BASIS: Set up the board, pieces’ movement and basic tactics By Jorge Guerra (George) A chessboard has 64 squares in total, 8 through the vertical axis and 8 through the horizontal one. Whites and blacks face each other in every side of the board, each one having a white square on the first row at the right hand side for every player. Algebraic notation gives a letter from a to h for every column of the board commencing with a on the left hand side for whites and right hand side for blacks and numbers from 1 to 8 for every row starting with 1 on the first row where white pieces are located.
!""""""""#$ %&'()*+,-.$ /01010101.$ 2$3$3$3$3.$ 43$3$3$3$.$ 5$3$3$3$3.$ 63$3$3$3$.$ 789898989.$ :;<=>?@AB.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 1: Initial position of the board
It’s said that a chessboard has two flanks, which could be divided with an imaginary line between the columns d and e. The first half is called Queen’s flank and the second King’s flank
!""""""""#$ %&'()*+,-.$ /01010101.$ 2$3$3$3$3.$ 43$3$3$3$.$ 5$3$3$3$3.$ 63$3$3$3$.$ 789898989.$ :;<=>?@AB.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 2: Queen’s flank highlighted in cyan and King’s flank in yellow
Pieces’ movements Every piece in chess moves in different way and if there is an opponent’s piece in its way it can be captured. The only piece that captures in different way to its movement is the pawn and it will be covered soon.
♖ Rook It moves from its original position along the same column and the same row in which is placed
♗ Bishop It moves along through the diagonals covering always the same colour
♕ Queen It’s the most versatile piece on the board in terms of movements, it can move along its diagonals and vertical and horizontal lines across. It is like the combination between a rook and a bishop in one piece.
♘ Knight Its movement describes the L letter and it can reach maximum 8 different squares. The movements can be described in 4 different ways 1. One square to one of the next columns and two squares up or down 2. Two squares to one of the next columns and one square up or down
3. One square to one of the next rows and two squares to the right or left 4. Two squares to one of the next rows and one squares to the right or left The knight is the only piece that can jump over others pieces on the board and the knight’s next move will always reach a square of the opposite colour than the one it came from.
!""""""""#$ %$3$3$3$3.$ /3$3M3M3$.$ 2$3M010M3.$ 43$31A13$.$ 5$3M010M3.$ 63$3M3M3$.$ 7$3$3$3$3.$ :3$3$3$3$.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 3: Knight’s movement. The only one piece capable of jumping over others pieces
The diagram above shows an unreal position - the kings aren’t on the board and even if they were, the pawns surrounding the knight is almost an impossible configuration- and it has being designed to clarify the knight’s movements.
♔ King It is the most important piece on the board and every chess player must aim to protect its own and attack the opponent’s king, whoever can succeed in these tasks more efficiently will win the game. The king can move only one square from its current position provided the next square is not covered or attacked by an opponent’s piece, otherwise the king would be putting itself in check and this is an illegal move. Castling It is a special move, which is made between the king and rook and it aims to protect the king, in addition to allowing the rook to communicate with others pieces on the board reaching in this way a more active position.
It’s the only move that involves two movements (king goes to either g or c column) in one (king and rook) in which the king can move two squares to one side placing the chosen rook next to the king on other side in which the king has being moved (rook goes to either f or d column). When the castle is made on the king’s flan it’s called castle short or castle king’s side, if it’s made on the queen’s flank it’s called castle long or castle queen’s side.
!""""""""#$ %$3*-$3$3.$ /3$3$3$3$.$ 2$3$3$3$3.$ 43$3$3$3$.$ 5$3$3$3$3.$ 63$3$3$3$.$ 7$3$3$3$3.$ :3$3$3B?$.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 4: Black pieces have castled long and white pieces have castled short
There are: 1. 2. 3.
are some circumstances in which castle cannot be made and they Either the king or the chosen rook has been previously moved There are pieces in between the chosen rook and the king If the king is in check or if any of the squares to the side in which the king intends to castle is attacked by an opponent’s piece, the castle cannot be made.
