The Game of Chess

Authors:DavidKayKevinStanXavier

Table of Contents

Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

History.............................................................................................................................................4

Chess Pieces.....................................................................................................................................5

Pawns......................................................................................................................................................6

Knights.....................................................................................................................................................7

Rooks.......................................................................................................................................................8

Bishops....................................................................................................................................................9

Queens..................................................................................................................................................10

Kings......................................................................................................................................................11

How to play chess..........................................................................................................................12

Strategies of chess.................................................................................................................................13

General Strategies.................................................................................................................................14

Initiative.................................................................................................................................................15

Exchanging Pieces..................................................................................................................................16

Phases of the Game...............................................................................................................................17

References......................................................................................................................................18

Index..............................................................................................................................................19

Introduction

Chess is a world renowned checkered board game that is played by people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and status. It is more likely that you have been exposed to the game than it is a completely new entity that you have never heard of. You might have seen people playing outside in public parks or even on television in that same setting. Whenever you search your friend’s, or even grandparent’s home for fun board games, more times than not you will come across the classic game of chess. Now-a-days people are playing chess on their computers on even on their smartphones or devices in their free or idle time. Nevertheless, chess is not just a “time-killer” game. It has long over its 1500 years of existence been a way to gage genius and develop the mind. Chess has been used to measure and improve people’s foresight, circumspection, and caution for real life applications. Chess grew its influence over its life to reach children at the youngest ages. Kids are now well familiar with the game of chess, and it is not uncommon to see children join chess clubs and enter chess tournaments at as early as elementary school. However, there are many children who are still beginners in chess and are willing to learn and improve. The objective of chess is simply to defeat your opponent by capturing their king piece. However, such a simple task is not easily accomplished. This manual is designed to give you an understanding on how to play the game of chess. It will teach you where the game originates, the use of each piece and their importance, and tips and strategies on how to be a successful player.

History

Chess has been traced back as far as the Gupta Empire in Eastern

India around the 6th century. The game eventually traveled to Persia then

southern Europe. From there it spread throughout the continent and in

the 1400s slowly formed into how we play it today. Pawns became

allowed to move two spaces for their first move, bishops could move

diagonally across the board, and the queen had the power to move with

the most freedom. Since then, chess has blown up in popularity. Chess

had its first world championship in 1886. Even the tournaments have

increased over time to ones specific to women, juniors, seniors, and even

computer players. In the 1900s, the World Chess Federation was

established to be a governing entity over all the international chess

competitions. Towards the end of the millennium in the 1990s, online

chess found its way into the world and has become a common approach

to playing the game. Chess is arguably the most famous board game in

the world and will continue to hold that position for years to come.

Chess Pieces

Chess is has a total of 6 different pieces: Pawns, Knights,

Rooks, Bishops, Queens, and Kings. Each player gets 8

Pawns, 2 Knights, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, a Queen, and a King. So

let’s begin with an introduction to how the pieces move and

their “value” based off of the Hans Berliner's system.

Pawns

Pawns can only move forward. Pawns usually only

move one space forward except when they are on the second

row. Then they may move 2 spaces forward if you want them

to. Pawns can only take enemy pieces diagonally forward. If

two pawns are in front of each of each other neither of them

may move. Pawns have a value of 1.

Knights

Knights are very mobile pieces. They move in “L”

shapes. It moves two squares vertically and one square

horizontally, or one square vertically and two squares

horizontally. Knights are the only pieces that can jump over

other pieces. They can only capture enemy pieces by landing

on them. They are valued to be a 3.2.

Rooks

Rooks can move as many spaces as they want

horizontally or vertically. They can take other pieces by

landing on them. Rooks have a value of 5.1.

Bishops

Bishops can only move vertically up or vertically down.

They take pieces by landing on them. Bishops have a value of

3.33.

Queens

Queens are the most versatile pieces in the entire game

because they can move in whichever direction they wish.

They have the highest value of 8.8.

