St. Louise Chess handbook - Edl. Louise Chess Club 9/2004 Chess Basics - 3 - The Pieces At the...

St. Louise Chess Club 9/2004 Chess Basics

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St. Louise School

Chess Club Handbook

September 2004


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Introduction Welcome to the St. Louise School Chess Club! Chess is a game that can take a few hours to learn and a lifetime to master. So, please be patient with yourself and the students around you as we learn together. Our goals for each member of the chess club are;

• Learn the basics of chess and how to play, if you are a beginner … • Learn to improve your game if you already know how to play a little … • Learn teamwork and competitive spirit … • Have fun!

Sportsmanship How you handle yourself during a game and with your teammates and opponents in general might be the most important part of your chess club experience. It is important to remember that we all have different skills and gifts and we are all learning together. Being courteous, considerate and honorable are the most important skills to master in chess as well as in your daily life. While we are sure most of you don’t need these reminders, just to make sure everyone knows what to expect … here are a few thoughts;

• Keep our voices down and our hands to ourselves. • Listen and be respectful to teachers, coaches and tournament officials. • Be courteous, considerate, supportive and helpful to teammates. • Be courteous, considerate but politely competitive with opponents.

The Game

• Chess is a game played by two opponents • One opponent will traditionally play as White or Light Colored and the opponent

will play as Black or Dark Colored. • Players take turns moving their pieces, or “chessmen.” • White always moves first.


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The Pieces At the beginning of the game, each player has 16 chessmen. Each piece has;

• a color • a unique shape • a name • a “material value” (used for scoring). • a unique icon for representation on paper

Here is a chart that will be very important for you to learn by heart;

NUMBER and NAME WHITE BLACK MATERIAL VALUE

8 Pawns p o 1

2 Knights n m 3

2 Bishops b v 3

2 Rooks r t 5

1 Queen q w 9

1 King k l None Game ends when captured

Knowing this information is very important to your use of printed materials for learning the basics as well as advanced strategy. Knowing the value of the pieces is also a very important part of the game of chess.


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The Chessboard • The chessboard is square and is divided into 64 squares … count ‘em! • There are 8 rows called RANKS with 8 squares in each • There are 8 columns called FILES with 8 squares each • During set-up, the board should be positioned with a White Square in the lower

right-hand corner of each opponent

FILE

Make sure you have a white square here!

RANK


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Board Set-up

• Here are the pieces in their starting positions on the board • Remember that each Queen is placed on a square of its own color and they

face each other. • Likewise, the Kings face each other, but are placed on squares of opposite color

to their own.

Game Play Each player is a general commanding an army on a battlefield! The goal of the battle is to capture the opponent’s king. The king is never actually captured. He is trapped on a square from which he cannot escape attack. This is called CHECKMATE. We will learn more about this later but you must remember this always;

CHECKMATE … (trapping the opponent’s king on a square so that he cannot escape)

IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE GAME OF CHESS! To begin a game, each player, starting with White, takes turns moving. A move is when you take one of your pieces from one square on the board and place it on a different square on the board. The goal for moving your pieces is to attempt to position them for controlling squares on the chessboard and to attack and capture your opponent’s pieces (removing them from the board). Ultimately, trapping your opponent’s king in checkmate and winning the game! Each piece on the chessboard moves in a different manner and learning these moves is the first step toward being able to play your first game.


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Moving The Pieces The King The King moves one square in any direction. It cannot leap over any other piece. The King captures the same way it moves. When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square. In this example Black’s King has 8 possible moves, indicated by dots.


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The Queen The Queen is the most powerful piece of all the chessmen. It can move in any direction any amount of squares as long as no other piece blocks its path (the Queen cannot leap over any pieces). The Queen captures the same way it moves. When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square. In this example Black’s Queen has 25 possible moves, indicated by dots.


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The Bishop The Bishop moves in one direction at a time. It moves and captures diagonally any amount of squares as long as no other piece blocks its path (the Bishop cannot leap over any pieces). The Bishop captures the same way it moves. When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square. Black’s Bishop has 13 possible moves, indicated by dots.


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The Knight The Knight is the only piece that can leap over other chessmen (either his own or the opponent's). The Knight is also the only piece that has a move of fixed length. It moves a total of three squares - in either of two ways:

1) One square forward or backwards and then two squares right or left 2) Once square right or left and then two squares forward or backward

The Knight captures only on the last square of its move. When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square. Black’s Knight has 8 possible moves, indicated by dots.


