Archive for the ‘Chess Strategies and Tactis’ Category
Viswanathan Anand is still the Champ!
Congratulations to Viswanathan Anand, the current world champion at Chess! He beat Boris Gelfand to defend his world title but it as not easy. Viswanathan Anand says that this was his toughest world chess title defense of his 5 and still has no plans to retire. Read more about the match here.
Acknowledging our mistakes in Chess & Life
One of the most important things that we can learn from chess is how to acknowledge our mistakes. It has hard to admit we have made a mistake, and often times its painful to look back at it…at least at first. In chess, we keep track of our games with notation and these are often times kept in a chess notebook. Sometimes, a student will rip out or cross out a game they are embarrassed of. …sometimes just stop keeping track of games once they start losing.
This is not correct to do. Losses in chess (especially emotional ones) play just as much of a part if not more than wins in shaping a chess players style of play. This doesn’t just refer to the moves that they choose to make, but often times how they act as chess players and people.
For example, if a chess player losses in 4 moves with 99% of their time left, they can learn to play slower and make sure to take the times to think about their opponents moves right from the beginning of the game. There is no need to hide this game, it is much more productive to make sure to remember it as a reminder to never repeat the same mistakes and be proud of improving as a player.
And obviously, this approach to chess can be related to life.
Teaching Kids How to Lose
At the end of each session in Chess Classes we have a friendly kids tournament; its the time for the kids to play serious chess and really show their me or their teacher what they have learned. It is a no elimination tournament with no time limits and prizes dont just go to the winners, but to everyone that has shown that they have imporved over the course of the last session of chess club.
When I look for improvement, it isn’t just in their chess games. One of the most important things that kids in our classes are taught is how to have the right attitude in competition…for many kids this means that they need to know how to lose.
Chess is a competition, and in most games there will be a winner and loser. For most kids they correlate winning to good and losing to bad. They leave a lost game or sometimes even a losing position feeling bad, upset, and negative in general. We teach the kids a much more positive approach to losing and not only makes them feel good but is also much more productive.
First of all, whether they won or lost, I want my students to be proud of the games they played. Many kids and even adults shy way from chess so the fact that they are willing to play and make tough decisions on the board that stress their brain is commendable enough. Secondly, a loss is just a chance to improve. Often times when you lose you know your mistakes, and in this case it is importantly to consciously look over them to make sure you don’t repeat them…just like in real life. If you do not know you mistakes, you can always ask your opponent. Chess players will often chat about their games afterwards and talk about different ways the game could have done depending on variations( routes that could have been taken). Over and over I see kids change their attitude to not fear losing and improve their chess skills and general attitude drastically.
All of us have dealt with losing at one point or another, and I never shy my students away from the experience. It is much easier to learn to lose over the chess board than anything else, and I make sure to mention to my students that the same approach can be used in all aspects of their lives, and hope they do. Winning gracefully is a whole another skill for another post!
Chess is a Symphony of Pieces
When teaching chess to kids its important that you find a way to explain chess theory in a way that related to them. Many kids enjoy music and even play musical instruments; so with them I try to relate chess to music.
Chess is very much like music, and a good chess game could easily be compared to a beautiful musical composition. Just think of each piece as a musical instrument. In a good musical composition all the instruments are working together create something that people would enjoy listening to. A song with just one or two musical instruments wouldn’t be as interesting and fun as one with many more.
In chess you are also creating a composition. Like a composer with his or her instruments, a good chess players uses all his or her pieces together in combination to achieve a goal. Just like a composer, a chess player’s personality shows a lot in their chess game.
Its no coincident so many musicians are also chess players, and vice versa!
The Pin
The Pin is a very important tool that every chess player should have in his or her repertoire. The word pin literally means that something cannot move. For example, if a poster is pinned to wall, it cannot move. In wrestling, a pin is when your opponent cant move. In chess, a pin is when a piece cannot move.
Creating a pin in chess can be useful, but it does not always win a piece. Above, the King from A1 can move to B2 to protect the Knight. Whenever you know a chess piece cannot move, it is always a good idea to put pressure on it, and attack it with more chess pieces.
