Introduction
Throughout the history of chess there have been numerous periods of time that fit the description of a golden age of chess which completely transformed the global perspective of chess. The golden age or ages of chess are periods in history where major shifts occurred that caused the popularity of chess to increase significantly, where there was a rise in new developments in chess culture, chess literature and chess opening theory, where new talented chess players surfaced, where new technologies were introduced into chess, and periods of time where any event or series of events took place that revolutionised the landscape of chess. It is important to look back to see how chess has evolved over time as it will enable chess players and chess enthusiasts to gain a better understanding of some of the key events that shaped the landscape of chess and allow chess players and chess enthusiasts to anticipate significant events in the present as well as in the future and their implications. In this article i will explore some of the most notable periods in the history of chess that are considered to be the golden ages of chess where chess experienced a revolution in several areas such as an increase in popularity, cultural and technological advancements, and the emergence of new talent.
Chess In The Medieval and Renaissance Period
The popularity of chess blossomed during the medieval period and the renaissance period in Europe from the 9th century up until the 17th century in countries such as Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, France, Netherlands, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the Hebrides, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, and Bohemia. Chess was also extremely popular and flourishing in other parts of the world during the same time in places such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Chess first appeared in Europe in the 8th century via Spain and Portugal and quickly spread across the whole of Europe, it was mostly played by the nobles, the aristocrats and those among the most educated social groups which is why it is referred to as the game of kings. Medieval chess pieces with designs that suggest that they have a strong Persian and Indian influence have been found in North Yorkshire, England in the Rievaulx Abbey that date back to the 11th century underscoring England’s long history with chess. Germany also has a long history with chess as there is a popular legend from the German village of Strobeck, which is also known as the chess village that dates back to the 11th century which mentions a German military commander being imprisoned who creates a chess board set during his imprisonment and plays chess with his prison guards to pass time. The popularity of chess was also pronounced in medieval Italy, Sicily and in the Eastern Slavic regions such as modern-day Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine by the 10th century.
Islamic trade routes played a central role in the distribution of chess in Europe as well as in other parts of the world during the medieval period and chess was highly regarded across the entire Islamic empire during the Islamic golden age from the 8th to the 14th century. Muslim scholars and rulers were excellent chess players and were the most passionate patrons of chess during the Islamic golden age that advocated for the promotion of chess and financed poets, artists and scholars that produced chess related works. Muslim scholars were also the first to make significant contributions to chess opening theory and chess literature as they preserved many of the surviving texts on chess from ancient Greece, Persia, India, and China and translated them into Arabic for the benefit of the Islamic realm and chess enthusiasts around the world, they analysed and documented numerous chess openings, strategies, and tactics, they developed intricate opening systems, they categorised various pawn structures, and authored numerous chess treatise and manuals. The treatises and manuals that were created by the Muslim scholars provided information about the rules of the game, strategies and tactics, opening principles, middlegame strategies and endgame plans that laid the foundation for the evolution of modern chess opening theory. Chess was played in palaces, royal courts and wherever intellectuals congregated throughout the Islamic empire, in Europe and in Asia.
When chess was introduced into Europe in the 8th century the rules of the game were much different than it is today as it was played according to the rules of Shatranj, the Persian version of chess. By the 15th century the rules of chess were completely transformed as new rules emerged, old chess pieces were removed, and new chess pieces were introduced. These changes include the permittance of the pawns moving two squares on their first move instead of only once which was standard in Shatranj, the elephant that could only move two squares diagonally was replaced by the bishop which could move to any diagonal square in its sight and the introduction of the queen that replaced the visor/counsellor and which became the most powerful chess piece. The establishment of the new rules of chess made the game faster paced and much more exciting which greatly increased the popularity of chess. The timing of the changing of the rules of chess coincides with the arrival of the first ever international chess tournament which took place in 1575 in Spain at the royal court of King Phillip II of Spain. The participants included Leonardo Da Cutri and Paolo Boi of Italy and Ruy Lopez and Alfonso Ceron of Spain. From the 16th to the 17th century the number of chess literature and treatises exploded as numerous chess players and chess enthusiasts began publishing some of the first writings on chess. These writing include The Gottingen Manuscript, Scacchia Ludus “The Game of Chess” by Marco Girolama Vida in 1510, Questo Libro E Da Imparare Giocare A Scachi Et De Li Partiti by Pedro Damiano in 1512, Libro De La Invencion Liberal Y Arte Del Juego Del Axedrez by Ruy Lopez in 1561, 18 manuscripts written by Gioachino Greco from 1620 to 1625, II Puttino by Alessandro Salvio in 1634, and Traite De Lausanne by David Gentil in 1675.