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The Rook The Rook is the second most powerful piece of all the chessmen after the Queen. It can move horizontally or vertically - one direction at a time - any amount of squares as long as no other piece blocks its path (the Rook cannot leap over any pieces). The Rook captures the same way it moves. When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square. White's Rook has 14 possible moves, indicated by dots.


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The Pawn The Pawn is the only piece that is limited to moving in only one direction: straight ahead. Here is how the Pawn moves on his FIRST MOVE ONLY … you have a choice of two squares

At any other time in the game ONCE THE PAWN HAS ALREADY MOVED, here is how it moves … one square at a time.


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Pawn Capture In capturing, however, the Pawn can take an enemy piece only if that piece is located on either of the diagonally-forward adjoining squares - that is, one square forward to the right or left as indicated on the diagram (the black Pawn).


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Checkmate The King is the most important piece in chess. The object of chess is to attack the opponent's King in such a way that it cannot escape. This is called "checkmate". The King is never actually captured; the inability to escape from attack is what constitutes checkmate. Any attack by a piece directly on a King is called "check". When a King is checked it must immediately get out of check. The King cannot be allowed to remain in check. If it is a player's turn to move and his King is not in check, he cannot make any move that exposes his King to check. The King must never come within the capturing range of enemy pieces. There are three ways to get out of check:

1. Capture the piece that is giving check; 2. Interpose one of your own pieces between the King and the piece that is giving

check. 3. Flee – moving the King away from the attack, but not into the line of attack of

some other enemy piece;

If none of these three methods can be applied (as in the diagram below) , then the King is checkmated and the game is over.


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Review Quiz Number One

Look at the picture above and answer these questions; What kind of chessman is on f4? ______________ What color is it? ______________ What square is the black Bishop on? ______________ What squares are the two rooks on? ______________ What square is the white queen on? ______________ What squares are the two black Pawns on? ______________ What is the only man on file c? ______________ What kinds of chessmen are on rank 2? ______________ What squares are the two f Pawns on? ______________


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Special Moves … Castling, En Passant Capture and Pawn Promotion Now that you have learned the basic moves … it’s time to learn three special moves. One for the King and his Rooks and two for the lowly Pawn! Castling Since the King is our most important piece, he needs extra protection. The King and his Rooks have a special move they can do to help better protect him during your battles! It is called castling. In castling you actually move TWO PIECES on the board in one turn! The purpose of castling is to safely nest the King on the other side of one of his two Rooks. If you castle with the Rook closest to the King … you are castling Kingside. If you castle with the Rook closest to the Queen … you are castling Queenside. Castling is easy but there are some rules;

1) You may not castle if you have already moved your King or castling Rook. 2) You must have cleared the way by moving the Knight, Bishop (and Queen if

castling Queen-side) between the King and the Rook with whom he will castle. 3) You may not castle with a King who is in check. 4) You may not castle the King through check (through a square being attacked). 5) You may not castle the King into check (onto a square being attacked).

To castle, you simply move the King two-squares toward the Rook and then you move the Rook to the square on the other side of the King, right next to him. See the diagrams below which show both the before and after positions for the castled Kings and Rooks.

Positions before Castling Castling King-side Castling Queen-side In general you want to castle early in the game, to move your King away from his center-of-the-board starting position. You want to use the edge of the board as protection early in the game and reduce the number of angles of attack on your King. We will learn later when the King should be moved from this “haven” and when he should go on the attack himself!


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Special Moves: continued En Passant Capture The pawn has a very special move that he may perform only during a special circumstance on the board. When you have advanced a Pawn 3 ranks to it’s 5th rank from starting position … and your opponent makes a two-square, first-move with one of his Pawns … and that pawn lands on a square right next to one of your own advanced Pawns … you may capture that Pawn “en passant” … that's French for “in passing!” Your Pawn simply passes behind your opponent’s Pawn as though it captured on a one square first move. Capturing en passant is easy but there are some rules to remember;

1) Your capturing Pawn must be 3 ranks from starting position (5th rank for White, 4th rank for Black).

2) The Pawn to be captured must begin on its starting position. 3) The Pawn to be captured advances two squares (its first move). 4) If you wish to capture en passant, you must do so right after your opponent has

moved his Pawn … otherwise you lose the right to capture en passant

White has advanced a Pawn 3

ranks to the 5th rank. Black uses his Pawn's first

move privilege of moving two-squares.

White captures en passant by crossing over one file and

placing his pawn behind the captured Pawn's square

You are not required to capture en passant and it may not always be the best choice for your move.