!""""""""#$ %&3$3*3$-.$ /0$01)$+1.$ 2(0$3$'13.$ 43$3$3$3$.$ 5$3$9$A$3.$ 63>A$9$3$.$ 78983$989.$ :;$=$?$3B.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 5: Whites neither cannot castle long because there’s a bishop in between on c1 and the square f1 is under attack by the bishop on a6. Blacks cannot castle short because the white queen on b3 is attacking g8 but black king can castle long
♙ Pawn Pawns always go forward towards the opponent’s pieces. They can move only one square on the same column and two squares only in its first move. Pawns are the only ones that capture in different way to their normal movement. They capture through their diagonals reaching only one square
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!""""""""#$ %&'()*+,-.$ /010$3101.$ 2$3$3$3$3.$ 43$310$3$.$ 5$389$3$3.$ 63$3$3$3$.$ 789$38989.$ :;<=>?@AB.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 6: Queenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s counter-gambit. White moves and the pawn on c4 can take on d5 and the one on d4 can take on e5 Pawn en passant This is a special capture that can be made for a pawn on the fifth row when an opponentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pawn on one of the two next column goes two squares forward, this can be taken as if it were moved only one.
!""""""""#$ %&'()*+,-.$ /010$3101.$ 2$3$0$3$3.$ 43$N80$3$.$ 5$383$3$3.$ 63$3$3$3$.$ 789$38989.$ :;<=>?@AB.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 7: Whites has moved the pawn from d4 to d5 if black moves the pawn
from c7 to c5, white can take and the resultant position would be the Diagram 7
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!""""""""#$ %&'()*+,-.$ /013$3101.$ 2$380$3$3.$ 43$3$0$3$.$ 5$383$3$3.$ 63$3$3$3$.$ 789$38989.$ :;<=>?@AB.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 8: The white pawn on d5 (see Diagram 6) has captured the black when it was moved from c7 to c5
â&#x2122;&#x201D; Check and Checkmate Check is produced when a king is being directly attacked by a piece, when this happens the attack must be neutralised either by moving the king to another non-attacked square or by moving another piece to block the attack. Checkmate is given when a king is in check and the attack cannot be neutralised.
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!""""""""#$ %&'()*+,-.$ /010$3101.$ 2$3$0$3$3.$ 43@3$0$3$.$ 5$3$383$3.$ 63$3$3<3$.$ 78989$989.$ :;<=>?$3B.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 9: In this diagram the black king is checked by the white bishop, so black must either move the king to e7 or block the bishop with pawn c6, knight c6, knight d7, bishop d7 or queen d7 Undiscovered and simultaneous checks An undiscovered check is one of the most powerful attacks in chess and important topics in tactics. It is given when check is made with a piece after moving another piece, which was blocking the attack. A clearer example of this is presented in the next diagram.
!""""""""#$ %&'(O$+,-.$ /013$3101.$ 2$313$3$3.$ 43$3$)$3$.$ 5$3$3,3$3.$ 63$3$3$3$.$ 7898=$989.$ :3$?B3@AB.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 10: As can be observed, the black king is on the d column as well as the white rook, if white moves the bishop to anywhere an undiscovered check would be made. This position occurred in the game played between Reti and Tartakower in 1910. Checkmate was given in 2 moves. Try to find it!! There are some cases in which check is given with multiple pieces, in theses cases the attacked king must me moved to a non-attacked square. These sorts of attacks are preceded by an undiscovered attack.
!""""""""#$ %&'$3$-$3.$ /0(01)$0*.$ 2$0$31A$3.$ 43$3$A$3$.$ 5$3$9$3$3.$ 63$3@3$3$.$ 78983$989.$ :;$3$?$3B.$ CDEFGHIJKL$ Diagram 11: Double check given by the knight on f6 and bishop on d3.
Position produced in the match between Lasker vs Thomas in 1912 well known as The Immortal Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s walk
In the previous diagram can be seen a double check, black king has only two squares available to move, h8 and h6. The game followed with king h6 due to if king goes to h8, knight goes to g6 giving checkmate. This document is the first one of many upcoming ones and it covers the basis of the game, so that the game will not be shown entirely because of chess notation is a topic that has not been seen yet, however, it will be shown entirely when that topic is covered.