The Chess Club

Every generation has something to boast. The 19th century boasts the advent of writers, sculptures, painters and poets. In the pre-war period is the avenue in the rise of heroes and leaders. However, have you ever asked yourself what might be the legacy or something that our generation can boast? Indeed, our generation can boast the full realization and flourishing of technology. With this, we are able to make the world a better place to live in.

Since we are talking about technology, it is very obvious that we can never do away talking also about its advances that brought benefits on us. The most prominent and widely known among this is computer. It is said that we have made another “mind” of humans after the development of computers. After it, there came the birth of internet, a new speed-of-light of Earth. Little did we know that such tandem would bring about a new and everlasting legacy that our generations can now boast.

The primary audiences of this tandem are the professionals, workers, well-known and ordinary people and more especially the youth. We have always been the catch basin of the benefits of computer and internet. What are the benefits of these? Of course, it will only fall under two categories: education and entertainment. In facet of education, we are able to access all necessary things that are needed for us to learn more. And more especially, our favorite lies in the facet of entertainment.

In entertainment, here we have the realm of gaming and one of the sought-after games because of its intellectual and thrilling appeal is chess. Because of technology, we are now able to play it with the innovations made in the computer. Thus, we now have chess for computer. All you need to do is to download the game chess for computer and the rest will be entertainment.

Taking into consideration the thousand games that plague the internet, we must always consider their credibility when it comes to giving us the most satisfaction in playing chess in our computer. One of the most credible when it comes to chess entertainment is Chessmaster Challenge which gives you not only the thrill of playing the game but also the monopoly of good ideas for they are not only a downloadable chess game but also a mentor that would bring out the chess master in you.

In addition, they are also going to teach you the basics of chess. So regardless of your status in playing chess, you will not be left out because they have programs that will help you go on to the latter part of their program. After teaching you the basics of chess, they are going to improve your strategy and it might even be way for you to find your own style in playing chess. After these preliminaries, they will you the privilege to compete with other world-class chess players.

Surely, this chess for computer will really give you the chance to improve your skills to be the best chess player in your own respect. Who knows, you might be the new chess master that is going to challenge the new generation of chess master wannabes.

Stonewall Defense Variation is a one of the many variations used in Black chess openings. The effect of this attack to the White is debilitating once the Black gets the right tempo. However, this opening is seldom played in many tournaments but can be seen in the lower levels play. Actually, the Stonewall Defense is the counterattack of the Black against the Stonewall attack by the White. This opening can develop moves in specific sequence in favor of the white. Nevertheless, Black can also develop the same formation by using Dutch Defense. If the Black is not cautious, the Stonewall Attack could initiate devastating attack. This will give disadvantage to Black in gaining strong positions and to play tactically over White.

Another chess opening that can be used by Black is the Blackburne Gambit. The Black can make a gambit and when the White accepts, it would guarantee winning the game. Likewise, the Black can win over the opponent because of the 7 moves that possibly could checkmate the opponent. For players who would want to have good end games, the Budapest Gambit is an ideal opening that you can play. On the other hand, if you want to play an unusual opening, you can try the Hippopotamus Defense where the Black possesses strong defense early in the game and on the middle game could launch counter attack. Another Black opening is the St. George’s Defense that lets the Black to attain different positions early in the game. This opening is similar to French Defense.

For chess enthusiasts who are bored with their worn out defenses, you can try modern chess ideas on Black openings. There is a book out in the market authored by Gary Lane that serves as a repertoire for Black. The book teaches different variations, Unorthodox Openings as well as Flank Openings. Likewise, it is beneficial for beginners because in every chapter there are example games that are supported by explanations. It also discusses the combat lines in the older and modern ideas. The primary concern of the book is to provide knowledge to players in achieving decent position with a less effort. Illustrations of selected games could help the Black obtain winnable position especially if the White lacks understanding and careless in the game. The Scandinavian and the Chigorin Openings are the modern ideas for the Black that could be learned easily.

Without full knowledge about the Chogorin, a player may think that it is implausible because it goes against some basic instructions in chess opening. The Black should sacrifice some of the piece by exchanging the Bishops for Knights. However, through the exchanging of piece several tactical openings could surprise the opponent. This opening makes the game runs quickly. Moreover, you can also try playing the Scandinavian Defense that would give White a more struggling and confusing response to Black.