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Special Moves: continued Pawn Promotion If a pawn is advanced all the way across the board to the last square in a file, it is promoted to any other piece except a Pawn (obviously, it already is one!) and the King (there can be only one King per-side!). You may choose to make it a Queen (most common) or a Rook, Bishop or Knight and you may have as many of those pieces as you have pawns you can promote. So it is possible to have three or four queens toward the end of a well-played game! Promotion must happen; you cannot choose NOT to promote a Pawn. Most Chess sets do NOT have extra pieces, so If a captured piece of the appropriate type is unavailable a Rook turned on its head (inverted) is usually used to represent it. If there are no obvious pieces available, a Pawn with a bit of string or rubber band tied around it can be used. Sometimes it is good to have a few spare pieces from another chess set available to use in this fashion.

White has advanced a Pawn 5

ranks toward the back rank of his opponent.

It is his turn and he will now

move onto the back rank.

Upon doing so, White declares that he is promoting to a Queen.

White replaces the Pawn with an upside-down Rook (represented

by the Queen symbol here).

Now he has two queens!

He also has checkmated his opponent who had no escape from the now checking Queen that was once a lowly Pawn!


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The Importance of Notation … Learning the SECRET CHESS CODE OK … so you know the pieces … you know their moves … you know how to identify the squares on the chess board by file letter and rank number and you JUST WANT TO PLAY!!!! However, the goal of our club is to prepare you for being the best player you can be, which may at some point involve tournament play. So, let’s think about a few questions. How will you learn how and why you lose or win games? How will you keep track of a game after it is over, so that you can go over your moves and see where you made great moves that led to a win … or mistakes that caused you to lose? There is only ONE WAY for players to learn from their games and improve … that is by writing down their games in a special code … called Chess Notation! There are several methods of notation but for now, we will use long-form Algebraic Notation, meaning we will mark the symbols for the pieces as well as the start and finish squares of their moves. The reason we teach you the identification of the squares (file letters and rank numbers) is so that you can learn to; record all the moves in your games, reproduce your games for enjoyment later (kind of like taping a favorite movie!) and so that your coaches can better advise you on your positions and help you learn from your mistakes. Here is a table of symbols used in Chess notation. There are symbols that represent pieces and there are symbols that represent the moves and actions those pieces can take in a game. Symbol What It Represents Symbol What It Represents Q Queen e.p. en passant (in passing) R Rook ! a good move B Bishop !! a very good move N (or Kt) Knight ? a bad move P Pawn ?? a very bad move x captures !? not sure, but looks good - moves to ?! not sure, but looks bad + (or ch) check # (or X) checkmate dis ch discovered check o-o castles kingside ++ or (dbl ch) double check o-o-o castles queenside Here is an example of the first few moves in a game of Chess;

1. Pe2-e4 Pe7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Pd7-d6 This notation tells us that the first move was White Pawn on square e2 moves to square e4 … then Black moves the Pawn on square e7 to the square e5 … then White's second move was the Knight on square g1 moving to square f3 … then Black's second move was the Pawn on square d7 moving to square d6. Get it? It's easy!


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Examples of Moves and Accompanying Notation

White 1. Pe2-e4 or e2-e4 Black 1. Pe7-e5 or e7-e5 White 2. Ng1-f3 or g1-f3

Black 2. Pd7-d6 or d7-d6 White 3. Pd2-d4 or d2-d4 Black 3. Bc8-g4 or g8-g4

White 4. Pd4xe6 or e4xe6 Black 4. Bg4xf3 or g4xf3 White 5. Qd1xf3 or d1xf3


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Black 5. Pd6xe5 or d6xe5 White 6. Bf1-c4 or f1-c4 Black 6. Nb8-c6 or b8-c6

White 7. Qf3-h5 or f3-h5 Black 7. Nc6-a5 or c6-a5 White 8. Qh5-f7# or h5-f7# (checkmate!) Notation is taken on a pad that may look something like this: Event name: ______________________ Date: ___________ Location: ___________________ Round: _______ Board: ________ Section: _____________ Opening: ___________________ White: _____________________ Rating: ______ Black: ___________________ Rating: ______

# White Time Black Time # White Time Black Time 1 : : 8 : : 2 : : 9 : : 3 : : 10 : : 4 : : 11 : : 5 : : 12 : : 6 : : 13 : : 7 : : 14 : :

Circle Game Result: WHITE WON DRAW BLACK WON Signature: _______________________ Signature: _______________________


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Strategy for Beginners At the start, we are going to focus on three important skills of your game play.

