# Chess/Playing The Game

Chess, unlike many other games, does not involve direct chance such as
the roll of a dice or which card is drawn. The outcome completely
depends on the decisions of the players. However, because of its vast
complexity, the far-reaching consequences of some decisions are
practically unforeseeable.

One player (\"White\") has the white pieces while the other (\"Black\")
has the black pieces. Sometimes the colors are not black and white (for
instance, light and dark, or yellow and blue), but they generally
contrast each other. In friendly games the choice of colors can be made
by any method, such as flipping a coin. If there is no coin at hand,
another typical way of deciding would be to conceal a black piece in one
hand and a white piece in the other and ask one\'s opponent to select a
hand. The colored piece selected will be the opponent\'s color. In
competitive games the players are assigned their colors.

### Order of play

Once all the pieces have been arranged, White (or the lighter color)
makes the first move. White *always* makes the first move; this is
important for notation, and any chess player will insist upon it. After
White has made the move, Black will then make a move. The gameplay will
continue in alternating fashion, White making a move, followed by Black.

### General movement rules

-   A move consists of moving a single piece, in accordance with its
    rules of movement, to a square that is unoccupied or occupied by an
    enemy piece. A player may never move a piece onto a square already
    occupied by another of his or her own pieces.
    -   *Exception*: There is a special move called \"castling\" where
        two pieces, a rook and the king, are moved; see below.
-   If a piece is moved onto a square occupied by an enemy piece, the
    latter piece is removed from play and the first piece replaces it.
    The removed piece is said to have been *captured* or *taken*.
    -   *Exception*: In *en passant* capture, a pawn moves to an
        unoccupied square but still captures another pawn \"in
        passing\"; see below.
-   Most pieces move and capture opponent pieces in the same way.
    -   *Exception*: The pawn has separate rules for moving and
        capturing opponent pieces.
-   Most pieces may only make a move to a non-adjacent square if all the
    intervening squares are vacant (pieces may not \'jump over\' other
    pieces).
    -   *Exception*: The knight can move to any suitable final square
        regardless of occupants of other squares.
    -   *Exception*: In castling, a king and a rook jump over each
        other.
-   No player may make a move that leaves their own king \"in check\"
    (see below).
-   The player must *always* make a move when it is his or her turn. In
    other words, he or she cannot choose not to make a move. If no legal
    move is possible the game ends in a draw (see below), except when
    the king is in check - this is called *checkmate*, and is usually
    how the opposing player wins.

Also, when a pawn moves to a square at the opposite end of the board, it
becomes a different piece (pawn promotion); all of these exceptions are
covered below in more detail.

## The board

Traditionally, the game is played on a board of 64 alternating black and
white squares turned with a white square to each player\'s near
right-hand corner. \"White on right\" is a helpful saying to remember
this convention. The light and dark squares on the chessboard and the
light and dark chess pieces are traditionally referred to as \"white\"
and \"black\" respectively, although in modern chess sets almost any
colors may be used (as long as they are not the *same* colors.)

The horizontal rows of squares are called **ranks** and are numbered
1-8; the vertical columns of squares are called **files** and given the
letters a-h. This way any single square can be easily identified by its
rank and file, making it possible to record games by writing down the
starting and ending position of the piece that moves every turn.

A chess diagram is always printed from the White player\'s perspective.

{{-}}

## The pieces

The movement of the individual pieces is described below. In all the
board diagrams shown, the squares to which the piece in question can
move are indicated with x\'s.

### Pawn

![](Chess_pll44.png "Chess_pll44.png") Pawns can move one square
straight forward, or optionally and on their first move only, two
squares straight forward. The pawn is the only piece that can\'t move
backwards. This piece is worth 1 point.

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#### Capturing Pieces

The pawn can move one square diagonally forward to capture a piece, but
cannot capture a piece by moving straight forward. For this reason, two
opposing pawns on a file may become blocked by each other. In the first
diagram below, legal capture moves for the white pawn are indicated with
black circles.

To capture means to displace a piece, meaning, to replace the captured
with the capturer.

In the second diagram below the White pawn is prevented from moving
forwards by the Black pawn immediately in front of it (in the d-file)
which it cannot capture, but it can capture the adjacent Black pawn by
moving diagonally forward as seen in the last diagram.

The pawn is the only piece that moves and captures differently.

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### Knight

![](Chess_nll44.png "Chess_nll44.png") The knight has a unique move that
allows it to flank the other pieces. The easiest way to describe this
move is that he moves to a square of the opposite color from the one
he\'s on that is exactly two squares away from him. This piece is worth
3 points.

{{-}}

Another way to visualize the move is this: of the 16 squares that are 2
away from a knight he reaches the 8 that are of the opposite color of
the square he\'s on and the other 8 can be reached by a queen where she
on his square.

{{-}}

{{-}}

It is important to remember that the knight moves in a straight line
like all the other pieces, it\'s just along lines of movement no other
piece uses. Consider this comparison: A queen moves ordinally along the
ranks and files - North, East, South, and West on a compass rose; and
she also moves diagonally - Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and
Northwest on a compass rose. The knight moves along the wind lines of
the rose - North by Northeast, East by Northeast, and so on. These lines
pass between the squares adjacent to the knight and pass through the
middle of the squares that are one square away from the knight. The
knight moves to the first square its line of movement passes through the
middle of, so like the King the knight has eight squares he can move to
when he is near the center of the board. Since the knight is moving
between the squares adjacent to him pieces do not hinder his move
whether they are allied or enemy.

#### Capturing Pieces

The knight captures any opponent\'s piece that occupies a square it can
move to by removing that piece from the board and placing the knight in
that square. An important consequence of the knight\'s use of wind lines
is that it can attack (that is, threaten to capture) pieces without
being threatened in return so long as they are not also knights. The
reverse is also true - pieces attacking a knight are never threatened by
it.

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### Bishop

![](Chess_bll44.png "Chess_bll44.png") The bishop can move any number of
squares diagonally. The bishop may not jump over any piece of either
color.

The bishop is restricted to the color of squares on which it began the
game. Each player starts out with one light-square bishop that moves on
the light colored squares, and one dark-square bishop that moves on the
dark colored squares. In the diagram below, the bishop stands on a light
square and can only move to other light squares. This piece worth 3
points.

{{-}}

{{-}}

#### Capturing Pieces

The bishop captures any opponent\'s piece that it encounters during the
movement described above, and then occupies the captured piece\'s
square. In the diagram above the bishop may take any of the black
queens. Notice that bishop may not move (jump) to squares behind or
capture pieces hiding behind the queens.

### Rook

![](Chess_rll44.png "Chess_rll44.png") The rook can be moved any number
of squares horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally. Like the
bishop, the rook cannot jump over any pieces, except for
\"castling\".This piece is worth 5 points.

{{-}}

{{-}}

#### Capturing Pieces

If the rook attempts to occupy a space already occupied by an
opponent\'s piece, it captures the piece. In the diagram above the rook
may take any of the black queens.

### Queen

![](Chess_qll44.png "Chess_qll44.png") The queen is the most powerful
piece, being able to move any number of squares in any lateral or
diagonal direction. It is best described as the combination of a rook\'s
and bishop\'s movement capabilities.This piece is worth 9 points.

{{-}}

{{-}}

#### Capturing Pieces

The queen captures any opponent\'s piece that it encounters during the
movement described above, and then occupies the captured piece\'s
square. In the diagram above the queen may take any of the black queens.

### King

![](Chess_kll44.png "Chess_kll44.png") The king can move one square at a
time in any direction, as long as doing so does not place himself in
check (see below). This piece is worth ∞ points, because if you lose the
king, you lose the game. (Note that the king would be 3.5 points as an
attacker/defender.) {{-}}

{{-}}

#### Capturing Pieces

The king may capture any opponent\'s piece adjacent to it, as long as
doing so does not place himself in check (see below). In the diagrams
above the king may take any of the black knights.

#### Check

The king is the most important piece belonging to each player, though
not the most powerful. If a player moves a piece such that he threatens
to capture his opponent\'s king in the next move, that king is said to
be in *check*.

If a player\'s king is in check, he must immediately remove the check by
moving the king, blocking the check with another piece, or capturing the
checking piece.

In the diagram below black\'s rook has checked the white king. White may
avoid the check by moving the king one step sideways, blocking the check
by putting the rook between the attacking black rook and the white king,
or capture the black rook using the white bishop. Other normally legal
moves, like moving one of the pawns, are illegal in this position since
they will not remove the check.

In a friendly game, a check is usually announced by saying *check* after
the move is completed.