Therefore, if you want to learn more modern tactics in the game, you should learn the details of the different opening positions. This modern ideas in chess opening is being adapted by Kasparov and other chess masters playing in Grandmasters game. As you study the book, you will find and learn openings that would help you go across many games.

Chess game is really a very interesting kind of game that demands a lot of mental expertise and skills. It is a game that is played indoors by two opposing players. Chess game is played on a chess board where the two players use chess pieces. The chess board is squared shape with 64 alternating color of black and white squares in 8 by 8 grids. The chess pieces are 32 all in all, which are divided into two, thus each player get 16 chess pieces each that comprises eight pawns, two bishops, two knights, two rooks, one queen, and the most important piece, one King. Each of the players has one same colored set of sixteen chess pieces. The main goal in playing chess game is to capture as many chess pieces of your opponent until you captured his King. When the king is captured, the game ends and whoever did the capturing wins the game.

Today, with the use of a computer and internet, they have made it possible for chess games to be played online. This made the chess game more popular and even enjoyable to play with. There are many computer chess online that can be played by many chess lovers around the world. It is very accessible to all the chess enthusiasts anywhere and at anytime in the world. This is why more and more chess players are choosing the computer chess to enhance their skills and learn more about the chess opening, chess strategies, chess tactics, end games, advance combinations of moves, and many other more.

The online chess games can be found and played on many different websites that have servers in chess playing. These games of chess can be played over the internet or downloaded onto your laptop or PC and then play. There are many designed features of the online chess games, this include the blitz chess which is timed and played fast; the bullet chess or the lightning chess which is very fast; the correspondence chess which is played by mail; and the computer chess which is played with the computer.

Those chess players especially beginners in chess game find the computer chess very helpful in their study and continuous practical learning of the said game. Whenever they need to learn or practice chess moves, they do not have to look for a human coach or opponent to teach them. They will just open their laptop or PC for computer chess games either online or downloaded, and then they can learn and play chess games. Mostly, computer chess is difficult to win over, because it has an almost perfect analysis of the every move. However, it can be the perfect tutor for you if you can have the best suitable software for your skill level.

So, if you want to learn more about chess moves and all about chess games, you can employ computer chess to aid you. It’s just a click away to becoming one of the many chess masters that we respect today.

Chess games usually produce a winner and a loser. In certain games, however,no player is able to checkmate an opponent’s King. In such a game therefore, no player emerges the winner and the game is said to have ended in a draw. The scenarios outlined below depict how a draw can result: perpetual check, stalemate, or when there isn’t enough material to force checkmate.

Perpetual check

Perpetual check is when a player is able to checkmate an enemy’s King continuously without being able to checkmate it. The Queen I the one which most frequently gives a check, but the Bishop, Rook, and Knight are also able to do so.

Stalemate

A player can be in a difficult situation in that although it may be his turn to move and also his King is not in check, he may have no legal moves. Any move that he wants to make would be illegal and would therefore put his King in check. This situation is termed as a stalemate. The player is therefore said to be stalemated. The difference between stalemate and checkmate is that in checkmate the King is not in check whereas in checkmate, it is in check and cannot get out of it. A stalemate results in a draw while a checkmate results in the loss for the player whose King has been checkmated.

A stalemate is said to result if and only if the player is unable to make any legal moves. If the King is unable to move but the other pieces can make a move then he has to play the other pieces even if this would ut his pieces in an extremely dangerous position.

To an amateur the difference between the checkmate and stalemate might not be that big. This is because in both instances the King is incapacitated to move.However,in checkmate the King is in check and that is very vital. A checkmate will win the game but a stalemate will result in a draw.
Stalemate is the last chance for a losing player to salvage himself. So if you have more men than your opponent you shouldn’t assume that you have won the game outrightly.Your opponent might force a stalemate and force the game to end in a draw. If you are a losing player, you should explore the option of stalemate as a draw is definitely better than a loss.Usually, a stalemate is the result of a mistake by the player who has the majority players but sometimes it is the logical end of a game in which both players have equal strength.

Not enough material

When both players don’t have enough material to checkmate, the game ultimately will result in a draw. Therefore:

a) If each King only has a King left, neither can be able to checkmate the opponent.

b) A King and a Knight alone are not able to checkmate a lone King.

c) A King and a Bishop are not able to checkmate a lone King.

d) If both players have only a King and a Bishop, and the Bishops are of the same color, then no side is able to checkmate the other.

