Twelve stories, two minutes each.

Story 1 · 2 minute read वह राजा जो चुका न सका इनाम इतना छोटा कि राजा हँस पड़ा — और इतना बड़ा कि उसका पूरा राज्य उसे चुका न सका। भारत, एक बहुत पुरानी किंवदंती Story 2 · 2 minute read सेना के चार अंग शतरंज बनने से पहले यह चतुरंग था — और बोर्ड की सेना एक असली सेना थी। उत्तर भारत, लगभग 1,500 साल पहले Story 3 · 2 minute read वह कविता जो एक घोड़ा थी एक कवि ने घोड़े की यात्रा एक छंद में छिपा दी — और यह हमारी जानकारी में सबसे पुरानी है। कश्मीर, लगभग 1,100 साल पहले Story 4 · 2 minute read वह मंत्री जो रानी बन गया आठ सौ साल तक राजा के बगल वाला मोहरा बोर्ड पर सबसे कमज़ोर था। फिर किसी ने एक नियम बदल दिया। स्पेन और इटली, लगभग 1475 Story 5 · 3 minute read The champion who trusted his eyes He could not read the chess books. He beat the people who wrote them. Punjab and London, 1929 to 1933 Story 6 · 2 minute read The machine with a man inside It beat emperors at chess. It also had a secret. Vienna, 1770 Story 7 · 2 minute read The machine that counted Two hundred years after the fake, a real machine sat down against the world champion. New York, 1997 Story 8 · 2 minute read Ninety-two ways A question in a chess magazine that mathematicians could not leave alone. Germany, 1848 Story 9 · 2 minute read The first queen of chess She won the first women’s world championship — and then went looking for harder games. London, 1927 Story 10 · 3 minute read Three sisters and an experiment A teacher believed that champions are made, not born. He decided to prove it at home. Budapest, the 1970s and 1980s Story 11 · 2 minute read The clock with two faces Once, a player could think for as long as he liked. Then somebody lost patience. London, 1883 Story 12 · 2 minute read The boy who would not wait At eighteen he became the youngest world chess champion there has ever been. Chennai and Singapore, 2024