Fool’s Mate: The Two-Move Checkmate
In chess, Fool’s Mate is the checkmate delivered after the fewest possible moves from the game’s starting position. It can be achieved only by Black, giving checkmate on the second move with the queen.
Opening Moves by Magnus Carlsen
Just looking at the first moves, in an opening that Magnus has played at least 10 times, he does best with 1. b3 (77% win rate in 13 games played).
Symbol N in Chess
The N is the symbol for Knight in chess notation (K was already taken for the King).
Why Grandmasters Look at the Ceiling
When calculating many moves ahead, the actual board is distracting for some professionals, because analysis places the pieces in different spots than their current posts. Alex deals with this by staring up at the ceiling, as if in a trance.
Numbers of Chess Openings Known
Assuming that players know three or four systems with both white and black, grandmasters know about 1,200 distinct opening sequences.