Chess is one of the oldest board games that exist. Having existed for nearly 1500 years, this majestic game has a history and cultural significance as fascinating as itself. Its modern iteration, that is relished worldwide today, had not started establishing before the late 15th century. It is a highly stylized game and has been modified several times throughout the history of chess. Its earliest origins remain a matter of controversy to this day; however, the most popular idea is that it originated in India, and from there, spread to Persia and subsequently, expanded to Europe. 

Ancient precursors:

Many people believe that chess wouldn’t have come into existence if it weren’t for a despotic Indian king, Shahram, and a wise man’s efforts to convince him of the importance of the residents of his kingdom. Stories have to say that the wise man wanted to somehow bring emphasis upon the significance of the statures of different citizens of the kingdom, and in order to do that, he invented a game called ‘Chaturanga’ which consisted of pieces worth different values and powers; a king, a queen, rooks, bishops, knights and pawns. When compared to what we know as the game of chess today, this game was reasonably different, but it is believed to be the original mold of it. 

This form of chess from the 7th century, chaturanga, means ‘four divisions’ or in precise translation, ‘having four limbs’; a poetic expression for an army. All four portions, infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry, are being represented in the game by what we today know as the pawn, knight, bishop, and rook. 

The game’s name evolved into chatrang around 600 CE in Sassanid Persia, and shortly after the conquest of Persia by the Rashidun Caliphate –due to the absence of ch and ng sounds in the Arabic language – changed to shatranj.

The rules of the game were further amplified during this time. For example, after delivering what we call a ‘check’ in the modern day and attacking an opponent’s king, players would say ‘Shah’ which is Persian for King, and ‘Shah Mat’, after they would successfully trap their rival’s king; Persian for ‘the king is helpless’, generally known as ‘checkmate’ nowadays.

Although the common belief goes to say that chess comes from India, there are those who regard that its roots actually belong to China, as true, and that it was invented around 200 B.C. by a Chinese commander named Hán Xin, who created the game to represent an important battle in Chinese history. 

The game was forgotten soon after the battle and resurged in the 7th century with several new rules and got well-known under the name ‘XiangQi’ which means ‘elephant game’, losing its reference to the ancient combat. This game was also very dissimilar to the game of chess that we’re familiar with today. According to this belief, chess revolutionised into its perpetual version after going to India from China first, and from there, traveling to Persia and other lands. 

Development of rules:

Chess slowly started transitioning into its modern form when relatively weak queen and bishop were given stronger roles in the game, and their new moves started spreading, arguably in Spain or perhaps in Portugal, France or Italy after 1500 AD. 

Castling rules and rules concerning stalemate have been altered several times during the history of chess. Rules regarding draws by repetition and the fifty move rule have also been refined, while some rules such as ‘perpetual check’ have been permanently excluded from the final rules of chess. 

The Romantic era of chess:

The late 18th century, to the 1880s, is considered to be the ‘Romantic era’ of chess, during which a more rapid and tactical playing style was preponderant and preferred over long strategic planning. Openings such as the King’s Gambit and the Giuoco Piano were fairly more popular than Queenside pawn openings during this period. The great, globally renowned Paul Morphy, often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion, is said to be the incarnation of this aggressive playstyle and epoch of chess.

This Romantic era of chess ended and more positional play started becoming popular when Wilhelm Steintz created a fashion for closed games after winning the 1873 Vienna tournament. This led to a new age in chess history known as ‘Modern’ or ‘Classical school’, which lasted until the 1930s. 

The concept of hypermordernism:

‘Hypermodernism’, came next, the main idea of which revolves around controlling the center with minor pieces rather than just taking it up with pawns.

Inviting white to advance their central pawns to eventually attack the overextended center; the Alekhine’s Defense is probably the most hypermodern of all chess openings.

A lot of new openings got established and development schemes were devised in famous openings during this period in the history of chess, such as the Indian Defenses, the Grunfeld, and the Benoni.

The evolution of chess in the 19^th century:

In the 19th century, the right equipment needed for competitive chess was set in place, when chess clocks and standardised chess sets got inaugurated. The convention that white moves first was also established in the same century. The introduction of International competitive chess was marked in 1851, in London, where the first global chess tournament took place.

How the 20^th century changed chess forever:

Chess revolutionised tremendously during the 20th century. Writings on the theory of how to play chess started surfacing in the 15th century; however, the profound chess theory that exists today had not been fully developed until the early/mid 20th century. Computer engines and databases came into use in the late 20th century as well, followed by the introduction of chess websites and online games in the ensuing years, eclipsing the romantic era of chess and taking the game into a more technological and computerised direction. 

In 1997, an IBM supercomputer beat a world chess champion –in the legendary Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov match– for the first time, which firmed the era of computer domination in chess. Since then, computer analysis has become a method of preparation in professional chess and has contributed quite a lot to the development of chess theory. 

If chess is something that interests you, there are many websites that offer a challenge to the experienced and novice chess player alike. Here are few highly recommend sites for you to play chess

play chess at https://www.chess.com/

play chess at https://www.coolmathgames.com/0-chess

play chess at https://www.chess.co.uk/

where you can play free online chess with random players and against the computer. With minimal ads and various time formats to choose from, it’s a great place to start learning or to hone your skills.