The rooks starts on the corner squares, the Knights’ are located next to the rooks, the bishops are then located next to the Knights. The Queen starts on the square of her own color while the Knights take the remaining squares-White King on dark squares and the Black King on light. It is important to remember that each side’s eight pawns are located on the row of squares in front of their pieces.

How pawns move and capture.

Pawns are the smallest chessmen. Though they are valued by veterans in the game the beginners usually despise them. The white pawns usually start the game on the second rank and move forward whereas the Black pawns start the game in the opposite side and move towards the white pawns.

Because pawns of the same color are similar in their appearance we differentiate them by using the name of the piece that it was positioned in front of in the starting position: The pawns are: The Queens and the King’s Rook pawn, The Queens and the King’s Knight pawn, the Queen’s and the King’s Bishop pawn and finally the King’s and the King’s pawn.

Have you ever known that the pawn is the only chessman that cannot move backwards? It can also not jump over other men. The pawn only makes forward movements, moving one square at a time along the file on which it stands. Every pawn is given a chance to decide whether it can move one or two squares forward at making its first move only.

Although the pawn moves straight ahead it captures in a different way. To be exact, it captures one square diagonally forward. It is not allowed to capture backwards. Here are a few rules concerning the pawn game:

-Choosing colors: One of the players will hide the black pawn in one fist and the white pawn in the other. Thereafter he holds both fists in front of him and asks the opponent to select one of them. The opponent will then have to play the pawn color corresponding to the fist he has chosen. After that game the players will then switch the colors every game.

-Winning the chess game:

You emerge the winner if:
a) The opponent surrenders
b) You are the first to capture all your opponents’ pawns.
c) You manage to reach the last rank (your opponent’s first rank) with one of your pawns.
d) When it is your opponents turn to move but all his pawns are blocked and they do not have any moves, while you yourself can make at least one move.

The game will result in a draw if :

-The players have decided that the game is headed for a draw.
-If both sides’ pawns are blocked so that no side can make any moves.

Before you begin the chess game you should observe one very important rule: If you dare touch one of your men when it is your turn to move, then you are obligated to move it. If you touch one of your opponent’s men, then you must capture it if possible.Additionally, once you make a move, you can’t change it. So you be very careful when you make that move.

The king is the cornerstone of the chess game. If you loss the king then you are totally incapacitated as the King is very vital in the chess game. If you lose any other piece you can still manage to play on, but if you lose the King, you lose the game automatically. The movements of the King is in many ways similar to that of the Queen. The only difference is that you have to move one square at a time. Therefore it can move forwards, backwards, sideways, or diagonally.

The King controls eight squares, as it always does except when it is on the edge of the board. The edge of the King has only five moves when towards the end while when in a corner the King’s movements are totally restricted.

Just like all the chessmen except the Knight, the King cannot jump over other men or move onto a square occupied by a man of its own color. The king captures the same way as it moves. Incase you have forgotten ,capturing means taking the opponent’s men off the board and moving your man onto the square the opponent’s man occupied. Capturing ,however, is not compulsory in chess.

Check.

When the king has been attacked by an enemy piece, it is said to be “in check”. A fundamental rule of chess is that whenever a player’s King is put into check, the player must immediately, on the next move, get his King out of check. To comply with this, a King is never allowed to move into check either. This simply means that a King must never be moved onto a square where it will be within the capturing range of an enemy piece.Consequently, neither King can put the other into check, and hence the two Kings can never stand on the adjacent squares.Also,a King cannot capture a defended enemy piece, since this would put the King itself into check. If the King has been moved into check mistakenly, as soon as the mistake is identified, the position before the King was left in check or moved into check must be set up and another move must be made. Checking is not a must, nor is good or bad.

How to get out of check.

There are three different ways to get out of check:
-By moving the King to a safe square which cannot be attacked by an opponent’s man.
-By moving one of your men between your King and the checking piece.
-By the capture of the King which is checking your King.
If none of the three ways of getting out of check are possible, then your King is said to be checkmated and you have consequently lost the game.
Therefore, to win you have to checkmate your opponent’s King and not to capture his men. The ultimate goal of any chess game is to capture the enemy’s King. You shouldn’t therefore make your moves in a hurry. Just take your time as it is better to lay one good game than many poor ones in a rush, each quarter.

