CHAPTER 3

Checkmate! Checkers and Chess

Checkers and chess are played around the world, but only a few select players have earned the recognition of a world record. Whether on land or underwater, at a tournament or in consecutive games, the record holders in this chapter are all masters of the black-and-white board.

CHECKMATE, CEBU!

On January 22, 2012, the largest board game tournament took place in Cebu, Philippines. Organized by the Cebu City Sports Commission, 43,157 participants pushed their brain power to the limits while playing chess that day.

SERIOUS CONCENTRATION

The most simultaneous games of international checkers played is 251 and was conducted by Jos Stokkel of the Netherlands on November 6–7, 2010. International checkers is a variant in which the board is 10 by 10 squares (rather than 8 by 8) and each participant starts with 20 counters (instead of 12).

CHECKERS FOR EVERYONE

The most people playing checkers at once is 540 and was achieved at an event organized by the PHP Agency LLC in Nevada on February 8, 2014.

A CHECKERED COAT

The coat of arms of Trebbin, Germany, features a checkerboard, so on June 14, 2013—to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the city—Stadt Trebbin staged the largest checkers tournament, consisting of 574 people. In the final showdown, Clemens Crucius defeated Detlev Kuhnen to take first place and win the contest.

BLOWING BUBBLES

Ordinary checkers just isn’t extreme enough for some people, so Normunds Pakulis of Latvia thought: Why not throw some scuba diving gear into the mix? The most people playing checkers underwater was 88 at a gymnasium in Riga, Latvia, on May 21, 2011. The boards were fixed to the bottom of a pool for the aquatic contest and the checkers didn’t float away because they were made of lead!

CHESS-HEAD

Anna-Maria Botsari of Greece has played a lot of chess in her life, but never as many games in a row as she did on February 27–28, 2001. Over the two days, she achieved the record for most consecutive chess games, an incredible 1,102. Staggeringly, she won all the games except for seven draws.

INFINITY CHESS

The most simultaneous games of chess played against different opponents is 523. It was achieved by Grand Master Alik Gershon of Israel at an event organized by the Israeli Chess Federation, at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 21–22, 2010. Alik won 454 of the games, lost 11, and drew 58.

MAGNIFYING GLASS NEEDED

The smallest handmade chess set was created by Indian railway employee Malla Siva. Made out of slate with a series of fine needles and other custom tools, this teeny-tiny board measures just 0.7 inches square; the largest piece is 0.26 inches tall and the smallest is 0.16 inches. It was measured in Bilaspur, India, on March 3, 2008.

BODACIOUS BOARD

The largest chess set, on the other hand, measures 19 feet, 4 inches on each side. The king is 47 inches tall and spans 1 foot, 2 inches wide at the base. The set comprises a painted concrete board and teakwood pieces and was made by the Medicine Hat Chess Club in Alberta, Canada, in 2009.

KINGPIN

The largest chess piece measures 16 feet, 7 inches tall with a 6-foot, 8-inch diameter at its base. This giant king was created by Gitok Secondary School in Belgium in order to raise money and awareness for charities and was measured on April 4, 2014.

HE’S ALL SET

The largest collection of chess sets is 412, as of 2012, and belongs to Akın Gökyay of Ankara, Turkey. Having started his collection back in 1975, Akın hopes to one day open a dedicated museum to display his pride and joy.

GAME ON

The most games of chess played simultaneously was 20,480 and was achieved by the Sports Authority of Gujarat in India, at the University of Gujarat Sports Grounds, Ahmedabad, on December 24, 2010. The tournament consisted of 1,024 chess masters competing against more than 20,000 amateurs.

YOUR (GURGLE) MOVE

Hold your breath for this record: it’s the longest time playing chess underwater! Wearing diving gear, Swedish divers Olle Widell and Edvin Bengtsson played the game of strategy in a tank of water on June 3–4, 2013, for 25 hours, 14 minutes.