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ОглавлениеAll the Right Moves
Nobody knows for sure if the story I told you at the beginning of this book is actually true.
Chess is so old, and is played in so many places in the world, that it’s difficult to trace its roots. There are many theories, but very few definite answers.
Where and when chess was invented is a mystery.
But most scholars agree that the game was invented to entertain the ruling class and to help them think about how to strategize in battle.
The Object of the Game
Two players compete in chess; one uses 16 light pieces, the other 16 dark pieces.
No matter what their actual color, the player with the light pieces is always called “White,” while the one with the dark pieces is always “Black.”
The object of the game is for one player to trap the other player’s King.
How, you ask? That’s what this chapter is all about.
Know the Territory
The chessboard is the battlefield where it all takes place. Think of it as your territory, the home that you need to defend!
It’s a big square made up of 64 smaller squares – 32 light, 32 dark.
There are eight rows lined side-by-side, horizontally. These are called ranks.
And there are eight rows stacked up-and-down, vertically. These are called files.
Figure 2-1: A rank
Figure 2-2: A file
When you set up the board, check and make sure that the lower right corner for both players is a white square.
Remember this with a simple rhyme:
White on the right.
If you have a chess board and chess pieces, get them out now and set up the board in front of you. Follow along with your hands and you’ll learn twice as fast.
Your Army
The chess pieces are the army you command. They protect your territory and your King, so get to know them well.
Each of the chess pieces has its own personal style. Some move forward, some move side-to-side, some move diagonally, and some can do combinations of moves.
Each player gets:
The Right Words
When talking about chess, it’s important to remember that there is a difference between “chess pieces” and “pieces.”
The word “pieces” is used only to describe Rooks, Knights, Bishops and the Queen.
It can include the King as well, but he’s usually just called “the King.”
What matters here is that pawns are not pieces.
When I use the word “pieces” in this book, I’m not talking about pawns.
When I want to discuss the entire set, I’ll use the words “chess pieces,” which includes all the pieces and pawns.
This rule of thumb is often true whenever chess play is discussed, though sometimes “chessmen” is used instead of “chess pieces.” I don’t like the term “chessmen” though, because they’re not all men!
You wouldn’t want to upset the Queen would you?
So keep the words straight:
Pawns – The pawns.
Pieces – Rooks, Knights, Bishops, the Queen and (sometimes) the King.
Chess pieces – Any or all of the pieces and pawns.
A piece is a piece
A pawn is a pawn
The King is the King
And that’s everything
One more note about naming: The Queen and Rooks are sometimes called the major pieces, while the Bishops and Knights are the minor pieces.
This is because, as you will see, the Queen and Rooks are more powerful than the Bishops and Knights.
Line Up!
The chess pieces are set up in two rows. The front row is made up of the eight pawns. To set up the back row:
1 Start by putting your two Rooks on the outside edges, one on the far left, one on the far right.
2 Next, moving from the outside in, fill in the six open squares between the Rooks. Put the two Knights beside the Rooks.
3 Put your Bishops beside the Knights.
4 Now only the two center squares are empty. This is where the King and Queen stand. But be careful, because their position changes depending on whether you’re playing White or Black.The key to remember is that the Queen is vain, and she likes her clothes to match her square.So put her on the light square if she’s the White Queen and on the dark square if she’s the Black Queen. The King goes next to her.
Set your chess pieces into position now and check to make sure that they match this picture:
Figure 2-3: The chessboard set up for play. Notice that the bottom right square is a white square.
When you look at the board, imagine a vertical line running up and down, right through the middle, which splits the board in half between the Queens and the Kings.
The half with the Kings on it is called the King’s Side, and the half with the Queens on it is called the Queen’s Side.
The pieces on the King’s half are named for him – the King’s Bishop, King’s Knight and King’s Rook.
The pieces on the Queen’s half are named for her – the Queen’s Bishop, Queen’s Knight and Queen’s Rook.
Now, imagine a horizontal line running sideways through the middle of the board.
This is the Frontier Line.
It divides the territory into halves, one for White and one for Black.
Each player’s half is four ranks–the two where the pieces and pawns stand at the beginning, and the two open ranks ahead of them.
Pass beyond the line and you’re in enemy territory!
Figure 2-4: King’s Side, Queen’s Side, and the Frontier Line.
The Power of Each Piece
Now that your armies are ready, the battle begins!
