Love it or hate it, chess is one of the biggest phenomenons
ever seen among games. It isn't among the oldest games, not by a long shot, but it's one of the most investigated and analyzed. More recently chess has been played a lot privately as well as a tournament sport. Like in many other sports there are international rankings and titles, which at the top level include International Master, Grandmaster and World Champion. The title of Grandmaster, once received, is for life.
Since it turned into a sport in the late 1800s it's been considered a test of skill and intelligence everywhere around the world. It's been played on and against computers regularly since the 1970s, although it took engineers and scientists until 1996 to build one able to beat a human world champion.
Today chess is part of many PCs' standard software package, and millions of people around the world play it against their computers. Although there are sites that set up chess games for money, there are very few, and it's because skills are so important that
online gaming sites don't usually feature it as a casino game. Still, for anybody who'd like to practice or play, there are countless variants of games of chess online.
The history of the game as it's known today goes back to the 600s. It originated in India and made its way to the west through Persia, from where it first spread through Arabia. It was most probably introduced to Europe through Spain and the Byzantine Empire. Conquering armies brought the game to all corners of the continent. Interestingly enough, it's documented that the game only became popular after the figure pieces known today were introduced.