The Rook enjoys great freedom of action as it can cross the entire board by just making a single move. The only disadvantage is that it cannot change direction in the middle of a move.Therefore, on an empty board; a Rook can reach any of the 14 squares just by making a single move, while it can reach any of the other squares by making just two moves in two different ways.

It should be understood that capturing in chess is optional. It however feels good to capture an enemy since this will weaken him. This will result in a reduced resistance from him which will make it easier for you to win.

If the Rook moves to a square which has been captured by an enemy, the enemy will be removed from the board immediately.

A man that attacks a man of his own color is said to defend it since he will be able to capture an enemy if the enemy attempts to capture him.

How the Bishop moves and captures

The moves diagonally along squares of the same color. Though it can move in any direction, in any one move it cam only move in one direction. Each player is allowed to have two Bishops at the start of a game, one standing on a light square and the other on a dark square. The Bishop that stands on the light square is not allowed to move to a dark square and likewise, the Bishop on a dark square at the start of a game is not allowed to move to a light square. The Bishop that is allowed to move on light squares only is known as the light square Bishop and the one that is allowed to move on the dark squares only is known as a dark-square Bishop. It should be noted that a Bishop can move to any vacant square on any of the diagonals to which it is positioned so long as there is no men of either color blocking it.

From the above statements, it appears that the Bishop has a great mobility when the destructions are very few. It can safely cross the board in a single move. The Bishop controls 13 squares from a central square and seven squares from a square on the edge. By the same token therefore, the Bishop cannot attack an opponent’s men on the squares of the other color.Consequently,if a Bishop moves to a square occupied by an enemy man, the latter is captured and removed from the body immediately.

It safe to say that a Bishop is stronger than a pawn, but is much weaker than a Rook, since a Rook can move on squares of both colors. However in exceptional cases a pawn can turn out to be stronger than a Bishop.

The important thing to remember is to identify the strength and weaknesses of each piece. This combination will allow you to make better decisions on your movement and therefore increase your chances of beating the opponent. This will however require a lot of practice.

Once you have known all the rules of the chess game, you need to practice frequently in order to become a master in the game. One and a half hours of daily practice can increase your mastery of the game in quite a big way. You can practice with anyone from amateurs to experts to measure your strength.

There are many ways in which you can make your first move.i.e 16 pawn moves and 4 Knight moves. All these moves are, however, not good from the onset. The following points should guide you when you are starting the game:

-The pieces should be mobilized and developed quickly.

-The pieces should be moved towards the center.

-The King should be protected at all times. This is because the safety of the King will be the ultimate determinant of those who will win or lose the game.

Through experience the following principles have been found to be beneficial in the opening stages of the game.

-The strength of each piece should be kept in mind. Because the Queen is the strongest piece you shouldn’t bring it out hastily last it be captured by the opponent’s Knights,Bishops,and pawns .

-You shouldn’t make passive moves .You should only make moves that develop a piece or increases its mobility.

-Do not set up a strong pawn center such as e4 and d4.

-You shouldn’t move and the same piece repeatedly throughout the game at the expense of the development of the other pieces.

-You should attack too fast. First develop your pieces and your castle.

-You should bring out the Kingside Knight and Bishop, thereby getting ready to transfer your King to a safe lace by castling on the Kingside, a move which at the same time develops the King’s Rook.

After you have done castling, you should then develop your Queenside pieces.

Let’s examine a game in which the White has blundered in the opening and therefore gets checkmated on the second move. This is the shortest game of chess possible and is often called the “Fool’s mate”.

The white makes the first move of f2-f3.

This is definitely a bad move that leaves the King open to attack.Additionaly, the pawn of f3 robs the Knight on g1 of itys best square.

The Black then makes a move of e7-e5

This is an excellent move that that makes the Black occupy the central square and consequently opens up a diagonal for the Bishop and the Queen.

If your opponent’s mistake leads to a situation where it is safe to move your Queen to an open area, do so with a lot of care, remembering that the Queen is a very valuable piece.

It is prudent that you consider your first move carefully. If you don’t do so you will find that your pieces will be incapacitated and your King will be captured quite early in the game. It is better to take time and examine your first moves than to rush in making moves and find yourself having no place to move your pieces to.

It is imperative that you know the value of the various men so that you make an informed decision when you trade your men. You certainly don’t want to give up a strong one for a weak one. If a player discovers that you actually don’t know the relative value of your men, he can exploit that and trade his weaker men for your stronger ones. He can consequently use this advantage to checkmate or to queen a pawn and then to checkmate.