All of the chess pieces are after the same thing: to weaken the defenses of the other side in order to trap the enemy King.
The chess pieces do this in two ways: By controlling squares and by capturing the other side’s chess pieces.
Each chess piece captures another by moving into a square that an enemy chess piece occupies.
The captured piece or pawn is then taken off the board and removed from play.
Let’s get to know each of your chess pieces individually and learn how each of them move, capture and control.
The King
The King is your main man. In most chess sets, he’s the tall piece with the cross on his head.
The entire game is based around what happens to him.
With every move you make, you should be keeping two things in mind:
• Protect my King
• Go after my opponent’s King
But the King has a problem. He’s slow and he can’t move around much. In fact, he can only move one square per turn.
But he can move in any direction: up, down, left, right, or diagonally. Like this:
Figure 2-5: Movement of the King
The King can capture other pieces by moving into their square, but at the beginning of the game you shouldn’t use him that way. He’s not there to attack; leave that to his army.
Remember, half of the game is about defending your King.
So keep him safe and out of danger! He should be protected and hidden away, avoiding enemy chess pieces at all costs.
At the end of the game the King can come out to fight, but we’ll get to that later.
The Queen
The King is the most important piece in the game, but his wife, the Queen, is the strongest piece. She towers over everyone else in ability. She’s got the power, and she knows it!
The Queen can move up, down, left, right, diagonally–any direction she wants–along ranks, files and diagonals. She can also go as far as she wants in one move–one square, the entire length of the board and everything in between. She’s the one piece your opponent fears most. Use her correctly and she will go a long way in helping you win the game.
Figure 2-6: Movement of the Queen
The Rook
The two Rooks, sometimes called “castles” because they’re shaped like the towers of a castle, start out on the outer edge of the board. Rooks move in straight horizontal or vertical lines, either along ranks or along files, like this:
Figure 2-7: Movement of the Rook
Like the Queen, the Rook can move as many squares as he wants in one move. And while he can’t move in diagonals, he’s still the second most powerful piece in the game. He can dominate and control the entire rank or file he’s on, no matter how far away he is from an enemy. He’s powerful for both offense and defense, so use him wisely!
The Bishop
Bishops are the pieces shaped like a rounded pillar. They usually have a slit cut out of the top that looks like a frowning mouth (this is called a mitre). The Bishops are the “slanters” of the chess board because they only move in diagonals, never in straight lines along ranks or files. Like the Queen and Rook, they can move as far as they want in one move.
One of your Bishops starts on a light square, the other starts on a dark square, and neither one ever leave the color he starts on. This is important when you think about your Bishop and how to use him. Imagine one of them as the protector of the light squares, and the other as the protector of the dark squares.
Take a look and watch how he moves:
Figure 2-8: Movement of the Bishop
Because he can never leave his own color, he can’t touch half of the board. The Bishop has less power than the Queen or the Rook, but that’s not to say that he’s weak. He can do a lot for you as long as you get him to work together with your other pieces.
The Knight
Your Knights are the pieces shaped like a horse’s head. They’re oddballs in a couple of ways. First, they don’t move in straight lines or diagonals, but in an “L” shape. And, they always move exactly three squares: either two steps in one direction, then one step in another; or one step in one direction, then two steps in another.
Figure 2-9: Movement of the Knight
The Knight can move wherever he wants, as long as it’s in the shape of an “L.” To be sure you’re moving him correctly, remember this simple rule: If the Knight starts on a light square, he’ll stop on a dark square; and, if he starts on a dark square, he’ll stop on a light square. This is always true. If you’ve got your board in front of you, try it out. Move the Knight and say it out loud:
Figure 2-10
Figure 2-11
The second reason that the Knight is unusual is that he can jump over other pieces and pawns–your own and your opponent’s. No other piece can do this. The Knight can only capture a piece in the square that he lands on, but unlike all other chess pieces, he can’t get stuck. We’ll discuss this more when we get to the rules of play.
The Pawn
Last but not least are the little ones that make up half of your army: the pawns. A pawn can move forward either one or two squares on his first move. On all moves after that, he can only move forward one square. Once you move a pawn forward, he can never go back, and he can’t move sideways either. The only time a pawn moves in any way besides straight forward is when he’s capturing. For captures he moves diagonally, taking the piece or pawn in the square to his upper left or upper right. A pawn can’t capture or move around a chess piece that’s directly in front of him.
