Category Archives: chess beginners

Special Chess Moves – Rules of Castling

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This is the seventh in my series of articles for the absolute chess beginner. In this article, we will cover the whys and wherefores of castling.

But first … let me mention that you should never refer to a Rook as a “castle.” You castle when you move your King and Rook in the same move. “Castle” is a move, not a chess piece.

Castling

Castling is a special move of the King and one of his Rooks (it could be either one) in which the King moves two squares toward the corner, and the Rook toward which it moves jumps over the King and lands in the adjacent square. There are several reasons for making this move … besides it being cool.

Is castling for cowards?

Your King needs to be safe! (If you want to win the game, that is.) The first and most important reason to castle is to move your King away from the center of the board. The center is generally where all the action is and you want your King away from the center of activity. If the King is in the corner, the other pieces have a much easier job of defending the King, and it’s much harder for the enemy pieces to attack in the corner than in the center.

Get your Rook out of the corner!

The second reason to castle is because your Rook starts its life in the corner of the board. The Rook can work perfectly well from the corner (it’s the only piece that isn’t hampered by being in the corner), but castling helps your Rooks for two reasons: in the center, there are more likely to be pawn exchanges, and thus open files for your Rooks to travel on. Although the Rook is equally powerful on any square on an empty board, the board is usually not empty! Since center pawns get exchanged more quickly than the other pawns (usually), the Rook should get to the center to protect your center pawns and to benefit from the lines that open up when the center pawns are exchanged. And second, if you get all your pieces except the King off the first rank (where all your “officers” start the game), the King is the only piece preventing the Rooks from protecting one another. If you castle, the King goes toward the corner and the Rooks are suddenly mutually protecting one another.

Make two moves in one!

Castling is the only move that allows you to move two pieces in one move. If your object is to mobilize your forces more quickly than your opponent (and that should be your objective), then the ability to move two pieces in fell swoop has got to be appealing.

Castling Rules

Once during a game, a player may move his King two squares to the right or left and move the Rook on that side (the Rook toward which the King moved) over the King to the square adjacent to the King.

There are five conditions that must be met in order to castle:

  1. The squares between the King and the Rook used for castling must be empty. You can’t castle over your own or enemy pieces!
  2. The King may not castle into or through check. If the King would be in check at the end of the castling move, or if the square that the King passes over is guarded by an enemy piece, then castling is not allowed.
  3. The King may not castle out of check.
  4. The King may not have made a previous move. If the King has moved (even if it subsequently moved back to its home square), castling is not permitted.
  5. If one of the Rooks has moved, castling is prohibited with that Rook. Castling would still be permitted with the other Rook, provided it has not moved and the other conditions are met.

My next article will cover questions about castling that many beginners (and even some advanced players) might misunderstand.

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How the Chess Pawn Moves

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This is the sixth in my series of articles for the absolute chess beginner. In this article, we’ll see how the chess pawns move and capture.

The Pawn in Chess

The pawn is the foot-soldier of chess. Each side has 8 pawns, and they start the game lined up in front of the more powerful “officers” of the chessboard. Although the pawn is the “weakest” of the chess pieces, each pawn is very important; the loss of even a single pawn without compensation may mean the loss of the game! And by advancing to the other side of the chessboard, the pawn may become the most powerful piece on the board! (See my article on pawn promotion.)

Normal pawn movement

The pawn normally moves one space vertically, i.e., “up” the board, toward your opponent’s first rank. The pawn never moves horizontally (i.e., from side to side) and never moves backward. If the pawn moves forward and meets another pawn or piece, it’s movement is blocked until the other piece is moved or captured.

Very often one pawn from each side will meet in the middle of the board and block each other’s movement. Unlike the other chess pieces, the pawn does not capture enemy pawns or pieces that obstruct its normal movement; if the pawn’s normal movement is obstructed, the pawn is effectively stopped in its tracks.

Normal pawn captures

Although the pawn does not capture if its normal movement is blocked, it can capture. The pawn captures ahead one square diagonally.

(The pawn never captures “backward” diagonally.) The pawn may capture any enemy piece (even the Queen!) that dares to stand one square diagonally from the pawn.

 

The initial two-square move

The first time that you move each of your pawns, you may move it ahead two square instead of one. This is optional; you may also move your pawns ahead one square on its initial move. This option only applies to the first move of each of your pawns, but it does apply to the first move of each of your pawns. Thus, you may make 8 two-square moves, one for each pawn.

If you’re interested in learning the basics of chess, I recommend Learn Chess: A Complete Course, which will teach you all about the fundamentals of good chess play. If you’re interested in some more advanced material on the pawn, I highly recommend Pawn Power in Chess, one of the great classic books on chess strategy! It will teach you about pawn structure in chess and how the other pieces depend on and use the pawns to their advantage.

