the Chesspundit

Attacking Chess : Part 1 - Niranjan

2014-07-16T20:58:00.001+05:30

Hello Chess-mates!
Let us have a look at a successful attack launched by Hungarian Grandmaster & by far the strongest female chess player in the history - Judith Polgar

W: Van Wely
B : Judith Polgar
Hoogoveen, 1997
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. d4 d5 5. dxc5?! I am not sure about the correctness of this move. It allows black to capture on c5 with the bishop without losing a tempo. 5...e6 6. a3 Bxc5

Position after 6...Bxc5

Symmetrical English Opening offers varieties of position. In this game, we shall see IQP (Isolated Queen Pawn) arising.

7. b4 Bd6 8. Nf3 O-O 9.cxd5 exd5 Now we have an IQP Position :

10. Nb5?! White could have played Be2, followed by castles. White's Nb5 only helps black. The bishop is now driven to a better square. The long range h2-b8 may be conveniently used by black to force weaknesses in the future. 10...Bb8

Position after 10...Bb8

11. Bb2!?
(White castled early and managed to neutralize Black's attack. Have a look : 11.Be2 Re8 12.0–0 a6 13.Nbd4 Qd6 14.Bb2 Bg4 15.g3 Bh3 16.Re1 Ne4 17.Qd3 Qh6 18.Rac1 Ne5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Rc2 Rad8 21.Nf3 Bb8 22.Qb3 Be6 23.Bd4 Bg4 24.Nh4 Bxe2 25.Rexe2 Qh5 26.f4 Qg4 27.Qd3 h6 28.Bb2 Ba7 29.Kg2 Re6 30.Nf3 Nxg3 31.hxg3 Rg6 32.Rf2 Qxg3+ 33.Kf1 Qh3+ 34.Ke2 Rg3 35.Bd4 Bb8 36.Qd1 g5 37.fxg5 hxg5 38.Rh2 Rg2+ 39.Rxg2 Qxg2+ 40.Kd3 Qh3 41.Ne1 g4 42.Kd2 Re8 43.Nd3 f6 44.Nf2 Qh2 45.Qxg4+ 1–0 Karolyi,T (2200)-Sahl,B (2345)/Ballerup 1985/MCD)

Judith senses that this is the right moment to strike :11...a5! 12. bxa5 Ne4! Judith is in no hurry to grab the pawn as that would give white some time to breathe. (12...Qxa5 + would allow Bc3 & Be2 intending 0-0)

13. Be2 {13.Nc3 is strongly met by Bc7! (not 13...Qxa5? due to 14.Qxd5=) 14.Bd3 Bxa5 The pin along the a5-e1 drains white 15.Qc2 Nxc3 16.Bxc3 d4! 17.Bxa5 Qxa5+ 18.Qd2 dxe3 19.fxe3 Ne5 & white's weak pawns will soon conclude the story. Notice the flexibility of the bishop that switches its functioning diagonal whenever necessary}

13...Qxa5+ 14. Kf1 Rd8 15. h3 It is difficult to suggest a plan for white. He has to try the artificial castling. His play is paralysed on queenside. Black's pieces dominate the important squares.

Position after 15.h3

I like Black's next move : 15...Qb6! Queen has done its job on a5. It will now hope to attack on the kingside. While attacking, one has to be flexible, shift pieces, shuffle them whenever needed so that their potential is fully unleashed. {Judith states that 15...Ne7 was also possible - intending Nf5 where it looks at g3-e3.}
16. g3 Re8 :

Position after 16...Re8
It seems like the blow on the dark squares will follow shortly. Again, Judith's play is remarkable. Her pieces are consistently being improved.
17. Qe1 Na5 18. Bd4 Qg6!

{17...Na5 had two ideas : 1) Arranges a Queen-shift to g6 2)Knight hop to c4)
19. Kg2 Nc4 20. Nh4 Qc6 21. a4 Ra6!
Now Judith includes her last piece in the attack. Jacob Aagard in his Attacking Chess Manual has devoted a chapter 'Bring all your toys to the nursery'

22.Bg4 {Now 22...g6!? is a Karpov-type approach to the position)

22...f5!?

23. Bxf5 [And 23.Nxf5 is met by Bxf5 24.Bxf5 Nxg3! 25.fxg3 Nxe3+ Boom!! 26.Bxe3 d4+ Discovered check makes sure that the bishop on e3 is attacked 27.Kh2 Rxe3 28.Nxd4 Rxe1 29.Nxc6 Re2+ 30.Kg1 Rxc6 & black's menacing rooks will surely decide the game soon] 23... Rf8 The f2 is a real target, it's show time now.
24. Bxc8 Qxc8 25. Ra2 Rh6 26. Qd1

Black to play. Roll the Golden Pawn :)

26...g5! 27. Nf3 g4 28. hxg4 Rxh1 29. Qxh1 Qxg4

30. Nh2 {30.Qd1 is met by the deadly 30...Ncd2) and the final blow : Rxf2+ 0-1 (31.Rxf2 is met by 31...Qxg3 followed by mate on f2)

Lessons from the game :
1) Momentum is very essential in order to launch a successful attack. Note that Judith did not grab the pawn on a5 immediately. She installed the knight on e4, depriving white from castling.

2) Flexibility is another key feature of this game. Judith did not refrain from changing the position of the pieces, whenever required.

3)Including all the pieces in the attack : Judith's attack was correct and met all the demands of the position. She included all her pieces in the attack which crowned her a well-deserved victory.

4)Small tactics : Judith's alertness is evident in her moves. She kept an eye for tactics and blew the cover of white's king at the right time

I hope you enjoyed learning from this game as much as I enjoyed annotating it :) Stay tuned for another attacking game in the Part 2 of the Attacking Chess Series

The PGN Viewer for your convenience :

PGN

Wishing you successful attacks ahead :)
- Niranjan

Take my ROOKS! - Niranjan

2014-06-28T21:21:00.001+05:30

Namaste to the readers! I'm writing on this platform for the first time. You can expect funny chess stories, interesting games and thoughts here. My personal blog has a lot of chess-oriented stuff : www.chessindia.blogspot.in

For now, lets take a look at the game where I sacrificed two rooks!

PGN

Try to find the forced mate!

PGN

And that was quite memorable indeed!

Postscript :

Let's go back to this position:

Position after 17.Nc3

17...Qxh1 18.Kd2 and now Black need not take the rook on a1. He could simply play Qh2 defending the key diagonal - h2-b8, thus preventing Bf4 + in the future. So Black would be a rook up for nothing.

Lessons ;

1) Don't give a check because you see it. Instead, Calculate further and see if you really benefit from it (14.Bg5)

2) Don't take everything you get. (18...Qxa1)

I offered my rooks and my opponent gladly accepted them!

I was lucky, I was lucky.

See you soon,

- Niranjan Navalgund

2nd ManipalBlog Short Story and Poetry Competition: Illuminati 2012 (India)

2012-05-07T19:34:00.002+05:30

Deadline: 1 June 2012

After Illuminati 2011 received a good response,with 90 poems and 19 short stories,we announce the second edition of the ManipalBlog annual short story and poetry contest – Illuminati 2012.

We encourage student writers in India to explore and celebrate their talents by sending in their new, untried work. Writers may try their hand in both the categories: Short Story and Poetry.

MANIPALBLOG ANNUAL SHORT STORY AND POETRY COMPETITION: ILLUMINATI 2012

Illuminati 2012: the 2nd ManipalBlog Annual short story and poetry contest

Entries will be accepted between 12:00 AM , 1st May 2012 and 12:00 AM 1st June 2012. The entries will be published online at Manipalblog.com, on 1st June 2012 and one month will be given for our readers to appreciate and vote for them. Results will be announced on 15th August 2012 !