Figure 2-12: Movement of the pawn
Figure 2-13: Pawn capture
A Fancy Capture – Pawns can also take other pawns in a different way. It is called en passant. En passant is French for “in passing.” Here’s how it happens:
1. White’s pawn has moved forward three squares, to the fifth rank.
Figure 2-14
2. One of Black’s pawns, on its first move, goes forward two squares and ends up on the fifth rank, on the file next to White’s pawn.
Figure 2-15: White can move into the square shown by the arrow, and take Black’s pawn.
3. White moves forward diagonally and takes Black’s pawn as if the pawn had only moved forward one square!
Figure 2-16
Other en passant rules:
1 Both Black and White can capture en passant.
2 Only pawns – not pieces – can capture or be captured en passant.
3 The pawn can only be captured after its first move, and it must be captured right away. This is a limited-time offer!
One thing you should remember is that many casual chess players don’t even know about this move. It’s a strange one. There is a good chance that at some point you will be playing against someone who has never heard of en passant. So don’t be surprised if they accuse you of making what they think is an illegal move. If you have my book handy, show them this page and be sure to tell them that I’m a trained professional!
Up For Promotion – Pawns are weak most of the time, but down the road they can become very powerful. How? If the pawn can make it all the way to the last rank, he gets a promotion. You can now choose between 4 pieces to turn him into: a Rook, a Bishop, a Knight or a Queen (you can’t turn him into a King, and he can’t stay as a pawn). Once he’s promoted, he stays promoted until the end of the game. Pawn promotion is also called Queening, because you’ll almost always want to turn him into a Queen. After all, she is the most powerful piece. There are rare moments when you might want to promote to a Knight, and even rarer moments when you’ll want to promote to a Rook or Bishop, but that’s usually only done by advanced players. Stick to Queening for now.
Here’s how to promote a pawn:
1 First, get your pawn to the last rank. (This is easier said than done!)
2 If your opponent has captured your Queen, take the pawn off the board and ask for your lady back. Now, put her where your pawn was.
3 If your opponent has not captured your Queen, have him give back one of your captured Rooks. Then turn the Rook upside down and place it on the board.
4 If your opponent hasn’t captured your Queen or either of your Rooks, tip the pawn over and lay him down on his side.
5 If you want to promote your pawn into a Knight, Rook, or Bishop instead, replace him with one of your captured Knights, Rooks, or Bishops. If none have been captured, tip the pawn on his side.
A Complicated Man – A lot of beginning players don’t like the pawn because of how little he can do and how strange he is when it comes to moving and capturing (especially en passant). Doesn’t seem worth the trouble, does it?
Take it from an expert: You’ll learn to appreciate your pawns. Sometimes just one pawn will make the difference between winning and losing.
Try not to look at what a pawn is; look at him for what he can be. A pawn has more potential than any other piece. He’s got to go through a lot to get there, but if you manage to get a pawn Queened, there’s a good chance that the game will turn in your favor.
Quick Review
King – Moves one square in any direction.
Queen – Moves any number of squares in straight lines along ranks and files, or along diagonals.
Rook – Moves any number of squares in straight lines along ranks and files.
Bishop – Moves any number of squares, only along diagonals.
Knight – Moves three squares in an “L” shape. One, two, turn!
Pawn – Moves one or two squares straight ahead on the first move, and only one square straight ahead on all following moves. Cannot move backward or side-to-side, and may only move diagonally when capturing. Can capture “en passant” if the conditions are right, and may be promoted to a Queen, Knight, Rook or Bishop if he makes it to the last rank.
Castling
There is one other chess move, called castling, which involves moving both the King and the Rook. This is the only move in chess where two chess pieces are moved at the same time. And it’s extremely valuable to know!
Remember that the King is the most important person on the battlefield, and that he must be kept safe no matter what the cost. That’s the idea behind castling. What you’re doing is taking him out of the open and placing him closer to the side of the board, where it’s harder for enemy pieces to get to him. Plus, it gets him behind the Rook, and under his guard. Here are the rules of castling:
1 Castling counts as one move and to do it, it must be your turn. Announce to your opponent that you are castling by saying “I castle” or “I’m castling.”
2 Both the King and the Rook must stay in their starting squares until you castle. If you’ve moved either of them at all, castling is no longer allowed.
3 The two squares between the King and the Rook must be empty; in other words, the King’s Knight and King’s Bishop need to be moved out of their squares first.