• Analysis … of the game • Development … of your pieces • Control or Influence … of the board

Developing your skills in these three areas is how you will improve your game and begin to understand why you win or lose. Let’s learn a little more about these skills. Analysis … Slow Down and Think! Early students of chess tend to rush through their games, because they are new to chess and they don’t have a “game plan” yet. They don’t take the time to look at the board and think about their game. Analysis is very important part of your game. You must learn to examine the board as your games progress and think through all of your options … and those of your opponent! Part of your chess game is GUESSING! That makes it fun. You are always trying to guess what your opponent will do next. You are always trying to guess what their game plan is by the moves they make. Take your time as a beginner. Look at all of the pieces in play (yours AND your opponents) and think about where they are … what squares they defend or attack. When your opponent makes a move … look at that piece and try to see what they are doing with it … what pieces are they trying to capture … what squares are they trying to control? … what areas of the board are they strengthening or weakening? … what squares or pieces did they open up for your attacks? … did they strengthen or weaken your game plan? You must analyze the board and try to make your best available move. But how do you know what the best move is? That is the SECRET to CHESS! … a secret we will try to learn together. Analyze the position below and find the White move that will checkmate Black?


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Development … Bringing Your Pieces Into the Game Analysis leads to decisions about where to move your pieces … or Development. Development is the moving of your pieces onto new squares (and into the game) so that they become stronger and more threatening to your opponent. A developing move is a move that improves the use and power of one of your pieces and advances your game plan. Take a look at 12 moves from a game where white understands piece development and black is playing very dangerously and violating several commonly understood chess strategies.

White 1. Pe2-e4 or e2-e4 Black 1. Pd7-d6 or d7-d6 White 2. Pe4xd5 or e4xd5

White plays a very traditional opening move.

Black responds with a pawn threat, inviting a capture,

intending to bring out a powerful piece (way too early).

White plays into the gambit with a firm game plan.

Black 2. Qd8xd5 or d8xd5 White 3. Nb1-c3 or b1-c3 Black 3. Qd5-d4 or d5-d4 Black takes the Pawn and brings

out his Queen way too early, thinking it is safe.

White responds with a threat to the Queen (the main reason not to

bring her out so early).

Black tries to remain the aggressor.


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White 4. Ng1-e2 or g1-e2 Black 4. Qd4-e5 or d4-e5 White 5. Pd2-d4 or d2-d4

White continues developing pieces, bringing them into the

game and continuing to threaten Black’s brave Queen.

Now Black has wasted several moves defending his Queen while

White continues to develop his pieces and dominate the center of

the board.

White extends his reach into the middle of the board and once

again presses against the Black Queen.

Black 5. Qe5-d6 or e5-d6 White 6. Bc1-f4 or c1-f4 Black 6. Qd6-d8 or d6-d8

Black continues to worry his Queen, and shows no

development of his pieces.

White continues with development while Black has now wasted too much time evading capture with

his Queen.

Black is forced back into a starting position with no piece

development while White has great development.

Black made several errors common to beginners in this example. Black went on the attack early and played a "gambit" the sacrifice of a Pawn early in the game to set-up a position (or so he thought!). The queen is a powerful piece and beginners sometimes tend to believe that it is fun to bring the Queen out when there are few threatening pieces on the board. White used the unique power of the Knight to “jump” over pieces and developed them early, pressing back on the Queen and exerting dominance over the center of the board. Black wasted a lot of moves worrying about his exposed Queen and simply running away. Only a few moves into the game, Black was forced to waste precious time and retreat back to the start. White has a superior position on the board and Black has to develop a game plan from scratch!


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Control … Staking Out Territory on the Board Development leads to Control or Influence of the Chess board. Control is the Development of your pieces such that they begin to dominate large sections of the board, preventing your opponent from moving his pieces by blocking them or forcing him into capture. A square is said to be controlled if you can move a piece onto it but your opponent cannot. A square that both you and your opponent can move onto is said to be contested rather than controlled. This can make it hard to figure out exactly who is in control … so for our early learning, we will consider control or influence to be a square that you can move a piece onto for position or to capture an opponent. Squares upon which you already have pieces are not usually considered when looking at control. Controlling the board gives you the advantage of making moves that advance your game plan. As we saw in the prior section on Development, this was the game position after about twelve moves!

Black played very risky with his Queen and ran her around the board "showing off!" His pieces remain locked behind a wall of Pawns and now he has virtually no control of the center of the board. White has really developed his pieces, has much greater mobility (room to move) and dominates the center of the board.

Black Controlled or Influenced Squares White Controlled or Influenced Squares


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Strategy for Beginners … Creating A Game Plan As beginners, you don’t really have your own game plans yet … so here are some general thoughts from the U.S. Chess Federation about what is important in the beginning of your game … this can form the start of your own game plan.