1. Eligibility:

The contest is open to all student residents in India.
Only original, unpublished, fictional short stories of 1500 words or less and written in English without profanity are eligible.
Multiple entries in each category are allowed.
Each article must contain solely the entrant’s original ideas and language. Your submission of the article and entry form is your guarantee that you are the sole author and copyright holder of the article.
Entrants under the age of 18 may enter only with the permission of their parent or guardian.
Administrators, Editors and Family members of ManipalBlog.com are not eligible to enter.

2. Restrictions: Entries may not be submitted for publication or published elsewhere (either digitally or in print). Incomplete or illegible entries and entries that do not meet the Eligibility standards in these official rules may be disqualified.

3. Short story requirements

Be between 1000 to 2000 words.
Be on the topic or theme provided.
Be written in the English language.
Be wholly the original work of the entrant, written solely by the entrant.
Not be copied from any other source.
Not have been previously broadcast or otherwise distributed or disseminated in any media or format.
Not be in the public domain.
Not be in violation of or in conflict with the trademark, copyright, rights of privacy, rights of publicity or any other rights, of any kind or nature, of any other person or entity.
Not include any language or other content that is inappropriate, offensive, pornographic, or otherwise unfit for dissemination or broadcast, as determined by ManipalBlog.com in its sole discretion.
Meet the deadline.

4. Poetry requirements

No single poem should exceed 60 lines.
Both metered and free verse qualify, as well as prose poems that are so designated by the poet are accepted.
Be on the topic or theme provided.
Be written in the English language.
Be wholly the original work of the entrant, written solely by the entrant.
Not be copied from any other source.
Not have been previously broadcast or otherwise distributed or disseminated in any media or format.
Not be in the public domain.
Not be in violation of or in conflict with the trademark, copyright, rights of privacy, rights of publicity or any other rights, of any kind or nature, of any other person or entity.
Not include any language or other content that is inappropriate, offensive, pornographic, or otherwise unfit for dissemination or broadcast, as determined by ManipalBlog.com in its sole discretion.
Meet the deadline.

Entries not satisfying these criteria in any respect will be disqualified. If ManipalBlog.com, in its sole discretion, has reason to believe that any entry contains any material that may infringe or violate any law or any rights of a third party, or that the use or broadcast of such entry in the manner described herein may infringe or violate any law or any rights of a third party, ManipalBlog.com may immediately disqualify such entry

5. How to Enter: There is NO FEE to enter this contest. Follow these steps to enter:

Complete the contest entry form here, and attach the word/.txt document and click on the submit form button.
The entries must be received by 11:59pm on May 31st, 2012. The link will be inactive thereafter.
By submitting a story entry, the entrant grants to ManipalBlog.com:
The right to edit the Story for grammar, spelling and punctuation; and
A non-exclusive, assignable, perpetual, license to produce, publish, distribute, transmit, exhibit, exploit, and license the Story and any portions thereof in any format (collectively “distribute” or “distribution,” as applicable) by any and all means, uses and media, whether audio, print, audiovisual or otherwise, now or hereafter known, throughout the universe in all languages without financial compensation.
Incomplete or illegible entries may be disqualified.

6. Judging and Awards

Like last year, we will be having prizes in the popular choice and critics choice categories for both short stories and poetry.
The popular choice awards will be based on the traffic, Facebook ‘Likes’ and Tweets the short story/ poem generates between 1st June 2012 and 1st July 2012.
Critics choice awards will be based on the scoring by our judging Panel. The judging panel may include: teaching professionals, librarians, children’s author, illustrators, and editors. Judging will begin on June 2, 2010 and the winners will be announced on or about August 15th, 2010 at the website www.manipalblog.com . The decisions of the judges are final and binding.
Certificates will be given away to all the participants via mail or in person if they live in Manipal/Mangalore.
Cash prizes for first place , second place , and third place will be offered in each of the categories (short stories and poetry).
5 entries in each category will receive online gift vouchers.
There will be separate awards for popular and critics choice winners.
The prizes in each category will be announced on 2nd June 2012. (Last year the total prize money was Rs. 10000/-and this year it will be much more than that!)
Prizes will be awarded in Cash (If based in Manipal/Mangalore) or via Bank transfer only! We will not be mailing cheques or Demand Drafts to the winners.
ManipalBlog.com reserves the right to refuse to award prizes in any category if the entries are considered to be of insufficient merit.

Entries that do not follow all of these instructions will be disqualified.

THE TOPICS AND THEMES for the Annual ManipalBlog Short Story & Poetry competition: Illuminati 2012 are as follows:

Short Story Topics:

The first day of college, a love note, and I suddenly saw a light at a distance…
A young student, corruption in the college, joins politics to save country
The Tablet, 21/12, Technology saves humanity from the Mayans.

Poetry Themes:

The girl at the fair
Wonderland
The sweet taste of Revenge

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: mail to contests@manipalblog.com with Illuminati 2012 as the subject line

For submissions: visit www.manipalblog.com/illuminati2012 (link will be activated on 1st May 2012 at 12:00 am)

Website: http://manipalblog.com

CheckMate - Rules of Castling

2010-12-07T08:50:00.002+05:30

Each player may "castle" only once during a game and when conditions are met. Castling is one of the more complicated moves in chess. It's the only time when a player can move more than one piece on a move. Castling is often a very important move because it allows you to place your King in a safe location and also allows the Rook to become more active.

Castling in Chess - Click on Image to enlarge

When the move is legal, each player has the choice of castling Kingside or Queenside or not at all, no matter what the other player chooses to do.

Beginners often make mistakes when castling, especially when castling queenside. There's one simple idea to remember about castling -- the king always moves two squares. Then the rook moves onto the square the king crossed over,

There are some special conditions that must be met before castling. In order to castle, neither the King nor the Rook involved may have moved before. Also, the King may not castle out of check, into check, or through check. Further, there may not be pieces of either color between the King and the Rook involved in castling. Also, if has to be the first move for the rook as well. If the rook has moved at all, even if it's moved back to the square it came from, castling on that side of the board is no longer allowed.

Here are a few problems on castling. What are your answers?

a. Can white castle both sides?

b. Can white castle?

c. Can white castle?

d. Would castling be good for white?

e.What happens if black castles?

f. White just castled. Good idea?

Can you solve these Castling problems?

10 Checks before you move

2010-12-06T18:20:00.000+05:30

How do you improve your performance? Do you study endgames a lot? Or are you an openings person? Some of you might be pouring over grandmaster games, maybe of your favourite grandmasters? These are really good ways to improve your chess ability and improve your chess game performance too. But there are times, when even after thorough preparation, you drop a piece during a tournament play, or may have missed or overlooked a check and allowed your opponent a crucial advantage. This happens even to the best of us, Vishwanathan Anand for example, missed one such bishop move in his World championship opening game and lost a crucial point. But what if I say, there is a way to prevent this from happening to you?

It however is not going to be easy at the beginning, requiring a lot of mental discipline - so i have created a sort of check-list before you consider a move to make over the chessboard. This list of mine has 10 points or questions on it, and you have to check with this before you consider every move, this might be tough at the beginning, but as you move on, it will be second nature in your thought process. Some items can be done very quickly, and other things take longer. But do them all and se the difference it makes to your games. As you go through this checklist and answer the questions one by one, try not to think about your next move. These questions are to make you aware of the situation on the board. Once you have complete information, then you can decide what to move. To do that beforehand would be to leave yourself partially blind.