The value of a chessman is determined by the maneuverability and range, the number of squares it can cross in one move, the number of squares it can control, how rapidly it can infiltrate an enemy positions, and by how dangerous a threat it can pose to the enemy. Through experience the relative value of chessmen has been determined as follows:

Queen-9 points.
Rook-5 points.
Bishop-3 points
Knight-3 points
Pawn-1 point

As the King cannot be captured, it has not been included in the above list. In the board’s center it actually controls eight squares, while in the corner it controls a mere three squares.

The King differs from the other men in that its value cannot be determined by its strength. In the opening and in the middle game the King is a weak piece that must be safely guarded. When the King is not in danger of being checkmated an opponent’s men, the King’s power increases considerably, and its strength varies from that of a Bishop to that of a Rook.

The strongest piece is therefore the queen which when at the center controls 27 squares. At the corner, it is weaker but still controls 21 squares. Following the Queen is the Rook which controls 14 squares no matter its position. Following the Rook is the Bishop which controls 13 squares from a central position but only seven squares from a corner.

Though the Bishop can control as many squares as the Rook, the Bishop is much weaker. This is because it can only move on squares of one color, and thus cannot threaten enemy pieces on squares of the other color. The Queen, Rook, and Bishop are all classified as long range pieces as they can attack hostile pieces at any distance. The Knight controls eight squares from a central position and only two from a corner.

The Knight controls fewer squares than the Bishop, and unlike the Bishop, it s a short-range piece. This means that it can only attack pieces which are nearby.However,it has a greater movement and penetration, as it can easily jump over the other pieces, and it can also attack enemy pieces on both the white and the dark squares. Taking into considerations the above pros and cons, the Knight and the Bishop are said to be of the same value.

The a pawn and h-pawn category of the Rook pawn control only one square each, while the other pawns all control two squares each. As you may have already known, the pawns are the weakest units in the chess army but there role should not be underestimated. Now that you know the basics, visit Chess Blog for more chess tips and chess strategies.

Famous Chess Servers on the Internet

Chess, which is considered the “sport of kings”, is believed to have started in India approximately during the 6th Century A.D. It was derived from a Chaturanga, a game that was created by an Indian philosopher to symbolize two armies at war. Since that time, this board game managed to grow in popularity and has spread in many parts of the world, starting in Asia, and later followed by Japan and China. Until today, chess remains one of the world’s most popular games, played and enjoyed by millions of people from all walks of life. With the rise of technology, chess-playing machines were also created to meet the demands of chess lovers. It doesn’t stop on that, however, the development of this board game continues and nowadays, people can find various chess servers over the Internet.

With millions of people surfing the Internet almost every minute of the day, it is just but necessary to have an Internet Chess Server (ICS) so that people can play this board game whenever or wherever they would want to. When we say Internet Chess Server, it is simply a server out on the Internet wherein anyone can log in and play chess with people from all over the world. The player is also given an option whether to play against computers, watch other users play the game, or just hang out and chat with everyone out there. Today, many of the chess servers found on the Internet are can be traced back from the original Internet Chess Server written by Richard Nash and Michael Moore in 1992. Some of the most popular chess-playing servers on the Internet include the Internet Chess Club (ICC). This server is designed for players from beginner to grandmaster of chess. It has more than 125,000 games played every day by over 25,000 paying members from different parts of the world. Because of this, it is no doubt that ICC is considered the longest-running and one of the most vibrant chess communities on the Internet. Furthermore, the graphical interface of ICC is excellent and offers lots of special features. Aside from these, ICC’s great features include a strong level of play and large server size, with over 1,000 chess players worldwide playing the game at the same time most of the time. With this, those who are looking for top of the line Internet chess, ICC is really the right place for them. Membership fees are $49 a year for adults and half price for students.

Aside from ICC, www.PlayChess.com is also on top of the line when it comes to ICS. The site is considered the world’s fastest growing chess server nowadays, with over 2,000 players online every night and approximately 100,000 games played every day. It also features top grandmasters playing, live events that include audio commentary, free chess training, free chess tournaments with prizes every day, as well as computer chess rooms. Its graphical interface is also good and it has also partnered with the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP). A player can download a 30-day free trial software in this website server and can also purchase a code every year for $24.99.