4 The King must not be in the path of an enemy piece before or after he castles, and neither of the two open squares between the Rook and the King can be in the path of an enemy piece.
If you can make the move without breaking any of those rules, you’re ready to castle. Here’s how it’s done:
1 Have the King walk two steps to the right toward his Rook. They should now be standing next to each other.
2 Take the Rook and have him jump to the left, over the King! The Rook lands in the square next to him.
Try it now. Remember, the King goes two steps to the right and the Rook jumps over him. Say it out loud:
One, Two, Jump!
Figure 2-17: Start castling (One, Two...)
Figure 2-18: Finish! (Jump!)
This move is called King’s Side castling, sometimes called “castling short.” But you can also do a Queen’s Side castle (“castling long”). The rules are the same, except that the Queen, the Queen’s Bishop and the Queen’s Knight must move out of their squares before you do it, leaving three open squares between the King and the Queen’s Rook. Here’s how to castle on the Queen’s side:
1 The King takes two steps – but this time it’s to the left, toward the Queen’s Rook.
2 The Rook jumps one square further in a Queen’s side castle. He leaps to the right over an open square, then over the King, and lands in the next square.
One, Two, Jump!
Figure 2-19: Start castling (One, Two...)
Figure 2-20: Finish! (Jump!)
As you can see, castling isn’t hard to learn. You can play a game without ever doing it, and many people don’t even know how to castle at all. But knowing this move puts you a step ahead of many casual players. That’s because castling is one of the key moves in winning chess. You’ll understand why later on.
Rules of the Road
Knowing how each of the chess pieces move is the foundation of chess. If you’ve gotten this far, you’re almost ready to play. But there are a few more rules to go over.
White Goes First – The player with the white chess pieces always makes the first move of the game. Then Black moves, then White and so on until the end. There is no official rule stating how to choose which person will play White and which will play Black. You and your opponent may decide however you want.
Touch Move, Touch Take – If a player touches any of his chess pieces on his turn, then he must move the piece or pawn that he touched. If he touches more than one chess piece, then he must move the piece that he touched first. This isn’t a good situation to be in! A beginner needs to learn patience and restraint. So don’t touch any of your chess pieces until you’re ready to move.
The Law is the Law – If you make an illegal move and the other player says so, you must retract the move and make a legal one with the same piece or pawn. If the illegal move was a capture, then the same capture must be made with another chess piece, if possible. Study and follow the rules of movement and this won’t be a problem for you. But be on the lookout for other players making illegal moves, especially beginners. You don’t want them to steal a move from you, whether or not they did it on purpose. If they steal one move, they may end up stealing the whole game!
No Sharing – No two chess pieces may be on the same square at the same time. If you move into a square that is occupied by an enemy piece or pawn, capture it and take its place. But you can’t move into a square that one of your own chess pieces is already standing in.
Traffic Jam – No chess piece except the Knight can jump over or go around any other chess piece. When a piece or pawn can’t move any further in a certain direction, it’s called a blockade. At the beginning of the game, all the pieces in the back row are blockaded by the pawns lined up in front of them – except for the Knight (remember, he can jump over anybody).
Time Limit – In most personal games, there’s no limit to the time a player can take to make his move, or how long a game can last. Some players are going to make you hate this rule! Certain opponents can stare at the board for 10 or 15 minutes before moving. On the other hand, having time to think can work in your favor.
This is not true of tournaments, however. In a tournament or public game, a chess clock is used. Each player gets a certain amount of time to make all of their moves, which differs depending on the game and the tournament. Some games give each player 40 moves over 2 hours. Other games, known as “blitz chess” give each player only 5 minutes! The clock starts running when each turn begins, and is paused when the player finishes his or her move. When the other player moves, the first player’s clock starts running again. If one player’s clock runs out, he or she is out of time and automatically loses the game.
Even though a time clock isn’t required, I recommend that you buy one and play your games with it. The clock puts pressure on you to move, so it forces you to learn to think faster. And that’s a skill everybody should develop.
How Does It All End?
A game of chess can end in one of many different ways. But the best way, and your goal, is to win with a checkmate. Let’s look at how this happens.
Check!
