Chess Quiz
Chess Quiz: Test your Chess Knowledge from these 100 questions. (answers at bottom)
1. Who was India’s first chess master in the second half of the 20th century?
2. What chess professional was once a professional footballer (soccer player)?
3. Who won the first Chess Oscar?
4. What world champion was born on Halloween (October 31)?
5. What famous essay appeared in the first chess-related book that was published in Russia?
6. How many American Chess Congress tournaments were there before the current U.S. Chess Championship?
7. Who is the only world chess champion who has won the world championship in all different formats (Match, Tournament, and Knockout)?
8. What tournament can be regarded as the first strong tournament? It was also the first chess tournament that used clocks and only top international players were invited.
9. What was the first computer built for the sole purpose of playing chess?
10. Who was the first American player to break Bobby Fischer’s record by becoming the youngest-ever U.S. chess master?
11. Who was the first world-class chess player to develop within the Soviet Union?
12. Who invented Caissa, the fictional goddess of chess?
13. What two chess rivals died in the same hospital a year apart?
14. Who is the reigning World Champion in rapid chess? In blitz chess? (Nov, 2014)
15. ‘The Game and Playe of the Chesse’ is a book by William Caxton, the first English printer and the second book published in England. This book is based on a book by what author?
16. What is the motto of FIDE, the world chess federation?
17. Who patented a modified chess timing system which added a time increment after each move? This type of digital chess clock is no standard practice in top tournament and match play.
18. The Fredkin Prize was a $100,000 prize created in 1980 for the first computer to beat a reigning world chess champion. Who won it?
19. Who was the first woman to receive the Grandmaster title?
20. What woman became the second female player, after Judit Polgar, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark?
21. What grandmaster gave up chess for 8 years to graduate from college, attend medical school, then attended and graduated from law school?
22. What grandmaster has a PhD, a private chess library of over 9,000 chess books, and has an asteroid named after him?
23. What grandmaster holds the record for consecutive professional tournament victories (15)?
24. Who has the nickname “The Eternal Second” and “The Crown Prince of Chess?”
25. George Koltanowski has the record number of simultaneous blindfold games? How many games did he play?
26. Who is the strongest player to have never become World Chess Champion?
27. What grandmaster was born Sokolov, but took his stepfather’s surname when his mother remarried?
28. Who was the first Western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union’s dominance in chess?
29. What chess player was also known for his contributions to commutative algebra, which included proving the primary decomposition of the ideals of polynomial rings?
30. The White Collection at the Cleveland Public library is the largest public collection in the world. What is the second largest public chess collection in the world?
31. What is the oldest chess club in the United States?
32. Who currently holds the record for the youngest ever United States International Master at the age of 12 years and 10 months?
33. What grandmaster’s handle is “Capilanobridge” and “Star Wars” on the Internet?
34. What chess master escaped being drafted in the military by feigning madness, insisting that a fly was on his head?
35. What year was the first official chess Olympiad and where was it held?
36. Who is recognized as the hardest chess player to beat in the history of chess?
37. What was Judit Polgar’s peak world ranking in chess?
38. Who was the first person inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame primarily for his chess writing?
39. What chess master gave up chess for 7 years to complete his secondary education and graduate from a university?
40. The Frank P. Samford, Jr. Chess Fellowship is the richest and most important chess fellowship in the United States. Who is the 2014 Samford Fellow?
41. Who is the first English player to play a World Chess Championship match?
42. What grandmaster has won the most Chess Olympiad medals?
43. Who is the youngest player to break the 2600 Elo rating barrier?
44. Who is the oldest living world champion?
45. What chess master was unbeaten in over 25 years of match play?
46. Who has the longest unbeaten streak in competitive chess history? Who has the second longest unbeaten streak?
47. Who won the first World Senior Chess Championship, held in 1991?
48. Who won the first Ladies World Correspondence championship?
49. Who is credited with the design of the Staunton chess set?
50. What was the first comprehensive manual of chess theory?
51. How many years did Frank Marshall hold the U.S. chess championship title?
52. In 2006, a unification chess match was held between the FIDE world title and the Classical World Title. How many years was there a disputed world champion?
