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December 10 - December 16, 2020
When the King is in the center, it can access eight squares. If it is on the side of the board, it can reach five squares, and in the corner this number goes down to three.
If both sides leave their King in the center, there is no way to checkmate.
A side can lose if they bring their King into one of the corners (limiting the King’s mobility).
If you’d like to offer a draw the correct way, you must offer it after you’ve made a move.
When someone offers you a draw, I suggest you say, “Let me think about it,” before making your decision. Why? Usually, when someone offers you a draw, it’s because (1) they might in fact be in a draw position, or (2) they are weary of their position and hope you’ll accept. Chess is a thinking game, so make sure you examine all your options before you agree.
•You can offer a draw a maximum of three times, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in some chess events it’s as few as one.
•In serious tournaments that offer prize money, you can offer a draw only after 30 or 40 moves (this prevents prearranged draws).
The 50-move rule goes into effect when no Pawns have been moved or no pieces have been captured in 50 moves.
If you want to reset the counter, all you need to do is move a Pawn or capture a piece.
you can claim a draw once you’ve produced the position three times.
ABCs of Starting a Game
ACTIVATE your pieces BRING your King into safety CONTROL the center
ACTIVATE YOUR PIECES: Bring your Knights and Bishops out! Don’t move only Pawns.
BRING YOUR KING INTO SAFETY: Castle your King. Get your King away from the center, where the enemy ...
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CONTROL THE CENTER: Control one of the center squares or get y...
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When a piece gets developed in the center, it has more mobility,
a piece on the side of the board usually has limited movement.
A chess opening is a series of moves in the beginning of the game. The opening usually lasts for 10 to 15 moves, and then the middle game starts.
Variants are the different moves that can be played after the starting moves.
One of the most important concepts for beginners in chess is understanding the values of the different pieces—this allows you to calculate when to capture pieces and when to hold back.
The term hanging in chess means unprotected. Therefore, an unprotected piece is known as a hanging piece.
When capturing protected pieces, a little bit of mental math is involved.
PIECE YOU CAPTURED – PIECE YOU GAVE UP = EQUAL, LOSING, OR WINNING POINTS.
A trade takes place when a piece of the same value captures a protected piece of the same value, for example, Queen for Queen, Knight for Bishop, or Pawn for Pawn.
Reasons for trades: •When you are ahead in material, to remove any of your opponent’s pieces that can potentially counterattack your plans •When there are open files/ranks/diagonals •To remove a piece defending certain squares
When you decide to trade a piece, make sure you don’t give up a strong one (with more mobility) for a ...
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A sacrifice is when you give up material to checkmate or gain more at the end.
When your opponent makes a move, ask yourself these three questions: 1.Is the piece that just moved attacking anything? 2.Are any of the other pieces attacking mine? 3.Did the piece that just moved stop protecting another piece or stop protecting against a threat?
If your opponent made a move, and your piece is now under attack, first see if you can capture it with an equal-value or lower-value piece. If no capture is possible, move it away, unless it’s the same or higher value as the attacker; in that case, you can also protect it. If the attacker is a lower-value piece, you most likely want to move your piece.
