|
« TAP TO LOG IN
|
Play online chess!
Tidbits of Truth
« Back to club forum| From | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
 Tidbits of Truth |
||
|
12 Opening Principles * to control as much of the board as possible * to develop most of the attacking pieces 2. Avoid moving the same piece twice during the opening. Remember the "race" - try to save moves. 3. Unless you really know what you're doing, and why, you should open the game, usually, with one of the center pawns (king's or queen's), moving forward 2 squares (that is, to d4 or e4). If you're playing Black and White has just opened with one of those moves, you should answer with the equivalent one (d5 or e5). 4. Develop your knights before your bishops. Knights belong in the board's center (f3/f6 and c3/c6). Move them there as soon as possible. However, it is okay to develop the f1/f8 bishop before the b1/b8 knight (in order to castle on the king’s side). 5. Trying to attack with the queen early in the game is usually not a good idea. Your opponent will be able to attack her with less valuable, protected pieces, which will force you to move your queen again and again, preventing you from developing the rest of your pieces, while he will be developing his. 6. After you have developed your knights and the bishops, you should probably castle. Castling helps protect your king and develop a rook. For the same reason, avoid moving the king before castling, as you can't castle if he has already moved. 7. Develop your rooks to central or open files. (A file is a column, and a rank is a row.) 8. Look to develop an attack after you have fully developed your pieces. White’s side of the board encompasses a1 through h4; black’s side of the board encompasses a8 through h5. 9. When possible, capture toward the center of the board. Aim to control d4, d5, e4 and e5. 10. Avoid having two or more pawns in the same column (which is very common if you capture a piece with a pawn) unless doing so gives you the upper hand, but if you have several ways to do it, choose one that won't leave one pawn in front of another. 11. Capture with the e-pawn at every opportunity. 12. Often, pawn chains are formed, where pawns protect one another, forming diagonals. That can make it difficult for you to "penetrate" your opponent's territory. The trick, usually, is to find an unprotected pawn, at the back of the chain - capturing it (probably with a knight) may be a good idea. |
||
|
A Summary of Hints, Pointers, and Precepts from the ABCs of Chess by Bruce Pandolfini 1. Be aggressive, but play soundly. Don't take unnecessary chances. 2. Make sure every move has a purpose. 3. If you know your opponent's style, take advantage of it. But, in the final analysis, play the board, not the player. 4. Don't ignore your opponent's moves. 5. Don't give needless checks. Check only when it makes sense. 6. Answer all threats. Try to do so by improving your position and/or posing a counter-threat. 7. Play for the initiative. If you already have it, maintain it. If you don't have it, seize it. 8. When exchanging, try to get at least as much as you give up. 9. Take with the man of least value, unless there is a definite reason for doing otherwise. 10.Cut your losses. If you must lose material, lose as little as possible. 11.If you blunder, don't give up fighting. After getting the advantage, your opponent may relax and let you escape. 12.Never play a risky move, hoping your opponent will overlook your threat, unless you have a losing position. In that case, you have nothing to lose. 13.Rely on your own powers. If you can't see the point of your opponent's move, assume there isn't any. 14.Don't sacrifice without good reason. 15.When you can't determine whether to accept or decline a sacrifice, accept it. 16.Attack in number. Don't rely on just one or two pieces. 17.Look for double attacks. 18.Play for the center: guard it, occupy it, influence it. 19.Fight for the center with pawns. 20.Don't make careless pawn moves. In the opening, move as few pawns as necessary to complete your development. 21.If feasible, move both center pawns two squares each. 22.In the opening, move only center pawns. Unless the opening system or situation requires otherwise. 23.Try to develop your Bishops before blocking them in by moving a center pawn just one square. 24.Develop your pieces quickly, preferably toward the center (especially Knights, which often are "grim on the rim"). 25.Develop purposefully, and not just for development's sake. 26.Don't waste time or moves. Try to develop a new piece on each turn. Don't move a piece twice in the opening without good reason. 27.Try to develop with threats, but don't threaten pointlessly. 28.Develop minor pieces early. King-side pieces should usually be developed sooner than Queen-side ones, and Knights before Bishops. 29.Develop during exchanges. 30.To exploit an advantage in development, attack. 