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.

Visit Learning Chess Net For the Best Source for Chess For Kids

When most people think about chess, they envision two people sitting opposite one another while squaring off in an epic dual of thought. While that is the most common form of this game of strategy, there is no denying that it has come a long way since its inception. A great example of this is computerized chess boards. These boards certainly offer a different experience than the one that most players are accustomed to. There are many reasons to own one of these computerized chess boards, but to truly appreciate them it helps to understand some of the reasoning that they were brought to life in the first place.

Surprisingly enough, the idea behind computerized chess has been around long before an actual computer was ever built. While the idea was there, the concept never came to life until the advent of the digital computer. Since then, there have been many different forms of computerized chess and for numerous different reasons. Some want the ultimate challenge and feel that an artificially intelligent player would provide that. Others just want to play a game of chess by themselves to practice, or simply want to play when other opponents may not be available. Then there are those that want to take the game with them when they travel, but don’t want to be hassled by dragging the traditional sized board and pieces around.

Whatever your reasoning may be for wanting one of these computerized chess boards, you are sure to find a great deal of enjoyment out of them. They also offer a way to play the game in ways you may have not thought possible. For instance, you can choose to play with or without actual game pieces. Also, the computer can keep tabs of your record and even evaluate your performance. These types of options make this a great purchase for newer players and players who simply want to improve their overall game. Having the computer show you your weaknesses will only help you to become a much stronger player in the long run. You will learn many new tactics that will have you looking forward to the next time you play a real life opponent.

It’s apparent that the game of chess will continue to evolve, and if the result of that evolution brings such welcomed advancements to the game that computerized chess boards have, then every player should be excited about the future of this awesome game.

Improve My Chess Game … how do I do that?

I used to play lots of chess when I was in high school. I also used to represent my school during Interschool tournaments… and lose. I have no idea why I was picked because apart from being good at the game and beating opponents at my own level, I had nothing else. I could never beat those geeks or big guns in the game.

As I played more and more and developed the feel, my skill level would drop further back, losing via careless mistakes and being easily overwhelmed by opponents even though I clearly had more experience playing, then when I started. And then when I was out of high school, I abandoned the game and when I got back to it some time in college, I was good at it again, and after some time playing, my skill level would drop again… What was I doing wrong…

Then recently, about a few months ago, I discovered that some simple concepts that I never really took into consideration seriously really could make a difference in my gameplay. Sure enough, I improved tremendously. I am currently enjoying a 15+ winning streak at chess and I am now able to beat regular guys at the free Internet chess server – something I could never do before my discovery.

I would not brag and say that I am already an expert or master, cause I still lack training and experience, and I would probably still rank very low compared to those brain-frying chessmasters out there from Russia or India, but I have really experience a vast improvement from last time. If only I had adhered to those basic chess concepts during high school, I would have won the tournament or at least finished in the top quarter…

My Basic Chess Improvement Concepts

Before I start, I would like to state that I did not create these concepts but I am using the subtitle “My Basic Chess Improvement Concepts” simply because I think there are really important, and I am suggesting to have these concepts in high priority in your head at all times during the game.

Again, as I said before, I am not a chessmaster or expert and these tips are to help newbies or rookies that are looking to improve. Now, if you are already a chessmaster or expert, there is no point reading this, as you might either already know this or have other even better strategies to beat this.

Alright. I will try to keep the explanations simple. There will be points to adhere to during all 3 stages of gameplay:

Stage 1 – Opening

An important phase of the game to play correctly, that let me improve my chess game. The concept is simple: Get your pieces out. You probably have heard this many times, and followed this rule, but still lose? Having all your bishops and knights out just to get them eaten up? Well, that’s just half of the concept.

The full concept: Get your pieces out with minimal blockage.

If you don’t get your pieces out or if they are out but cannot participate in gameplay, they are as useless as a flamethrower underwater. Always make sure your pieces are out, and they are attacking / pointing to the center (not in the center).