{{-}}

#### Checkmate

If the king is placed in check and can not escape, it is said to have
been *checkmated* (or \"*mated*\" for short). The first player to
checkmate the opponent\'s king wins the game. Note that the king is
never actually captured, since it is obliged to move out of check
whenever possible (and the game ends when it is impossible). In the
diagram below white has no options to escape the check from black\'s
rook, he is therefore checkmated.

{{-}}

#### Special Restrictions --- Avoiding \"Self-check\"

Players may not make any move which allows their king to be captured in
the next move, i.e. places their own king in check. Thus two kings may
never occupy adjacent squares, since they would have put themselves in
check by moving there. This is called the \"opposition\" and is
indispensable when, for instance, you are using a queen or rook to
checkmate a king.

The white king in the following diagram cannot move upwards or to the
left since it would be in check from the bishop, or diagonally downwards
which would leave it adjacent to the black king. Also, as no piece is
threatening it if it fails to move, the king is not currently in check.
Similarly, the black king cannot move diagonally upwards as that would
put it next to the White king.

{{-}}

The diagram below shows a position where the white bishop\'s movement is
restricted by the same rule; the bishop can not be moved since the move
would let black capture the white king in his next move. The white king
on the other hand may move to any of the adjacent squares.
 {{-}}

## Special Moves

#### Pawn Promotion

If a pawn makes it to one of the eight squares along the far edge of the
board from their initial position, the pawn is \"promoted\". Upon
reaching the far rank the player exchanges the pawn with either a queen,
a rook, a bishop, or a knight. The player\'s move ends when the new
piece occupies the promoted square.

The new piece need not be a previously captured piece. Thus a player can
have more than one queen, and more than two rooks, bishops or knights on
the board. The player may never have more than one king, since the pawn
can not be promoted to a king. In theory it is possible to get up to
nine queens, or ten rooks, bishops or knights since there are eight
pawns to promote. In practice however the pawn is usually promoted to a
queen, since it is the most powerful piece, and it is rare for a player
to have more than two queens on the board. If an extra queen is not at
hand, an upside-down rook is usually used as a substitute.

{{-}}

#### Castling

!Kingside castling:
O-O !Queenside
castling: O-O-O

Castling is a move involving the king and either of the rooks. Castling
performed with the king\'s rook is called kingside castling, performed
with the queen\'s rook is called queenside castling. A castling is
typically done to move the king to a protective \'castle\' surrounded by
three pawns and a rook.

Subject to restrictions detailed below, a player may move his king two
squares towards the rook, and subsequently, *on the same turn*, move the
rook adjacent to but on the opposite side of the king, (onto the square
over which the king has just passed).

The restrictions specific to castling are:

1.  Neither the king nor the participating rook may have moved
    previously in the game
2.  The king must not be in check at the start of the move, though it
    may have been in check previously in the game.
3.  The square over which the king passes must not be under attack (\'in
    check\') from an enemy piece. (This would expose the king to a
    \"check\" in passing.) The rook(s) may be under attack, or the
    queens\' rooks may pass through an attacked queens\' knight square.
4.  The king must not be in check at the end of the move. (Also applies
    to all normal moves.)
5.  The squares between the king and rook must be vacant.

The diagrams below show examples of positions where castling is not
legal.

{{-}}

Note that the king must be the first piece moved and it must be moved
two squares before it is released. If the rook is touched or moved
first, then the king must stay where it is. This rule mainly applies in
\"strict rules of chess\" where if a piece is touched, it must be moved.
Touching the rook first indicates a rook only move, while releasing the
king after one square indicates a king only move. Moving the king two
squares is not a legal move by itself, and indicates a castling move.

{{-}}

#### *En passant* capture

*En passant* is French for \"in passing\"; you capture an enemy pawn as
it is passing you.

When a pawn on its first move advances two squares onto the same rank as
an opposing pawn on an adjacent file, this opposing pawn may, on that
player\'s next move only, capture the advancing pawn as though it had
only moved one square (provided the move is otherwise legal). The
pawn\'s ability to move two squares on their first move was a relatively
late addition to the game of chess. En Passant was introduced to prevent
abuses of the new rule.

In the following example, the Black pawn advances two squares, and is
captured by the White pawn which moves diagonally forwards and to the
right (as if the Black pawn had moved only one square forward and been
there). This move is only allowed on the turn in which the option is
presented.

{{-}}

## Initial position

In the initial position each side has eight pawns, two rooks, two
knights, two bishops, a queen and a king arranged as shown in the
diagram below. Note that the only pieces on either side which can
initially move are the pawns and knights.

Beginners often set up the board incorrectly; it is a complex position
to remember. The following mnemonics may help you remember where the
pieces go.

-   **White on the Right** It is important that the bottom-right-hand
    square is light-colored.
-   **Knights live in castles** One knight is placed next to each rook
    (rooks look like the towers of a castle, and are sometimes
    \[incorrectly\] even *called* castles.)
-   **Queens on their color** OR **The dress matches the shoes** The
    White Queen goes on a White Square, Black Queen goes on a Black
    Square
-   **Bishops are advisers to the Royalty** Bishops surround the King
    and Queen.
-   **White King on the Right** From the White Player\'s perspective,
    both Kings are on the right, and from the Black Player\'s
    perspective, the Kings are on the left.

If the ranks and files are printed on the board, the following rules may
be helpful:

-   White\'s pieces should be placed on the 1st and 2nd rank, and
    Black\'s pieces should be placed on the 7th and 8th rank.
-   The Queens should be positioned on the d-file (*D for Dame*).

{{-}}

## Conclusion of the game

Play continues to alternate between White and Black until one of the
following outcomes is reached:

### Winning and losing

-   One player\'s king is checkmated. The game is lost by that player.
-   In a competitive game, one player runs out of time. The game is lost
    by that player (with two important exceptions, see draws below).
-   One player resigns, which is equivalent to quitting the game. A
    player may resign on either his or his opponent\'s turn. Resignation
    is often symbolized by the resigning player tipping over his king.

### Draws

-   The player to move has been *stalemated*, meaning that he has no
    legal move and is not in check.
-   Both players agree to draw the game. Either player may offer a draw
    to the opponent upon completion of his move. If the offer is
    accepted, the game is drawn. If the offer is rejected, the game will
    continue.
-   A player can claim a draw with if any of the following are true:
    -   If the exact same position occurs or will occur three times with
        the same player to move, the player on move may claim a draw by
        threefold repetition. Note that the same set of moves must be
        available for each player (including castling and *en passant*).
    -   No pawn has moved and no piece was captured in the last 50
        moves.
    -   The opponent does not have sufficient material to checkmate him
        by any legal sequence of moves.
    -   Both players have run out of time in a competitive game.
    -   One player has run out of time in a competitive game, but the
        opponent does not have sufficient pieces to checkmate him by any
        legal sequence of moves.

{{-}}

The diagrams above shows example of some of the draw rules:

-   Stalemate: Since black can not move the pawn or the king without
    placing himself in self-check, the game results in a stalemate.
-   Threefold repetition: Black has checked white, and can continue to
    check white forever by moving the rook back and forth between f2 and
    f1. The same position will thus occur again and again.
-   50 move rule: White has material advantage and enough material to
    mate, but if black plays correctly black will use his bishop to
    avoid being mated forever.
-   Insufficient mating material: White has material advantage, but not
    enough material to mate.

## Chess Etiquette

Generally, chess games at tournaments are conducted under the following
rules:

-   **Touch-move rule** - If a player touches his own piece, he must
    move it, and if a player touches an opponents piece, he must capture
    it (unless the capture is not possible). If he releases a piece on a
    square, the move is completed and can\'t be taken back. If you need
    to center a piece on its square, it is traditional to say
    *j\'adoube* (I adjust).
-   **Be silent when your opponent is on the move** - You can only
    adjust pieces, offer a draw, or claim a draw when it is your turn to
    move.

A friendly game may be played in any way that is mutually agreeable.
Generally it is considerate to avoid distracting your opponent.

## Glossary

-   **Capture** - To move one\'s piece into the same square as one of
    one\'s opponent\'s pieces. The opponent\'s piece is removed from the
    board.
-   **Check** - The king is \'in check\' when it is being attacked by an
    enemy piece.
-   **Checkmate** - The player whose turn it is can make no legal move
    to get his king out of check.
-   **Stalemate** - The player whose turn it is can make no legal move,
    but the king is not in check.

es:Manual de Ajedrez/Iniciación del
juego
it:Scacchi/Le regole del
gioco
ms:Catur/Bermain
nl:Schaken/Spelregels
pt:Xadrez/Regras ro:Şah/Reguli de
bază
zh:国际象棋/规则


# Chess/Notating The Game

Notating chess games is important to any chess student, since it allows
them to review their strategy and that of their opponent, to read of
classic chess encounters, and follow how the game developed. Further,
chess puzzles are often set in magazines, newspapers and online, and
their solutions are notated; for an example, see The Times
Chess.