31.In the opening, don't remove your Queen from play to "win" a pawn. 32.Don't bring out the Queen too early, unless the natural course of play requires it. 33.Try to give as much scope to your pieces as possible. Seize open lines. 34.Develop Rooks to open files, or to files likely to open. Castle early. 35.Try to prevent your opponent's King from castling. Keep it trapped in the center, especially in open games. 36.Try to pin your opponent's pieces. Avoid pins against your own pieces. 37.Don't capture pinned pieces until you can benefit from doing so. If possible, try to attack them again, especially with pawns. 38.After castling, don't move the pawns in front of your King without specific reason. 39.To attack the King, pick a target square around it. 40.When applicable, pick target squares on the color of your unopposed Bishop. (Bishops control squares of only one color. If you have a Bishop that controls dark squares and your opponent has exchanged his corresponding Bishop, your dark-squared Bishop is "unopposed" on those squares.) 41.Look for tactics especially on squares of the color controlled by your unopposed bishop. 42.Try to avoid early exchanges of Bishops for Knights. 43.Double your attacking pieces by building batteries (two or more pieces of like power attacking along the same line). Put queen and Rook(s) on the same file or rank, and Queen and Bishop on the same diagonal. 44.Build batteries with the less valuable men up front, unless tactics require otherwise. 45.Maximize the efficiency of your moves. Play flexibly. 46.To strengthen control of a file, double your major pieces (Rooks and/or Queen) on it. 47.Determine whether you have an open or closed game, and play accordingly. 48.Usually play to retain you Bishops in open games, and sometimes Knights in closed games. 49.To improve the scope of your Bishop, place your pawns on squares opposite in color to it. 50.Keep your weaknesses on the color opposite to that of your opponent's strongest Bishop. 51.Trade when ahead in material or when under attack, unless you have a sound reason for doing otherwise. Avoid trades when behind in material or when attacking. 52.Choose a plan and stay with it. Change it only if you should or must. 53.To gain space, you usually have to sacrifice time. 54.If cramped, free your game by exchanging material. 55.Trade bad minor pieces for good ones. 56.If the position is unsettled, disguise your plans: make noncommittal moves. 57.To gain space or open lines, advance pawns. 58.If the center is blocked, don't automatically castle. 59.If behind in development, keep the game closed. 60.Try to accumulate small advantages. 61.Try to dominate the seventh rank, especially with Rooks. 62.Use the analytic method. When you don't know what to do, first evaluated the position (as best you can), then ask pertinent questions about your analysis. |
||
|
History of Chess Rules PhilidorBetween 1200 and 1600 several laws emerged that drastically altered the game. Checkmate became a requirement to win; a player could not win by capturing all of the opponent's pieces. Stalemate was added, although the outcome has changed several times (see Stalemate#History of the stalemate rule). Pawns gained the option of moving two squares on their first move, and the en passant rule was a natural consequence of that new option. The king and rook acquired the right to castle (see Castling#Variations throughout history for different versions of the rule). By 1600 the bishop also acquired its current move, which made it a much stronger piece (Davidson 1981:14–17). About 1475 the queen also got its current move, which transformed it from being the weakest piece to the strongest one (Hooper & Whyld 1992:328). When all of these changes were accepted the game was in essentially its modern form (Davidson 1981:14–17). The rules for pawn promotion have changed several times. As stated above, originally the pawn could only be promoted to the queen, which at that time was the weakest other piece. When the queen acquired its current move and became the most powerful piece, the pawn could then be promoted to a queen or a rook, bishop, or knight. In the 18th century rules allowed only the promotion to a piece already captured, e.g. the rules published in 1749 by François-André Danican Philidor. In the 19th century this restriction was lifted, which allowed for a player to have more than one queen, e.g. the 1828 rules by Jacob Sarratt (Davidson 1981:59–61). Two new rules concerning draws were introduced, each of which have changed through the years. The threefold repetition rule was added, although at some times up to six repetitions have been required, and the exact conditions have been specified more clearly (see Threefold repetition#History). The fifty-move rule was also added. At various times, the number of moves required was different, such as twenty-four, sixty, seventy, or seventy-five. For several years in the 20th century, the