“Why did my opponent make his last move.” This is much more important than trying to think far ahead. In the openings, sometimes a sufficient answer for is “Because it’s a book move.” At other times, the answer might be easy, if your opponent was forced to respond to your check or move an attacked piece. But don’t stop there. Even in the simplest cases, ask yourself why your opponent placed the piece just where he did, instead of some other square. If you can understand your opponent’s plans, you can anticipate and counter them in your own plans. And if you don’t understand your opponents move, try to find out after the game. Maybe he made a mistake or wasn’t playing well. But you should have your own opinion. You should never even think about your own moves until you’ve asked yourself this question. Especially if their move surprised you, give extra effort to questioning why. Then, once you have answered it, go on.
Does your opponent have any immediate checks? Hopefully, in most cases your king is well protected and the answer is a quick “no.” If you often answer yes to this, you might need to change your style of play. And don’t stop looking for checks after you find one. Examine each of your opponent’s pieces for their ability to give check. Don’t worry about what to do about it at this point. Just make yourself aware of the situation. This is something you don’t want to be surprised about, especially if the check gives a discovered attack. Many a won game has been lost because a simple check was overlooked.
What are the immediate captures your opponent is capable of? That is, which of your pieces are under immediate attack? For the pieces under attack, how many times are they attacked? Again, this isn’t the time to decide if they need to be defended—that will come later. You should look at each one of your pieces to evaluate their vulnerability. And that vulnerability might be fine for now. As long as you’re aware of it, you can put it’s importance into perspective.
Is the center under your control, contested, or does it belong to the opponent? Sometimes this can be answered by counting up each piece of yours that attacks each central square, and subtracting each of your opponent’s pieces that attack each central square. That’s a crude and superficial way to answer the question. But this article isn’t about how to evaluate that question, just be sure it’s on your primary checklist. If a mating attack is anticipated or underway, ask this question about the squares around the enemy king.
Do you have any very weak squares? That is, are there any squares on the board that none of your pieces attack? If those squares are close to your king, they make easy access for an enemy attack, and could be big problems. If those squares are in an area of the board you need to control, it could let the opponent counter your attack. If several weak squares are close to each other, their weakness multiplies.
Is your king adequately mobile? If your king is crowded in and has no legal moves, or only legal moves along one straight line, then checkmate becomes a greater possibility. And the same applies to the enemy king. In situations like that, you should be looking hard for ways to make checkmate happen.
Can you give any checks? Look at each of your pieces and ask if they can be used to give a check. But keep in mind that just because you can give a check, doesn’t mean that you should. More often than not, unless a check is part of a prepared and planned attack, it can often be the wrong move. I’ve seen a lot of good games ruined because a player gave a check and forced the opponent to improve their position. But because checks are compelling, especially if the king’s mobility is limited, they need to be considered in your planning.
Identify the captures you can make. Even if you’ve been focused on one particular piece for the last few moves, don’t forget to look at how the situation has changed and what new opportunities are present. What are your hottest immediate targets? Don’t stop after you find one. After all, maybe you can make an attacking move that hits more than one. Those are often winning moves, and it’s a shame to overlook one because you didn’t see the possibility.
Where are the opponent’s weak squares? Look at the board, especially around the other king, and see if there are any squares that would allow you to infiltrate. What are your hottest immediate targets?
In the openings, you might also want to ask yourself if your development is proceeding at a good pace. Especially in beginners, sometimes whole sides of the board are forgotten about while the already developed pieces get to have all the fun. Unfortunately, when those undeveloped pieces are needed, it might be too late.

There could be other items you find it worthwhile to put onto your primary checklist. Depending on your personal style of play or stage of development, you might want to add items to this list. And don’t be intimidated by it. With practice, it’ll become a habit you can do almost automatically.

Man versus Chess Machine - David Levy

2010-12-05T09:42:00.000+05:30

He was born in London, England in 1945. David Levy was the Scottish chess champ at the age of 22 and Levy played John McCarthy a friendly game of chess at an AI workshop in Edinburgh in 1968 and he made a bet of 500 pounds with John at that time regarding the future of computer chess. In 1977, David defeated KAISSA. He defeated chess 4.9, 4.7 later and then in 1978 won his bet from McCarthy for several thousand dollars. David Levy is the author of an unbelievable number of books. He’s written about 40 to 50 books on the subjects of computers, chess, and a wide range of subjects and is extremely prolific. He’s President of the International Computer Games Association and he helped organize the IBM Kasparov Deep Blue Match.

This is an excerpt from his speech at the computer history museum in January this year -

In August 1968 John and I started a bet that became a milestone in computer chess history. We were at a cocktail party in Edinburgh during one of the machine intelligence workshops organized by Donald Michie who was founder and head of the first AI university department in Britain. During the party, John invited me to play a game of chess which I won. And when the game was over, John said to me, “Well, David, you might be able to beat me, but within 10 years there’ll be a program that can beat you.” And I was somewhat incredulous at this suggestion.

I’d recently won the Scottish championship and it seemed to me that programs had a very, very long way to go before they got to master level. I knew of course of John’s position in the world of AI for which I had the greatest respect, but I felt that he simply underestimated how difficult it is to play master level chess and I was also a bit brash and I’ve always had a tendency to make somewhat large bets. So I offered to make a bet with John that he was wrong and he asked me how much I wanted to bet and I suggested 500 pounds which at that time was a little more than a thousand dollars. Now to put that into perspective, in those days I was in my first job after graduating university and the bet represented more than six months’ salary for me.

So John wasn’t quite sure whether to take the bet so he called over to our host, Donald Michie, for advice. And Donald was sitting on the floor a few feet away from us and he asked Donald what he thought. And Donald immediately said to John, “Could I take half the action?” And that of course gave John a lot of confidence and so we started the bet, we shook hands, and that’s how it started with each of them betting me 250 pounds that I would lose a match to a computer program within 10 years. Later the bet grew bigger. The following year, Seymour Papert and Edward Kostrowicki [ph?] joined the list of opponents and the final amount at stake when we ended the bet was 1,250 pounds. But I had never felt that I was gonna be in any trouble and it turned out that I was right.

In August 1978 at the end of the 10-year period, I played a match at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto against the reigning world computer chess champion program and although they put a very pretty girl facing me to make the moves and smile at me when I was thinking, I still won the bet. In 1979, the following year, I made another bet for a further five years. This was with Dan McCracken and was for 1,000 dollars and again I won.

But by the time I won in 1984, I could see the writing on the wall so I got together with Omni Magazine and I said to them that I would like to offer a prize for the first team or the first program to beat me whenever that might be and said that I would put up 1,000 dollars if they would add 4,000 of their money to it. And so we did. We announced a 5,000 dollar prize with absolutely no time limit.

By 1989, the group at Carnegie Mellon University, of which Murray Campbell was a key member, had created Deep Thought which was a veritable monster of a chess computer and it started to score major successes in tournaments involving very strong grand masters. It even won a tournament in California ahead of a former world champion, Mikhail Tal and I knew then that my number was up. And sure enough, when I was challenged to a match at the end of 1989, I was horribly crushed by a score of four to zero, but I was reasonably satisfied because I’d lasted for 21 years since the original bet.

Fortunately, Garry Kasparov was willing to take up the battle on behalf of mankind and that gave the struggle to improve the best programs even more emphasis. The Man Versus Machine Contest and my bet in particular elicited some interesting and provocative comments from various experts. In the human chess world, I encountered two diametrically opposing views from two former world champions.

Mikhail Botvinnik who was a real titan of chess who held the world championship for 12 years during the period from 1948 to 1963 with a couple of gaps said to me, “I feel very sorry for your money, David.” On the other hand, the Dutch mathematician Max Euwe who held the world championship title for two years from 1935 to 1937, as soon as he heard about my bet he wanted to take a share of my side, but I said no.

And in the world of computing, Monty Newborn made a prophecy during the 1977 World Computer Chess Championship, one year before I played before my first match, and this was a prophecy that was somewhat optimistic in its timeframe, but it came through more quickly than I believed possible. Monty said, “Grand masters used to come to computer chess tournaments to laugh. Now they come to watch. Soon they will come to learn.” And learning they have been.

Grand masters have been employing chess programs as analysts for several years and since 1987 huge databases of games from master play have been employed to help strong players prepare for games in tournaments against specific opponents. In addition, there are databases of end game positions that have taught the chess world the truth about some positions that have been incorrectly analyzed in the literature. In one case, the configuration of pieces in the end game that had been thought and stated in all the books to be drawn was discovered through computer analysis to be a win for one side.