Look for the next article in this series, about the “special” chess moves, including pawn promotion and the “en passant” pawn capture.

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How the Chess Pieces Move

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This is the fifth article in my series for the absolute chess beginner. This article (and the video) is about how the pieces move.

Again, I’m assuming no prior chess knowledge. If you don’t know how to set up the board or pieces, look at my previous blog post entitled “How to set up the chessboard.” In this article, we will review how the pieces move and capture. In future posts, we will see how the pawns move and capture, and review the concepts of check, checkmate, castling, and some of the special rules.

 

In all of these blog posts, I’m using both video and text. This will allow you the choice to learn in whichever way suits you best. Some people learn better from reading, and some from seeing or hearing. Hopefully we’ve got you covered. :-)

Now on to how the pieces move!

In general

Generally, the pieces move and capture in a straight line. The only exception is the Knight. The pieces never move over or through their own or enemy pieces, again except the Knight, which is allowed to “jump over” both friendly and enemy pieces. The pieces cannot change direction in the middle of the move, again except for the Knight, which makes an “L” shaped move.

In most cases, your piece can not move through your own pieces. Your pieces will block the movement of your own pieces. The enemy pieces block the movement of your pieces as well; though if an enemy piece blocks your movement, you can capture it (with one exception, which I’ll cover in a future article).

How to capture

A word about capturing. You can only capture the enemy pieces, never your own. In every instance (with one exception … the mysterious en passant capture by the pawn), a capture is made by moving your piece to the square where the enemy piece stands, removing the enemy piece, and replacing it with your own. You can only capture one enemy piece per turn.

How does the King move?

Let’s start with the King, which is the simplest. The King can make move (or capture) one square in any direction. If you put your King in the center of an empty board, you can see that he can move to eight different squares. If an enemy piece were standing on any of those squares, the King could capture that piece by moving onto the square where the piece is standing. The captured piece is removed and the King replaces it where it stood.

The King can also make a special move called “castling.” I have another article on the special moves, which includes a section on castling … which is a combined move of the King and Rook. (Coming soon!)

How does the Rook move?

The Rook moves vertically or horizontally in a straight line. It can move forward or backward, left or right. Again, like the King, the Rook can capture any enemy piece that is in its line of movement. In capturing, the Rook replaces the enemy piece, which is removed from the board.

How does the Knight move?

The Knight’s move is “L” shaped. It can move up two and over one, or up one and over two. It can also move back two and over one, or back one and over two. Watch the video to see the Knight move demonstrated. The Knight is unique among the pieces in that it can “jump over” friendly or enemy pieces. Thus, in the starting position, all the other pieces require the pawns to move to get out of the way. The Knight can move regardless of the blocking pawns and pieces. The Knight captures only pieces that are on the square it would land on; it doesn’t capture any enemy pieces that it can “jump over.” None of the other pieces are allowed to make this “jumping” move … well … except for castling, which we’ll cover in another article.

How does the Bishop move?

The Bishop moves diagonally any number of unobstructed squares. It can move either forward or backward. And it can capture any enemy piece that is obstructing its movement. You should note that a Bishop always moves on the same colored squares. White’s Queen-side Bishop, which starts on a dark square (the c1 square), remains on the dark squares for the entire game. This goes for all the Bishops.

How does the Queen move?

I’ve saved the best for last! The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and perhaps the simplest to explain its movement. It can move any number of spaces in a straight line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. It can move either forward or backward, and captures any enemy piece that would block its movement.

How does the Pawn move and capture?

I’ll have another article soon about how the Pawn moves and captures.

The Chess Rule book!

If you want to get a good book to explain the rules of chess from a practical standpoint, you can’t do better than Learn Chess: A Complete Course. And if you want the official version of the rules from the U.S. Chess Federation, get the chess rule book. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I (or some friendly visitor) will try to answer your question. Be sure to read the rest of the blog posts about how the pieces move.

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How to Set Up a Chess Board

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The Correct Chess Set Up

In order to start playing a game of chess, you must first set up the pieces properly.

The simplest way to show you how to set up the pieces properly is to show you a diagram that has the proper setup. Here it is:

chess board setup

You can also check out this video I made to show you how to set up the chess board.

If you need to know what the pieces look like, you can review this blog post about the chess pieces. There are a couple of things to keep in mind as you set up the pieces:

  • Make sure to set up the chess board with “white on the right,” i.e., with a white (or light) square in the corner at each player’s right.
  • Put the Queens “on their own color.” The White Queen goes on the light square next to the King, and the Black Queen goes on the dark square next to the Black King.

Also, if you’re playing with a chess clock, be sure to set up the clock on White’s left (though Black is commonly given the option of putting the clock on the side he prefers).