The Romantic Era of Chess In The 19th Century
The 19th century was one of the most exciting periods in the history of chess that was characterised by extravagant, stylish, and aggressive styles of play as well as a period that’s marked by the emergence of some of the most influential chess players. The 19th century is also referred to as the Romantic era which is known for being an era of massive social, economic, and political change that more than likely had an impact energetically on the mindset of chess players and as a result on the way chess was played. Numerous advancements were made in chess during the Romantic era which includes the professionalisation of chess and the development and expansion of chess opening theory. Chess tournaments became much more organised in the 19th century and the first official chess tournaments were held during this period. The first structured chess tournament took place in Leeds in 1841, the first knockout chess tournament took place in London in 1849, and the first international chess tournaments took place in August 1851 in Amsterdam and June 1851 in London. As the 19th century also coincides with the timing of the industrial revolution there were also numerous technological advancements that impacted how chess was played such as the advent of chess clocks and the Staunton chess board set.
The Staunton chess board set was designed by Nathaniel Cooke and is named after Howard Staunton who approved of it due to the intuitive design and possibly because it was named after him. Howard Staunton was an English chess player who was one of the strongest chess players in the world from 1843 to 1851. The first chess clocks were introduced in the 1850’s and took the form of sand timers with a time limit of one hour. Three single hour-long sand timers were used in some of the first chess tournaments in the 19th century which significantly improved the efficiency of chess tournaments as without them chess games tended to last for countless hours. Although the introduction of sand timers into official chess matches improved the speed and efficiency of the games, there were also several drawbacks associated with their use as moisture can cause the sand to become stuck, placing the sand timer on an uneven surface can disrupt the flow of sand, it is impossible to manually adjust the time allocated to each game with sand timers and sand timers can easily be damaged during games. Over the course of three decades sand timers were replaced with the tumbling clock, commonly referred to as the analogue chess clock, which was introduced in the 1880’s and which further improved the speed and efficiency of chess games. The tumbling chess clock was much more reflective of industrial era technology as it utilised two pendulum clocks which sat on opposite sides of a beam with a pivot in the middle, similar to a seesaw, pressing one side of the clock would start one of the clock’s timers and stop the other. The tumbling chess clock was invented in 1883 by chess players Thomas Bright Wilson and Joseph Henry Blackburne, patented in 1884 and was first used in the 1883 London chess tournament.
Most of the chess openings today are named after chess players from the 19th century such as the Evans gambit, the Morphy defence, the Staunton gambit, the Steinitz variation, the Zukertort opening, the Schliemann defence, the Jaenisch gambit, the Marshall attack, the Chigorin defence, the Tarrasch defence, the Pillsbury attack, the Anderssen opening, the Blackburne Shilling gambit, the Bird opening, the Goring attack, the Max Lange attack, Petrov’s defence, the Paulsen variation and the Falkbeer variation. The number of chess openings that were introduced into chess during the 19th century underscores the level of development chess opening theory experienced during the Romantic era of chess and the level of competition within the chess tournaments of the period. The first world chess champion was William Steinitz who was awarded with the title in 1886 which marked the beginning of the tradition of recognising world class talent in chess, a tradition that still lives on to this day. Two of the most notable games in the history of chess took place in the 19th century, The Immortal Game in 1851 and The Evergreen Game in 1852 which featured some of the best chess players in the world at the time such as Adolf Anderssen, Lionel Kieseritzky, and Jean Dufresne. The Romantic era of chess is littered with examples of exemplary talent, technological breakthroughs and refinement which laid the foundation for modern chess to develop and flourish.
The Modern Era of Chess In The 20th Century
The modern era of chess was a period of even greater refinement than the Romantic era which is mostly remembered for the remarkable level of chess play, the emergence of some of the most influential chess players and the global recognition and professionalisation of chess. The popularity of chess continued to rise throughout the 20th century using the momentum gained from previous centuries and it is an era that witnessed the longest ever reigning world chess champion, Emmanuel Lasker, who defeated the previous world chess champion William Steinitz at the end of the 19th century and held the title for 27 years. Whilst the 20th century was a significant period for chess it was also a period that was littered with wars which had a detrimental effect on the global chess community as many chess players lost their lives and the progression of chess was restricted to a certain degree. World War 1 and World War 2 claimed the lives of many prominent chess players, limited the ability for chess players, chess enthusiasts and chess organisers to travel, and caused many major events to be cancelled. During both World War 1 and World War 2 chess played a key role in boosting the morale of soldiers, entertaining prisoners of war, soldiers and individuals that were injured in battle and was used by many world powers such as Germany and the Soviet Union as a propaganda tool to demonstrate the intellectual prowess of their respective nations. Many of the most prominent chess players of the 20th century were both directly and indirectly impacted by World War 1 and World War 2, as many served as soldiers and code breakers in the war effort for their countries or lost friends and family members to the wars. Chess players of Jewish descent were especially impacted by the occurence of World War 2.