6 Steps to analyze your chess games and become a better player

2010-12-04T07:17:00.001+05:30

In Igor Khmelnitsky’s Chess Exam and Training Guide, he gives a procedure toward the end of the book for going over your own games. I’ve used it a couple of times, and I like it. As an adult player, trying to improve but with limited study time, I find this approach to be practical.
Here’s a summary of the procedure:

Write brief notes, as soon as possible after the game, to capture your thought process.
Store your games in a database. (I use ChessBase 8.)
Identify critical moves that might have been strategically wrong, and record ideas that might have been better.
Use a chess program’s “blunder check” to find tactical mistakes. (I use Fritz.)
Play against a chess program to test out your new strategic ideas. (I haven’t had time to do this.)
Review the opening phase. Find a stopping point between the 10th and 20th moves and summarize its outcome. Make a note of anything you’d like to do differently next time.

A Few Chess Openings for Beginners

2010-12-03T18:35:00.002+05:30

The following is instruction for some and refresher for others, read on…..

In chess the word "opening" has two common meanings: the first stage of a chess game and also the first sequence of moves.

A good opening will provide better protection of the King, control over an area of the board (particularly the center), greater mobility for pieces, and possibly opportunities to capture opposing pawns and pieces. Some are direct, while others are more subtle and indirect approaches toward these goals.

Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings (as initiated by White) or defenses (as created in reply by Black). A sequence of opening moves that is considered standard (often cataloged in a reference work such as the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings) is referred to as "the book moves", or simply "book". When a game begins to deviate from known opening theory, the players are said to be "out of book".

The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. Instead of the traditional names for the openings, ECO is a unique coding system. There are five main categories, "A" to "E", each of which is divided into one hundred sub-categories.

Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) code index.

Eco coding system - Shortlist

How to Learn Chess Openings

1. Find and use (there are a number online and book and DVD) resources that can help you learn and provide you a good sense of how to play the openings and the types of positions to which they lead. i.e. Google the opening name

2. Read to understand and learn the ‘plan’ (strengths and weaknesses) of the opening. Many openings focus on the defense of a single piece or positional advantage.

3. Memorize the different move orders (and variations) of the opening. The easiest way to do this is to set up a board and play through the moves for both sides by yourself.

4. Practice the usage of the opening against opponents and note when it works well and when it doesn't. After you've played a game, look it over (analyze) and see which of your mistakes you could have avoided with a better opening play.

Opening Nomenclature

The oldest openings tend to be named for geographic places and people. Chess players' names are the most common sources of opening names. The name given to an opening often is named for the player who was the first to popularize it or to publish analysis of it.

Game: Used only for some of the oldest openings, for example Scotch Game, Vienna Game, and Four Knights Game.

Opening: Along with Variation, this is the most common term.

Variation: Usually used to describe a line within a more general opening, for example the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined.

Defense: Always refers to an opening chosen by Black, such as Two Knights Defense or King's Indian Defense, unless, of course, it has 'reversed' in front of it, which makes it an opening for white. The term "defense" does not imply passivity; many defenses are quite aggressive (such as the Nimzo-Indian Defense).

Gambit: An opening that involves the sacrifice of material, usually one or more pawns. Gambits can be played by White or Black. The full name often includes Accepted or Declined depending on whether the opponent took the offered material, as in the Queen's Gambit Accepted and Queen's Gambit Declined.

Opening types - Categories

Open Game (aka Double King Pawn game): White moves 1. e4 e5

Semi-Open Game (aka Single King Pawn games): White plays 1.e4 and Black breaks symmetry immediately by replying with a move other than 1...e5.

Closed Game: Game begins 1.d4 d5.

Semi-Closed Game (or Semi-Closed Opening): White plays 1.d4 but Black does not make the symmetrical reply 1...d5.

Flank Opening: White attacks the center from the flanks with pieces rather than occupying it with pawns.

Closed openings may stifle players who are learning the game, therefore I advocate a focus on playing open positions and gambits with both colors to improve. Learn to improve tactics and attacking play. (and learn to appreciate games where it takes longer for the fireworks to begin).

List of common chess openings

Scotch Game - violent attack on the centre, using rapid and aggressive development principles.

Type: Kings Pawn OPEN

ECO: C45

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/Scotch_Game

1.e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6

Giuoco Piano (aka. The Italian Opening) - White takes aim at Blacks weak f7 Pawn.

Type: Kings Pawn OPEN

ECO: C50-C54

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/Italian_Game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4

Ruy Lopez (aka the Spanish Game) - White threatens to trade the bishop against the knight, leaving the pawn undefended.

Type: Kings Pawn OPEN

ECO: C60-C99

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/Ruy_Lopez

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

Pirc Defense - Black does not immediately fight for the center, but prepares counter-play while White advances his pawns.

Type: Kings Pawn SEMI-OPEN

ECO: B07-B09

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/Pirc_Defence

1.e4 d6

Caro-Kann Defense - Black gives up the centre in exchange for easier development.

Type: Kings Pawn SEMI-OPEN

ECO: B10-B19

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/Caro-Kann_Defence

1.e4 c6

Sicilian Defense - a counter-attacking opening in which players typically attack on opposite sides of the board.

Type: Kings Pawn SEMI-OPEN

ECO: B20-B99

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sicilian_Defense

1.e4 c5

French Defense - White usually attacks king-side, while Black tries to get a chance at the queen-side.

Type: Kings Pawn SEMI-OPEN

ECO: C00-C19

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/French_Defence

1.e4 e6

Queen's Gambit - White immediately responds to Black's attempt to gain a foothold in the center by striking out with his c-pawn.

Type: Queens Pawn CLOSE

ECO: D06-D69

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Opening_theory_in_chess/1._d4/1...d5/2._c4

1.d4 d5 2. c4

Indian Defenses - In an Indian defense to a Queen's Pawn opening, Black replies with the idea of contesting the centre by more indirect means than straightforward pawn play.

Type: Queens Pawn SEMI-CLOSE

ECO: E00-E59

King's Indian Defense - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4

Nimzo-Indian Defense - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3

Queen's Indian Defense - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3

Grünfeld Defense - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3

English Opening - Black prepares to develop the Queenside Bishop

Type: Queens Pawn FLANK

ECO: A10-A39

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Opening_theory_in_chess/1._c4

1.c4

Réti Opening - White opens with an immediate gambit, advancing his Queen's Bishop's Pawn to threaten Black's Queen Pawn.

Type: Queens Pawn FLANK

ECO: A04-A09

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess/Reti_Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4

Note, Modern Chess Openings (MCO 15^th edition) is considered the world's most current and comprehensive one-volume reference work on the chess openings.

CheckMate Strategy

2010-12-02T17:51:00.003+05:30

There are two ways to win a chess game. One way is solid, steady, and unspectacular. You gradually outplay your opponent, piling small advantage on top of small advantage. You win a little material advantage along the way, and finally score a win in the end game.

The other way is harder but much more satisfying. You activate your pieces early in the game, generating threats that push your opponent back to the wall. You blast through the pawns and pieces guarding his King with a brilliant sacrifice, crown your achievement with an amazing checkmate, seemingly conjured out of thin air.

What makes a successful attack possible?

In general, two conditions must be met:

1. You need an advantage in space, particularly in the area of the board where your opponent’s King is located.

2. You must have more pieces available for attack than your opponent has for defense.

Conducting a successful mating attack requires mastering three key attacking skills:

1. Strip away the Pawns in front of the enemy King. After castling King-side, the three Pawns in front of the King constitute a powerful defensive barrier. As long as these Pawns are in place, it’s very hard to get at the enemy King.

2. Use the power of check to mobilize your pieces. The cry of “check” forces your opponent to ignore everything else and move the King to safety. While he’s moving his King he can’t mobilize his other pieces.

