Printable Chess quiz

The 40 questions

1. How many squares are there on a chessboard?
2. From which language does the word "checkmate" come?
3. Which piece can never stand on its own first rank?
4. After how many moves with no capture and no pawn move can a player claim a draw?
5. Which very popular system for White, built on 1.d4 and a bishop on f4, is named after a capital?
6. Which defence begins 1.e4 e6?
7. The musical "Chess" (1984) was written by two members of which band?
8. Which player became the youngest women’s world champion, at 16, in 2010?
9. How are the columns (files) of a chessboard labelled?
10. Which world champion held the title the longest, 27 years?
11. Around 1475, in which country did the queen gain its modern long-range move?
12. Which traditional gesture means a player resigns?
13. What were most of the Lewis chessmen carved from?
14. What is a pawn that no enemy pawn can block or capture on its way called?
15. The chess game in "Blade Runner" reproduces which famous historic game?
16. Chessboxing, which alternates chess and boxing rounds, was inspired by a comic by which artist?
17. What is it called when one piece attacks two enemy pieces at once?
18. The 1984 Karpov–Kasparov title match was stopped without a winner after how many games?
19. How many pieces does each player have at the start of a game?
20. In game commentary, what does "!!" mean?
21. What is the fastest common time control, under 3 minutes per player, called?
22. In the Italian Game, on which square does White put the bishop on move 3?
23. Which country won both the open and the women’s sections of the 2024 Chess Olympiad?
24. Which pieces are called the "minor pieces"?
25. Alireza Firouzja, born in Iran, took which nationality in 2021?
26. The Lucena position is a famous endgame with which material?
27. From 1948 until Fischer’s win in 1972, every world champion came from which country?
28. Which first move did Bobby Fischer call "best by test"?
29. What is the only way to escape a double check?
30. Which American champion invented the variant with 960 starting positions?
31. Which tournament decides who will challenge the world champion?
32. Which physicist gave his name to the chess rating system?
33. Who was the first woman awarded the grandmaster title, in 1978?
34. Which player reached the highest classical rating in history, 2882?
35. Into which piece do players most often promote a pawn?
36. The French Defence owes its name to an 1834 correspondence match between Paris and which city?
37. What was the oldest known ancestor of chess called?
38. What is a "blitz" game?
39. Which American Founding Father wrote the essay "The Morals of Chess"?
40. Which is the tallest piece in a standard set?