Posts Tagged ‘unique’
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.
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.
Skeleton Key Chess Set
This week’s unique chess set has a Halloween theme…being that October is the spookiest of all the months. The Chess set above is the Skeleton Key Chess Set, and for good reason. All of the pieces are keys and there are slots in the board for them to be inserted into with every move.
I was not able to find the artists deeper meaning behind the board; but was able to come up with a quote for this chess set: “Unlock a new possibility with every move.” This super cool chess set was designed by Dave Pickett.
Cool Chess Sets- Alice Chess Set
Wow! This is one of the coolest chess sets I have ever seen. What makes this chess set unique is not just that the chess pieces “disappear” when they are lifted off of the chess board, but that the artist who created it actually had a meaning for this. Long story short, with some creative thinking Yasmin Sethi, the artist who created this chess set, was able to make it so that when the pieces are off the board, they are indistinguishable. The meaning behind this is that a piece that is off the board, whether it is a Queen or Pawn, is the same… Insignificant! You should never waste time thinking about the pieces off the chess board and always focus on what is going on on the chess board. I would take some time to check out the details and more pictures of this chess set here.
Cool Chess Sets- Chess Set 4000-FM
This is a very cool chess set, it is 3d with a 2d appeal. It looks slick and makes sure that all the pieces are easily distinguishable. The pieces are made from soft calfskin leather and the board is made of pear-tree. The slots in the board hold the pieces perfectly to give the board a neat look whether you are starting the game or in the middle of the battle. Check out more about his board here.
Playing With a Goal
Often times students come to me to learn chess who already knows how to the play chess and ask to learn about chess strategies. There are many chess strategies that kids can learn, but there are also system of though that they must learn. These ways of thinking are, in my opinion, the most important parts of chess and are the ones most easily translate to other parts of their life. The very first of these that students of chess must learn is to play with a goal. This is tied very closely to the chess strategy of making sure each move has a purpose.
Every move needs a purpose, which means that the player needs to have a goal while playing the game of chess. This sounds obvious, but does not come naturally to the many kids of the current generation. The overall goal of chess is checkmate (to achieve it in the most efficient way), and every move needs to have that in mind.
Chess Scholarships
In addition to all the known benefits of chess, there are many college chess scholarships available out there that people don’t know about. Kenyon College offers $10,000 toward their tuition to the top 50 scholastic chess players in the country. The top 50 players are all above master level, so it is not an easy club to get into, but there are lots of other chess scholarships available as well. Chess in schools, and chess study is becoming a rather financially beneficial activity for kids and their families!
Earth Vs. Space Chess Match
Wow, I had known that chess spanned across the earth…but now chess is spanning the Galaxy!
Thats right, this is a Earth vs. Space Chess Match (which really is a team vs astronauts, sorry to disappoint all of you hoping to play chess against aliens) which is going on live right now! NASA Astronauts Greg Chamitoff and Greg H. Johnson launched into space on May 16th are playing against the Earth Chess Team.
Who you may ask is on this Earth Chess Team? EVERYONE! Anyone can vote to determine the Earths next chess move by visiting here:
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11169/629/
On the right side of the screen you should see a chess board. When it is Earth’s turn in the Chess Match, a series of options will appear and chess players can then vote on what they think the Earth Chess Team should do. You can also follow the Earth Vs. Chess Match here as well.
Help Team Earth Win!
The “Fast Break” in Chess
The Chicago Bulls are deadly on the fast break! The fast break consists of a basketball team having an advantage in players as they transition on the floor. Take a moment to think which fast break would be better?
A 5 on 4?
A 4 on 3?
A 3 on 2?
or a 2 on 1?
Any basketball player would agree that a 2 on 1 advantage on the fast break is the best. Any mathematician would agree as well. That is because when you are attacking the hoop (like Derrick Rose) with a 2 on 1 advantage, you have a 200% advantage. Compare that to a 150% advantage with a 3 on 2 and only a 133% advantage with a 4 on 3. In chess, like in basketball, you need to capitalize on the advantage before the position changes; hence the Fast Break.
So how do chess players use this information to help them win. Well…When a chess player has the material advantage in the chess game (this means that a player has more chess pieces than their opponent) it is advantageous for them to create even trades. An even trade could be a pawn for a pawn, a knight for a knight, a bishop for a knight, or any trade where a piece of equal value is captured by each team. The less pieces that are left on the chess board, the more that players advantage grows!
If you have the advantage, make sure you capitalize on the Fast Break on the Chess Board before the position changes.
Chess Language- “CheckMate”
The chess phrase CheckMate - to attack (a chess opponent’s king) in such a manner that no escape or defense is possible, thus ending the game - by some theories comes from the Persian phrase ’shah mat,’ translating into ‘the king is defeated.’
Checkmates USA | Creative Services by D1MA
