Also known as Twenty Squares, this 4500-year-old game, first unearthed in ancient Mesopotamia, is impressive in its complex rules and intricate design.
The beautiful game board uses twenty squares and has a narrow bridge in the middle part, was played in Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Turkey and many other ancient civilizations.
To finish the game as winners, players had to race their opponent to the opposite end of the board, moving pieces according to knucklebone dice rolls.
In the third episode of "The Wire", D'Angelo Barksdale, the hard but secretly soft-hearted Baltimore drug-dealer, comes across two of his narco underlings sitting at a chess board. Except they aren't playing chess - they don't know how. "Yo, why y'all playin' checkers on a chess set?" he asks.
Chess either gets you hooked or makes you avoid it because it is not played enough.
The number of different possible positions on the board adds up to 10 to the power of 120. The numbers of the pieces involved are frequently quoted and always unimaginable.
But chess is a game of logical consequences and sly entrapment. It is a magnetic field of forces that are charged with energy. It is an endless pursuit that gives it an edge.
The latest research suggests it's not far-fetched at all - especially when you consider all the societal and cultural factors that make today's games so attractive. Credit... Concept by Pablo Delcan. Photo illustration by Justin Metz. Charlie Bracke can't remember a time when he wasn't into video games.
As a teen, I spent more of my time in game worlds than in the real world. At home, I spent all my time playing games like The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect. At school, all my time was spent daydreaming about the games I would play when I got home.
Fun is the experience of developing mastery. When we acquire new skills and recognize valuable patterns, our brains reward us with a shot of pleasurable sensations.