If you’re looking for a real brainteaser, check out our ultimate chess quiz questions – test your skills and see how many you get right!
Chess – the ultimate game of strategy, psychology and sheer brainpower. It’s fascinated players for centuries. Dig deep into the past and you’re likely to find variants of this timeless game all over the world, from China all the way to the Americas.
But how much do you know about this classic test of tactical genius? Take our ultimate chess quiz to find out!
Chess requires concentration, foresight and ruthlessness; all skills that you’ll also need to bring when you start facing these challenging quiz questions. With 25 points up for grabs (and your reputation on the line!) be sure to bring your ‘A game’.
Are you ready to battle it out with your friends and family for the title of grandmaster? Coming up, you’ll face questions on strategy, the history of the game, and the identities of some of its most famous players.
Whether you’re a complete novice, a devoted fan of The Queen’s Gambit, or a serious chess whizz, our chess quiz questions are ideal, either for testing your own knowledge or for spicing up your next Zoom quiz.
What are you waiting for? Line up your pieces, and prepare for battle!
Chess Quiz Questions
1. How many squares are there on a chessboard?
2. In which country did chess first originate?
3. Which piece can only move one square in any direction?
4. What are the names given to the rows and columns on a chessboard?
5. How many pieces does each opponent have at the start of a game?
6. Which is the only piece that can’t check a king?
7. Who starts a game of chess?
8. Who was the youngest ever world chess champion?
9. What is ‘queening’?
10. Which is the only piece that can jump over another piece in a move?
11. What’s the highest title for a chess player?
12. Which popular children’s book includes a game of life-sized, dangerous ‘Wizard’s Chess’?
13. Which is the only piece that must remain on one color, wherever it moves, throughout the entire game?
14. There are more unique possible iterations of chess games than there are atoms in the entire universe. True or false?
15. Which is the only piece that can’t move backwards?
16. What is the shortest possible number of moves for a checkmate?
17. Beth Harmon is a fictional character in which chess-themed drama?
18. What is the origin of the word ‘checkmate’?
19. What is a ‘Scholar’s Mate’?
20. Who developed the first computer program for playing chess?
21. Which is the only piece that can start with a special move?
22. What was ‘Deep Blue’?
23. What is ‘Castling’?
24. How do you draw in a game of chess?
25. Who holds the record for being the youngest ever chess grandmaster?
Plan your own quiz night
If you’re looking for some recommendations, these are a few of our favorite quiz books to buy. We use these when planning fun trivia nights with family and friends!
Chess Quiz Answers
How did you get on? Are you a triumphant grandmaster, or did you find yourself at a stalemate? Check out our chess trivia questions and answers below to find out how you did!
1. How many squares are there on a chessboard?
64
2. In which country did chess first originate?
India – in the early 7th century.
3. Which piece can only move one square in any direction?
King
4. What are the names given to the rows and columns on a chessboard?
The rows are known as ranks and the columns are called files. This military terminology mirrors the origins of the game, designed to replicate military strategies.
5. How many pieces does each opponent have at the start of a game?
16
6. Which is the only piece that can’t check a king?
Another king
7. Who starts a game of chess?
The white player
8. Who was the youngest ever world chess champion?
Garry Kasparov – he became the youngest international chess champion at 22 years and 210 days back in In 1985.
9. What is ‘queening’?
When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board, and transforms into another piece – the queen.
10. Which is the only piece that can jump over another piece in a move?
Knight
11. What’s the highest title for a chess player?
Grandmaster
12. Which popular children’s book includes a game of life-sized, dangerous ‘Wizard’s Chess’?
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone depending on where in the world you live!)
13. Which is the only piece that must remain on one color, wherever it moves, throughout the entire game?
Bishop
14. There are more unique possible iterations of chess games than there are atoms in the entire universe. True or false?
True. The number of possible chess games is estimated to be 10^120.
15. Which is the only piece that can’t move backwards?
Pawn
16. What is the shortest possible number of moves for a checkmate?
Two. This is known as a ‘Fool’s Mate’, and can only be achieved by whoever is playing black.
17. Beth Harmon is a fictional character in which chess-themed drama?
The Queen’s Gambit
18. What is the origin of the word ‘checkmate’?
It comes from the Persian ‘shah mat’, meaning ‘the king is dead’.
19. What is a ‘Scholar’s Mate’?
A strategy in which the player wins in only four moves.
20. Who developed the first computer program for playing chess?
21. Which is the only piece that can start with a special move?
Pawn. Pawns can begin by moving two squares instead of one, only on their first move.
22. What was ‘Deep Blue’?
An IBM computer program that defeated reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov in a game of chess in February 1996.
23. What is ‘Castling’?
Castling is a chess move where the player moves the king two squares towards the rook, and then moves the rook to the square that the king crossed. It is the only move where the player can move two pieces at the same time.
24. How do you draw in a game of chess?
By mutual agreement, or by reaching a stalemate.
25. Who holds the record for being the youngest ever chess grandmaster?
Avhimanyu Mishra was the youngest at 12 years and 4 months, and second was Sergei Karjakin who was 12 years and 7 months.
How did you get on? We hope that you had fun testing your knowledge with our chess trivia questions and answers.