1. Try to “control” or "influence" the “center of the board” 2. Avoid moving the same piece over and over 3. Don’t bring your Queen into the game too early 4. Castle early in the game, preferably on the King’s side 5. Don't make too many pawn moves early in the game. 6. Develop your Knights and Bishops quickly (Knights first!). 7. Don't make pointless "checking" moves just to put your opponent in "check."

Remember our three skills;

1) Analysis … of the game … so that you make the best moves possible.

2) Development … of your pieces … so that they become more powerful and useful.

3) Control or Influence … of the board … so that your game plan is the one driving

the action. Practicing game play and learning to use these skills will help us to become more focused and more consistent players. Next, we will begin to learn about the three phases of every game of Chess;

1) The Opening … Where players focus on the development of their pieces and gaining control of the board … When White, trying to keep the initiative of the first move … When Black, trying to take the initiative away from White or defend our turf …

2) The Middle Game … Where players have made most of their development decisions and focus on capturing and trading pieces to advance their game plans … the hardest part of the game because it is so open and varied …

3) The End Game … Where there are very few pieces left and players attempt to execute the final moves in their battle … leading to checkmate …


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Review Quiz Number Two

Look at the pictures and answer the questions;

One of the White Knights can move onto a square with a white dot. What would the notation be for that move? __________________________ One of the White Bishops can move onto a square with a white dot. What would the notation be for that move? __________________________ One of the Black Bishops can move onto a square with a black dot. What would the notation be for that move? __________________________ The Black Queen can move onto a square with a black dot. What would the notation be for that move? __________________________

Draw an X on all the squares that Black controls or influences (can move a piece onto). Draw an O on all the squares that White controls or influences (can move a piece onto). You may draw an X and an O on a square if both Black and White can move onto it. You may draw an X and an O on a square with another piece on it. How many squares does Black control or influence? _________ How many squares does White control or influence? _________


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Getting Your Game Together – The Opening OK … let’s say you’re about to begin to play a game of chess. You are either white (in which case you will move first) or black (in which case you will move second). Most players prefer having the “first-move advantage” and “initiative” of white. Others enjoy reacting to that “first-move” status by making moves that threaten and block white’s game plan. Either way, playing white or black, you will need to understand a few basic principles in order to become comfortable with starting your games. As we learned earlier, the first goal in the game is the development of your pieces. You should focus on bringing them out onto the board in orderly patterns to gain control of squares and begin their march toward your opponent’s King. These patterns are called openings and your skill at learning and using them will differ throughout your years of playing chess. For beginners, there are a few well accepted opening principles to learn. Keep CHECKMATE in mind! First, you must always remember the object of the game … the reason that you are playing. Through slow and careful analysis of the board after every turn, the development of your pieces and your control of the board, you are trying to place the opponent’s King in jeopardy and ultimately into checkmate. You CANNOT do that by randomly moving your pieces around in YOUR area of the board without a plan! You MUST make moves to control the board and threaten your opponent. But thinking about plans is really hard for beginners. Trying to figure out all the possible moves is simply too large a task at the start, so here are a few easy to remember steps for you to begin to use as part of your early games. The Basics of a Good Chess Opening …

1. Try to develop your pieces so that you control the center or middle of the board. 2. Bring out Pawns, Knights and Bishops (usually in that order) to gain that control. 3. Move Pawns to control the center and open up attack lines for your Bishops.

Once they are developed in the center, try to keep them there. 4. Take advantage of your Knights’ ability to “jump over” your other pieces to get

them into the center of the board, where they do the most good. (Since Knights attack squares all around them, it is better to keep them in the middle, rather than on the edge of the board where some of their attack squares would actually be off-the-board!)

5. Try to Castle as early as possible, to reduce angles of attack on your king and “nestle” him behind a wall of Pawns and a Rook.

6. Reserve your two Rooks and your Queen for later in the game, they are very powerful pieces and should be reserved for development after you have established starting positions for your center Pawns, your Knights and your Bishops and can begin trading pieces.

7. Try NOT to move the same piece more than once early in the game. 8. Develop pieces by supporting other pieces, so you don’t end up wasting moves

defending unprotected pieces. Try to make your opponent do that!