## Algebraic notation

A very common nomenclature for chess games is algebraic
notation. There are several older
systems of notation, but these are less common.

In algebraic notation, we use

-   **R** for a Rook;
-   **N** for a Knight;
-   **B** for a Bishop;
-   **K** for a King;
-   **Q** for a Queen;
-   **no letter** for a Pawn.

Sometimes a pictorial language-independent notation is used, in which a
picture of a horse might represent a Knight, and so on.

Each square on a chess board is given by a coordinate, much like a map
or a planar graph. The *ranks* (rows) are indexed with Arabic numerals 1
through 8, and the *files* (columns) are indexed with Latin letters "a"
through "h." A square's coordinate is denoted as its file index followed
by its rank index. For example, in the board below, black's King is on
the square **d5**.

If black moves his King to, say, **d6**, the move is notated as **Kd6**,
i.e. the **K**ing has moved to square **d6**.

If more than one piece of the same type could have moved to the square
to which the piece was moved, then the file of the piece prior to its
move should come in between the piece\'s symbol and the coordinates of
its destination (i.e., **Qee7**.) If necessary, the rank it was on may
also be added, (i.e., **Qe6e4**.)

Moves in which a piece is captured, a King put in check, or checkmate
have special notations.

-   If a piece is captured, a cross (**x**) is inserted just before the
    destination square. Thus, if the capture is done by a Pawn, the
    cross is preceded by the column the Pawn occupied prior to the
    capture.
-   If the King is put in check, the move\'s notation is followed by a
    plus sign (**+**).
-   If the King is put in checkmate, the move\'s notation is followed by
    a hash or double plus signs (**#\'\'\",**++\'\'\',) or the word
    \"mate\" or \"checkmate.\"

### Annotation shorthand

Annotation shorthand is not a notation system. Rather, it is a system of
symbols for the player or annotator to add his descriptions or comments.
A player or annotator notating a game might wish to highlight an
excellent move, question a bad one, or indicate which player he thinks
has the advantage.

-   If a move is followed by an exclamation mark (**!**), the
    player/annotator is surprised by the move\'s quality.
-   If a move is followed by a question mark (**?**), the
    player/annotator suspects the move may have been poor.
-   If a move is followed by an exclamation mark and then a question
    mark (**!?**), the move interests the player/annotator, though it
    may be sub-optimal.
-   If a move is followed by a question mark and then an exclamation
    mark (**?!**), the player/annotator fears that the move may be
    conclusive.

Repeating a symbol (e.g. **!!** or **??**) adds emphasis.

Results are written as white\'s score followed by black\'s score. For
example, **1--0** indicates that white won, and **0--1** indicates that
black won. In the case of a draw, the result is **½--½**.

There are some additional symbols for the player/annotator to note his
thoughts on the game in general, rather than on any particular move.

-   An equals sign (**=**) indicates positional equality between the
    players.
-   A plus-minus sign (**+/--**) indicates that white is considered to
    have the advantage.
-   A minus-plus sign (**--/+**) indicates that black is considered to
    have the advantage.

## Ambiguity

Sometimes algebraic notation can be ambiguous---that is, two pieces of
the same designation can move to one square. For example, a player might
be able to move either of his Rooks to the same square. In these cases,
it is essential to specify which piece was moved.

The precise move is specified by designating the file (column) that the
piece moved from, before the move\'s final co-ordinate. For example,
**Nd2** indicates that a Knight moved to **d2**, but **Nbd2** indicates
that the Knight that was in column **b** moved to **d2**. If a piece\'s
file is not enough to precisely specify the move, then its rank is used
instead. If neither is enough on its own, both are used.

### Special moves

Some special moves are tricky to write in algebraic notation, and must
have their own notation.

-   Castling King-side is written **O-O**.
-   Castling Queen-side is written **O-O-O**.
-   En Passant (or En Passe\") (French for \"In passing\") capture is
    written as if the captured pawn only moved one square. The notation
    may be followed with *e.p.* or *ep* to clarify that the capture was
    done En Passant.
-   If a Pawn is promoted, the Pawn\'s initial move is written, followed
    by an equal sign and then the shorthand for the new piece; for
    instance, e8=Q. Any additional nomenclature or annotation is written
    after the shorthand for the new piece (such as c8=Q+ if a Pawn
    promoted to a Queen on c8 places the opposing King in check.)

## Sample game in algebraic notation

If you have familiarized yourself with algebraic notation, consider this
short sequence of moves. Try to follow the game by looking at the moves
in algebraic notation, and the boards.

The game has begun, and is nearing the end. White is to move.

White decides to move his Bishop from **d3** to **c4**, to check
black\'s King. This is white\'s thirtieth move. So in algebraic
notation, we write

-   **30. Bc4+**

Since only one Bishop could move to **c4**, the Bishop\'s initial
position was not specified. The **+** indicates the check.

White\'s Bishop is now, unfortunately, in the Queen\'s line of fire.
Black decides to capture it. So for black\'s 30th move we write

-   **30\... Qxc4**

The *x* signifies that a piece has been captured. When black\'s move is
written separately from white\'s, an ellipsis (**\...**) is placed
between the number and the move. The ellipsis indicates that white\'s
move has been omitted.

The board now looks like this:

White is in trouble now, and decides to flee to **f2**. His move is

-   **31. Kf2**

If black checks white\'s King, by moving his Queen to **c2**, his move
is

-   **31\... Qc2+**

## Descriptive Notation

An older form of notation you will run into quite frequently is
*Descriptive Notation*. It is useful to know because older books use it.

In this form, instead of the files being a, b, c etc., they are Queen
rook (QR), Queen Knight (QN), Queen Bishop (QB), Queen (Q), King (K),
King Bishop (KB), King Knight (KN) and King Rook (KR). The ranks are
labelled from your point of view so that the square e4 (in algebraic) is
White\'s K4 and Black\'s K5.

To record the moving of a piece, you write the piece, then a dash,
(\"-\") which means \"moves\", or \"moves to\" and to where it moves. 1.
P-K4 means move a Pawn to the 4th rank in the King\'s file. N-Q-B3 means
you move your Knight to the third rank in the Queen\'s Bishop file. For
a capture, you specify the piece taking, and the piece to be taken.
QRPxN means Pawn in the Queen Rook file takes Knight. Excessive notation
is left out so that if there is only one way a Pawn could legally take a
Knight, the move is recorded as PxN. Note that if a piece is specified
to be on the King\'s or Queen\'s side of the board, that is the side it
is on *now*, NOT the side it started out on. In rare occasions the move
will still be ambiguous when, for example, both Knights can make a
particular capture and both of them are on the same side. It would then
be necessary to insert a \"/\" which means \"on\". For example: N/3XP
(for the rank) or N/BXP (for the file).

In order to compare the two systems, we could look at the same game in
both algebraic and descriptive notation in full (1, 3, 5) and
abbreviated (2, 4, 6) notation.

+--------------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Algebraic          | Descriptive                                     |
+====================+=================================================+
| 1.  e2-e4 e7-e6    | 1.  PK2-K4 PK2-K3                               |
| 2.  d4 d5          | 2.  P-Q4 P-Q4                                   |
| 3.  Nb2-c3 Bf8-b4  | 3.  NQN1-QB3 BKB1-QN5  |
| 4.  Bb5+ Bd7       | 4.  B-QN5ch B-Q2       |
| 5.  Bh3xd7+ Qd8xd7 | 5.  BKR3xQ7ch QQ1-Q2xB                          |
| 6.  Ne2 d3xe4      | 6.  N-K2 PQ3xPK4                                |
| 7.  0-0            | 7.  0-0                                         |
+--------------------+-------------------------------------------------+

:   1.Note here that since only one Bishop can
    move to QN5, it is unnecessary to specify which Bishop moved to that
    square.
:   2.Check is indicated by \"ch\", or \"+\",
    and \"++\" for the uncommon but not entirely rare *double check*,
    and \"+mate\" or \"+++\" for checkmate.