3. Calculate the follow-up accurately. Sacrificing pieces is easy, the hard part is calculating the follow-up.

The weakest point in Black’s defensive position at the very beginning of the game is the square f7. (In White’s position, it’s the square f2). Because the Pawn on these squares are only guarded by the King, as opposed to the squares e2 and e7; which are guarded by the King, Queen, Bishop, and Knight on f8 for black and f1 for White.

Strategy is difficult to teach. The secret to a winning checkmating attack is learning how to spot the conditions that make an attack possible, how to break through your opponent’s defenses, and how to push your opponent’s King off his square forcing him into the open where he is vulnerable to attack. With this knowledge you will win more often and enjoy the game more.

Martial Chess - An Article by Nevin Grimsley

2010-12-01T11:11:00.000+05:30

While browsing through some old collections of mine, i came across this article published in some chess newsletter in the mid 1990's. I hope that I can reproduce it here without any problems. I do not recall the Newsletter, I have just saved the text and the author.

Chess is a great sport, but let’s admit it doesn’t offer much in the way of cardiovascular fitness.

So, hoping to expand my repertoire of hobbies a bit -- as well as to get some exercise and prevent a stroke before I turn forty -- I recently started checking into martial arts classes. What I learned about Karate also taught me something about chess.

Martial arts are very cool, don’t you think? As I researched a bit, I found that there are practically limitless schools and styles of fighting. If you are a straight-ahead power puncher, Karate, with its direct chops and strikes, might fit your taste. If, on the other hand, you are a smaller person, you might prefer a style like Judo, where you throw your opponents by using their own weight and momentum against them. Aikido is a method whereby you can control a larger antagonist strictly by the angle and pressure you apply against one of his wrists or elbows. Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, Jiujitsu.... the list goes on. Even for those of us who
have no intention of getting into a street brawl, these arts have a lot of benefit in exercise and self-discipline.

Chess has a lot going for it, but on the coolness scale it doesn’t stack up very well compared to martial arts! First of all, look at our terminally boring terminology.

Martial arts student: “Yesterday at my Tiger Crane Kung Fu class, a Black Belt taught me the flying roundhouse kick!”

Chess student: “Yesterday at the chess club, a B-player taught me when to fianchetto in the English!”

The kung fu student is going to draw a crowd at work with his statement. It rings of centuries of tradition and mystique; it speaks of action and fury. The chess student is going to wind up sitting by himself at lunch, because he doesn’t seem to be speaking an intelligible language.

Terms like French Defense and Four Knights Game just don’t boil the blood. True, there are a few cool names in chess -- Sicilian Dragon and King’s Indian Attack come to mind, and “gambit” would be catchy if anybody spoke Italian.

Overall, though, we’re due for a terminology overhaul. (I vote we borrow heavily from professional wrestling and start calling chess maneuvers “the pile driver” and “the nutcracker”).

But the problem runs deeper than mere words. After some thought, I realized that most of these chess terms refer simply to openings or very simple strategic elements. What martial arts have -- and what I think chess desperately needs to regain -- is style.

Kung Fu is a style of fighting. There used to be styles in chess: Classical, Romantic, Hypermodern. A “romantic” player could be counted on to charge recklessly for your king, tossing trivial concerns like material equality or positional considerations to the wind in pursuit of checkmate. Classicists like Staunton always went for central pawn control and open center lines for doubled rooks. Hypermoderns like Nimzovitsch were happy to let you set up your Classical center so they could blockade and dismantle it with their wing pawns and fianchettoed bishops.

Alas, today’s grandmasters are purely “pragmatists”. Certain players might lean a bit towards attacking chess (Kasparov) or strategic chess (Karpov), but they are happy to beat you however you allow. Thus top-level chess has no players with distinctive, cool styles to compare to Tiger Crane Kung Fu.

Are you a relentless attacker (“the Heat-Seeker”)? An opportunistic swindler (“Blackbeard”)? What would opponents call your style of play?

Rapid Development and the Evan's Gambit

2010-11-30T18:57:00.000+05:30

The opening is a race to see who can get their pieces out first while keeping at least a share of control of the center.’ To illustrate this point, we will be introducing the Evans Gambit.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4

The Evan's Gambit - Position after 4.b4

This opening, a variation of the Giuoco Piano, is named after the British sea captain, W. D. Evans who invented it in the 1820s. With 4.b4 White deflects the Black Bishop from its control of the centre squares and White gives up a pawn to gain rapid development and open lines for his pieces. With 4.b4 White deflects the Black Bishop from its control of the centre squares and This opening is not as popular today as it used to be but it is still played by some grandmasters.

Before thinking that you have lost the game already by giving up a pawn in the opening, consider the following. First, according to chessbase, an online chess resource that has 500 games recorded, white wins 50% of the time in grandmaster play. But more importantly, with games between beginning players, the game rarely hinges upon getting a pawn up and successfully promoting the pawn to win the game in the end game. Usually, the game is decided by a player making a major mistake when confronted with the task of dealing with a complex position.

If you chose to play this opening, you will be able to rapidly deploy your pieces, create positions that require tactical play, and can apply a great deal of pressure on your opponent. Perhaps the most famous example of the opening occurs between the Grandmasters, Robert Fischer and Robert Fine.

Fischer,R - Fine,R [C52]
New York, 1963

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 dxc3 8.Qb3 Qe7
9.Nxc3 Nf6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Bb2 Qg5 14.h4 Qxh4 15.Bxg7 Rg8
16.Rfe1+ Kd8 17.Qg3 1-0

The Hobbs and Dorsch Gambits

2010-11-29T10:46:00.002+05:30

Making a lasting mark at chess is a tough thing to do. Maybe you play as well as Kasparov, or compose as splendidly as Grigoriev, or teach as memorably as Purdy, but not many of us attain the levels of skill required
to do those things.

Some players achieve some immortality by attaching their names to an opening. Sometimes the moves are not so good - Robert Durkin claimed 1. Na3 - and sometimes they are based in real positional grounds. Two different wing gambits, where one side aims for center control by deflecting an enemy bishop pawn, have been named for Bay Area players.

In one of his books on the French Defense, international master John Watson named 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4!? the Dorsch Gambit for life master Tom Dorsch of Menlo Park after Dorsch enjoyed a burst of success with the idea in the early 90s, but Dorsch himself preferred the more descriptive name French
Wing Gambit.

Ten years earlier, Richard Parker Hobbs of the Berkeley, Oakland, and Monday Knights chess clubs, hit upon the weird idea 1. f4 g5?! to battle Bird's Opening. Grandmaster Benjamin and FIDE master Schiller give Hobbs equal billing with Steinlach in their Unorthodox Openings, and said that Black's life [in the Steinlach-Hobbs Gambit] is likely to be nasty, brutish, and short.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 - An Introduction

2010-11-28T12:14:00.007+05:30

Compiled by Steven Craig Miller

1. e4 e5
2. Nc4 …

Other 2nd moves for White include:

2. f4 — King’s Gambit
2. Nc3 — Vienna Game
2. Bc4 — Bishop’s Opening
2. d4 — Center Game & Danish Gambit

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3

2. … g6?
2. … f6?
2. … Bd6?!
2. … f5 — Latvian Gambit
2. … d6 — Philidor’s Defense
2. … Nf6 — Petrov’s Defense
2. … Nc6 — mainline

2. … g6?

If Black makes a pawn move (such as 2. … g6) which does not defend Black’s e5 pawn, the correct move for White is 3.Nxe5. Now if the Black queen is brought out to e7 White should retreat the knight and allow Black to take White’s e4 pawn.

2. … g6
3. Nxe5 Qe7
4. Nf3 Qxe4

If 4. … d5, then 5. d3 is best.

5. Be2

Here White has developed two minor pieces while White’s opponent has only the misplaced Black queen developed. So White stands better.

2. … f6?