standard fifty moves was extended to one hundred moves for a few specific endgames (see fifty-move rule#History). Another group of new laws included (1) the touch-move rule and the accompanying "j'adoube/adjust" rule; (2) that White moves first; (3) the orientation of the board; (4) the procedure if an illegal move was made; (5) the procedure if the king had been left in check for some moves; and (6) issues regarding the behavior of players and spectators. The Staunton chess set was introduced in 1849 and it became the standard style of pieces. The size of pieces and squares of the board was standardized (Hooper & Whyld 1992:220-21,laws, history of). Until the middle of the 19th century, chess games were played without any time limit. In an 1834 match between Alexander McDonnell and Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais, McDonnell took an inordinate amount of time to move, sometimes up to 1½ hours. In 1836 Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant suggested a time limit, but no action was taken. In the 1851 London tournament, Staunton resigned a game to Elijah Williams because Williams was taking so long to move. The next year a match between Daniel Harrwitz and Johann Löwenthal used a limit of 20 minutes per move. The first use of a modern-style time limit was in a 1861 match between Adolph Anderssen and Ignác Kolisch (Sunnucks 1970:459). Source: Wikipedia.org |
||
|
Chess Golden Rules Most of which were developed by Rodrigo rogubravo: GOLDEN RULE: Begin the game by moving the pawn in front of your king (preferable) or queen two or a least one space forward. By move 3, at least one of your knights should be out. Never, ever, move your f-pawn (with black or white) if there are still Queens on the board. The only exception to this rule is once you have castled long (queenside). No matter what, avoid exchanging your fianchettoed bishop. If forced to do so, exchange it for your opponent’s bishop of the same color. Never, ever exchange it is your opponent will get to keep HIS own bishop of that color. Fianchetto: The development in chess of a bishop from its original position to the second square of the adjacent knight’s file. GOLDEN RULE: A piece is safe only as long as it is defended by the same number of pieces that are attacking it. If your opponent attacks one of your pieces, count the number of your pieces that defend it immediately to make sure that it is safe. GOLDEN RULE: When you are down in material, avoid by any means possible any further piece exchanges. Especially, hold on to your queen like your life depended on it. GOLDEN RULE: Complete your development as fast as you can. If you reach move 15 and you have not completed development, you have broken this rule. Development includes: castling on either the kingside or queenside; moving all minor pieces (knights and bishops) from the first rank; connecting the rooks by moving the queen from the first rank. GOLDEN RULE: Castle as soon as you can; if you have reached move 8 and have not castled, you have broken this rule. GOLDEN RULE: Try to always keep your rooks connected. It is the connection between the rooks that makes them powerful. GOLDEN RULE: Before you make your own move, ALWAYS ask yourself what your opponent is up to with the last move he/she just made. GOLDEN RULE: Rooks belong in open files. An open file is a file (a vertical column) that has no pawns in it. Hence a rook is free to move up and down this file for attacking or defensive functions. This rule also applies to semi-open files. A semi-open file is a file where there are no pawns of your, but your opponent still has a pawn in it. Of course, ideally you want your rook to be attacking this enemy pawn! It's very important to understand that rooks are very powerful pieces, but quite literally, they are useless unless they have open files to move in. So, as soon as an open or semi-open file is created, your goal should be to have your rooks take over it. Now that my rook is in the semi-open g-file, it will play an important role in the ongoing attack against your king. GOLDEN RULE: When your king is under direct attack, exchange as many pieces as possible. Go that extra mile calculating if there is some way to exchange your opponent’s queen. The idea behind it is that even the queen by itself cannot deliver checkmate. Suppose your opponent is attacking your king with his queen and one or two other pieces. If you trade the attacking pieces, there will be no checkmate possible. GOLDEN RULE: When attacking your opponent's king directly, avoid exchanging pieces; you will need them for your attack to be successful. It's important to keep in mind that sometimes a successful attack does not necessarily result in checkmate; for instance, an attack is just as successful if you put enough pressure on your opponent's position that you win some material (a pawn or a piece). Knights should always be developed toward the center (i.e. not to squares like a3 or h3) in accordance to an old saying in chess which states that "A knight on the rim is dim". My addition to the Golden Rules: Golden Rule: Near the beginning of development AFTER moving either the pawn in front of your king 2 spaces (preferably) or the pawn in front of your queen 2 spaces (first move in game for both colors), move your a pawn and your h pawn forward one space BEFORE moving your knights from their first rank. |
