Chess is one of the best indoor board games. There is no other game that offers such entertainment so easily, and has been doing that in 5 continents across 5 millenia. Aspects of the game of chess have been discovered from the archeological remains of the oldest civilizations, and more than a few claims have been made about its historic origin and discovery. However, it is well known that chess was played thousands of years ago in countries like India and the middle eastern civilizations. It is probable that some sort of a chess game was played even in the South American ancient civilizations.
The most alluring aspect of chess is the fact that it manages to have such unending diversity of moves and options in such a small compass. As the old story goes, a king asked a sage what he wanted as a gift. So the sage said, O King, give me two grains of rice on a single chess square, and in the next, give me two square or four grains, and 16 or four square in the next, and so on until the whole board is exhausted. The King, who was no mathematician, smilingly agreed, thinking he was getting a cheap deal. He was astonished to learn, however, that his entire royal granary did not contain enough grain to fulfill the sage’s humble request. Such, metaphorically speaking, is the awesome diversity and compass of the game of chess.
Chess has always been a two person game. Nowadays, however, one can play chess all by oneself – against a computer. Many good chess programs have been developed that can let you play against a computer, and almost always, the computer can be a pretty tough opponent. No wonder the IBM developed chess computer called the Deep Blue won against the Grandmaster Kasparov in a chess match. So, these days, if you are a chess enthusiast, rev up your laptop and get going.