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Developing Patterns Advanced chess players, over many years of playing, begin to recognize “patterns” on the board. It would be impossible to memorize all of the various moves you or your opponent could make at any given time, but human beings are actually very good at recognizing and memorizing “patterns” or “pictures.” In a simplified way, chess openings are actually a series of linked moves that establish a particular pattern of control on the board when executed. Part of your early learning should be to learn many of these patterns. The challenge is that while you are trying to move your pieces into one of your patterns, your opponent is trying to recognize it and choose moves that interrupt or break-up your pattern! Let’s look at a series of opening moves that white might make in a game. We’ll only place the white pieces on the board so you can concentrate on the moves and how they develop white’s pieces. We will also not trouble ourselves with what black does in reaction, so we can begin to understand the concept of creating an opening pattern.

A common move for beginners is

e2-e4, moving the King’s pawn two squares. Getting a Pawn or

two into the center of the board is the most common opening

strategy for white. See below, for white’s expanding control.

Now white brings his Knight into the game, taking advantage of the Knight’s ability to “jump-over” the

other pieces to expand white’s control of the center. See below,

for white’s expanding control.

White now brings out his other Knight, again taking advantage of the range of attack squares that the Knight can command rapidly by getting into the center of the board early in the game. See below, for white’s expanding

control.


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Opening Patterns Here are some useful ideas about pieces and their patterns during opening. Pawn Structure While Pawns are the weakest pieces on the board, they play critical and very different roles during the opening, middle and end game phases of any chess match. During the opening, Pawns establish territory and are the first pieces to exert control. However, they must be protected by other pieces or Pawns to survive and remain useful into the middle game. Pawn chains are the most common pawn structure, offering strong protection from capture while blocking Rooks and Queens from establishing control over Files or Ranks.

Knight Placement Pawns open the game, but Knights dominate the most squares early and provide protection for center Pawns. Knights are best suited for the center of the board because of the almost “circular” range of control they exert. A Knight on the edge of the board wastes force, by threatening non-existing squares off the edge of the board. Keep your Knights in the middle where they create problems for the other pieces.

Bishop Lines Bishops (like Rooks and Queens) are like Archers in that they shoot long lines of attack. Early in the game, moving Pawns into the center that open up the diagonal lines that Bishops shoot across provide for two benefits; control of the center and control of long diagonals of the board.


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Red Group – Practice Drill Number One Read and try to memorize the following common “ideas,” so that you can begin to develop a pattern to your game openings. While the actual moves will change from game to game, these principles will serve you well.

Open with … Center Pawns … … then Knights … … then Bishops …

to control the center.

Castle as soon as you can to protect your King and to bring one of

your Rooks toward the center files and the into the game.

Develop your other Rook and Queen after you have developed your center

and castled.

Use your Queen as a threat or to protect middle pieces … DO NOT run her around

the board too early.

Early in the game, protect Pawns with Knights or Bishops in the middle.

Later in the game, build “Pawn Chains” to protect them while your other pieces go on

the attack!


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Getting Your Game Together: Defense Let’s look at some of black’s defensive moves, using the white opening pattern example on page 27. Just a few ideas to give you a feel for the other side and to get you thinking.

White opens with e4. Black matches the move with an

opposing Pawn on e5. Mirroring moves can be a good strategy to

keep the early game balanced.

White now brings up his Knight, attacking the Pawn. Black wants

to protect that Pawn without using his King-side castling Pawns.

Black develops his Knight AND protects the Pawn from capture.

Trading a Knight for a Pawn would not be a good idea for white this early in the game.

White continues to try to control the center with his other Knight.

Now white is mirroring black.

Black balances the center with his other Knight … fairly even play. Once his Bishop is developed,

Black can castle.

White presses against the Knight with his Bishop, confident that he

has first-move control and is pressuring black.

Black begins the chase and goes on the offensive. He will force

white to deal with him, perhaps upsetting white’s rhythm.

White captures and black has made his first forcing move.

Developing his Bishop might allow him to keep white reacting.