Chess was one of the most popular forms of entertainment during the 20th century which was enjoyed by both sides of each of the wars although it was also seen as a threat by many world powers as it was capable of being used to send and receive coded messages. The popularity of chess continued to increase throughout the 20th century despite some of the restrictions placed on the game and the inability to organise chess events without risking the safety of chess players, in fact the wars may have even further boosted the popularity of chess. The formation of FIDE in 1924 was one of the most important events for chess in the 20th century that had a massive impact on the way chess was perceived around the world and which brought chess one step closer to being recognised by other sports organisations such as the (ISF) International Sports Federation and the (IOC) International Olympics Committee. The formation of FIDE enabled chess players to view chess as a viable sport that had the potential to evolve into a career by creating a standard set of rules and regulations, introducing a title and rating system, organising international chess tournaments, providing sponsorship opportunities and by providing financial support for chess players which increased the global popularity of chess and enabled chess players to earn significant financial rewards. FIDE has also been one of the main promoters of chess since its inception that has consistently contributed to programs that provide chess education such as chess clubs and schools and by establishing training centres which enabled experienced chess players to create employment opportunities by becoming chess coaches and trainers. Chess players and enthusiasts have been advocating for the inclusion of chess in the Olympics games since the formation of FIDE and which would not be possible without FIDE as one of the requirements for inclusion in the Olympics is the presence and governance of an international sports federation which FIDE provides. The Elo rating system was introduced into chess in the 1960’s which was also one of the most important developments in chess which allowed chess players to better understand their current playing strength.
The 20th century was a period of profound advancements in chess and is characterised by the emergence of some of the most influential chess players in the history of chess. Before the formation of FIDE in 1924 the first chess players to earn grandmaster titles in chess were Emmanuel Lasker, Jose Raul Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Frank Marshall who were awarded their titles in 1914 at St Petersburg by the Russian Tsar Emperor Nicolas II. Much like the 19th century, many of the most popular chess openings are named after chess players from the 20th century such as the Alekhine’s defence, the Benko gambit, the Botvinnik variation, the Capablanca variation, the Caro-Kann defence, the Fischer defence, the Geller gambit, the Grunfeld defence, the Karpov variation, the Keres defence, the Korchnoi variation, the Nimzo-Indian defence, the Pirc defence, the Reti opening, the Rubinstein variation, the Smyslov variation, the Taimanov variation, the Tarrasch defence, the Tartakower defence, and the Zaitsev variation. The chess games of the most notable chess players from the 20th century such as Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Tigran Petrosian, Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal, Emmanuel Lasker, Mikhail Botvinnik, Anatoly Karpov, Jose Raul Capablanca, Viswanathan Anand, Boris Spassky, Siegbert Tarrasch, Frank Marshall, Paul Keres and Vasily Smyslov are still studied to this day by students of chess in order to gain an understanding of the mindset of the legends of chess and to gain a deeper understanding of chess. The 20th century is also marked by the rise of technology and Supercomputers like Deep Blue that were capable of competing with world class chess players. Deep Blue managed to defeat the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997 which sparked the era of the computer’s domination of chess and the playing strength of computers have continued to grow ever since and have shown little signs of slowing down.
The Contemporary Era of Chess From The 20th to the 21st Century
Our current era of chess is one of the most competitive eras in the history of chess mainly due to the internet which increased the accessibility to chess and chess education and allowed chess players of all levels all around the world to compete against each other. As time progresses the average playing strength of the most skilled chess players typically increases according to a phenomenon called ratings deflation which lowers the rating ceiling for all chess players however the increased competition still makes it challenging to attain a high Elo rating in chess. Before the 1990’s achieving an Elo rating of 2700 was much harder than it is today and only one chess player, Anatoly Karpov, was able to achieve such a high Elo rating. Today the top ten chess players in terms of FIDE ratings all have Elo ratings that surpass the 2800 level which shows just how much the ratings ceiling has decreased. The 21st century has also seen a massive increase in the number of young chess grandmasters under the age of 18 which is a trend that is certain to continue, one of the most recent examples of this trend can be seen in the case of the Ukranian chess prodigy Ihor Samunenkov who achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 14 which makes him one of the youngest chess grandmasters in the history of chess. The popularity of chess has skyrocketed in the 21st century due to the rise of technology and as a result the release of popular movies such as the famous 2020 Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit which caused a spike in online registrations on online chess gaming sites such as Chess.com as well as a surge in sales of chess related products and services. Chess is more popular today than it has been at any previous time in history due to four main factors which includes the rise of technology, the internet, social media, and the emergence of some of the most influential chess players of our current era.
