The game of chess was taken by storm in the US when American Bobby Fisher overtook Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in the 2lst game to take the World Championship. Although I was only twelve years old at the time, I was glued to the television at my home that summer watching the matches being held in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Although none of us would go on to become professional chess players, many of the kids and parents in my neighborhood started to play chess much more frequently over the next several years. With all this extra play, I personally became pretty good in terms of not only defeating player’s my own age but also older kids and even some grown-ups.

Then a year or so later, the ultimate chess challenge came my way. A grandmaster from Denmark named Bent Larsen who once played both Bobby Fisher (lost) and Boris Spassky (won) was coming to our area to play in an exhibition. For a modest fee, he would take on anyone who wanted to play one game against him, no matter what level they were. My father encouraged me to sign up, happily paid the entry charge and escorted me to the match.

When we showed up, there must have been about 150 players ready to play the grandmaster. Little did we know that he was to play us all at the same time! He would go down the rows of chess boards, with reporters flashing photos making a few moves back and forth with each opponent, one at a time, before doing the same routine with the next opponent.

With no clocks to regulate the speed of play, each of us had a perceived advantage in that we could take a lot more time to ready ourselves for the next moves. Despite this, Larsen was winning the vast majority of his matches. I played very conservatively, hoping to make no critical mistakes and perhaps earn a draw.

Then it happened! I made a mistake. The queens were exchanged, but in the series of moves, I also lost a knight. At the time I did not fully understand how fatal it really was. In the end after numerous exchanges the only pieces left on the board were our king’s, a few pawns and that damn one knight of his. I was forced to concede, which Mr. Larsen graciously accepted via shaking my hand and autographing the paper chessboard we just played on.

It was only then that I realized how even one relatively minor mistake can cost you. Not only in chess, but applied in everyday living too. Anytime you can get an advantage in the business world by making an unfair exchange, you need to jump on it, so long as you are playing by the rules.

Never underestimate anyone’s abilities even if they seem, to the naked eye, too preoccupied. You must seize opportunities as they present themselves without hesitation.

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Chess is a complicated matter and to make matters worse, there are chess players out there who want to make matters complicated. Get what I mean? I mean the sophisticated complexity of the labyrinthine mosaic of goal directed actions can be a really confusing matter…

Now, I’ll start speaking English again. So what I meant to say is that there are people out there who just want to get you good – trying to take advantage that you don’t know any better. They’re the cheapskates that run the streets, you see and hear (and even smell) of them all the time.

And it’s the same with chess – there are certain players who just can’t resist setting up an early trap, in the hope that you’ll fall for it and lose eventually. But these players, like all cheapskates, don’t go much further than that. If it weren’t for their traps and cheapness, then they would pretty much be free (in a bad way).

So how do you avoid these basic traps? Well, it’s simple. You know them before your opponent does. I say opponent because even your very best friend can decide to surprise you when you’re unaware (like with all the surprise birthday parties they’ve given you, yeah, you know what I mean).

And these basic traps include: the 4 move checkmate (aka Scholar’s mate, although I don’t see anything scholarly about losing in 4 moves), the 2 move checkmate (aka Fool’s mate – for obvious reasons) and Legal’s mate (which is definitely legal).

These are just 3 of the hundreds, and even thousands, that exist in the world of chess. And these are pretty easy to avoid, you just gotta play normally, according to basic chess principles and you’ll never fall for any of these (or for that matter any other) ever again.

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Whether you are brand new to playing chess or if you have been a chess player for awhile now, knowledge is power when it comes to improving your game. Therefore, having a true understanding of both the names and the proper usage of each chess game piece is very important. To win a game of chess, you need to carefully come up with a great strategy in order to beat your opponent. Therefore, playing chess is not only a great way to keep your mind sharp but it is also a lot of fun!

As you are probably already aware, the game of chess is played between two people. As with most any board game, you both alternate taking turns. One player will use all the white pieces, and the other player will then use all of the black pieces. The way the game of chess then works is that you each take turns moving one game piece at a time, and the person that manages to capture the enemy king is declared the winner of the game.