Here Black has attempted to protect the e5-pawn, but its protection is an illusion. The correct move here is again 3. Nxe5!

2. … f6? 3. Nxe5 Qe7 3. … fxe5?? 4. Qh5+ Kf7 (4. … g6? 5. Qxe5) 5. Bc4+ d5 (5. … Kg6?? 6. Qf5+)

6. Bxd5 and White has a winning position.

4. Nf3 Qxe4

If 4. … d5, then 5. d3 is best.

5. Be2

Here White has developed two minor pieces while White’s opponent has only the misplaced Black queen developed. So White stands better.

2. … Bd6?!

Unlike 2. … g6? and 2. … f6?, this move (2. … Bd6) is a smaller type of mistake. Here at least Black has developed a piece, unfortunately Black has developed a piece in front of a center pawn (namely the d7-
pawn). White should continue with normal development. At sometime Black will either need to move the d6-bishop (loosing a tempo), or else it will remain a poorly developed piece. On the other hand, White should avoid doing anything to the position which would help Black activate this misplaced piece.

2. … Nc6

From here White has the choice of:

3. Bc4 — the Italian Game
3. d4 — Scotch Game, Scotch Gambit, and Göring Gambit
3. c3 — Ponziani’s Opening
3. Nc3 — Three & Four Knights Game
3. Bb5 — Spanish Game (the Ruy Lopez)

Chess Strategy - Excerpt from Chess Step by Step

2010-11-27T06:16:00.037+05:30

Excerpt from Chess Step by Step - by Frank Marshall and J.C.H. Macbeth

The intelligent reader may enquire: "Why am I supposed to study Chess Strategy, while I have only a very slender knowledge of the Chess Openings?" The reply to this question is, that learning Chess is somewhat similar to learning a language. We all know that children acquire a certain vocabulary of their native tongue before they begin to delve into the mysteries of grammar and syntax, and, as a matter of fact, a considerable proportion of people of all nationalities are content to go through life without troubling themselves to learn the laws and principles which govern their language. In Chess, knowledge of the moves and how to play under certain given conditions is equivalent to acquiring a vocabulary in a language, and the syntax may be said to be the study and analysis of the Openings, which we have therefore reserved for a later stage, by which time the student will be better equipped for the task of making himself conversant with the subtleties and beauties of the many and complex variations in the different Chess Openings.

Some Opening Principles and Chess Strategies

For the purpose of study and analysis, a game of Chess is divided into three phases – the Chess Opening, the Middle Game, and the End Game.

The Chess Opening consists of the first six or eight moves, when both sides endeavor to develop their forces into the sphere of action where they will exercise the greatest power against the opponent’s defenses. By this time the reader will be in a position to understand the following principles with regard to the Chess Opening – principles which experience has proved cannot be deviated from with impunity.

Avoid Moving a Chess Piece Twice During the Opening is a good chess strategy.

This means that when you have developed a piece, it should not be moved again until the other pieces have been developed. If a piece has been attacked, it must, of course, be moved, but this is not a violation of the rule, as the opponent in all probability has departed from principle in attacking your piece, which will ultimately prove to be advantageous to you.

It is Better Chess Strategy to Develop the Knights before Their Respective Bishops.

This principle does not mean that both Knights should be developed before bringing out a Bishop, but that it is advisable to play say the King’s Knight before the King’s Bishop, and similarly on the Queen’s side.
The following is an example of the consequences that may ensue by violating the foregoing principles and strategies.

White Black
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 d6
3.Bc4 Bg4

Here Black has violated the strategy principle by playing the Bishop instead of the Knight.

4.Nc3 Nc6
5.0-0 Nd4

Black has again played contrary to the principle strategy, in moving the Knight twice during the Opening.
6.Nxe5 dxe5

Position after 5.0-0 Nd4

Best. If at his 6th move Black plays 6...Bxd1, White gives Mate in two moves: 7.Bf7+ Ke7 8.Nd5#, and Knight Mates.

The move in the text leaves him a pawn minus and an inferior position.

A good chess strategy is to Develop Both Knights before the Queen’s Bishop.

A good chess strategy is Do Not Develop your Chess Pieces Exclusively on One Side.

A good chess strategy is as a Rule Do Not Play a Piece beyond Your Own Side of the Board in the Opening.

This last principle means that you should not play a piece beyond its 4th square, until by development you have the other pieces ready to back up any incursions the piece may make into enemy territory. In some forms of Opening, however, this principle is disregarded, notably in the Ruy Lopez, but in that case, it is attacking an important piece which the opponent is supposed to require for his defense.

A good chess strategy is if You Have Castled Do Not Permit the Opponent to Open a File on Your King.

A good chess strategy is to Avoid Pinning the Opponent’s King’s Knight before He has Castled, Especially When You Have Yourself Castled on the King’s Side.

A good chess strategy is to Avoid Making Exchanges which Develop Another Piece for the Opponent.

It might be thought that the wisdom of this last principle was self-evident, but many beginners constantly disregard it. If, however, the piece which is developed by the capture is the Queen, compensation for the loss of balance in the development of the forces may be obtained by attacking the adverse Queen, which should not, as a rule, be brought too early into action.

A good chess strategy is to Avoid Exchanging Bishops for Knights Early in the Game.

We have seen that in the early stages of a game the Bishops have a longer range than the Knights, so it is clearly advisable to keep them in the field as long as possible. The disparity between the two pieces gradually tapers off as the game progresses, until in the End Game the Knight is frequently more powerful than the Bishop because its action is not limited to one color of square as is that of the Bishop.

A good chess strategy is to Avoid Premature Attacks.

It is probable that more games are lost by beginners through disregard of this principle than from any other cause. An attack should never be launched until there is sufficient force in the field to carry it to a successful conclusion, and a premature attack almost inevitably recoils on the head of the attacker. The following is a classic example of the result of violation of some of the foregoing principles, and the position brought about may be reached in a number of different ways.

White Black
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bc4 Nf6
4.0-0 Bc5
5.d3 d6
6.Bg5 h6

White’s 6th move clearly violates the principle of avoiding the pin of the adverse King’s Knight before Castling, and after he himself has Castled on the King’s side. If instead of retreating the Bishop after Black’s 6th move, he takes the Knight, it is evident that he will violate another principle, for after 7...gxf6, Black will have a open file for his Rook, bearing directly on White’s King.

7.Bh4 g5
8.Bg3 h5

White’s game is now as good as lost. He is threatened with the loss of his Bishop by 9...h4, and if he plays 9.h3 to make an opening for it, 9...g4 by Black will perforce open a file for Black’s menacing and powerful King’s Rook.

9.Nxg5 h4

With all his forces ready for an onslaught on the White King, Black ignores the threat of 10.Nxf7, attacking his Queen.

10.Nxf7 hxg3
11.Nxd8 Bg4
12.Qd2 Nd4

Now play as he may, White cannot escape from disaster.

13.Nc3 Nf3+
14.gxf3 Bxf3

Black Mates in a move or two.

White cannot escape the consequences of his ill-advised Opening by playing as his 13th move 13.h3, as Black’s reply will be 13...Ne2+ 14.Kh1, then Black plays 14...Rxh3+, and after 15.gxh3 Bf3# Mates.
If, instead of moving his King, White at Move 14 in this variation plays 14.Qxe2, then 14...Bxe2 will leave Black a piece to the good with a winning position.

A good chess strategy is Seeking a Weak Spot in Opponent’s Position.
Suppose that both sides have developed their game without disregarding any of the foregoing principles, and that the stage of the Middle Game has been reached, sooner or later one of the players makes a doubtful move which weakens his position, and success in Chess, in a great measure, depends upon the ability of the opponent to detect this weakness, and then take full advantage of it.

