The name “Checkmate” comes from the Persian term “Shah Mat,” which means “the King is slain.”

The last known victory of a human over a top-performing computer in a standard chess tournament was the Ponomariov vs. Fritz game on November 21, 2005.

The chess board has a theoretical limit of 5,949 moves.

FIDE stands for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, which literally translates into World Chess Federation.

There are well over 1,000 different openings, including variations within larger openings/defenses that one can learn.