Next, let us take a look at each individual piece. First, there is the bishop. The bishop game piece can only be moved in a straight line diagonally. However, there is no limit to how many numbers of squares it can be moved. The rook game piece most often looks a lot like a small tower. You can move the rook either vertically or horizontally. As with the bishop, there is no limit to how many number of squares the rook can be moved.

The queen is considered by many to be the most powerful piece in chess because the options with the queen game piece are practically limitless. You can move in any direction you choose with the queen game piece whether that be diagonally, vertically or horizontally, and you may also move the queen any number of squares that you would like. As with the queen, the king game piece can also be moved in any direction. However, the king piece is somewhat limited as it can only be moved one square at a time.

The knight is usually easily recognized because it often looks like a horse. The knight piece moves in a rather strange pattern. This pattern is somewhat difficult to explain, but some say that it can best be described as making an L-shape. The knight is also the only game piece that is allowed to jump over other game pieces.

Last but certainly not least, there is the pawn. In the game of chess, pawns are commonly referred to as the weakest game pieces. One reason for this is they are somewhat limited in their movement, as one is only allowed to move a pawn piece forward and not backwards.

Best of luck, and I hope that you enjoy learning how to play chess!

Chess Game Pieces is a chess resource that provides information on various types of chess pieces. If you are looking for a new chess set or pieces , wooden chess pieces or staunton chess pieces are a good place to start for beginners.

When a child wants to learn the game of chess it is a rather important occasion because it’s not every child that wants to play this complex game and start learning chess. But once in a while you will run across a child who is absolutely mesmerized by the beauty and majesty of the 64 squares that have been the cornerstone of so many lives. It is a rare child who can appreciate this game of champions, and though at first they might just think it a game, later it might become a staple of their lives, so when your child wants to give this a try, you need to take it as seriously as possible while allowing them to have fun with it. Chess for kids is much different than chess for adults however.

Yes it can be a very competitive game, but that doesn’t mean that you should push your child to compete. At first they might just be wanting to have fun, so let them have their fun, but they’re going to need help at some point. For this reason you’ll need to know the basics of moving the pieces, even if you aren’t entirely familiar with the strategy. So let’s look at a few of the movements!

Pawn: This is the simplest piece in the whole game; it can only move one square per turn with the exception of the first move where it can move two squares. When seizing the pawn you can move diagonally to one square to do the seizures.

Knight: This is the piece that your kid may call a pony. It is allowed to move forward two squares and over one. Take note that is should always make that shape when moving, and it can seize while doing so.

Bishop: You have two of these pieces and they are each on different colors. They can move diagonally and can seize any piece in its line of movement, however just like all other pieces, it must stop once it has seized a piece.

Rook: This one moves along the vertical. Though it’s movement is somewhat restricted, it is common knowledge that loss of one rook if not in an even exchange can actually mean the end of the game.

Queen: This piece can be moved around in any direction you please. It can go diagonally, or even in the same way, a rook moves. Importantly, it cannot move in the same way that a knight moves though.

King: While it can only move one space at a time, it is the most important piece in the entire game. If the king is captured the game ends immediately.

Note that the king does not need to be captured in order to end the game, in fact the king should never be captured. Rather the goal is to force a king into a position where he would be captured no matter where he moved. This is the endgame objective, but remember that you do not want to force the king into a position where he cannot move simply because he would be captured if he moved, but the square he sits on is safe. This is known as a stalemate, and while some might consider it a victory, others turn their nose up at the thought of it.

When a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board, the player can replace that piece for any other piece they want. Some players believe that the piece can only be exchanged for one that has been captured previously, but that is untrue. The goal is not to recover a fallen comrade, it is to promote the man that made it to the other side of the battlefield.

In the end, when it comes to chess for beginners, you can get special chessboards that include large pieces as well as small pictures on how to move the pieces well that are printed on the pieces themselves. These are awesome for learning boards and any kid would be happy to use them. As they grow more confident, you can graduate them to a standard board.

Chess for kids is an exciting concept for both the child as well as the parent. If you are the parent of a child that wishes to become involved, make sure you encourage them but do not push. If they want to take the game further, then they will in time.

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