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Tournament Play – Some Basic Rules of Behavior Generally, we want to represent our School in the best manner possible. That includes not only demonstrating “every-day” good manners, but also demonstrating good chess manners. We also want to make sure we hold our opponents to similar rules of behavior. Some basics for you to follow; GETTING HELP FROM JUDGES: During a tournament, if you have any questions or difficulties, simply raise your hand and quietly look around for a tournament judge to see you. Once the judge comes over to you, ask your question or explain your issue. The judge will guide you through the problem by asking some questions of you and your opponent. The judge WILL NOT make all of the decisions for you so knowing for yourself the rules of chess and what is and is not legal is very important. Watch your opponent very carefully and DO NOT accept everything he or she tells you as necessarily correct. If they say checkmate … MAKE SURE you are checkmated and cannot escape. Don’t just take their word for it. Examine the board and be sure you agree that you are checkmated before giving up a game. Focus … concentrate and watch the game very carefully to make sure you and your opponent follow the rules. If you think your opponent has done something illegal, ask a tournament judge for a ruling. POLITE AND QUIET TALK: Generally, as little talk as possible is a good idea for your chess play. Since there are usually hundreds of people at a chess tournament, you can imagine how noisy it would be if everyone were talking in their normal voice. So a quiet, polite voice is needed. Before your match, while you are sitting with your opponent, you might have some friendly conversation at a VERY LOW level. It is actually best and most polite to sit quietly until your match begins and concentrate on all of your chess thinking! During your match, only talk when pointing out an error or rules violation. Otherwise, remain quiet and concentrate on your game. Also, you do not need to say “check” each time you check your opponent. It is considered polite to assume that he or she knows they are in check. If they do not see that they are in check and they try to make a move that does not remove them from check, it is OK for you to point out that their move is illegal and to remind them that they are in check. When your match is over and others are playing, the quiet rule is even more important. Please be polite and respectful to the concentration of others who are still playing their best while you are finished and reserve your conversation and noises until you are in an area of the tournament away from the players. SAY “NO THANK-YOU” TO A DRAW: A trick that many experienced players might try on newcomers to chess tournament play is to offer a draw. If ANYONE reaches their hand out to you and asks if you want a draw … SAY NO!!! Generally, in your early play, it is best to play through to the end of a game to learn from your mistakes, rather than accept a draw. This will also keep you from mistakenly accepting a draw from an opponent trying to trick you! JUST SAY NO THANK-YOU TO A DRAW!!!


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TOUCH MOVE: You should examine the chessboard with your EYES ONLY before deciding on your moves. Once you have touched one of your pieces … YOU MUST MOVE THAT PIECE! You cannot touch, pick-up and play with a piece and then put it back and move another, unless there is no legal move for that piece. This can be a very difficult part of learning tournament play because at home or with your friends, this rule may not be used. Start following this rule in your friendly games, so you develop it as a good chess habit. Also, if you move one of your pieces to capture and touch the opponent’s piece YOU MUST MAKE THAT SAME MOVE AND CAPTURE. You cannot move the piece to another square. So don’t touch a piece until you are sure that you want to make the move … EVEN IF YOU REALIZE IT IS A BAD MOVE AFTER YOU TOUCH IT. It is too late and you must obey the touch move rules. Remember to USE THE RULE TO YOUR ADVANTAGE too! If your opponent touches a piece and then tries to move another … politely say “Touch Rules … you must move the first piece you touched.” “I ADJUST” or “J’ADOUBE:” The only time you may touch a piece (or pieces) that you are not moving is to adjust or align them. If one or more pieces are not lying squarely centered or are not properly on the board, you may adjust them. To do so, it MUST be your turn and you MUST ANNOUNCE that you are not making a move but are adjusting your pieces by saying “I Adjust” … or the French phrase “J’Adoube” just before you adjust them. COACHES, MOMS, DADS and OTHERS: It is not legal or polite to have any interaction, signs, hand-gestures or conversations with other people while you are playing. During your games, please avoid looking around and making contact or worse talking with anyone! You are supposed to concentrate on your game play, observe quiet rules and focus only on yourself and your opponent. Tournament judges are the only other people you should speak with while you are playing and then only to ask a question or get help with a problem. GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP … WIN, LOSE or DRAW: It is critical that no matter how your games end, you demonstrate good sportsmanship. No one enjoys losing. Losing can only be made worse if you also act poorly or angry after a loss. While you may be a little embarrassed, you should see every loss as an opportunity to learn from the mistakes you made. (This is why chess notation is so important, if you document your games, you can always review them and see where you went wrong.) Always end a game in which you lost by shaking the hand of your opponent, congratulating him on a “good game” and keeping a positive attitude about your chances in your next game. Good sportsmanship does not only apply to losing. When you win a game, try not to make your opponent feel too badly about his or her loss. Graciously shake their hand and tell them that they played a “good game” too. Some players demonstrating the best in sportsmanship will offer each other some advice on their play, as part of a nice way to end their game together. Be careful to observe the quiet talking rules if you do this. To learn more about the official rules governing U.S. Chess Federation Tournaments you may order the USCF’s OFFICIAL RULES OF CHESS 5th Edition (2003). To order, call 1-800-388-5464 and ask for BR940CP. Members price is $14.95.