## Coordinate Notation

A different type of notation uses only the squares that the pieces were
on to denote movements; the dash \"-\" is inserted to denote \"moves
to\". For example, to denote the earlier 7 moves, the following notes
are shown:

1.  e2-e4 e7-e6
2.  d2-d4 d7-d5
3.  b1-c3 f8-b4
4.  f1-b5+ c8-d7
5.  b5xd7+ d8xd7
6.  g1-e2 d5xe4
7.  0-0 or 0-0-0

## ICCF numerical notation

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A move is denoted by the file (1 to 8) and rank (1 to 8) of its starting
square followed by its destination square (from 11 at the White Queen's
Rook square to 88 at the Black King's Rook square). \"1. e4\" is denoted
as \"1. 5254\" in ICCF notation. Unlike other notations, ICCF notation
does not make apparent when castling, check, checkmate, and capture took
place (castling King side is 5171 for white and 5878 for black). Pawn
promotion necessitates a fifth number specifying the new piece (1=Queen,
2=Rook, 3=Bishop, 4=Knight). This notation is considered to be
international in that there is no dependency on piece names or specific
alphabets. However this notation still depends on Arabic numerals.

es:Manual de Ajedrez/Anotando un
juego
it:Scacchi/Annotazioni di
gioco ms:Catur/Mencatat
permainan


# Chess/Tactics

## Guarding

When one of your pieces is placed so that it attacks a square occupied
by another of your pieces, the former is said to be guarding the latter.
When your opponent captures the guarded piece, you can recapture with
the guarding piece. Note that if a guarding piece is pinned to your king
(see below for a description of pins), it can only guard other pieces
against capturing by the enemy king, but not from other enemy pieces,
since it is unable to move or capture.

## Batteries

Batteries are formed when two or more pieces work together. The most
common kind of battery is the doubling of rooks on a file. Other
batteries can be formed by rook-queen, bishop-queen, two knights or a
bishop-pawn.

A triple battery can be constructed with the queen and both rooks. This
is known as Alekhine\'s gun
(diagram at right) and can be extremely dangerous. It is often
advantageous to place the queen behind one or both rooks as it is a more
valuable piece.

## The Exchange

In almost any game, a player will have the opportunity to capture one of
his opponent\'s pieces in exchange for sacrificing or losing one of his
own pieces. This should however NOT be done for its own sake! Initiate
an exchange only when it benefits you. Benefits can include, but are not
limited to:

-   Material advantage - Exchanging one of your pieces for a more
    valuable opponent\'s piece (e.g. exchanging a bishop for your
    opponent\'s Queen).
-   Doubling pawns - Take when taking back means the doubling (or
    tripling) of your opponent\'s pawns on the same file.
-   Opening up the king\'s defenses - Take when taking back means moving
    a pawn that exposes the king.
-   Removing a defender - Take when the piece being taken is providing
    an essential service for the opponent.
-   Blunting an attack - When you are being attacked, often a well timed
    exchange will leave your opponent with too few pieces to keep up the
    attack.
-   Gaining space - In a cramped position, having more pieces can
    actually be a disadvantage because the pieces get in the way of each
    other. If your opponent has a space advantage, exchanging pieces can
    lessen the advantage and make the resultant position less confining.
-   Improving a material advantage - if you are ahead material,
    exchanging pieces will usually benefit you (note - pieces, NOT
    pawns). Similarly, if you have an extra pawn, trade pieces that may
    otherwise be used as a sacrifice to prevent pawn promotion.
-   Forcing checkmate - If you are able to force a checkmate by
    exchanging pieces, you should always take the exchange, even if the
    exchanges seem poor (e.g. sacrificing a Queen for a bishop). Note
    that a forced checkmate is one where there is no way for your
    opponent to prevent the checkmate.
-   Threatening checkmate - Sometimes, you can propose an exchange where
    you can force a checkmate if your opponent accepts the exchange.
    That is if your opponent captures your piece after you capture one
    of their pieces, you are then able to force a checkmate.
-   Preventing checkmate - If you are in a situation where the only way
    out of a checkmate is to exchange pieces, you must make the
    exchange.

## Forks and Double Attacks

Sometimes a piece can be in position to attack two enemy pieces at once.
This is called a fork or a double attack. All pieces can fork, even
pawns, but knights have a reputation for making especially vicious forks
because other pieces cannot block their way because the endangered
pieces cannot defend by attacking it, unless they are another knight.

### Forking with check

A knight fork that attacks the king from an unguarded square is very
powerful. The opponent must then move his king to safety and the other
piece in the fork has no chance of escape.

#### The Royal Fork

A *royal* fork is one involving both your opponent\'s king and queen. In
the example shown here, white\'s knight on f7 has engaged black in a
royal fork. Black will be down the exchange of a queen for a knight.

### Forks do not always win material

If every time you saw a fork you played it, you would be making a
mistake. You have to examine the different possibilities to escape the
fork. In the queen fork on the right white has just played 1.Qd4+
forking the black king and rook. However black can play 1. \...Rg7
blocking the check and moving the rook to safety (although white could
play 2.Qxg7, taking the rook, black could then play 2. \...Kxg7, taking
the queen; white will then have lost the Exchange and will be unable to
destroy Black\'s pawn majority, resulting in a forced win for Black, a
queened pawn, and a king-queen checkmate.)

However 1.Qd4 is by no means a bad move. Perhaps White played 1.Qd4 in
order to force black to play 1. \...Rg7 in which White can now play
2.Qd8+ (fork on king and pawn) Rg8 (forced) followed by 3.Qxa5 in which
case White can push his a-pawn. Here White forked Black\'s king and rook
not to win the rook but to later win a pawn by a fork, and pave the way
for his a-pawn to become promoted to a queen. He might have also
intended to play 3.Qf6+ Rg7 (forced) 4.Qxc6, eliminating Black\'s passed
pawn.

{{-}}

## Pinned pieces

A pinned piece is a piece that cannot move because it would expose an
attack on an important piece by one of the opposing pieces, such that
the capture of said piece would result in material gain by the opponent.
A great tactic is to pin the opponent\'s pieces to his king; this is
known as an *absolute pin*. For example, take a look at the board on the
right. Black just moved his dark-squared bishop to **b4**. The white
knight is now pinned and cannot move, because moving the knight would
put himself in check. White\'s only way to stop the pin is to move his
king. The pawn on **e4** is no longer guarded by the knight, since the
knight could not move to exchange.

The position diagrammed to the right shows the theme of attacking the
pinned piece. White can look at this position and immediately take the
rook and win an exchange. However this wouldn\'t even be the best move.
If white did this then the material would be dead even; however, white
has more pawn islands and it would be a very close game. Instead, white
can play Ng5! The rook cannot move, and black has no way of effectively
defending the rook a second time, therefore Black will eventually lose a
rook. So, if you have pinned a piece, try to see if you can attack the
piece again, and if a piece of yours is pinned, try to see if your
opponent can attack it again. The moral of the story: if you see a good
move, stop and look around for a better one.

In contrast to the absolute pin, a *relative pin* occurs when one
player\'s piece is pinned to one of lesser value than the king, such as
a queen or rook. If the benefit of moving the pinned piece outweighs the
loss of material occasioned by the capture of the exposed piece (for
example, if a forced mate may be achieved), then the pin can be
disregarded and the pinned piece moved.

{{-}}

## Skewers

A skewer is similar to a pin, but it is in a sense more powerful. The
difference between a pin and skewer is the location of the more
important piece. In a pin the lesser piece blocks the attack on the more
important one, in a skewer the more important piece is attacked first
and when it moves it exposes the lesser piece behind it to be hit. Black
has, in a blunderous moment, placed his king on **d7** in front of his
queen on **d8**. White may now triumphantly slide either rook to **d1**,
skewering Black\'s king and queen. Since Black cannot block the check,
the king has to move, exposing the black queen to the attack of the
white rook.

{{-}}

## Discoveries

A discovery is an attack on an enemy piece which is unveiled by moving
one of your pieces. The power of discoveries is that two targets can be
attacked simultaneously. If combined with a check they can be lethal.

{{-}}

Note that White\'s 1.Nd7+ was a *double check*, a type of discovered
check where the piece moving also gives check. Such checks are very
powerful, since the king is forced to move (both checks cannot be
blocked at the same time). They are also often lethal, as in the above
game. {{-}}

A simpler example of a discovered checkmate is shown below.

## Removing the defender

By first capturing, threatening, or pinning a piece that guards another,
you should be able to capture the other piece for free. You can also
remove the defender of a position. By using tactics you might be able to
force a checkmate!

## Sacrifices

A sacrifice is an exchange of a piece for a non material advantage:
    {{-}} In the first diagram, White just moved **1. Kh1**
to get out of check.

Black sacrifices his queen with **1\...Qg1+** for a winning positional
advantage - White is in check and can not take with his king because the
knight guards the queen.

**2. Rxg1** - forced - this smothers the king - he cannot move because
his own pieces are on every square he could go to - any check on an
unguarded square now is mate.