The Bishop from H6 can move to G7 to pin the Knight. The King is expected to protect it by moving to B2. The Black player can then win the knight by attacking it with the pawn on B5 by moving it to B4. The white player then does not have to defend the white knight, and cannot move it either because it is pinned. Remember: when a piece is pinned, take advantage of it by putting pressure on the pin.
Getting out of Check
Check is one of the most, if not the most, important concepts in chess. Check means the king is in danger. This means that the player whose king is in danger MUST get their king out of check.
There are three ways that a player can get out of check
1. Move - This means to move your king out of danger.
2. Block- This means moving a piece in between your king and the piece attacking it. Note: you cannot block a check from a Knight because it skips over pieces.
3. Attack- This means you are attacking the piece that is putting your king in check. You can use your king to attack or another piece on your team.
A good chess player will look through all his/her options before deciding. In each position, the correct move may be to move, block, or attack, but you will never know until you look at all the options.
Take a look at this position, what should the white team do?
What do you think the white king should do. He can move out of the way to b1 or b2. He can also use his queen to block on a2, but the best option is to capture the rook on a7 with the queen on f2.
Playing Chess in your mind (Mental Chess) pt.1
Just recently I was asked about playing chess without a chess board; its a really interesting way to play chess. The point is this: if two players can both visualize a chess board and remember each of their moves (which they dictate in chess notation) they can play a full chess game in their heads without ever using a chess board!
I know that for people who dont play chess this sounds insane, and to those that already play chess it may sound like an unattainable challenge. All you readers will be glad to know that there is a way developed of how to learn to start playing chess in your mind.
The goal here is not to take on the whole game right when your starting, but to break it down. One way to do this is to play one of the alternative chess games (chess variants) like pawn wars to practice and train your memory. Once you do this, you can add in more pieces and really exercise your brain. Tomorrow I will write about other methods to train your brain for Mental Chess.
CheckMatesUSA Blog is Back
We’ve been upgrading other parts of the website, but now the blog is back! Check Back everyday for new articles and find out more than you ever imagined about chess.
Also, if you have questions about chess would like us to write an article about something particlar in chess, please let us know.
-George Krasnopolskiy
Castling in Chess
Castling is a unique and special move in chess. Castling is one of the three main goals in the opening of the game and you SHOULD do it in every game you play. Castling is the one time in a chess game that you can move two pieces at the same time!
Why would you castle? Well…just think of the word. Chess is a medieval battle and the castle is where the King goes to stay safe.
You should know that there are two ways to Castle: Kingside and Queenside. Chess Players are very logical and therefore you probably correctly assumed that Castling Kingside is going towards the rook on the King’s Side. The Queenside Castle is towards the side of the Queen. Because castle is such an important and special move in chess there are some special rules that a player must obey in order to castle.
Rule #1: To castle in chess you need to make sure that you have moved all the pieces in between the King and the Rook on the side you want to castle to.
This Player is ready to Castle Queenside. Notice that it takes longer to be able to castle queenside bause there are more chess pieces in the way.
Rule #2: To castle in chess you need to make sure that your King is not in Check and will not travel through check.
Rule #3: To castle in chess you need to make sure that your King and Rook (that you are castling with) have not moved. If either piece has moved you lose the ability to castle.
Finally, if your King and Rook have not moved, your King is not in check and will not travel through it, and there are no chess pieces in between the King and the Rook, then you can castle. Move your King two square and bring the rook around him. You final Castle should look like this:
What is a stalemate?
Stalemate is either a relief to you or a huge disappointment. A stalemate in chess is one of the four ways to achieve a draw (a tie game). A stalemate happens when a player cannot make any moves. In chess you are never allowed to skip your turn; therefore, if you cannot move the game is over in a tie. Look at the position below: can you find how white is able to force a stalemate?
If you thought of Queen taking h7 you are correct. Black has no option but to take the Queen and White now cannot move: stalemate. Moving the Queen to g4 or any other square where it can get taken doesn’t work because black does not have to take the queen…therefore the game doesn’t have to end in stalemate.
A stalemate can be a huge relief to you if you are losing but also a huge disappointment to you if you are winning. In a losing position you must know how to force a stalemate. if you are winning, you must know how to avoid giving your opponent a stalemate. You really don’t have to worry about a stalemate until the end of the game. You can practice forcing stalemates with chess puzzles that we have posted online.
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