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History of Chess Video Games

The game of chess finds its roots all the way back in 7th century. Being a fantastic mind game of strategy and logic, it is one of the most popular board games and sports of today. With all this popularity it could not avoid entering the video game era as a part of it.

The attempts to create a chess-playing computer date back to 1950, when one of the first papers on the problem of the computer chess was published. But leaving the supercomputers out, battling with world champions, how did this challenging sport reach the video game world?

Well, the first chess-playing computer program, mentioned as a game, was developed in 1983 for the ZX Spectrum platform. It implemented most chess rules, but didn't have the multiplayer option. However, the first video game version of chess was the one titled Battle Chess, released in 1988 for many different platforms. It gained popularity and spawned several follow-ups and inspired games. In fact, a remake, called Battle Chess: Game of Kings is currently being developed. Battle Chess featured multiplayer mode, had advanced graphics and animations, as well as a symphonic musical score.

The definition of a chess video game is complicated in its matter. Where does the computer program turn into a game if it is the game itself all along? Few facts are clear, though: chess is currently being widely played on all computer engines and platforms and it doesn't seem to lose its popularity by a bit. Most of them use a chess engine, some feature specific animations, graphics, sound effects and even storylines, to make it feel more like a video game. But even without all that, chess remains with us on all levels, from competition to relaxation.

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