**2\...Nf2#** Checkmate. This queen\'s sacrifice was an example of a
smothered mate (in which a knight
delivers a checkmate that is caused by the king\'s inability to move
anywhere). In fact, this is a special kind of smothered mate, called
*Philidor\'s Legacy.*

{{-}}

## Zwischenzugs

A *Zwischenzug* (pronounced
\"TSVISH-en-tsoog\",) or \"in-between move,\" is one that is made
unexpectedly in the midst of a sequence of moves. But not just any
series of moves, one in which the player falling for the Zwischenzug
feels the sequence is forced, while his opponent demonstrates to him
that it certainly isn\'t! Most commonly these fall in between trades
where a recapture seems to be the only proper means of play.

Such in-between moves often have a surprising and pleasing effect of
increasing the potency of a combination beyond the opponent\'s
expectations.

In Borisenkov-Mezenev (shown in the diagram to the right), black played
**1\... f2**, threatening to queen, which White countered with **2.
Rg8**, intending **3. Rf8+**, and **4. Rxf1**. But White resigned after
the Zwischenzug **2\... Bb1!** which allows Black to queen (**3. Kxb1
f1=Q+** or **3. Rf8+ Bf5**).{{-}}

it:Scacchi/Tattica


# Chess/Tactics Exercises

Chess is, of course, a game of tactics and strategy, and the tactics
described in the Chess/Tactics entry are
important to any chess player. The right tactics can allow you to make
quick gains of material, can protect you from quick losses of material,
and can, ultimately, help you to win chess games.

## Tactics Practice

Good chess players, then, must practice tactics. Consider the chess
boards below. In each board white can win material by force, if he
chooses his moves wisely and utilizes the tactics described in the
Chess/Tactics entry.

Play white first in each board (unless, of course, it is otherwise
stated), and force material gains for white with the right tactics. The
solutions are at the bottom of this page.

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## Solutions

### 1.

-   1\. **d5** **Ne7** (White threatens knight with pawn, black moves
    knight, knight no longer guards **b4**.)
-   2\. **Qa4+**\... (Fork tactic; queen checks king, and threatens
    bishop. Black must concede bishop.)

### 2.

-   1.**Rxd7**+ **Kc8** ( if \...**Nxd7??**, **2. Qe8#**)
-   2\. **Rd5+** (if **Re7**+, **Kb7** and White risks losing an
    exchange) **Kb7**
    -   2\. **Qc6** is also acceptable. It is followed by \...**Ra7**,
        **Be6** and eventual moves that clear black pawns on the right.
-   3\. **Rxe5** **Bd6**
-   4\. **Rh5**, and white wins a pawn while still being able to keep
    pressure on black.

### 3.

-   1.**Rf8**+ **Rxf8** (\...Ka7? 2.Bxe3+ b6 3.Rxh8) (White\'s rook
    forks check and black\'s rook, and discovers threat on black\'s
    knight from white\'s bishop.)
-   2.**Rxf8**+ **Ka7** (Rook checks king. King moves diagonally.)
-   3.**Bxe3+** (Bishop takes knight with check, gaining a piece and
    avoiding a checkmate on Rg1.)

### 4.

The expected solution:

-   1\. **Qf4**; black\'s pinned knight is now en prise (thrice
    attacked, twice defended).
-   1\. \...**Ned7** defends for black (1. \...Ng6 is fruitless, as
    white needs simply relocate his queen, Qf5, and black is out of
    tricks)
-   2\. **e5!** and we see that white\'s first move was critical,
    preparing his e pawn to assume the now vacant e5 square, forking
    black\'s knight and rook.

This one is a tricky alternative:

-   1\. **Rf5** **Ned7** (2. \... Re8? 3. Raf1 Ned7 4. Qf2!) (White adds
    pressure to the knight forcing a withdraw.)
-   2\. **Qf2** **Rg8** (2. e5? Rb6 3. exf6 Qxe2) (White adds pressure
    to the other knight, preventing black from moving any of its
    defenders, and also protects the bishop. There are other responses
    for black, but this generates some offensive threats and is probably
    the best option.)
-   3\. **e5!** **Rxg5** (3. \... Nxe5? 4. Bxf6 Rxf6 5. Rxf6) (White\'s
    pawn move offers the most immediate reward in the impending
    exchange. White still has potential with 3. Bh4, but the gains, if
    any, will take many more turns to come to fruition. For example, 3.
    Bh4? Rg6 4. Rf1 Qe8! yields a situation far less favorable for
    white.)
-   4\. **exd6** **Rxf5**
-   5\. **dxe7** **Rxf2**
-   6\. **Kxf2** (White does not necessarily have to allow the exchange
    happen to completion, but since white has a material advantage such
    simplification of the board is only to his or her benefit.)

This results in white having a bishop, a rook, and a pawn on the seventh
rank versus two knights. From there, white can win a further few more
pawns somewhat easily, giving a hefty material advantage. One might try
the more immediate 1. c5 with the hope of 1. \... Rd5 2. Bxf6 but to do
so is forgetting that 1. \... Rc6 is another response. Also, one might
try 1. Bxf6 Rxf6 2. Qg7, with the idea that black cannot save both of
the rooks at once, but this also does not work because of 2. \... Rxf1+.
White must now play something like 3. Rxf1, which gives black the
opportunity to save the rook on h8.

### 5.

-   1.**Qb3**+ **Kh7** (\...**Rf7** 2.**Qxf7**+ **Kh7**) (White checks
    king with queen. King moves away.)
-   2.**Rh1**+ **Qh5** (White checks king with rook. Black blocks with
    queen.)
-   3.**Rxh5**+ **gxh5** (White exchanges rook for queen!)

Note the importance of white\'s knight in this exchange. It guarded
**f7**, preventing a simple defense of the initial check with **Rf7**.

Alternatively, if 1. \... **Kh8**,

-   2\. **Nf7**+

if 2. \...**Kg8**, 3. **Nh6**+ (or **Nd6**+) wins the queen for a
knight. If 2. \...**Kh7**,

-   3\. **Rh1**+

if 3. \...**Qh5**, 4. **Rxh5** (back to main variation)

if 3. \...**Kg8**, 4. **Nh6**+ (or **Nd6**+) wins the queen for a knight

### 6.

-   1.**Nf6**+ **Kf8** (\...**gxf6?** 2.**Bxf6 Nxa1** 3.**Rh8#**)
    (**Nf6** checks, and threatens two rooks. A naive defence of
    **gxf6** would result in checkmate.)
-   2\. **Nxd7**+ **Kg8** (Any other move allows 3. **Rh8#**)
-   3\. **Nf6**+ leaving Black in the same bind, eventually winning
    Black\'s other rook as well.

### 7.

-   1.Rh3+ Kg8
-   2.e7+ d5
-   3.exd8=Q Rxd8
-   4.Qxc5 Bxh3
-   5.gxh3

### 8.

-   1.Rh8+ Kxh8
-   2.Qxf8+ Kh7
-   3.Qxg7# -

Also 1.Qe6+ Rf7 2.Rf1 (Black\'s rook is pinned) Black cannot stop
3.Qxf7#

### 9.

-   1.Rh7+ Kg8
-   2.Rcg7+ Kf8
-   3.Bd6+ (Computer give the better 3.Bh6 \...
-   4.Rh8# is better and logical!) \...Re7 4.Bxe7+ (With mate following,
    this was what I saw and played. Bh6 is better but it might be to
    hard for all to find, both lead to mate)

### 10.

-   1.Rxf8+ Kxf8
-   2.Qf3+ Kg8 (\...Bf4 3.Bxf4 exf4 4.Qxf4+)
-   3.Qxg3

### 11.

-   1.**Nf6** **Qe7** (\...**Bxf6**? 2.**Qxf6** **Kg8** 3.**Bh6**\...)
    \... 1. \...**Qc8** gives white mate in at most 8 moves)
-   2.**Nxe8** to win an exchange

Alternatively,

-   2.**Nxh7**+ **Kg7** 3. **Bxe7** to win an exchange (when black
    recaptures on h6 or e7 just move the other piece away)

### 12.

-   1.Ne7+ Kh8
-   2.Nf7+ Qxf7
-   3.Rxf7

Alternatively,

-   2.Nexc8 (Threatening back rank mate with Rf8#)

if 2. \... **Bxe3**+ then 3. **Qxe3**

Other black moves that avoids mate should allow 3. Nxa7

### 13.

-   1\. \...Bh4
-   2.Qxh4 Nf3+
-   3.gxf3 Qxe3+
-   4.Kd1 Bb1+
-   5.Qxd8+ Rxd8#

### 14.

-   1\. \...Bxg3
-   2.fxg3 Rxg3+
-   3.hxg3 Qxg3
-   4.Kh1 (4.Kf1 Qf3+ 5.Kg1 Rg8+ 6.Kh2 Qg2#) Qh3+
-   5.Kg1 Rg8+
-   6.Kf2 Rg2+
-   7.Kf1 Qh1#

### 15.

-   1\. \...Bxb3
-   2.cxb3 Qxd1

### 16.

-   1.Qe6+ Kf8 (1. \...Kh8? 2.Rxh7+ Kxh7 3.Qxg6+ Kh8 4.Rh1# or 4.Qh7#)
-   2.Rxh7 Bg7
-   3.Rdh1 or 3.Bxg6 with mate following. There are different moves
    Black can play, White is likely to play both Rdh1 threating rook
    sacrifice on h8 followed by mate and Bxg6 which is threatening Qf7#.

