by iwnit on July 31st, 2007
1) "The number of legal positions in chess is estimated to be between 10^43 and 10^50, with a game-tree complexity of approximately 10^123. The game-tree complexity of chess was first calculated by Claude Shannon as 10^120, a number known as the Shannon number. Typically an average position has thirty to forty possible moves, but there may be as few as zero (in the case of checkmate or stalemate) or as many as 218."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess
2) "Chess is infinite: There are 400 different positions after each player makes one move apiece. There are 72,084 positions after two moves apiece. There are 9+ million positions after three moves apiece. There are 288+ billion different possible positions after four moves apiece. There are more 40-move games on Level-1 than the number of electrons in our universe. There are more game-trees of Chess than the number of galaxies (100+ billion), and more openings, defences, gambits, etc. than the number of quarks in our universe! --Chesmayne"
Source and further information:
http://www.chess-poster.com/english/notes_and_facts/did_you_know.htm
3) Other interesting sources:
How many moves possible in chess:
http://forums.appleinsider.com/archive/index.php/t-12917.html
Chess Moves:
http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-47078.html
Maximum possible chess moves:
http://www.chessatwork.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=73646&page=2
by hijklmno on July 31st, 2007
According to an article on the BBC website there are a billion billion billion billion billion possible positions.
Article (about draughts/checkers) is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6907018.stm
by Aly Motter on July 31st, 2007
uhm...who knows...
Why is it a bad idea to play chess drunk?
by keithold thanks all baggers on September 8th, 2009
| 7 people like this
Should chess really be considered a sport? - I mean, come on.. is there anything at all athletic about it?
by Dylan K. on November 8th, 2009
| 2 people like this
Do you find CHESS to be an intellectual game and are you a good chess player?
by Millenium - The Mysterious M on August 7th, 2009
| 3 people like this
Have you ever played chess with someone and you were so equally matched you could not wait to play again?
by -Icy- on September 9th, 2009
| 13 people like this
Do you choose White or Black to play chess?
by XT. on August 8th, 2009
| 3 people like this
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Comments
Great answser. I remember calculating the number for the first two moves myself and then struggling to do 3. Glad someone has already done it....
Note checkers or draughts has had all of its moves calculated...
by cambsman on October 20th, 2007
cambsman: thank you for your appreciation!
by iwnit on October 20th, 2007