||
|
Recommended Publications Excellent illustrative, book that covers basic strategies and tactics. The book is easy to read with relatively large print and easy to follow examples. It can purchased at Barnes and Noble for $21.95: search.barnesandnoble.com I highly recommend this book for beginners and immediate players alike. The ABC's of Chess by Bruce Pandolfini, National Master This is a good illustrative paperback book covering chess strategies and fundamentals. It contains many good chess tips to be gleaned along the way. The print is relatively small, though. I use it as a reference book. The book can be purchased at Barnes and Noble for $16.95: search.barnesandnoble.com . . . Comprehensive Chess Course: Learn Chess in 12 Lessons, Volumes 1 and 2 by Roman Pelts and GM Lev Alburt, three-time U.S. Chess Champion The illustrative study guides are designed for beginning and intermediate chess students. The books contain worksheets and training exercises. Volume 1 can be purchased at Barnes and Noble for $16.95: search.barnesandnoble.com Volume 2 can be purchased at Amazon for $15.25: www.amazon.com . . . Chess Life Magazine published by the U.S. Chess Federation The magazine contains articles on various strategies and tactics as well as chess news such as coverage of tournaments and chessmasters. The magazine can be obtained by joining the USCF for $42 per year. www.uschess.org To the best of my knowledge, this is the only chess magazine available. Please correct me if I am wrong about this. ... "Fundamental Chess Endings, a new endgame encyclopedia for the 21st century", from Karsten Müller and Frank Lamprecht. It's a big book, wich is hard to go through.. But certainly worth of purchasing it ! A book to really be recommended ! All things you need to know about endgames, it's in it Chess The Easy Way by Reuben fine seven-time world champ A great book! Goes through a lot about the game. Excellent read. First published in 1942. Reprinted at barnes & Noble for $18.95. GET THIS BOOK!!!!!! I would like to highly recommend the "Winning Chess" series, written by Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan. This is a highly informative series of books, published by Everyman, which can help chess players at all stages. Seirawan writes with an amusing, and informative style, which I find a brilliant chess read. In publication order, these are: Play Winning Chess ---- An all-purpose primer, intended primarily for beginners, but I still find it useful in explaining principles such as force, space and time! Winning Chess Strategies ---- an excellent guide to how to make your position better and work on your advantages. Winning Chess Tactics ---- so you never understood the pin? fork? pawn breakthrough? This book helps you understand the positions that all these can be useful in! Winning Chess Brilliancies ---- the author takes you through 12 grandmaster games, showing you the unique thunder-and-lightning that every player unleashes. Winning Chess Openings ---- MY FAVOURITE!!!!! ---- a great all-purpose openings book, taking you through all classical and modern openings. Perfect if you want an exciting and varied opening repertoire. Winning Chess Endgames ---- this book makes the boring part of the game interesting, as it explains how any stock endgame can be won, or at least drawn, if possible. Winning Chess Combinations ---- sacrificial and attacking motifs, typical forced checkmates - this covers them all! An excellent read for those of you who want to smash your opponents again and again (to be honest, is there anyone who doesn't?). I hope these books prove useful! "My System" by Aron Nimzovich, great book on the basics of chess. "My Great Predecessors" by Garry Kasparov, Great series on the evolution of chess. "Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess" by Garry Kasparov, volume one starts with theory of chess in the 70's while volumes two and three cover the matches/games of Kasparov versus Karpov. |
||
|
Experiment with playing from your opponent's perspective. |
||
|
Re: obsteve |
||
|
keylimeinmiami 28-Jul-17, 07:04 |
My one tidbit Consider for a moment you like the French or Caro-Kann. Why not play the Dutch vs. d4 then - the structures are similar. If a Sicilian player, why not the English as an opening? I have for 25 years played OTB the English, the French, and the Dutch. They all have similar tendencies which allows me to have clearer middlegame plans. |