See our related chess articles:

 Playing chess can improve our mental health

The best defenses in chess

Even though TikTok is the latest social media platform to gain popularity, it has managed to rival social media giants like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Users report that the short-form videos are very addicting, especially because they do not require a lot of attention. Additionally, creating content for TikTok is relatively simple. Here are a few tips you can use to help get your TikTok content go viral and get TikTok likes in large numbers. 

Look For Existing Trends

A great feature of TikTok is that you can join trends – and they are usually conveniently tagged with an appropriate hashtag. Try to join as many TikTok challenges as possible, so that you can have a lot of trending content. If you think you have the creativity to start your own trends, try doing that as well.

Add Your Unique Touch

Of course, creating copies of other people’s content can only take you so far. If you want people to start watching your videos on TikTok, there must be something unique that you offer. In order words, give users a reason to favor your channel over others, and watch your version of trending content instead of looking elsewhere. Be as creative as you want to be, there are no rules here. Also try to keep most of your content within a certain niche so that people who want to watch your type of videos will find you easier. 

Post Frequently

There are more than a billion TikTok videos being watched everyday. If you stop posting for a week, then TikTokers that are posting daily are surely getting more exposure than you are, and thus will gain more followers. So, try your best to post frequently. However, keep in mind that you should not favor quantity over quality – because low quality content is unlikely to make it very far. Luckily, posting high-quality TikTok videos is relatively easy, especially if you are trying to make a career (influencer marketing) out of it. Many professional TikTokers have a staging area of their home ready for them to post daily videos easily.

Check Out The Competition

As with anything that involves a bit of rivalry, you can benefit a great deal by learning from your competition. Look for TikTokers that you aspire to become and think of what strategies they are using to maintain success. Use your competitors as a source of inspiration, and also try to learn from any mistakes they are making. Finally, try to find gaps in their content. That is, ask yourself what their content is missing so that you can provide it.

Using Other Social Media Platforms Can Boost Your TikTok

You can also use other platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to help your TikTok page grow. The most common way of doing this is to post compilation videos from your TikTok on other social media platforms. A funniest moment collection is a great way to lead users off Facebook and on TikTok. Some people also post tutorials on YouTube showing how they create their TikTok videos, of course adding links to the original videos in the description.

Finding success on TikTok is not as difficult as most people think it is, despite the increasing number of competitors on the platform. Whether you’re trying to grow a TikTok account for fun, marketing purposes, or as a source of extra income – the aforementioned tips will help you go viral in no time. You can achieve success with a little determination, combined with hard work and creativity. The last piece of advice is to be yourself, and have fun with the platform.

In recent years, podcasting has become ever more popular in the western world, and it is even beginning to gain popularity in non-English speaking countries. If you’ve thinking of a way to immerse yourself in any subject you are passionate about, or even if you’re just thinking of a fun way to make money online, you should consider starting a podcast. These are a few reasons why.

Popularizing A Podcast Is Relatively Simple

Because podcasting is relatively new, there are far fewer podcasts than there are blogs or social media videos. This means there is less competition, comparatively at least. You can get a headstart on popularizing your podcast if you use SpotifyStorm to buy Spotify plays. This is because, like any other social media platform, an algorithm is used to decide which podcasts get more exposure on Spotify – and the algorithm favors those podcasts that have more plays. It’s simple mathematics, really. 

Dive Into Your Passion

By far, the most successful podcasts are those that are created by a podcaster that is passionate about the topic of the podcast. Take Aaron Mahnke for example, he is the producer, writer, and narrator of a number of podcasts – all surrounding folklore, the occult, and parts of history that border between scary and unbelievable. Due to his passion about the topic at hand, users have no problem listening to his one-man narration, and he is always able to find more stories to tell. 

If you have a particular passion that you’d love to discuss more, podcasting is an excellent way to  dive into your passion and share it with the world. Even if you’re no expert in the field you are interested in podcasting about, there’s nothing stopping you from trying to host guests who know more about the topic so you can learn from them. With time, you will find that you are more knowledgeable about the topic and your podcast can be elevated to new levels.

Podcasting Can Serve As A Social Media Marketing Tool

Many people who already run a business opt to use podcasting as a method to market their products and services to a new audience. This is not a strictly promotional type of marketing, but rather a marketing strategy that can help establish you as an expert in your field. For example, if you own a woodworking workshop, it would help attract clients if they listen to podcasts and tutorials online that discuss a variety of woodworking topics. In other words, it serves as a way to build your brand image and brand identity – two crucial aspects of marketing. 

Very Few Skills Are Required For A Successful Podcast

Don’t be discouraged if you’re completely new to podcasting – many have been successful despite no forethought or planning for their podcast. Most people will suggest Joe Rogan as an example of a highly successful podcaster that started with no knowledge or skills. However, because he was already an actor, standup comedian, and MMA commentator – he had the necessary people skills. He might have needed to learn how to hold a conversation better, but nothing more. For most people, getting over the silent and awkward moments of a conversation is probably the hardest skill to learn. As long as you can talk with passion and keep the topic interesting to the random listener, you have the potential to create a successful podcast.

The Bottom Line

Podcasting is a great way to expand your horizons and delve deeper into any subject you’re passionate about. With a few conversational skills or well-thought out narration, you can easily find yourself earning money as a podcaster.