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Tags: chess points, chess scoring

Scoring Points in Chess

In the game of chess, points don’t actually matter. The sole objective of the game is Checkmate. However, some pieces are clearly more powerful than others. Therefore, each piece does have an approximate material point value. Following these values as guidelines will help build your understanding of material advantages.

Before taking the following point values to heart, realize that there are other factors that matter in chess besides pure material advantages. A good example of this is the Queen sacrifice which you can read about at the end of the tutorial.

The generally accepted material chess point values are as follows:
1) King = infinite (Checkmate means game over no matter what)
2) Queen = 9
3) Rook = 5
4) Bishop = 3
5) Knight = 3
6) Pawn = 1

Note that although Bishops and Knights have the same value of 3, there are different factors that can make one significantly more powerful than the other.

For example, Bishops thrive in more open games in which there are no Pawns clogging up the middle of the board. This is because they can move up to seven unobstructed spaces.

In contrast, the Knight is stronger than the Bishop in closed games. This is because Knights can “jump” over blockaded pieces which the Bishop cannot do

Tags: algebraic notation, chess game notation, chess notation, chess notations

The Chess Game Algebraic Notation

“Algebraic Notation is the generally accepted method of writing down the moves in a chess game.“

“It is easy to learn and will increase your enjoyment of chess.“

“To describe a move in algebraic notation, start by writing down the letter of the piece that is moving.“
“K for a King“
“Q for a Queen“
“R for a Rook“
“B for a Bishop“
“N for a Knight”

“If a Pawn is moving, don’t write down anything.”

write down the file (a – h) and rank (1 – of that piece’s destination square.“

“Castling Kingside is written O-O. Castling Queenside is written as O-O-O:“

“See how this might work for the first few moves of a real game.“

“Going back to the game, White moves the d-Pawn one square forward:”

“here notation used is d3“

“When a move places the other side in check, put a ‘+’ at the end. So you write this move as:“

“Sometimes, identical pieces can move to the same square.“

“When a promotion occurs, write the letter of the new piece at the end of the move:“

“When a move causes checkmate, write an extra ‘+’ at the end of it:”
Eg:”Rh7++“

“Now you know how to read and understand chess games recorded with Algebraic Notation. To learn more about chess strategies, check out the Chess Tutor.”

Tags: chess promotion, chess special move

The Chess Game Special Moves: Promotion

“When a Pawn reaches the opposite side of the Board. It must be PROMOTED to a Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight.“

“Normally, you choose to promote your Pawn to a Queen.”

“Promoting a pawn to a piece other than a Queen is called UNDERPROMOTION.“

“Because of promotion, an opponent’s Pawn that is unopposed is a dangerous threat.“

“Remember: Only Pawns can be promoted. This makes Pawns more valuable than they seem at first glance. A promotion can instantly change the balance of power in a game.“

“By the way: You may promote a Pawn to a Queen even if you already have one (or more) on the board. It is possible (but extremely unlikely) to promote all eight of your Pawns to other pieces.”

Tags: Chess Special Moves, chess castling, castling

Chess Games Special Moves: Castling

“Castling is a special move involving the King and either Rook.“

“Castling moves two pieces. First, move the King two squares toward the Rook.“

“Then put the Rook on the other side of the King.”

“You can castle with either Rook.“

“If the King moves toward the nearer Rook (on the King’s side of the board),“

“it is called CASTLING KINGSIDE (written O-O).”

“If the King moves toward the other Rook (on the Queen’s side of the board),“

“it is called CASTLING QUEENSIDE (written O-O-O).“

“To be legal, the King and Rook must not have moved from their starting squares,“

“the squares between the King and Rook must be unoccupied,“

“the King cannot be in check“

“and the square that the King passes over cannot be under attack. Of course, the King can never be moved INTO check, so the destination can’t be under attack either.“

“It is usually a good idea to castle early in the game, as it protects the King and gives the Rook a chance to control the center files.”

Chess Castling Strategy

Castling is an important goal in the early part of a game, because it serves two valuable purposes: it moves the king into a safer position away from the center of the board, and it moves the rook to a more active position in the center of the board.