It is only by experience derived from assiduous practice and observation that players acquire the knowledge which is requisite to enable them accurately to gauge a weakness in the opponent’s position, and the only assistance we can render is to give some examples, taken from games actually played, and demonstrate the weak points in the positions, and how advantage was taken of them. In order that the reader may derive the greatest possible benefit from these examples, he should always set up the pieces from the various diagrams, and, before consulting the text, endeavor to find out whether White or Black has the better position, what weakness exists, and finally how to direct the attack on that weakness. It will be practically useless merely to set up the position and then proceed right away to play the moves that are given.

This position was reached in a game between Johner and Marshall at the International Tournament at Pestyen, in 1912. A cursory examination might lead to the conclusion that as White has a pawn to the good, and Black’s c-pawn is weak and unsupported, the position is favorable to White, but White cannot play 1.Rxc5 without losing the game.

White Black
1.Rxc5 Ne2+
2.Kh2 (best) Qf4+
3.g3 Nxg3

It is clear that White’s position is hopeless.

There is, however, a great weakness in White’s position, inasmuch as he is defending his Bishop with his Queen, which, with all the open files at his disposal, is a fine target for Black’s Rooks. The following moves indicate how swiftly and inexorably Black availed himself of this weakness.

White Black
1.Kh2 Rfd8
2.Qe4 Re8
3.Qd5 Re5
Resigns

White resigns, because if he plays 4.Qd7 to protect his Bishop, Black will play 4...Re7 again attacking the Queen and the Bishop is lost.

Lasker's rules for the opening

2010-11-26T06:14:00.000+05:30

Do not move any pawns in the opening of a game but the King and Queen pawns.
Do not move any piece twice in the opening, but put it at once on the right square.
Bring out your knights before developing your bishops, especially the Queen's Bishop.
Do not pin the adverse King Knight (ie. by Bg5) before your opponent has castled.

10 rules for the opening

2010-11-25T06:10:00.005+05:30

Get your pieces out into the center quickly. The opening is a race to see who can get their pieces out first while keeping at least a share of control of the center.

This is the main point to remember; all the other rules are just footnotes to this one

More detail on winning the race:

Move pieces not pawns, and
move them to their best squares in one move if you can, and also
try to gain time if you can by aggressive moves.

Move minor pieces out first, not your Q or RRs which can be attacked and lose time
Get a firm foothold in the center and don't give it up
Generally move Knights straightaway to f3/c3 or f6/c6
Move your king to safety at the side by castling King's-side (which also gets your Rook into play)
Complete your development before moving a piece twice or starting an attack
Keep your queen safe
Don't grab pawns or attack if you haven't completed development
What to do if there is a lead in development:

If you are ahead in development, start something going and open up lines for your better pieces
If you are behind in development, don't start anything and keep things closed until you have caught up

5 Basic Opening Strategies for the Intermediate Player

2010-11-24T06:08:00.000+05:30

"A knowledge of tactics is the foundation of positional play. This is a rule which has stood its test in chess history and one which we cannot impress forcibly enough upon the young chess player. A beginner should avoid Queen's Gambit and French Defence and play open games instead! While he may not win as many games at first, he will in the long run be amply compensated by acquiring a thorough knowledge of the game" - RICHARD RETI

As a beginning to intermediate player, it is much more important to learn tactics than strategy. Choosing open games lead to games with more tactical play.

1. Control the center
All of your early moves should aim to take control over the center (the d4,e4,d5, and e5-squares) ... usually by develop a piece, preferably in a way that threatens something... perhaps an opponent's piece or to take firm control over the center.

2. Knights before Bishops
Most of the time, it is fairly clear where the knights ought to be developed. The best squares for the bishops become apparent only a bit later. Move at least one knight out to the center of the board before you move your bishop.

3. Develop before you attack
Try not to move a piece more than once in the opening... unless you can capture something or gain something important. In other words, don't start attacking until all or at least most of your pieces are developed.

4. Don't bring your queen out early
Make sure that you do not bring your queen out early. If you do, you may lose it or at best lose time moving it around when your opponent attacks it. Wait with your queen until you are sure you know where it's going.

5. King safety
This should be obvious, but many beginners forget about safeguarding their king. Lose your king, and you lose the game! So make it a priority to castle early unless you have a very good reason to do something else. In most games, players castle kingside because it's easier to defend. Castling queenside leaves the king a bit more exposed. If you do castle queenside, you will often want to take time to move the king from c1 to b1 for added safety. Even on the kingside, it is often a good idea to make the king safer by moving it from g1 to h1.

Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman - A review

2010-11-20T19:29:00.000+05:30

Title:Back to Basics:Tactics

Author: Dan Heisman

Published by : Russell Enterprises (September 15, 2007)
Paperback: 192 Pages

I am reading Dan Heisman’s Back To Basics: Tactics about a week ago. The book aims to teach tactical concepts to “beginning players who have never played tournament chess or who possess a U.S. Chess Federation rating lower than 1500″ or online players with a rating below 1700. I believe the book is well-suited for this purpose and audience. I also think players rated 100-200 points higher might use this book for a quick “tactical tune-up” if they are a bit rusty.

There are a plethora of tactical books on the market and chess books seem to be rolling out like hotcakes. When I initially picked up this book, I thought it was a little too basic for my current playing level; however, upon further exploration of the book, I soon realized this effort was a gem. Mr. Heisman has chosen examples that are clear and uncomplicated allowing the reader to truly understand the essence of the described tactical motifs. The most original section of the book is Chapter 1, which focuses on "counting." (Regular readers of Heisman’s Novice Nook column know that he often talks about counting as one of the most under-appreciated tactical elements, especially for players in the target audience for this book.) This is a concept taken for granted even by advanced beginners. But most players, no matter how strong, never fully cover all aspects of this art.

Counting refers to "counting" how many offensive pieces attack a square, compared to how many pieces defend that square. This "count" may move up or down, depending on which pieces get captures, moved, threatened, etc. It's not good enough to simply think "two pieces attack my pawn and two pieces defend my pawn, therefor my pawn must be safe."

With the exception of Logical Chess : Move by Move, most books are a chore to sit through. I've had a few other books on tactics, but just working through problem after problem with no explanation gets old fast. "Why is the move that I thought about a bad one?" "Doesn't this move win as well?" "What are the basic patterns of a certain mate or tactic?" These are all questions that most of the books don't answer, but Heisman's book does!

The best parts of the book are the little light blue "advice boxes," which highlight practical advice for the improving player. These little boxes are peppered throughout the book like pull-quotes in magazine articles. From these boxes, much of Heisman's practical knowledge is imparted, and much of this advice has nothing even to do with tactics. Much of it has to do with thought process, time management, and other practical matters.

This book is good, everything is explained clearly and a lot of exercise for practice, so I highly recommended for those player just out of the beginner level to the intermediate player.

A Twinterview with VishytheKing64

2010-11-20T18:29:00.000+05:30

This is a synopsis of an Interview on Twitter conducted by Forbes India, a few days after he had retained the World Championship title against Veselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Must have for an Anand Fan!

Vishwanathan Anand

On turning 40 and being called the Lightning Kid: Its not a big deal, I feel the same, just entering your age in places surprises you!

On perceived lack of discipline and systematic thinking among Indian chess players: I think its wrong to generalize about nations, esp. in something so individualistic like chess. I had my years when I drifted and had fun, but eventually I understood that to become world champion I had to get serious. Also, one can learn these skills by working with the right people, so willingness to learn is the main thing.

On the Nice guy image: It was harder to deal with the pressure of not conforming to the cold, clinical image of chess champ in the past! Finally I just became comfortable in my own skin. It is a stereotype though. most chess players are pretty easy going except at the board.

On Self-Confidence as a child: I think confidence ebbs and flows. As I got better, I simply had issues with different players. I mainly worked on my chess. I think even now I have to remind myself that at the board you have to be confident.

On his Favourite chess piece: If there is one, I would say the knight but i will play the position I have!

