Chess can be played at lightning-fast or classical speeds

Chess unfolds in three phases: opening, middlegame, and endgame

Strong play requires adapting across phases: developing pieces and controlling the center in the opening, using tactics and strategy in the middlegame, and applying precise calculation and king activity to convert advantages in the endgame.

Chess is played on an 8×8 board with 16 pieces per side

Chess begins with two players facing off on a checkered 64-square board. Each controls 16 pieces—king, queen, rooks, bishops, knights, and pawns—with the goal of checkmating the opposing king.

Chess is played by an estimated 600 million people worldwide

Chess remains one of the most popular games in history, with roughly 600 million players across the globe. The game thrives casually in homes, schools, and parks, while also sustaining robust online communities and professional tournaments.

The longest official chess game lasted 269 moves and over 20 hours

In 1989, Ivan Nikolić and Goran Arsović played a marathon 269-move match in Belgrade. Lasting more than 20 hours, the game ended in a draw.

GZA of Wu-Tang Clan says chess taught him strategy in life and music

In a VICE interview, rapper GZA revealed how speed chess sharpened his mind on tour and shaped his creative strategy. Chess, for him, is more than a game—it’s his framework for life.

Play a puzzle game where the speed of light is reduced to everyday speeds

In "Velocity Raptor," space and time warp as you make your way across a room of obstacles at "normal" speeds. Take advantage of these relativistic effects to solve puzzles involving clocks running at different rates and colors shifting as a result of your movement.

Chess traces its roots to chaturanga in sixth-century India

The earliest form of chess, known as chaturanga, emerged in India around the sixth century. The game simulated four divisions of the military—infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots—and laid the foundation for modern chess’ structure and strategy.

A 13-year-old Magnus Carlsen challenged Garry Kasparov in 2004

In 2004, prodigy Magnus Carlsen faced reigning world number one Garry Kasparov in a rapid game at age 13. Carlsen held a strong position and nearly defeated Kasparov, signaling the rise of a future world champion.

Quantum computers use qubits to solve problems much faster than classical machines

Unlike regular computers, where each bit is either 0 or 1, quantum computers use qubits, which can simultaneously be both—allowing for massive parallel processing power. Google’s quantum processor once solved a problem in seconds that would have taken a supercomputer 47 years.

Tennis can be played on clay, grass, hard court, or carpet

Tennis started on grass surfaces in England, but as the sport has grown, so have the surfaces used to play the game. This article details how each surface affects ball speed, bounce height, and player movement, and highlights which Major championship uses which surface.

'In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.'

- Isaac Asimov

Brain training game creates long-lasting changes in the brain that may help protect against dementia

Findings published in 2026 that tracked more than 2,000 older adults, examining dementia onset and completion of cognitive speed training activities, provide some of the strongest evidence yet that cognitive training games can help protect against dementia. Participants who underwent speed training and received booster sessions had a 25% reduction in the risk of dementia diagnosis compared with the control group.

The speed of electricity may refer to the movement of electrons or energy

In the 18th century, various experiments, including one in which monks holding an iron wire were shocked, suggested that electricity traveled at infinite speed. Advancements in technology, recognizing that electric currents were moving electrons, and the development of the theory of electromagnetism showed that electric signals can travel at near light speed, despite electrons moving much slower.

Classical mechanics describes the motion of and forces on everyday objects

Newton's laws form the core of classical mechanics, suitable for everyday objects and speeds. The term is relatively new, distinguishing the branch of physics from quantum and relativistic mechanics.

Every Kentucky Derby-winning horse

Racing a thoroughbred isn't just about riding a horse as fast as you can. There is a complex racing strategy that forces jockeys to balance aggression and patience, conserving energy for that final stretch. This Kentucky Derby Winners article explores the split-second decisions jockeys make during high-pressure races, the moves they make to outsmart their opponents, and the importance of connecting with their horse.

In 2023, MLB changed its rules to speed up the game

The league made its most dramatic rules changes in decades by banning the shift, enforcing a pitch clock, limiting pickoff plays, using bigger bases, and adding a baserunner in extra innings. The changes worked, generating renewed interest in the sport.

Visualize how data becomes organized through a variety of sorting algorithms

This interactive shows how different algorithms shift elements in a randomized set to order them from smallest to largest. By comparing the different procedures and their corresponding functions, users can explore how runtimes vary across algorithms that complete the same task.

Mozart defined the Classical period with realism and social commentary

Dive into the Classical period, a time that emphasized a less extravagant approach to music and focused on societal issues. Defined by Mozart’s influence, find specifics about his career and why he’s remembered for his compositions and the wit and emotional depth of operas like "The Magic Flute."

What it means to call a bracket 'chalk'

If the tournament is rather boring, you might hear a curious word getting thrown around: "chalk." In short, it means that the favorites have been winning. The word's origins go back to horse racing and its sportsbooks, where bookies would post odds on chalkboards. Over time, the bookies came to be known as "chalk" and, years later, tournaments (and their brackets) that seemed to favor those bookies earned the name, too.

Play Infinite Craft, an AI software-powered game

In this browser-based game, users combine the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water to create an infinite number of new elements. Try your best to make as many natural phenomena as you can as you build up to the multiverse.

Performance art differs from other performances, like dance and theater

While performance art is a very flexible genre, it is defined by several core elements: time, space, the body, and the relationship between the artist and the audience. These elements may be manipulated in infinite ways to convey the artist’s message, such as how endurance performances challenge the limits of the body over long periods of time.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Formula 1 cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing automobiles

F1 is the highest international level of open-wheel racing, where the wheels are not covered by the car’s body, differing significantly from NASCAR, which have covered wheels.

A fast explainer on every Winter Olympic sport

Slalom, luge, skimo: The 16 sports at the Winter Olympics aren't the most familiar to everyday audiences. They can be divided into three categories: track, indoor, and outdoor. This video breaks down each sport's rules and quirks and the variations of its events in less than eight minutes.

Different CDs can have different term lengths, interest rates, and more

For instance, if a bank needs more deposits to fund loans, then it may offer high interest rates to attract deposits. Alternatively, a large bank with sufficient deposit reserves may have less incentive to grow its CD portfolio, offering lower rates as a result.

How long it takes to travel by train from various cities

This interactive allows users to see how long it would take to move from one city to another in Europe via trains.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.