What you should know about chess image
If you want to improve your chess game, you need to analyze your thinking process when you are playing the game. Once you determine the defects in your thinking processes, you can find ways to overcome or become more efficient in your thought processes.
Typically, chess players think in terms of images. You imagine or picture certain chess images and over time you accumulated a large number of these chess images which consist of typical positions about which you have formed assessments. These typical positions are used to assist you in creating variations that let you transfer from one typical position to another. A chess image becomes not only a picture of the position on the board but also an assessment of a typical position and becomes a generalization of the relationship of pieces with their possible moves.
Once you go beyond seeing the pieces as the characters carved out of wood or molded in plastic or metal and begin to see those pieces as having the properties of moving a certain way on the board, you move beyond a beginner and into the realm of the chess lover. A chess lover sees the piece for its significance as a knight, king, queen or even pawn.
When you step beyond the beginner status, you step deeper into the combination of moves. You notice fewer things outside the moves on the board. You know they’re there, like walking down the street and not paying attention to your surroundings. You’ve walked that street so many times you know what’s there at every turn; you just don’t notice it as much now. You concentrate more on where you’re going than what is around you.
Although you see the chess pieces in your mind, as you gain more experience as a player, those pieces no longer remain just pieces. They become more abstract in that they start representing moves and variations. The board, in turn, moves from black and white squares to move configurations.
You will begin to form chess images in your mind. A chess image will become a combination of meaning and structure. You will learn to assess a situation or the elements of the actions of pieces on the board.
As you grow as a chess player you will learn to evaluate a multitude of positions by using the knowledge you gain from each game you play, becoming more comfortable with strategies and tactics, and relying on logic. As new plays are presented to you, you will use your previous experience as well as comparison and assessment to consider a number of positions. You will then determine how to precede as positions present differing chess images. You’ll be able to move from more concrete, practical moves into abstract evaluation of counter moves.
Playing chess involves learning to use the chess images in your mind to your best advantage. You will take those images and apply them to concrete positions or assess alternative more abstract positions to give you an advantage over your opponent.
THE CHESS BOARD AND THE IMPORTANT MOVES OF THE GAME
Chess is one of the international games approved by the Olympic committee. Chess is a competitive and mind blowing game played between two players. It is also said to be the mind game which involves unique thoughts to get the game. The game comprises of a chess board which has eight rows and columns. They are colored black and white alternatively. It also consists of pieces which are in two colors such as black and white. Totally there are 32 pieces and each player gets a set of sixteen pieces based on the color they choose. A complete set consists of a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. In order to identify the pieces the king and queen will be symbolized as crowns. Always the game starts with the movement of the white piece. Each player should move alternately and each time only one piece should be moved except at the case of castling. The object of the game is to capture the king of the other person. Initially the pieces can be moved to the unoccupied square. The draw can occur at various reasons. The game is usually divided into three stages namely, opening, middle game and end game. Regarding the opening of the game there are lots of recognized openings. The opening move is most important for the victory of the game at the end. Each piece has its own type of movement in the game. The player can move his own piece to the opponents square by defeating the piece of the opponent. Castling is one of the most defensive moves. One of the special moves in the game is castling which involves the movement of two pieces namely the king and the rook. En Passant is another condition where the pawn is defeated by the opponent’s pawn which has just advanced two positions from the original place. Another effective movement is pawn promotion. When the king is threatened of check it should be moved away from the check.
The turning point of the game come when there is a check for the king by the opponent. The checkmate is mainly considered only when the king is checked and there is no further move of the king. The game ends only when the king is defeated by the opponent in the normal case. The game ends not only due to checkmates, it also can be dropped when the time ends out or any one the two players resigns when the condition seems to be hopeless. This condition is called stalemate. The game ends in draw base on the agreement of the two players. Based upon the time ranges the game is named differently such as rapid chess, blitz chess and bullet chess. The game ends in draw when the player does not undergo prescribed number of moves within the time limit. Countless researchers have proved that chess is the game which improves the clarity of thinking and it is the inexpensive way to grow mentally. Online chess games are available in the modern days to train the people effectively.
Creating Your Opening Repertoire through Chess Books
Chess lovers all over the world will love to see a terrific opening move from players. This makes the game more exciting and thrilling. As a chess enthusiast, you should know the importance of a chess opening and its impact on the overall game. You need to construct your own opening repertoire to ensure that transpositions are cared for and everything fits jointly.
Most chess players can’t make an elegant opening and they usually make use of motley opening collections that they have acquired over the years or by chance.
If you’re just starting out as a chess player, this is the excellent time to begin properly and in the right path. Firstly, you need to consider personal style. Chess players differ in opening preferences. Some make use of strategic positions, tactical or closed positions, and open positions. Once you execute your opening move, you will need to evaluate the available openings so that you can decide for your next move.
Some players are easily tempted to make unusual openings but this is not a very good move. Rare openings have defects and once your opponent discovers such defects, they will exploit it and so you will need to switch openings.
If you base your opening repertoire on the main lines, your tactic can’t be busted. Even the grandmasters of chess have proven its efficacy. But if such move didn’t work for you, don’t worry because you can easily switch to a new line within such opening.
