Archive for the ‘Kids Chess’ Category
En Passant
There are a few exception in the rules of chess; things like pawn promotion, castling, and en passant are exceptions to how the pieces move. Castling is very commonly seen in chess games, pawn promotion is a lot less common, and en passant is almost unseen. It is so rare that many casual player do not know the rule or are confused about it.By the way, En Passant means “in passing” in French.
Here’s what poppin:
En Passant can only happen the move after your opponent moves one of his or her pawns two squares up. If your pawn is to the side of your opponents (which just moved two squares) you can go diagonally to capture it. Here what it looks like:
Your pawn moves forward to c5.
You opponent moves from b7 to b5.
- You then capture the pawn on b5 by moving to b6 with your pawn from c5.
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.
The Ven Diagram of Chess
The Ven Diagram of Chess is something I created to help explain what a player should try to do in a game of chess. Of course, we all know that a player must always strive to give a checkmate. This is a very general goal and most people would get frustrated if that is the only advice a coach would give.
The Chess Ven Diagram Visually Guides you to what you should be able to do. It does not show any specific moves, but instead explains the theory of how you will be able to create the opportunity for yourself to win on the chess board.
If you look at the Chess Ven Diagram you can tell that the main goal of chess is to checkmate your opponent. There are two things that you need to do to allow you to checkmate your opponent: Control the Board and Protect your King. You can protect your King by Castling either Queenside or Kingside. In order to control the board you must develop your pieces to powerful squares and stop your opponent from doing so. These powerful chess squares are most often in the middle. If you do these things you can attack your opponent and control the momentum of the game. This will allow you to then give a checkmate.
What is a pawn chain?
Pawn are the first piece that most players learn…but are by no means the simplest. They are a very unique piece for a variety of reasons:
1. They are the only pieces that cannot move backwards.
2. They are the only pieces that attack differently that they moves.
3. They are the only pieces that can be promoted.
Pawns are actually my favorite piece for these and many other reasons, but enough about pawns. Pawn chains are one the first strategies that a chess players learns when dealing with pawns. A pawn chain in when a group of pawns are in a diagonal protecting each other. This is beneficial because the pawns are much harder to attack for your opponent, and easier to defend for you. The pawn at the bottom of the pawn chain the only vulnerable one and therefore you can focus your defenses on him. Later on, more advanced players learn to coordinate their pawn chains with the color of their bishop. Having many pawns chains on the board leads to a closed position and is very powerful for a knight.
Discovery Attack!
A discovery attack is one of the best tactics that a player can use in a chess game. It is a chess tactic that will distract your opponent from your main attack…then if they don’t notice…DISCOVERY ATTACK!
Here’s how it works:
In this position (We are playing as white) we can use a discovery attack to win our opponents Queen and eventually win the game. Our Knight on e3 can move anywhere it wants to without fear or being taken, as our Rook on e2 will be attacking the opponents king and creating the discovery attack. In this instance, it is actually a discovery check, which is the best kind of discovery attack. Can you figure out where we should move our knight?
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If you are thinking f5 you are correct. By moving our knight to f5 we can attack the Queen and create a discovery check with our rook. The Queen is now lost for black, as it can only go to e3 or e6 to stop the discovery attack and both moves will lead to it being taken.
The Importance of the Mobil Duo
What, you might ask, is a mobil duo? It is a movable pair of pawns standing side by side on either the two center squares e4 and d4 (or e5 and d5 as black) or c4 and d4, or e4 and f4. What’s so great about it? Well, number one, your opponent has four squares that he can’t use when you have a mobil duo. Every move he has to think about how he can’t place any of his good pieces on those four squares that are covered by e4 and d4. He is constrained. He is cramped. He has to work around those squares. He should challenge those pawns by c5, e5, or d5 if he can. Break up that mobil duo. What else is so great about it? It’s mobil. You can push it and thereby often push through your agenda on the board. Push his pieces around. It might not be the right time to push them right away. Just because they are mobil doesn’t mean you have to move them. In fact, because of the constraining effect they have you should refrain from moving them as long as possible.
Happy Halloween Chess Players!
Perpetual Check
Have you ever heard the chess term perpetual check and wondered what is was? Like most chess terms it isnt hard to figure out: a perpetual check is a position in which one player is constantly repeated the same series of checks and his/her opponent has no options to do anything else. In a perpetual check position the game ends in a draw. Note that in some chess position the player that is being checked may have a choice to get out of the perpetual check but may leave themselves in a worse position, in which case they will most likely choose to end the game in a draw.
Look at the position below: can you find the correct move to force the perpetual check?
We have just added two new Perpetual Check Chess Practice Puzzle Worksheets to our Online Resource. Give them a try for additional practice.
Finding your chess style
Are you an attacker? Do you like lots of tactics? Maybe you should try some gambits. Or are you more of a positional player who likes to maneuver his knights around in closed positions. Try some openings that lead to closed positions, like the closed Sicilian or the Reti. Do you like to play it safe? Maybe try the Colle or the London system. Whatever your style of play there is a chess opening for you. You should figure out what kind of positions you like and what kind of openings lead to those positions. Don’t just find out what the world champions play or what the “experts” say are the best openings. Figure out what you like, and learn to play that. Because no matter what the experts say are the best openings, or what the computer says is the best move, you aren’t going to be able to play anything as well as something you like to play-something that matches your style. Be it closed games, open games, tactical positions or endgames with pawn structure advantages, decide which fits you and play that.
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