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The Middle Game We’ve learned a little about opening our game and a little about defense. We will learn much more about openings and defenses in future classes and as we move onto other more advanced groups in the chess club. For now, we will spend some time learning what to do during the middle game. Some players don’t like thinking about the opening, middle and end game when they play … for others it is helpful to see the game as having these separate phases, so that they can better understand what they are supposed to be doing at different times during the game. In the opening, we know we are focusing on development of our pieces and trying to establish control of the board areas that help us with our strategy. Now we will move on to the Middle Game. Once you have developed your center Pawns, your Knights, your Bishops and have castled … you will notice that your choices for moving become harder to make. The board may feel a little “squeezed” or “tight” in space. You and your opponent will be controlling more and more squares which reduces the number of safe moves you can make. This is generally where the middle game begins. It is likely that some pieces will have begun to be exchanged. If they have not, now is a good time to start. Piece Exchanges – Making Room As the number of safe squares on the board is reduced, you need to begin thinking about capturing and losing some pieces. This is called Piece Exchange because that is what really happens. You or your opponent captures a piece, knowing that the piece you used will also be captured on the next move. The goal is always to try not to exchange a stronger piece for a weaker piece. This strength refers to the pieces Material Value. Refer to the chart on page 2 of this manual for a reminder of the Material Value of the pieces. Material Advantage One of the most important goals at this phase of your game is to try to gain and keep a Material Advantage. This means that if you are going to lose or sacrifice a piece, you need to make sure it is a better exchange for you. Let’s look at some exchanges.

• Losing a Pawn and capturing a Pawn is an even exchange at 1 point a piece. • Losing a Pawn and capturing a Knight is a better exchange and would give you a

Material Advantage because the value of the piece or material that you captured is 3 points while the value of your opponent’s capture is only 1 point. That 3-to-1 difference is called a Material Advantage. And keeping that advantage is a very good idea.

• Losing a Knight and capturing a Pawn is a Material Disadvantage and may give your opponent the ability to begin attacking you more aggressively and keeping the advantage all the way through checkmate.


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• Losing a Knight and Capturing a Bishop is an even exchange on points and depending on which piece you or your opponent like using more, there can be a slight advantage in game play.

• Losing a Queen and capturing a Pawn is a serious Material Disadvantage and very often will lead to game loss. It is very common for a player who loses a queen early in the game lose the game. The queen is incredibly valuable in the endgame.

If you are up a Pawn in early exchanges, try to make as many Pawn exchanges as you can and push toward the endgame. Being up one or two Pawns is often how games are won. Late in a game, these Pawns are promoted to one or two queens and usually lead to checkmate. Do the same if you are up a minor piece, but focus then on clearing the board to make room for that additional minor piece advantage to help you take control of the game. If you lose a Bishop in an early exchange, try to keep the squares that match the color of the Bishop you still have clear, so that you don’t block yourself on the board. Likewise, if your opponent has only one Bishop, try to control those colored squares or position Pawns on them to block him. Understanding piece values and piece exchange is a critical part of the middle game. We will learn more about this later. For now, try to Keeping Knights in the Middle-of-Everything! Remember that Knights attack in wide-range all around their position (see the Knight Placement diagram on page 28). Keeping Knights in the middle increases the number of squares that they control and keep you from wasting their power. Don’t let your Knights get trapped on the edge of the board in the middle game. Opening Files for Your Long-Shooters If you have exchanged a Pawn and opened up a file, try to position one of your Rooks or your Queen on that file to use their long-reach to control squares from a safe distance. Since your Bishop is also a long-shooter try to make sure you keep long diagonals open for them as well (see their movement diagrams on pages 6, 7 and 9) Pawn Chains for Blocking the Opponents Long Shooters Pawns linked on diagonals next to each other protect each other and provide a block for your opponent’s long-shooters. After you have been brave in your opening by having some Pawns on the center all alone, try to link them with other Pawns forming diagonal chains that act like fences against your opponent’s Bishops, Rooks and Queen. Your Pieces Support Each Other During the middle game, your pieces should not go off on solo adventures! You should always have two or more pieces attempting to control areas of the board or attacking certain pieces. When you capture or threaten a piece, you should try to discourage your opponent from counter-attacking by having one of your other pieces backing it up. Toward the end game when there are a lot more free squares and a lot more ways to escape from an attack, your pieces can act more independently.

St. Louise Chess handbook - Edl. Louise Chess Club 9/2004 Chess Basics - 3 - The Pieces At the...

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Transcript of St. Louise Chess handbook - Edl. Louise Chess Club 9/2004 Chess Basics - 3 - The Pieces At the...