If you’ve never seen a chess diagram before, you should know how to tell the King from the Queen. Again, the King usually has a cross on his head.

chess king

And the Queen has the crown with several points … it looks like a tiara.

chess queen

That’s it. I’ll have more videos for the absolute chess beginner soon. If you would like a book to learn about the basics of chess, I have a couple of recommendations for you. Learn Chess, A Complete Course is an excellent book to cover all the basics of how to play chess. Another great book for the chess beginner is Logical Chess: Move By Move. This book is great because it explains every move for every game in the book. Just the thing for a new chess player who wants to learn. (It was my first chess book too!)

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How to Use Chess Clocks – Should I Buy a Digital Chess Clock?

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I’m continuing my series of articles and videos for the absolute chess beginner. This post will be about chess equipment in general, focusing on chess clocks. I’ll have a little advice about how to use the chess clock and some advice on what kind of clock you should buy.

A standard item of equipment that every chess player should have is a chess clock (sometimes called a “chess timer” or “game timer.”) A chess clock is great for playing with your friends, especially if you want to play speed chess (a/k/a “blitz”). Speed chess games are usually played at 5 minutes per side for the entire game. It’s a lot of fun, and good practice.

Blitz chess can be addictive, and it can also be bad for your chess if you don’t mix in slow chess (an hour or longer per side per game).

Do I Need a clock?

If you’re going to play in tournaments, you do need a clock. You can get by without one, but you will find yourself begging a clock off other players when your opponent shows up without a clock. Get your own clock; you’ll have a lot of fun with it and you’ll be prepared for tournaments.

By the way, a chess clock can be used for other games, and I’ve even read of chess clocks being used in a court of law to time the lawyers!

How does a chess clock work?

A chess clock simply has two timers, one for each side. After you have moved your piece, you push the button (or lever) on your side of the clock. This stops your clock and starts your opponent’s clock. After he has made his move, he pushes the button or lever on his side of the clock (“punches his clock”), which stops his clock and starts yours.

The clock will have an indicator for when the time has expired for one of the players. On the old clocks, this was a flag that is raised by the minute hand as it approaches the top of the hour, and falls (theoretically) at 12:00:01. When the flag falls, you’re out of time and you lose. (Hopefully it’s your opponent’s flag that has fallen.)

The proper way to use your clock during a game is to make your move, then push the button (or lever) to stop your clock with the same hand that you used to move your piece. If your flag falls before your opponent’s, and you haven’t checkmated him, you lose.

Should I get a digital chess clock?

First, the mechanical chess clocks work perfectly well, and they’re often less expensive (though you can get some very expensive mechanical chess clocks). The mechanical clock that I show in my video cost me $24.00 in 1974, has seen lots of abuse (and a lot of chess), and it still works fine.

One advantage that a digital clock has is that it can usually be programmed to accommodate time increments or time delays. (These are where a certain number of seconds are added to each player’s time for every move or the clock doesn’t begin running for a certain number of seconds after the clock is punched.) Very few tournaments use time delays; for practical purposes, you usually won’t need this function.

Here is a link to a very good practical chess clock for not too much money (similar to the clock that has lasted me more than 30 years), and here’s a link to a good digital chess clock.

If you want to get all the equipment you need for tournaments or club play, you can get a package of chess board, set, and clock (a good analog clock), with a bag to carry them all. It’s a great idea!

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Chess Pieces – What do they look like? What set should I buy?

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What do the chess pieces look like?

I suppose one of the first questions the absolute beginner would ask is, “which piece is the castle?” And “which is the King and which the Queen?”

I’ll answer all those questions in this article.

So first things first. There is no “castle.” There is a move called “castling” (see my video about how to castle) but the piece that is often incorrectly referred to as the “castle,” is actually the “Rook.” But the Rook does actually resemble the tower of a castle.

The Knight is usually fairly obvious, nearly always incorporating some representation of a horse.

The King and the Queen might be a bit tricky. One sure sign that the piece is the King is that it’s the tallest piece on the board. The King also usually has a cross on the top of his head, and the Queen wears a crown that looks more like a tiara or coronet.

The Bishop wears a hat with a distinct slash. I think this is supposed to remind us of the cleric’s mitre

The Pawn is the smallest of the chess pieces, and normally has a simple round head.

What kind of chess pieces should I buy?

For the beginning player, a sturdy inexpensive set that isn’t eccentric (no Civil War sets yet, please!). A good choice is the simple plastic pieces that come with a vinyl roll-up board. These pieces will last for years, and can be used for casual play, club play, or even tournament play.

Generally, the King should be between 3-¼ and 4 inches tall. The Kings in some sets will be slightly bigger, but a 5-inch King is not acceptable for tournament play. The sets that have 2-½-inch kings are too small for tournaments.