53. How many 12th century Lewis chess pieces were discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland?
54. What year was the United States Chess Federation founded?
55. What age was Hou Yifan when she became the youngest player ever to participate in a world championship tournament?
56. Who devised the USCF numerical ratings system?
57. What country has the most grandmasters per capita?
58. In 1913, how many estimated total chess books were there?
59. How many world championship matches was Lothar Schmid the chief arbiter?
60. When and where was the first major chess tournament for computers held?
61. What organization used the first modern chess rating system?
62. What year was the first chess tournament?
63. What university organized the first chess club?
64. Who created the first pocket chess set?
65. What is the world record for number of simultaneous boards played at once?
66. How many people worldwide play chess?
67. When was the first chess-playing computer program?
68. Who was the first great chess player to visit China and play chess?
69. Who won the first United States chess championship by acclamation?
70. Who is considered the first Russian chess champion?
71. What was the strongest chess tournament ever held?
72. How many member federations are in FIDE?
73. What grandmaster is a three-time world champion in chess problem solving?
74. Who became the first United Kingdom-born, ‘over-the-board’ chess grandmaster?
75. Who is the oldest living grandmaster?
76. Of the four top college teams in the nation, who many are in Texas?
77. What is the biggest chess tournament in the world, with over 5,000 participants?
78. What year did Frank Marshall found the Marshall Chess Club?
79. What is the world’s oldest chess magazine, having been published continuously since 1881?
80. What is the strongest chess engine?
81. What year did Kirsan Ilyumzhinov become president of FIDE?
82. Who is the only World Junior Champion to win with a perfect score?
83. Who is currently ranked number two in the world?
84. What grandmaster can speak Russian, English, Ditch, Japanese, and Nepalese?
85. Who holds the record of youngest grandmaster, at the age of 12 years and 7 months?
86. Who is Israel’s top ranking chess player?
87. Who has won the Russian championship more than any other player?
88. Who is described as the most eccentric player in the chess world?
89. What grandmaster became the father of twins at the age of 78?
90. What chess master spent the last 29 years of his life suffering from severe mental illness?
91. What future grandmaster won his first national championship at the age of 13?
92. Who won the 2014 U.S. Open, held in Orlando, Florida?
93. Who was the first American woman to be inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame?
94. What woman was the first to have two reigns as world chess champion?
95. Who was the first Chinese player to gain the Grandmaster title?
96. When and where was the first Computer Chess Olympiad?
97. Who was the first grandmaster to lose to a computer?
98. What chess computer became the first to be rated Grandmaster strength?
99. When was the first time that chess was played in space?
100. Who was the first junior high school player to win the National High School Championship?
Answers
1. Manuel Aaron - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Aaron
2. Simen Agdestein - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simen_Agdestein
3. Bent Larsen - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simen_Agdestein
4. Alexander Alekhine - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Alekhine
5. ‘The Morals of Chess’ by Benjamin Franklin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morals_of_Chess
6. 9 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chess_Congress
7. Viswanathan Anand - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viswanathan_Anand
8. Baden-Baden 1870 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden-Baden_1870_chess_tournament
9. Belle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_%28chess_machine%29
10. Joel Benjamin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Benjamin
11. Mikhail Botvinnik - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Botvinnik
12. Hieronymus Vida - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%C3%AFssa
13. Emanuel Lasker and Jose Capablanca - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ra%C3%BAl_Capablanca
14. Magnus Carlsen - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen
15. Jacobus de Cessolis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_and_Playe_of_the_Chesse
16. Gens una sumus, meaning “We are one people.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIDE
17. Bobby Fischer - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer
18. Deep Blue in 1997 - http://www.chess.com/chessopedia/view/fredkin-prize
19. Nona Gaprindashvili in 1978 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmaster_%28chess%29
20. Humoy Koneru - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpy_Koneru
21. Gata Kamsky - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gata_Kamsky
22. Anatoly Karpov - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Karpov
23. Garry Kasparov - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov
24. Paul Keres - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Keres
25. 56 in 1960 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Koltanowski
26. Viktor Korchnoi - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Korchnoi
27. Vladimir Kramnik - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Kramnik
28. Bent Larsen - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bent_Larsen
29. Emanuel Lasker - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Lasker
30. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands - http://www.kb.nl/en/special-collections/leisure-timesports-and-games/chess-and-draughts-collection
31. Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club in San Francisco, founded in 1854 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Chess_Club
