonal chess]] is a variant with a [[hexagon]]al board
File:Blindenschachbrett.jpg|Chessboard adapted for [[Visual impairment|visually impaired]] people
File:Tablero mundial ajedrez 2018.jpg|Chessboard of the [[World Chess Championship 2018]]
File:Giant chess board on grassed area.jpg|A giant outdoor chessboard, with pieces about three feet (91&nbsp;cm) tall.
File:Chess pieces organised.jpg|[[Poland|Polish]] Węgiel board with pieces.
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Chess}}
*[[Chess equipment]]
* [[Board representation (chess)]]
* [[Checkerboard]]
* [[Chess set]]
* [[Rules of chess]]
* [[White and Black in chess]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Chessboards}}
* [https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/StandardsOfChessEquipment2022 Standards of Chess Equipment], at [[FIDE]] website 
* {{MathWorld | urlname=Chessboard | title=Chessboard}}

{{Chess}}

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[[Category:Chess equipment]]