If a player’s King is in the path of one or more of the other player’s chess pieces and can be captured on the attacking player’s next move, then the King is in check. Usually the player announces this by saying “Check!” This is a warning. It means “I can capture your King, so get him out of danger right now.” If you are in check, don’t even think about anything but getting your King to safety! You’ve got three options:
1 Escape to a safe square;
2 Block the path of the attacking piece with another one of your pieces or pawns; or
3 Capture the piece that’s threatening the King.
Figure 2-21: It is White’s turn to move, and his King is in check. He is in the path of Black’s Queen. White can’t capture the Queen, but there are two things he can do to get out of check. Either:1. Move his King one square to the right (escape)2. Move his Queen two squares to the right, in front of Black’s Queen (block)
Checkmate!
A checkmate is a check that can’t be escaped with any one move. The piece or pieces attacking the King can’t be avoided, blocked or captured. The King is stuck.
When this happens, the player who trapped the King says “Checkmate!” and wins the game.
Figure 2-22: Checkmate! There is nothing White can do. He is in the path of Black’s Queen. He can’t capture the Queen, escape to a safe square, or be blocked by any piece or pawn.
There are two important rules about being in check:
Move It Or Lose It – If a player’s King is in check, that player must get out of check on his or her next move. If the player doesn’t, then he or she automatically forfeits the game and loses.
Jumping Into the Fire – No player can make a move that puts his or her own King into check or checkmate. This is an illegal move, and it counts as an automatic loss. Here’s an example.
Figure 2-23: White’s King wants to capture Black’s pawn, but he can’t. It would be illegal because he’d be stepping into check by Black’s Rook.
Other Endings
Chess games don’t always end with a checkmate. Here are the other ways in which a game can end:
Resignation – A player resigns when he or she has no hope of winning. The other player wins. If your position is bad, you’ve lost too many chess pieces or you see that there’s a checkmate coming that’s impossible to stop, you can end the game without fighting on to the end. A player resigns by tipping over his King and saying “I resign.” However, I’m only telling you this because it’s an official rule. For now, I don’t ever want you to resign, especially if you’re playing against someone new to chess! He or she might make enough mistakes so that you can still turn the game around and end up the winner.
Stalemate – A stalemate happens when the King is the only chess piece a player can move, and the only possible move will put the King into check. Remember, a King can’t move into check! So, since the player can’t make a legal move, the game ends here. Neither player wins or loses–the game just stops. Understanding stalemates, and avoiding them, is important. We’ll go over some examples of stalemates in Chapter 9.
Drawn Games – A draw is different than a stalemate, but the result is the same. There is no winner, no loser. Here are the four ways in which a game ends in a draw (tie):
1 Threefold repetition – The game ends in a draw if the exact same board position is repeated three times.
2 The Fifty Moves Rule – If fifty moves have gone by since the last capture, or since the last time a pawn moved, the game is a draw.
3 Perpetual Check – If one side can keep checking the other player’s King, forcing him to move back and forth, the game is a draw that will end because of threefold repetition. This is called perpetual check. Often a player will try to force a draw by perpetual check when he or she is in trouble, or knows that winning is impossible.
Figure 2-24: All White has to do is move his Queen one square to the left to get a checkmate and win. But White’s King is checked by Black’s Knight! The rules say he must get his King out of check, even if he could checkmate Black on the next move.
Figure 2-25: White gets out of check by moving his King one square to the left. But Black responds by moving her Knight (one, two, turn) to check again!
Figure 2-26: Look familiar? White moves his King one square to the right to escape check, and Black’s Knight leaps right back to check him again! Once this position repeats three times, the game will end in a draw. This is some crafty playing by Black. She saw that she was only one move away from being checkmated, so she forced a perpetual check!
4. Agreed Draw – Last but not least is the agreed draw. If both players agree, for whatever reason, to stop playing, the game is a draw. There are many reasons to agree to a draw. There may not be enough pieces left to force a checkmate. Maybe it’s just a boring game. Whatever the reason, the game stops without a winner.
Ready to Roll
Congratulations! Now you know the rules of chess. Don’t worry about remembering all of them. And expect to make some mistakes at first. It’s a lot to keep straight. The important thing is to remember just enough so that you can play, and to keep this book nearby if you forget something or become confused. Eventually, when you’ve played enough games, it will all become habit.
You’ve learned everything you need in order to play casual games against your friends and family. But you’re not going to play very well unless you keep reading! So don’t close the book yet, especially if you’re confused. If you want to play like a pro, there’s a whole lot more to learn.