1.Qxd4 is also winning for White. 1. \...Ng7 2.Rxh7 Kxh7 3.Qh4+ Kg8 (3.
\...Nh5? Qxh5, g pawn is pinned) 4.Bxg6 Kg8 With mate following.

### 17.

-   1.Nd2+ Kc2
-   2.Nf3 (There is no way for White to avoid giving up an exchange.)

### 18.

-   1.Qh5+ Kg8
-   2.Qxh7+ Kf7
-   3.Qxf5+ Kg8
-   4.Qh7+ Kf7
-   5.Rf3# (1.Qxh7? Re5 2.Rf3 Ke8 and game continues)

### 19.

-   1.Nf5+ Kg8 (1. \...Kf8? 2.Rh8#)
-   2.Qg4+ Kf8
-   3.Rh8#

## A Highly Tactical Position

What follows is a complex board.

The board arose after the opening moves

1.e4 e5

2.Nf3 Nc6

3.Bc4 h6 (Ask yourself, was **h6** a bad move?)

4.Nc3 Na5 (Ask yourself, was **Na5** a bad move?)

5.Bxf7+

Even an experienced player might struggle to calculate all the possible
moves and their consequences. One way to improve one\'s tactical vision
is to set-up this board, or indeed any board, choose an opening move,
and then continuing, picking the best moves possible, and noting the
success of the initial move.

Consider the **h6** and the **Na5** moves, and note their weakness.
Indeed, the **Na5** move\'s tempo renders black\'s only developed piece
useless, and the **h6** move weakens the King\'s side and scuppers a
future defensive **g6** move. Black may have anticipated a Fried Liver
Attack, and made a
pre-emptive defense, though such an attack should threaten black.

Now consider how the game might develop. Black is in check. He can take
the bishop (**Kxf7**), but this might not be tactical. If Black moves
**Kxf7**, there is an inevitable knight check (**Nxe5**). White might
then play **Qh5** which may be played with check.

Studying the many variations, and the patterns of movement, will be
beneficial for any chess player, especially once white\'s queen is
active. There are many mate threats that can be created, and many
guarded squares that black cannot move his king to.

Here are possible scenarios. First, **Ke7**, where black moves his king
forward, and out of check, which is discussed in some detail. Second,
**Kxf7**, where black captures white\'s bishop, which is left as an
exercise for the keen reader.

:\*1\...Ke7 Declining the Bishop capture 2. Nd5+ now the King is forced
to capture the Bishop (or play Kd6 with no lose of material for white),
2\...Kxf7. It was bad for black to decline the sacrifice because white
was able to muscle black into accepting it, and now white has an
additional knight bearing down on the black king. 3. Nxe5+ Ke6 (3\...Ke8
Would lead to mate with 4. Qh5 g6 5.Qxg6#) 4. Qh5 (White now threatens
5. Qf5+ Kd6 and 6. Nf7+ winning the Black queen the following move)
4\...Qg5 (it is plausible that Black will play this in attempt to trade
queens and greatly reduce White\'s attack) 5. Qf7+ Kd6 (The e5 Knight is
immune from capture from the King, for two reasons. 5\...Kxe5 is met
with a.) 6. f4+ forking the Queen, so long as f4 is defended by a white
piece, and b.) 6. d5+, this is good because it facilitates the
development of the dark square bishop, but white is likely to lose the
bishop so long as the queen is protected by the h pawn. There are two
ways but only 1 black queen you might say, regardless it is still good
to have two ways. What this means is if white can utilize his knight and
queen for different things since they aren\'t tied down to the defense
of the f4 square, and the d5 knight will remain immune. That means white
is more flexible and can respond to blacks defenses in more ways) 6.
Qxf8+ (vacates the f7 square with tempo) Ne7 7 Nf7+ (forking the King
and Queen) Black\'s position is hopeless.

:\*1\...Kxf7 See if you can work out what can happen here.


# Chess/Strategy

## Strategy Basics

You may choose different strategies depending on what type of opponent
you are playing, and what kind of player you are. Strategy starts with
the opening, and continues through the middlegame, and on to the
endgame.

Games are considered open if the exchange of pieces have opened up files
or diagonals, and closed if they have not. These games are called open
or closed because there is more mobility for one's pieces in open games,
and because this category usually determines the complexity of the game.
Specifically, recognition of open versus closed games is important
because closed games are more conducive to Knights, whereas open games
see more involvement with longer range pieces such as Bishops, Queens,
and Rooks.

_Strategic Openings:_ If you choose to play a
long-range, theoretical sort of game, you may want to choose a complex
opening such as the Queen's Gambit, the Ruy Lopez, or the English. In
these types of games, especially when you are playing the closed
variations, you are likely to venture into close positions where
positional maneuvering predominates over tactical shots. From there, you
can focus on strategic elements like controlling files, pawn structure,
and other long range development considerations.

_Tactical Openings:_ If you are more interested
in sharpening your tactical play and focusing on combinations, you may
choose a more tactical opening. Some of these openings include the
Sicilian Defence (especially the Dragon and the old main line of the
Najdorf), the Grünfeld Defence, and the older variations of the Two
Knights\' Defence.

By initiating exchanges you can always simplify the game, and it will
become more computational. If you don't want that to happen, you have to
be very guarded and conservative.

You should always be thinking about how many squares a piece controls
(i.e. can attack), and which squares are controlled. In the beginning
you should aim to control the center of the board. As the game
progresses you may want to attack one flank, especially if the King has
castled onto that side.

## Material advantage

Having more valuable pieces on the board than your opponent means you
have a material advantage. If your position otherwise is equal, you will
be more likely to win. Since not all pieces are equal, many people use
the following point system to estimate which player has a greater
material advantage:

-   Pawn = 1
-   Knight = 3
-   Bishop = 3
-   Rook = 5
-   Queen = 9
-   King = infinite (3.5 as an attack/defense strength during end game)

However, a slightly more accurate system is as follows:

-   Pawn = 1
-   Knight = 3½
-   Bishop = 3½
-   Rook = 5
-   Queen = 9
-   King = infinite

These values can only be used as guidelines for the relative value of
the pieces; a piece\'s value in a particular chess position must be
treated on a case-by-case basis.

### Queenside vs Kingside

When calculating the value of a position, dividing the board in
Queenside and Kingside, it will be seen that it matters that the king is
considered to be worth 3.5 points. The calculation of forces on either
side will determine the stronger side. This side usually can become the
attacking one, all other things
considered.

### The pieces\' relative value changes over time

The value of the pieces changes as the game progresses, because there is
less material on the board to get in the way of some pieces. Rooks
usually become more powerful because there are fewer pawns in the way,
and a rook has the opportunity to control more squares. Bishops can
travel great distances if unobstructed, while knights have a more local
presence. So, knights shine when the board is cluttered in a closed game
because they can \"jump\" over pieces whereas bishops are generally
stronger in open games where they have the run of the board.

### The value of the King

Assigning a point value to the King for the sake of deciding to trade
the King for other pieces doesn't make sense, since capturing the King
is the object of the entire game! Therefore it is customary to either
exclude the King from the point value scale, or assign it an infinite
value. However, keep in mind that the King has an attacking and defense
capability as any other piece.

The King attack and defense value changes dramatically as the game
progresses. During the opening and middle game the King is a piece that
needs to be protected against checkmate at all cost. Its usefulness as
an attacking or defending piece is thus limited. However its strength as
an attacking piece becomes greater in the endgame. In this phase of the
game it is generally reckoned to be stronger than a knight or bishop but
weaker than a rook. Therefore giving the King an attack or defense point
value of 3.5 during the endgame makes sense.

### Knight vs Bishop

Based on the point value scale above the value of the knight and bishop
appears to be the same. Alternative scales have tried to assign the
knight and the bishop slightly different values, usually preferring the
bishop over the knight. But since the relative value of the knight and
bishop is strongly related to the position, such minor differentiation
provide little overall guidance.

Knights are more powerful if they have a safe outpost in enemy
territory - a knight on the 6th rank that cannot be attacked by opposing
pawns can be as powerful as a rook in the right circumstances. This type
of knight, if guarded by a pawn, is called "a home away from home".