Kings

Kings are the most important piece in the game. The

game is over when either of the opponents king is taken.

This is the piece you want to spend protecting. Kings can

move one space in any directions.

How to play chess

Objective: The goal of the game is to checkmate the other king.

Chess is a game played between two opponents on opposite sides of a board

containing 64 squares of alternating colors. Each

player has 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2

bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns. Checkmate

happens when the king is in a position to be

captured (in check) and cannot escape from

capture.

Your goal: to catch the other army's king (before

they catch yours)! When you have him attacked and he can no longer escape, it's

called "checkmate," and you win. This can happen as fast as 3 moves or as long as

300 moves.

You start of the game with an 8 x 8 board and line up your pieces accordingly. To

see who goes first you can flip a coin. The player then moves the pieces according

to their abilities then passes it to the next player. Regardless of the moves, players

always take turns; there is no doubling up or skipping. Capture an opponent's piece

by moving a piece into an occupied square. The captured piece is then removed

from the board and does not return for the remainder of the game. Continue play

with each player moving one piece per turn until the game ends. Play continues

until a King is checkmated or a stalemate occurs. Stalemate can occur in five

scenarios: A player's King is not in check, yet he cannot make another move, there

are not enough pieces on the board to checkmate either player, The exact same

position is repeated three times, Fifty moves have occurred with no pawns moving

and no pieces being captured, Both players agree to stop playing. The game ends

once the player gets a checkmate and takes the other players king.

Strategies of chess

“There are more possible games of chess than atoms in

the observable universe”- Garry Kasparov

The strategies of chess vary from rookie to grandmaster having

a vast amount of variability although there are still some basic

rules of thumb that hold true in most situations. Being able to

play chess well requires practice and dedication but having a

proper understanding of the game is needed before you can

fully enjoy the game.

General Strategies

Control the center of the board. The person who controls

the center four squares is in control of the board and can

dictate the pace and aggressiveness of the game. This can be

done in multiple ways by either having a defensive structure set

up on or around the center or having a hypermodern setup by

controlling the center by positioning your pieces around the

outer sides of the board threatening any of the opponent’s

pieces that would try to enter that zone.

Initiative

Maintain initiative as often as you can. Initiate in chess

refers to making a threat that cannot be ignored. Ideally putting

your opponent in check is a great play because it forces them to

react and have to make a play that is different from their plan.

Either by having to move their king, attack your threatening

piece, or blocking your threat. Often times putting a king in

check to force them to attack your threatening piece is used as

a baiting tactic to have them use a high value piece to kill

something of yours which you can then kill using a defending

piece guarding your threat.

Exchanging Pieces

Losing pieces in chess is inevitable so often times it is a

good idea to try to exchange pieces where you come out with

the greater point or space advantage. Anytime you can take

anything higher than a pawn with a pawn it is ideal but most

times it is not that simple. Exchanging pieces is when you trade

pieces of the same value. Often times this is done by the

attacking player whom controls less space with the better pawn

structure.

Phases of the Game

There are three segments to chess the opening, the middle

game or midgame, and the endgame. The opening is when you

try to develop your control of the center, king safety, and a

good pawn structure. Midgame is when most pieces have been

developed and when most of the piece trading occurs. And you

try to keep any advantage you gained in the opening or recover

if at a disadvantage. The endgame is the stage with only a few

pieces left. Pawns become very important as if they can

advance all the way across the board they can be “promoted”

to any other piece they wish. Often choosing Queen as it is the

most versatile and threatening piece. Because of the lack of

pieces and availability of space the board is very mobile leaving

the king very susceptible to checkmates.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess#Opening

http://mr-eurodisco.com/Games/Chess/Schack/ChessGame/Chess-

Game-Schack-spel-play-classic-game-of-CHESS.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chess

www.thechesswebsite.com/chess-strategy/

http://www.chessplans.com/

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16377/16377-h/16377-h.htm The Blue Book of Chess

http://www.chessvideos.tv/articleimg/pic1.png Center Board Control

Index

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