32. Samuel Sevian - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sevian
33. Hikaru Nakamra - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_Nakamura
34. Aron Nimzowitch - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Nimzowitsch
35. 1927, held in London - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_Olympiad
36. Tigran Petrosian - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigran_Petrosian
37. #8 in the world in 2005, rated 2735 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r
38. Fred Reinfeld - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Reinfeld
39. Samuel Reshevsky - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Reshevsky
40. Daniel Naroditsky - http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12579/757
41. Nigel Short - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Short
42. Vasily Smyslov; he has won 17 medals - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Smyslov
43. Wesley So - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_So
44. Boris Spassky - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Spassky
45. Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Steinitz
46. Mikhail Tal for both, 95 games and 86 games - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tal
47. Vasily Smyslov - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Senior_Chess_Championship
48. Olga Rubtsova - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Correspondence_Chess_Championship
49. Nathaniel Cook - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staunton_chess_set
50. Bilguer’s ‘Handbuch des Schachspiels’ (Handbook of Chess) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbuch_des_Schachspiels
51. 27 years - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Marshall_%28chess_player%29
52. 13 years - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veselin_Topalov
53. 78 pieces - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_chessmen
54. 1939 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Chess_Federation
55. Age 12 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yifan
56. Kenneth Harkness - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system
57. Iceland has 11 GMs and 13 IMs among the population of 310,000 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess
58. 5,000 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess
59. 3 (1972, 1978, 1986) and the 1992 Fischer-Spassky revenge match - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_Schmid
60. 1970 in New York - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Computer_Chess_Championship
61. Correspondence Chess League of America in 1939 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_rating_system
62. 1841 at Leeds - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_tournament
63. Oxford in 1845 - http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/firsts.html
64. Peter Mark Roget in 1845 - http://jaced.com/2005/06/10/chess-firsts/
66. 605 million - http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-interesting-facts-about-chess.php
67. 1958 - http://www.chesskit.com/trivia/
68. Alexander Alekhine - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_in_China
69. Charles Stanley - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Chess_Championship
70. Emanuel Schiffers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Chess_Championship
71. Sinquefield Cup 2014 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinquefield_Cup
72. 180 member federations - http://www.fide.com/fide.html
73. John Nunn - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nunn
74. Tony Miles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Miles
75. Yuri Averbakh - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Averbakh
76. 3 (UT-Brownsville, UT-Dallas, Texas Tech) - http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12846/788/
77. The SuperNationals scholastic chess. SuperNationals V had 5,335 participants - http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12160/707/
78. 1915 - http://www.marshallchessclub.org/history
79. British Chess Magazine - http://www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk/welcome-to-british-chess-magazine/
80. Houdini - http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm
81. 1995 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsan_Ilyumzhinov
82. William Lombardy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lombardy
83. Fabiano Caruana - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabiano_Caruana
84. Anish Giri - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anish_Giri
85. Sergey Karjakin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Karjakin
86. Boris Gelfand - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Gelfand
87. Peter Svidler – 7 times - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Svidler
88. Vassily Ivanchuk - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassily_Ivanchuk
89. Mark Taimanov - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Taimanov
90. Akiba Rubinstein - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiba_Rubinstein
91. Henrique Mecking - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Mecking
92. Conrad Holt - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Open_Chess_Championship
93. Gisela Kahn Gresser - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gisela_Kahn_Gresser
94. Elisabeth Bykova - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisaveta_Bykova
95. Ye Rongguang - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Rongguang
96. 1989 in London - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Olympiad
97. Arnold Denker; lost to Hitech - http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/26/nyregion/for-first-time-a-chess-computer-outwits-grandmaster-in-tournament.html
98. Hitech - https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/HiTech
99. 1970, cosmonauts vs ground control - http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/chess-in-space/?_r=0
100. Larry Christiansen - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Christiansen