For those who think that chess books are obsolete, think again. However, you need to choose only the good books. Use the internet for reading chess book reviews so that you will know which books work and which doesn’t. The review should also be well written and brand new. You need to consider the author of the chess book as well. It is up to you to decide whether you will go for a book that covers chess openings or one that provides pre-selected repertoire.
Once you’ve chosen the latest and most effective book, get the overview. Play the illustrative games provided in the book and see if you can follow through. It’s natural to get disappointed with some new openings especially if you’re utilizing strategic openings. By reading more chess books, you will gain a better understanding of strategic openings. If you encounter difficulties, exert more effort and be persistent.
Books about off beat openings are also worth your time. Again, you need to look for quality books that can provide useful info. The chess books will usually contain certain illustrations like this one:
If you see any illustration, try to think of your own openings and moves. Make the move and see the results. After that, read the portion where the move instructions are given and see if your opening moves coincide. Somehow, by reading chess books, you will learn how to instantly analyze the situation and make the right move.
There are many things to learn aside from chess openings to be a great player. By reading books, you can soon create your own opening repertoire.
What You Should Know Before Playing Chess
Most people start learning the game of chess not because of its competitive nature; there is more to chess than the thrill of battle and the ecstasy of winning. By playing chess, you can develop your skills and creativity.
What you should know before playing chess? You may want to start with chess rules if you do not know anything about chess yet. Learn the rules, movement of each piece, chess board set up, and so on. Before getting into the actual game play, you need to go over some of the aspects of the game that is basic.
Chess game is always played with 2 players. Each player must be on opposite sides of the board and are positioned facing each other. Each of the players is assigned either white or black set of pieces. During the game, they will be responsible for moving their pieces. Generally, the players may decide which color they want to play, neither black nor white.
To be able to understand the game of chess fully, you should know the main objective of the game. The main objective of the game is to be able to trap your opponent’s king in a position where it can be captured, this is called checkmate. When the king could no longer move in a safe box, and you can now capture it, then you win the game.
Next, you need to know how each pieces function. There are movements that only each piece is allowed to do so around the board. Each of the different pieces also has their own specific abilities when it comes to moving around the board. This game is not like checkers where every pieces move the same way. In order for you to play the game of chess, you need to know exactly how each of the pieces is allowed to move. In this way, you can figure and think about all the possible moves and strategies available for you.
That can be all to know before playing chess. We could somehow go on for years and years of discussion about various chess strategies, opening moves, endgames, and defenses. However, it is much useful and convenient for the starting player to learn and understand the basics by sitting down and have the game for a few times. In this way, you can have a better understanding about how to play chess, than just reading and reading about it.
The game of chess, with its rules and regulations can be a bit daunting at first and a little hard to understand how the pieces function. As you go on, you will be able to see patterns and form strategies in playing the game. Just like any other game, the more you play it, the better you can understand and the better you will get on it. As you get better, the more fun and enjoyment you can feel when playing it.
So better grab a board right now, get yourself a friend that can be you opponent, and go on with the game. You will definitely enjoy it as well as can boost your thinking and reasoning mind.
Chess Basics – Castling Rules
“Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty” – Dominic Lawson
In this very short piece of work we will look at a chess novelty that was introduced to chess in 14th Century, the Castling. It is an extremely important move in Chess. Castling basically involves moving both the King and the Rook at the same time in a special way so that the King moves to a safe square and the Rook comes to the other side of the board to join the action. The move itself is a special move where two pieces move but counts as one move.
Why Castle? Castling helps a player to:
- 1.Provide protection and shelter to the King behind the pawns.
- 2.As mentioned earlier, the move also brings the powerful Rook into a good position either for attack or defense.
The King is the prime concern in game of Chess, if the King is checkmated then you lose. The King safety is important in each game and it is dangerous to leave the King in the middle of the board, where it is easier to be attacked.
By Castling, a player moves the King to a safety zone so that first of all it is safe and secondly so that it can focus on strategy to form an attack and win the game without any attacks at his King.
Thing to notice, is that Castling is optional and is not really an imperative, but it is a useful move that should not be taken lightly for granted. In many games as you will notice in your Chess career most players do Castle be it beginners or Grandmasters.
Castling can take place either on the King’s side or the Queen’s side. The following diagram demonstrates.
The King moves only two squares when Castling, either King’s side or the Queen’s side.
In Chess Notation Castling has a special form and is written as 0-0 for the King Side and 0-0-0 for the Queen’s side. You will also find out that castling on King’s side is called castling short while the Queen side castling is called castling long.
There are some rules regarding Castling just like many other Chess Rules, these rules just make the game more entertaining and give both players opportunity to hunt for the opponent’s King by forcing them to play a move that will not let the user Castle.
Castling Rules:
1.You cannot Castle if either the King or the Rook used in Castling has already moved at any point in the game.
2.All Squares between the King and the Rook must be clear and empty. Neither of the pieces can jump over any other pieces.
3.The King must be in safe position when Castling. The king must not be in check, you cannot use the castling to get out of Check.
4.Further the King cannot move into a Check. For example if a square is under attack then white or either black cannot castle because that brings the King into check.
- One important thing to note is that even though you cannot castle when your King is under attack, Castling is possible when the Rook is under attack and also in the case of the Queen side Castling, when the b1 or b8 square is under attack by opponent you can still castle.
This ends the part about Castling.
