Why is chess considered the game of kings? I ask this because computer games can be way more complicated. For instance, in Starcraft, you’re a general leading an army of fighting units (up to 200 soldiers, tanks, etc.) over a map, to strategically destroy an opponent’s defences. To appreciate just how complex it is, let’s see what chess would look like if it had a similar type of gameplay.
For starters, you’d begin with a single pawn, gradually adding other pieces to the board based on what your opponent does. You’d then systematically ‘upgrade’ these pieces’ abilities (e.g., upgrading a bishop so it can make multiple diagonal plays in one go.) Further, you won’t capture other pieces just by moving into their square. Rather, you’d control your piece’s movements as it physically ‘fights’ its counterpart. So, you could make a winning ‘macro’ move on the board at large but still lose the resulting ‘micro’ fight on a given square. Further, the board is MASSIVE (say, 3600 squares or more), and the opposing pieces stay hidden until you send yours onto their side of the board. And if that’s not enough, you and your opponent don’t take turns. Instead, you both move pieces simultaneously, with no downtime to think and strategize!!!
So, again, why is chess the king of games? I think it’s simply a case of branding. Lol. It’s been around so long that pop culture has lionized it as the ultimate strategy test. But as the current generation of teenage gamers grow up, pop culture might well replace the old with the new. “The king is dead. Long live the king!”
