Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Chess is often seen as the ultimate mental challenge: 32 pieces on ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. When Covid-19 sent people home in early 2020, the computer scientist Tom Zahavy rediscovered chess. He had played as a kid and had ...

To move its own pieces, a motorized mechanism beneath the board guides an electromagnet along the underside. When activated, ...

It was a war of titans you likely never heard about. One year ago, two of the world’s strongest and most radically different chess engines fought a pitched, 100-game battle to decide the future of ...

When you visit the History of Computer Chess exhibit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, the first machine you see is “The Turk.” In 1770, a Hungarian engineer and diplomat ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of people’s interests online, whether that’s playing Dungeons & Dragons over Zoom or taking virtual workout classes. But at least one of these interests, online ...

Since the 18th century, people have been fascinated by the idea of machines that could play chess against humans. With the advent of the digital electronic computer in the mid-20th century, that dream ...