For a tournament set, the pieces should be of the standard “Staunton” form. Other sets can be difficult to distinguish one piece from another. Collecting chess sets can be fun, but you should prefer the standard to the off-beat when buying a set for serious play or study. The “cartoon character” set might be fine for your family room, but it’s not right for the chess club or tournament setting.

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How to Play Chess – Which Board Should I Buy? – Which Way Does It Go?

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I’m going to put together a series of videos to teach the absolute beginner about how to play chess. I’m not going to assume any chess knowledge, so I’ll be covering all the basics, with some tips and advice I’ve gathered from 50 years of playing chess.

I hope to answer two questions in this article: what chessboad should I buy? How do I orient the board for a game?

Which way do I set up the board?

The last question is easy … remember this rule: white on the right. Orient the board so that the corner nearest to you and on your right is white (or light-colored). Notice that the board in this shot has a light-colored square in the lower-right corner.

Also, if you have a board that has the labels along the edges for the ranks and files, the a1 square (which is a black or dark square) is at the lower-left hand corner of the player of the White pieces.

If you want to know how to set up the pieces, I’ll show you how to do that in my next article, entitled “How to Play Chess, How to Set Up the Pieces.”

What chessboard should I buy?

First here’s what NOT to do … DON’T get the cheap department store sets. What’s wrong with the department store set, I hear you ask?

  1. The board is cheap cardboard … too flimsy for young players.
  2. The squares are too small … not good for older players or tournament chess.
  3. They are usually red and black … that’s a Checkerboard, not a chessboard.
  4. You don’t save much money. For $5.00 at a department store, you get a small checkerboard with hollow plastic pieces, when for only $2.00 or $3.00 more you can get a good, durable, properly-sized chess set that is the most common chess set you’ll see at tournaments. Don’t cheap out on this. (Get a good tournament chess set here.)

What color squares?

Almost anything will do. The squares are often referred to as black squares or white squares, but you can use black and white, green and buff (which is what I prefer), maroon and white, red and white, green and white; you just need a good contrast between the dark and light squares. DON’T use a black and red checkerboard! :-)

Some wood chess sets use dark and light colored woods for the chess board, and that works very well. (If you’re looking for a high quality chess set, there are some very good ones available that should satisfy your up-scale chess playing friend or loved one.

For only a couple dollars more, you can get a much better set that would actually be useful for playing casual games at home, with friends, at a chess club, or even a chess tournament. Believe it or not, the $8.00 vinyl chess board and set that you can find at this link is the most common set and board used at chess tournaments. Spend the little bit more to get the right set for yourself or your young chess player.

How big should the board be?

Generally, most chess boards have 2 1/4-inch squares. One problem with the department store chess sets is that the boards are too small. Even 2-inch squares are slightly too small.

How much money should I spend?

It depends. If you’re buying a first chess set for a young player, get the inexpensive vinyl roll-up board with plastic pieces. This set and board will last a long time, stands up to the worst abuse, and is very commonly used in chess clubs and tournaments.

If you want a slightly better set, you can get a very nice wooden chess set for not too much money.

If you want a very nice set, plan to spend some money and get a wood set with wood board; but don’t plan to take it to chess tournaments … set it up in your den or family room to play chess on and add to the decor.

The best place to get the right chessboard now is to shop online. The boards and sets you can get at most department stores are just not suitable.

Look for my next video on how to set up the pieces!

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What is a Chess Strategy?

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Any chess player who wishes to learn to defeat his opponents consistently must learn the basic chess strategies that have stood the test of time.  But what do we mean by a chess strategy?

Chess play can be divided broadly into strategy and tactics.  Tactics refer to the exact moves required to win material (a pawn or a stronger piece) or gain a particular objective. Strategy, no the other hand, tells you what to do with that extra material or what objectives you’re aiming for.

A strategy might be thought of as a plan, and might be thought of without thinking of particular moves. A strategy can usually be put into words; tactics usually requires thinking of a line or lines of moves.

Chess strategies might include any of the following:  endgame strategies, middlegame strategies, opening strategies, what to do with extra material, pawn strategies, or how to conduct an attack on your opponent’s king.  One can even include meta-strategies, such as how to learn tactics, how to think at the board, clock management, etc.

One of the best strategies is to add to your library of good chess literature.  If you’re just starting out in chess — and even if you’re an intermediate player — one of the best books to give you a good foundation is Learn Chess: A New Way For All.; The book covers all the basics for the beginning player (including the rules of chess and chess notation), a good section on tactics, opening strategy, and suggestions for ways to progress to advanced chess knowledge.

This is a must-have book for any chess player who wants to begin to take the game seriously, as it covers the basic chess strategies essential to a good foundation.

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