The chess players of the 21st century have been consistently breaking records that were previously held by the chess players of previous centuries such as breaching the 2800 Elo rating level and decreasing the amount of time that is expected for the best chess players to earn the grandmaster title which is currently 12 years and 4 months, a feat that was achieved by the young American chess player Abhimanyu Mishra in 2021. The very start of the 21st century came with a new World Chess Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, who defeated the previous World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov in 2000, Garry Kasparov had one of the longest reigns in chess of 15 years. Artificial intelligence and Supercomputers have played a significant role in boosting the competitiveness of chess in the 21st century as they have continuously improved and are now considered to be unbeatable. The first Supercomputer to beat a chess grandmaster was Deep Blue in 1997 whilst playing against the World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov who was one of strongest chess players in the world at the time. The introduction of AI chess bots such as Stockfish, AlphaZero, Leela Chess Zero, Komodo, Rybka, and Houdini have transformed the landscape of chess by enabling chess players to gain deeper insights into chess openings, how to navigate in complex positions and by making significant contributions to chess opening theory. Chess players such as Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Ding Liren, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier Lagrave, Wesley So, Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, Garry Kasparov, Alexander Grischuk, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Sergey Karjakin are among some of the most influential chess players of the 21st century who have attained some of the highest Elo ratings and achieved some of the greatest accomplishments in the history of chess.
The current World Chess Champion is Ding Liren, who was awarded with the championship title in 2023 after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi. Magnus Carlsen was the former World Chess Champion who refused to defend his title against Ian Nepomniachtchi at the 2023 World Chess Championships and there are many who believe that Magnus Carlsen is still the strongest chess player in the world as he has the highest Elo rating of 2830 and has achieved the highest peak rating ever of 2882. Magnus Carlsen has little to gain in terms of Elo ratings from playing against most chess players today and much more to lose due to how Elo ratings are calculated. Chess players Elo ratings are determined by calculating their expected score and their actual score after a chess game and their ratings are increased if they win the game and decreased if they lose the game in proportion to their likelihood of winning and the rating of their opponents. Since Magnus Carlsen currently has the highest Elo rating in chess, he is expected to win more chess games than he is expected to lose. As all of Magnus Carlsen’s opponents are lower rated than he is, losing or drawing chess games can cause his Elo rating to drop significantly whilst winning chess games will only cause his Elo rating to increase slightly. Magnus Carlsen is currently in a position where he stands to gain much more in terms of Elo ratings by competing against high rated Supercomputers and AI chess bots than human chess players which is a position that very few chess players have ever experienced. Information about the most current events in chess such as the current World Chess Champion, the predicament Magnus Carlsen is currently facing and chess media in general are all accessible through numerous social media platforms and streaming platforms such as YouTube and Twitch which has had a major impact on the overall popularity of chess in the 21st century.
Chess streamers such as GothamChess, Benjamin Finegold, Anna Cramling, the Botez Twins, Eric Rosen, NM Robert Ramirez, Hanging Pawns, Magnus Carlsen, and Hikaru Nakamura are some of the main distributors of chess news and entertainment and have played a significant role in increasing the popularity of chess in the 21st century. As many of the most popular chess streamers are also high-profile chess players with captivating personalities such as Hikaru Nakamura, GothamChess, Magnus Carlsen and Benjamin Finegold they have been able to rekindle many chess players passion for chess as well as introduce many more non chess players into playing chess for the first time. Online chess gaming sites such as Chess.com and Lichess.org have experienced a surge in new users which coincides with the rise of chess streaming over the last few years. Currently there are hundreds of millions of people around the world that are active chess players, although it’s difficult to determine how many people were active chess players before the 21st century as there is a lack of statistical data on the subject. Many of the top chess streamers have gained hundreds of thousands to millions of views, subscribers and followers on their channels which is an accurate indication of the current popularity of chess. Chess content is being consumed in all forms of media as many of the top chess streamers have also authored books which includes Hikaru Nakamura’s book “Bullet Chess One Minute To Mate” and GothamChess’ book “How To Win At Chess”.
Conclusion
There have been several golden ages of chess starting from chess’ first introduction to Europe in the Middle Ages up until the 21st century where the popularity of chess skyrocketed due to technological advancements in the way chess is played and the methods employed to reach larger audiences. Chess has continued to evolve throughout the ages and is still one of the most popular boardgames in the world to this day. Chess is commonly referred to as the game of kings because of it’s close association with the noble classes in the past which is one of the main reasons for it’s popularity in the past as many people aspired to be like the people who played chess the most. During the 20th century there were significant constraints on the development of the chess industry and people’s ability to play chess due to World War 1 and World War 2 however chess continued to grow in popularity despite the constraints that were placed on it as it was one of the most prominent forms of entertainment at the time that was utilised by both sides of each war. Chess has always attracted the most influential people in society and many people who have high aspirations in life often gravitate towards chess. The golden age of chess is now, and chess has been in a golden age since the 19th century.