The choice as to which side to castle often hinges on an assessment of the trade-off between king safety and activity of the rook. Kingside castling is generally slightly safer, because the king ends up closer to the edge of the board and all the pawns on the castled side are defended by the king. In queenside castling, the king is placed closer to the center and the pawn on the a-file is undefended; the king is thus often moved to the b-file to defend the a-pawn and to move the king away from the center of the board. In addition, queenside castling requires moving the queen; therefore, it may take slightly longer to achieve than kingside castling. On the other hand, queenside castling places the rook more effectively — on the central d-file. It is often immediately active, whereas with kingside castling a tempo may be required to move the rook to a more effective square.

It is common for both players to castle kingside, and rare for both players to castle queenside. If one player castles kingside and the other queenside, it is called opposite castling. Castling on opposite sides usually results in a fierce fight as both players’ pawns are free to advance to attack the opposing king’s castled position without exposing the player’s own castled king. An example is the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defence.

If the king is forced to move before it has the opportunity to castle, the player may still wish to maneuver the king towards the edge of the board and the corresponding rook towards the center. When a player takes three or four moves to accomplish what castling would have accomplished in one move, it is sometimes called artificial castling, or castling by hand.

Tags: en passant, chess en passant, Chess Special Moves

Chess Games Special Moves: En Passant

“En Passant is a special type of capture move for Pawns ONLY.“

“Pawn takes Pawn, en passant“

“You may capture en passant ONLY when your opponent moved a Pawn two squares forward on the previous move.“

“This is a useful move when your opponent tries to sneak a Pawn past yours by moving two squares.“

“But remember: If you wish to capture en passant, you must do so on your very next move.”

En Passant

If player A’s pawn moves forward two squares and player B has a pawn on his or her fifth rank and on an adjacent file, B’s pawn can capture A’s pawn as if A’s pawn had only moved one square. This capture can only be made on the immediately subsequent move. In this example, an en passant capture would remove the black pawn and the white pawn would move to the f6 square, marked by an “x”

Tags: chess stalemate, stalemate

Chess Stalemate

“A STALEMATE occurs when the side to move is not in check AND all possible moves place that side in check.“

“Since it is illegal to move into check, the side to move cannot move. BUT, the side to move is not in check, so it’s not checkmate.“

“The result: STALEMATE, which is considered to be a draw (neither side wins).“

“A good chess player must understand checkmate AND stalemate, the possibility of a stalemate.”

Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. One of the rules of chess is that stalemate ends the game, with the result a draw. Often during the endgame, stalemate is a resource that enables the player with the inferior position to draw the game. In more complicated positions, stalemate is much rarer, usually taking the form of a swindle that succeeds only if the superior side is inattentive. Stalemate is also a common theme in endgame studies and other chess problems.

The outcome of a stalemate was standardized as a draw in the 19th century but, before that and depending on the location, it was sometimes deemed a win for the stalemating player, a half-win for that player, or even a loss for that player. In some times and places it either was not allowed or the stalemated player missed a turn.

Some regional chess variants have not allowed a player to play a stalemating move. In different versions of suicide chess, another chess variant, stalemate may or may not be treated as a draw.

The word “stalemate” is also used for a metaphor when a conflict has reached an impasse and resolution seems difficult or impossible, i.e. a no-win situation.

Tags: chess checkmate, chess check, checkmate, chess checkmates

Chess Check and Checkmate

“If it’s your turn to move, and your King could be captured on your opponent’s next move, you are IN CHECK.“

“If your King is in check, your very next move MUST remove the threat.“

“There are 3 ways to remove a threat to your King.“

1)” Move your King to a square that is not under attack by your opponent.”

2)” Capture the threatening piece with one of your pieces.”

3)” Block the threat by moving one of your other pieces.”
“If you cannot move, capture, or block, you are CHECKMATED and you lose the Game.“

“The object of the game is to checkmate your opponent, while avoiding checkmate yourself.“

“If you are certain that you cannot win, you may RESIGN rather than wait for your opponent to checkmate you. This says to your opponent, OK, you win!”