A bishop never leaves its own color, so if one of the bishops is
captured, half the board is now out of reach of a bishop. So trading one
bishop for a knight tends to favor the person losing the knight, who is
left with two bishops. However, trading the second bishop isn\'t quite
so hurtful. So trading a bishop for a bishop where one side has only 1
bishop to begin with helps the side with fewer bishops.

Knights cannot cover both sides of the board at the same time, while a
bishop can, so in an endgame where there are pawns on both sides of the
board, the bishop is stronger.

Bishops cannot attack pawns that are on the opposite color, while a
knight can. Furthermore, in a game where there is a short pawn chain, a
knight can stand at the head of the chain and attack the pawn supporting
it, so a knight is often more effective attacking pawns as long as they
are limited to one side of the board.

Finally, it is possible to force checkmate with two bishops and king
against a lone king, but not with two knights and king versus lone king.

It is important to keep in mind what sorts of positions will benefit the
pieces that you have. For example if you have 2 knights and no bishops
and your opponent has 2 bishops and no knights then it would be good for
you to keep the center cluttered with pawns by avoiding pawn exchanges.
If you do this then your opponent\'s bishops will have hampered mobility
whereas your knights can hop over the pawns. Also if you have the
bishops and your opponent has knights then you should play to keep the
center clear so your bishops can have more mobility. Also, this idea can
help you decide on whether or not to trade a bishop for a knight or vice
versa.

### More pieces are usually better

Usually having more pieces is more valuable when the point value is
roughly equal for both players---two bishops beat a rook, two rooks beat
a queen---but this is conditioned on proper co-ordination between the
pieces. It may be worthwhile to sacrifice two pieces for a rook if this
results in long-term damage to the enemy\'s piece co-ordination. Usually
this means tying down the extra pieces to the defense of weak pawns, so
that they cannot cooperate in attacking friendly pawns.

## Compensation

Material values only matter in the context of position. **Compensation**
is a term used in chess to describe the trade off between material and
positional advantage. A strong position can make up for a material
deficiency. For example if your opponent has all their pawns on white
squares, a black bishop is worth more than a white bishop.

Typically having compensation for a piece means that an attack against
the enemy\'s king or strong points cannot be repelled or may only be
repelled by the enemy returning the material he is up. Often
compensation can refer to having the initiative or in trapping the
opponent\'s king in a vulnerable position. A pawn majority on one wing
or a passed pawn can also sometimes be considered compensation for a
minor piece. Generally the player who is down on material has to act
quickly and avoid exchanging pieces to prevent the enemy from making his
material advantage count.

## Pawn Strategy and Pawn Chains

In the end game, pawns gain strength as they advance because they pose
the threat of promotion, so a pawn on the 6th or 7th rank is worth
significantly more than a pawn on the second rank - often as much as a
piece. However, in the opening and middlegame, an advanced pawn is less
likely to promote and more likely to be in need of being defended. It is
also unable to defend the center and often leaves \"holes\" in your
territory that can serve as outposts for your opponent\'s pieces. An
overadvanced pawn is then often a liability.

In the opening and middle game, pawns in the center of the board block
paths and support outposts. So they tend to be more valuable than end
pawns. However, in the end game, a wing pawn is usually the hardest to
get to and block or capture and is therefore more likely to queen. So in
the endgame, the edge pawns are often more valuable than the middle
pawns (Note: this is not necessarily true in some basic pawn and king
endings, where a pawn on the edge leads to only drawing options).

A passed pawn has only pieces stopping it from queening, so it is
considered more valuable - especially if it is protected by another
pawn.

## Tempo

Tempo is the effective number of moves required to reach the position on
the board. Moving a piece twice to reach a position it could have
reached in one results in a net loss of one tempo - moving a piece back
to its starting place usually results in a loss of all its tempo -
unless other pieces moved that could not have moved otherwise. Also the
capture of a piece means all of the tempo it gained is lost as well.

Essentially, tempo is one way of showing how many effective moves you
have made. So the gain of a tempo is basically like getting a move for
free. Three tempi is usually considered equivalent to a pawn in terms of
advantage.

Example:   In the position above there have
been 2 tempi played on each side, play continues with:

**3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6**

Now white still has 2 Tempi (one for d4 and 1 for e4) while black only
has 1. The captured pieces lost the tempo they had gained in moving and
the knight lost the tempo it had when it captured.

For argument\'s sake, lets assume play went as follows:

**5. e5 Nd5 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Qd3 Na4 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 e6**

Now black still has only 1 tempo (e6) while white has 6 (2 queen moves,
3 pawn moves and a bishop move). This has let white develop 2 pieces,
control the center and give black a cramped position. Also, while both
sides can castle kingside in the same number of moves, White can connect
his rooks (position them so there is nothing between them on the back
rank) 2 moves sooner than black. Chances are, white will complete
development and launch an attack before black is able to. This means
white will have an advantage when the middlegame is reached.

## Quality

### Active and passive pieces

An active piece is one that has the potential to make a threat. A
passive one is usually relegated to defending a piece.

In this example, white\'s bishop on g5 is considered active, while
black\'s bishop on e7 is considered passive.

Piece activity depends on whether it can move and attack. A piece can be
rendered passive if it is stuck protecting another piece or if it is
restricted from being able to get into play by its own pawns.

### Good vs. Bad Bishops

As noted above, a bishop can only travel on squares of one color. This
leads to a situation wherein one bishop may be effectively blocked out
of the game by the pawn structure. In general it is better to have your
pawns on the opposite colored squares to your bishop. For example, if
you as black have pawns on e6 and d5, your queen\'s bishop is likely to
be a \"bad bishop.\" It is bad because it is hard to do anything
constructive with it; developing it to g4 is impossible and
\"fianchettoing\" it via b7 is ineffective
since your pawn on d5 blocks any influence it may have over the centre.

When one has a bad bishop there are two methods to improve the game:
exchanging the offender and freeing up the game. In general it is
profitable to try to exchange your bad bishop for an opponent\'s bishop
or knight, as your bad bishop has little value. However, it is important
to bear in mind that in the end game having two bishops is considerably
stronger than have two knights or a bishop and a knight. Therefore you
should always be wary of exchanging bishop for knight in situations
where an endgame is likely. The other method to rid yourself of this
weakness is by freeing up the game through making pawn moves.

### Overloaded pieces

Overloaded pieces are pieces which defend too many other pieces and
therefore cannot be considered to defend all of them at once. For
example, a rook can defend up to 4 pieces, but if one is taken, and the
rook takes the offending piece, 2 of the other pieces are undefended.

## Initiative

The player with the initiative is the player who is making the threats
to which the other person must respond. Having the initiative is
advantageous because it forces your opponent to place his pieces in
essentially defensive formations. A piece that is defending a square
generally has less mobility (freedom of movement) than a piece attacking
the same square.

Having the first move, it is generally white who has the initiative in
the early part of the game. Therefore trying to maintain the initiative
would be prudent strategy.

## Zugzwang

A Zugzwang situation occurs when any move a
player makes will weaken his/her position, but he/she is compelled to
move in accordance with the rules. An example of zugzwang is as follows:
 {{-}}

White moves and wins.

{{-}}

**1. a4** : White moves the a-pawn, blocking the black a-pawn to move
forward. Black has only one legal move; moving the black king out of the
way of the d-pawn\'s path.

{{-}}

**1. \... Ke7** : The black king is forced to move away from his current
position where he blocks the d-pawn\'s path to promotion, because he now
has no other legal move to make. Since this move is not desired by
Black, as he would rather keep his king on the d8 square where it stands
to continue blocking the white d-pawn, Black is \"in zugzwang\".

{{-}}

**2. Kc7** : White\'s king continue to protect the pawn on d7 from
capture, and blocks black\'s king to move back to it desired location of
d8.

{{-}}

**2. \... Ke6** : Black can make other legal moves with the black king,
but they will yield the same result. Even if Black must move the king,
this is not an example of zugzwang. Keeping the king at e7 would not
yield a better result for Black, since the d8 promotion square is
protected by the white king.

{{-}}

**3. d8=Q** : White gains a queen and wins the game easily.

Alternatively, white can force a win by moving the king first: 1. Kd6 a4
2. Kc6(Ke6) Ke7(Kc7) 3. Kc7(Ke7) with 4. d8=Q to follow

*Exercise:* From the same initial position but with black to move first,
show that Black can force a draw by using zugzwang.

*Solution:* 1. \... a4 2. Kb5 Kxd7 (White\'s move is Zugzwang.) 3. Kxa4
Kc7 4. Kb5 Kb7 5. a4 Ka7 6. a5 Ka8 7. Kb6 Kb8 8. a6 Ka8 9. a7 (Draw by
stalemate.)