Attack and defense – If you are playing white, do not play defense, get your forces out until you find an opening, then attack. If you are playing black, defend until you either find an opening or your opponent is a step behind you in development, then you attack.

Pawn moves – Do not move many pawns up. There is a trick that is to use your pawns to block your opponent’s pieces. That trick maybe powerful at first glance, but once the pawn formation is broken, and you have not developed enough of your other pieces then you will be in deep trouble when your castled opponent is out and attacking. So, just move enough pawns to release all of your attack forces and that’s it. Your pawns would then be movable later on during middle or end game.

Most important – Beat your opponent in development. Get your forces out and movable (not blocked by pawns) and fast. If your opponent is wasting moves like moving his rook’s pawn in case your bishop goes up or something like that, instead of developing his bishop/knight or castling, you are one more move ahead. Wasting moves is the best way to lose.

Stage 2 – Middle Game

If you have done well in the opening, you will not have such a hard time in the middle game. So, in the middle game, all you need to do would be to find an advantage. This can be in the form of:

Material – if you are winning by 1 pawn, it’s quite enough. If you can exchange all other pieces on the board, and reduce the game to King and Pawn vs King, it’s an 80% chance you will win and 20% chance you will draw! So if you are winning by a rook or knight or better still – queen – then it’s a good sign to finish it. Exchange everything and reduce it to the smallest number possible and you will win, aka an imbalanced algebraic equation.

Position – if you have many mobile (unblocked) pieces targeting at many strategic squares, and your opponent has blocked pieces, like bishops blocked by pawns or undeveloped rooks in the corner, you can plan a strategy to either capture more pieces or aim for a checkmate.

Domination of the board – If there is a straight open file with no pawns, place your rook there to conquer it. This is also an advantage. With domination, you can aim to win material and get a number 1 advantage (mentioned above). There are killer tactics to do that, but I will not cover on that because that would be a very wide topic.

Remember, once you get an advantage, finish the game via checkmate if easily possible, or take the game to the next stage ASAP – End Game.

Stage 3 – End Game

This is no easy task. There are always 2 scenarios here:
1. You are winning
2. You are losing

It isn’t easy to find out which one. Number 1 or number 2? Ideally, if you have more pieces you will have an advantage and you would be winning. But sometimes, that is not the case. You may have a rook and your opponent may have just one bishop and a pawn, but that pawn is nearly reaching the finish line and grabbing the queen’s bathrobe at your kingdom, and your rook is trapped somewhere, and you have no way to stop the pawn… you understand what I mean?

So, during endgame, if you are winning by pieces, just try to reduce everything to your king and your forces vs enemy king and you should be winning. But be careful. Sometimes your forces aren’t enough to win, for example, a lone king and a knight can never checkmate another king, so it would be a draw.

If you are winning by position, try to checkmate or capture opponent pieces using killer tactics like forks, X-rays and pins, to turn the tables. You will have to study on this to get good at it but actually, you can implement these tactics once you find out about them.

If you are losing by position, try to force a draw, like multiple checks ie. checking your opponent, preventing him/her to launch any attack. If your opponent cannot stop your checks, the game is drawn. You can also try to capitalize on mistakes, then use killer tactics to turn the tables but that would be harder. Another way is to get repeated moves. If a move is repeated 3 times consecutively, the game is drawn.

If you are losing by material, and you are reduced to a king, try to get a stalemate. But this one is really hard and the odds are stacked against you.

So the opening and middle games are important to ensure you get at least some fighting chance in the end game, if you are able to get there.

Conclusion

Wow, I never thought I would be creating a hub this long, but it’s here anyways. Final important tips. Be alert at all times. Careless mistakes can hurt you bad! And be flexible. If you are pushing a strategy that will not work, it will cost you dearly. The best way to play chess is to stick to the concepts and the opportunities for strategies will come to you automatically.

Have fun, and I hope you can improve. I am a casual chess rookie who found out how to become a better rookie and to win more matches, and I wish you the best of luck!