Chess

Chess is one of the oldest and most complex strategy games ever invented. Originating in Gupta Empire India around the 6th century CE as "chaturanga," it spread through Persia (as "shatranj") to the Arab world and into medieval Europe, taking its modern form around the 15th century. The game is played on an 8×8 board with 16 pieces per side. The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king. The number of possible chess games is vastly greater than the number of atoms in the observable universe — around 10^120 possible games. This complexity has made chess resistant to computer dominance far longer than other games. Deep Blue defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997 in a historic match. Today's AI (like Stockfish and AlphaZero) plays at levels far beyond any human, yet chess retains its appeal as a deeply human competition. Approximately 600 million people play chess worldwide. The game is taught in schools in over 30 countries as a tool for developing strategic thinking, patience, and mathematical ability.