Anand's Bestseller on chess

On Kaspaov retiring before Anand could challenge him for the world title again: I thought about it, but life is relentless. within a few months, it was obvious that Topalov had improved a lot and every year, someone else comes along....Aronian, Carlsen, Karjakin and so on. So you have new challenges to face, but it would have been fun to play him again.

Anand also answer questions on his favourite games, ideal time to introduce children to chess, ideal practices before games and some jestful questions too.

You can read the entire Twinterview online at this link

First variant game of chess played by a computer

2010-11-20T07:14:00.000+05:30

What was the first variant game of chess played by a computer — a simplified version of the game scaled down so the earliest number-crunching systems could actually handle the analytical demands?

The answer is Los Alamos Chess (sometimes called anti-clerical chess), played on a six-by-six chessboard, rather than eight-by-eight. Named for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, this version excludes bishops.

In 1956, scientists at Los Alamos used this chess variant as the basis for the world’s first chess computer program, written for the MANIAC I computer. To completely scale back the game for the benefit of MANIAC I, the game excluded en passant capture, two-position pawn openings, and castling as possible moves.

The Los Alamos Chess program, written by computer scientists Paul Stein and Mark Wells, apocryphally ran only three times. On the first run, the computer played itself. On the second, the computer played an unnamed but supposedly skilled human opponent, who defeated the machine. On the third run, a chess novice faced off against MANIAC and lost.

The program was largely a proof of concept, validating the theoretical possibility of a chess-playing program as proposed by such visionaries as Norbert Wiener and Alan Turing. It wasn’t until 1958 that someone wrote computer programs to play full, true games of chess, though precisely who wrote the first such program is a matter of some debate.

In 1967, the Mac Hack Six computer program became the first to defeat a human being in tournament play. In 1970, the ACM North American Computer Chess Championships formed, as there were enough competing chess software efforts to face them off in a traditional chess tournament. Four years later, an international equivalent tournament formed.

Thus, for more than 30 years, computers have been just as busily playing chess as their human adversaries, and in the last 10 years — starting with Deep Blue’s 1997 six-game defeat of Gary Kasparov — computer grandmasters have proven the equal or better of reigning human champions. That’s not just some game-changing computational power - it’s also a great gambit of Geek Trivia.

5 Steps to Review your opening

2010-11-19T21:09:00.000+05:30

These are a few steps believe can help with openings in chess.

Identify the first unfamiliar position. (Out of book, in other words)
Evaluate the results of the opening—as the game transitions into the middle game, how do both players stand? Are you happy with the results from the opening phase?
Play over the opening moves and look for improvements. In particular, look for candidate moves that you didn’t really consider during the game. (This is because you tend to overlook good candidate moves.)
Use ChessBase to run opening reports, find similar games, etc., to help confirm what you’d like to play next time, and to get ideas about piece development and middle game plans.
Save the result into a ChessBase database devoted to that particular opening.

Chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character - Scientific American Magazine !

2010-11-19T20:12:00.001+05:30

Did you know what the Scientific American thinks of Chess as a game? Read this direct quote -

“A pernicious excitement to learn and play chess has spread all over the country, and numerous clubs for practicing this game have been formed in cities and villages. Why should we regret this? It may be asked. We answer, chess is a mere amusement of a very inferior character, which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements, while it affords no benefit whatever to the body. Chess has acquired a high reputation as being a means to discipline the mind, but persons engaged in sedentary occupations should never practice this cheerless game; they require out-door exercises—not this sort of mental gladiatorship.”

As quoted in Scientific American, July 2009

Of course this was way back in the year 1859 before many Americans even made an impact on this great game. Just imagine what they would have thought of computers and computer games back then!!

6 Steps to “Moving Up The Ladder” in Chess Life Online

2010-11-19T20:07:00.000+05:30

I saw an interesting article in Chess Life Online called “Moving up the Ladder: A Class Player on Gaining 200 Rating Points” by Christian Glawe.

6 Points that really stood out for me -

Study your own games with an instructor.
Study openings based on pawn structures and plans instead of variations. For example, study the Mastering the Chess Openings series by Watson.
When reviewing a particular opening line, use a games database to gather 50-100 GM games played in that variation. Play through them quickly. Make a note of the common ideas and motifs. Time: 30 minutes.
Analyze every blitz game you play.
30-45 minutes of tactical training exercises every day. (The author prefers chesstempo.com.)
Exercise to improve your stamina for those two-day weekend tournaments.

30 Chess Principles for the Novice Chess Player

2010-11-19T19:54:00.000+05:30

(From the Excellent web site, How to Play Chess: http://www.chessdryad.com/education/magictheater/index.htm )

Recommended For Beginners in Chess

DON'T bring your KING out with your OPPONENT'S QUEEN on the board.
The KING must be ACTIVE in the ENDING.
IN SUPERIOR POSITIONS, to ATTACK the ENEMY KING, you must OPEN a file (or less often a diagonal) for your HEAVY PIECES (QUEEN and ROOKS).

IN INFERIOR POSITIONS, the best DEFENSE is COUNTER-ATTACK, if possible.
IN EVEN POSITIONS, CENTRALIZE the action of ALL your PIECES.
Try to maintain at least ONE PAWN in the center.
PASSED PAWNS must be PUSHED.
ROOKS belong BEHIND PASSED PAWNS.
DEVELOP with threats.
ALWAYS PLAY TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE CENTER.
KNIGHTS before BISHOPS.
Have all your moves fit into definite plans.
If you are ONLY ONE PAWN ahead, EXCHANGE PIECES, not pawns.
When you are material AHEAD, EXCHANGE as many pieces as possible, especially QUEENS.
The EASIEST endings to win are PURE PAWN endings.
DON'T SACRIFICE without a clear and adequate reason.
It is usually worth GIVING UP A PAWN to get a ROOK ON THE SEVENTH RANK.
CASTLE as soon as possible, preferably on the KING SIDE.
If your opponent has ONE or MORE pieces EXPOSED, look for a COMBINATION.
All COMBINATIONS are based on DOUBLE ATTACK.
DON'T bring out your QUEEN too early.
BLOCKADE PASSED PAWNS with the KING.
To win WITHOUT PAWNS, you must be at least a ROOK or TWO MINOR PIECES ahead (two knights excepted).
AVOID serious pawn WEAKNESSES.
DON'T move the same piece twice.
DON'T place your PAWNS on the SAME COLOR SQUARES as your BISHOP.
OPEN with a CENTER PAWN.
BISHOPS are BETTER than KNIGHTS in all but BLOCKED pawn positions.
Make as FEW PAWN MOVES as possible in the opening.
In CRAMPED POSITIONS free yourself by EXCHANGING.

The Chess Silicon Saga

2010-11-11T18:11:00.002+05:30

The computer is just too good to play against. Witness World Champion Vladimir Kramnik’s drawn 8-game match against Deep Fritz the multiprocessor version of Fritz 7. The pre-match hype was incredible. Fritz was described as “the most lethal chess computer ever created” by Nigel Farndale in the Daily Telegraph. Author
Monty Newborn, whose book Deep Blue: An Artificial Intelligence Milestone was published in October, said that today’s computer programs “are playing at least as good as Deep Blue”, the IBM supercomputer that defeated Kasparov in 1997.

Kramnik himself asserted that Fritz was stronger than Deep Blue and that it was “the strongest chess software ever written.” He added “there are not many humans left who would have a chance in such a match.”

Frederic Friedel, the creator of ChessBase which distributes Fritz, predicted “that within five years Fritz
will be able to beat any human in any type of match. It's speed and sophistication are going to continue increasing exponentially.”

The use of Fritz as an analyst and training partner has certainly been accepted by all the top players, Kasparov is said to call it “my distinguished friend”. Judit Polgar affectionately refers to it as “Fritzy”. And Viswanathan Anand has quipped it is “like every other grandmaster except he doesn’t join you in the bar after a game.”

So have commercially available programs attained the Holy Grail of playing on equal par with World Champions?