## Combining attack with defense

A winning strategy in Chess often involves balancing several
considerations against each other. Moves that maximize immediate
material gain might expose a vulnerability or yield a difficult position
as the game progresses. Similarly, material sacrifices for position may
be disadvantageous if they cannot be parlayed into an effective attack.
Thus, a key consideration should be balancing attack with defense. A
profitable move would be one that both furthers your attack and
solidifies your defense.

-       Yasser Seirawan in his Pro Mentor DVD.

es:Manual de
Ajedrez/Estrategia
it:Scacchi/Strategie
pt:Xadrez/Estratégia


# Chess/Basic Openings

The following is an overview of the aims of an opening and some standard
openings that you can try in your games. All of them are playable and
should lead to reasonable games with best play.

## Aims of an opening

Before looking at some of the more common openings played today it is
important to consider what you are trying to achieve in the opening of a
chess game.

In some cases, one player will sacrifice a pawn, or in some cases even
more, to accomplish the goals listed below. Such an opening is called a
**gambit**.

**Development**

You should attempt to move your pieces away from their starting
positions to squares in which they can participate more fully in the
game. Obviously a Knight at c3 is more effective both defensively and
aggressively than a knight on b1. Avoid moving pieces more than once in
the opening as this allows your opponent time to develop another piece
while you are wasting time. Also avoid moving your queen in the opening,
it can too easily be chased around the board by other pieces which aids
your opponent\'s development while wasting moves for you.

**Control the Centre**

The squares in the centre of the board are critical for two reasons. The
first is that pieces in the centre are able to move to more squares than
pieces on the edges. (Note a knight on a3 can move to only 4 squares,
whereas a knight on c3 can move to 8.) Secondly, if you control the
centre it is easier to move pieces from Kingside to Queenside quickly.

One of the great truths in chess is that attacks along one wing are
destined to fail if the centre is not sufficiently controlled. This is
because the defender with a strong centre will generally be able to
muster enough defence on that side and at the same time mount a
counterattack in the centre and/or on the other wing. So if you plan on
mounting an attack make sure you control the centre.

Traditionally it was thought that the ideal situation is one where you
have a pawn majority in the centre, especially with pawns on d4 and e4
(for white). However it has been shown that an equally valid strategy is
to control the centre with pieces and make minimal pawn moves. The
thinking is that central pawn moves often lead to permanent positions
and can block attacks. \"Fianchettoing\" a bishop by moving it to b2 or
g2 after b3 or g3 allows the bishop to keep a watchful eye on the centre
without fixing a pawn in the centre.

**Castle**

A King in the centre of the board is open to attack. It is generally a
good idea to castle your king so as to be able to defend it more easily.
Some players will sacrifice material in order to prevent the enemy king
from castling and to attack it ferociously due to its vulnerability.
Castling also has the added benefit of bringing the rooks together on
the first rank so that they are able to combine in defence and attack.
Once your pieces are developed, king is safely castled, and your rooks
are combined, the opening is over.

**Protect the King**

It is not always necessary although highly advisable to protect the king
through castling. That being said, there are other ways to go about
protecting the king than castling although they are less efficient and
will often result in pins.

## **King\'s Pawn Openings** (open and semi-open games)

### Ruy Lopez (aka Spanish Opening)

**1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5** the main line continues **3\...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6
5.0-0**

The move **3\...a6** works because if white plays **4.Bxc6 dxc6
5.Nxe5**, Black can regain the pawn with **5\...Qd4** forking the e4
pawn and the knight.

{{-}}

### Italian Game

**1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4**

There are two key replies: 3\...Bc5, known as the Giuoco Piano (Italian
for Quiet Game), and 3\...Nf6 headed to a much more involved opening
called the Two Knights Defence.

School children in local clubs often drift into weaker variants of the
Giuoco Piano, mostly out of insufficient knowledge. A few scholastic
trainers have even suggested avoiding the opening, as there are fewer
crisp strategic concepts compared to many other openings.

{{-}}

### Russian Game (aka Petrov Defence)

**1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6**

{{-}}

The Petrov Defence may look like a counter-attack, and very early on
this was supposed to be the idea. However, it soon became apparent that
the symmetrical nature of the opening produced defensive positions. If
White takes the pawn, Black should avoid taking it back because of 4.
Qe2 Nd6?? 5.Nc6+ which wins the black queen. The main line goes 3. Nxe5
d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4. It is considered quite solid, and is a key defensive
opening against the dangerous first move 1. e4. There are a few gambits
which White can try to shift the style of the opening. The Cochrane
gambit is perhaps the most dangerous. It involves a Knight sacrifice on
f7. Currently not considered objectively sound, its use is
psychological: White dares the opponent to spend twenty moves defending
against an attack, and this pressure may cause the Black player to
finally fall victim to a tactical shot.

### Philidor Defence

**1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6**

If Black wants to defend the threatened pawn with a pawn, this is the
way to do it (playing 2\...f6? is plain bad, as 3. Nxe5 fxe5 4. Qh5+ is
winning for White). It gives Black a solid but somewhat cramped
position. The f8 bishop is hemmed in and will be relegated to a
defensive role. The Black knight retains the option of going to d7
leaving the c-pawn mobile, but it is not without reason that 2\...Nc6 is
much more common than 2\...d6.

{{-}}

### Danish Gambit

**1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2**

This gambit gives White quick development and control of the center at
the cost of two pawns initially. However, current opinion reports that
to properly fend off the attacking waves, at least one and sometimes
both pawns must be returned. This involves the liberating pawn push
\...d5 by Black. Even so, inventive attacking players can still use the
resulting open lines to play a complex game.

{{-}}

### Sicilian Defence

**1.e4 c5**   Play can continue

**2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4** (2\...d6 and 2\...e6 are also common, and
usually also met by 3.d4)

The Sicilian is the most common and best-scoring response to 1.e4, as it
balances the white advantage with flank play. It discourages White from
occupying the centre with 2.d4. After 2\...cxd4 White must either take
the pawn back with the queen (and move it again after 3.Qxd4 Nc6) or
sacrifice the pawn, usually with 3.c3.

One problem with the Sicilian is that there is a vast amount of theory
written on it, and in a sharp opening like this, you can wind up in
trouble if you don\'t know it.

{{-}}

### French Defence

**1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5**

White has three essential continuations: 3.Nc3 \"Winawer Variation\"
3.Nd2 \"Tarrasch Variation\" 3.e5 \"Advance Variation\".

A fourth alternative, the \"Exchange Variation\" is 3. exd5, but this
actually frees Black\'s game from all of the traditional cramping
problems of the French Defence. It is mainly used by White players who
forgo all attempts at a theoretical battle, hoping to play on \"general
principles\".

The French Defence is considered one of the strongest black responses to
the White opening move 1.e4. Among world class grandmasters, it
currently trails the Sicilian 1. e4 c5 and the symmetrical 1.e4 e5 in
popularity.

{{-}}

### Pirc Defence

**1.e4 d6**, usually followed by **2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6**

{{-}}

This opening bears considerable similarities to another one called the
King\'s Indian, which begins 1.(e4 d6) d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7.
However, subtle but long range strategic differences exist between the
two. In the Pirc, White\'s c-file pawn is still at home, and not
committed to the c4 square. This means that overall, White has better
control of the d4 square. The pawn move c2-c4 has been replaced by a
developing piece move N-c3, and this \"faster\" development tends to
encourage White towards central or kingside attacks compared with the
queenside play classically associated with the King\'s Indian defence.

### Modern Defence

**1.e4 g6**, usually followed by **2.d4 Bg7**

{{-}}

This move order is often used to \"back into\" a Pirc defence, while
avoiding specific move order issues. However, an entirely different
range of strategy is possible based upon \...c6 and \...d5.

### Alekhine\'s Defence

**1.e4 Nf6**, usually followed by **2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6**
  This looks like a rather alarming opening for Black to
play. Black lets White chase the knight around the board and use that
time to build up the pawn centre. Black\'s plan is to show that White
has expanded too quickly, and will find the pawn centre vulnerable. The
disadvantage to this opening is that if White succeeds in maintaining
it, White will have a serious and suffocating advantage in space.

{{-}}

### Scandinavian Defence

**1.e4 d5**, usually followed by **2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5**

Playing d7-d5 is the main idea behind most of the semi-open games for
black. Here it is played immediately for the price of an extra move with
the queen after 3.Nc3.

Long disparaged as the epitome of weak play \"because moving the queen
early wastes time\", it was resurrected in the 1990s with a pawn move
c7-c6, allowing the queen to retreat from a5 to c7 when necessary. Now
it is considered an attempt to reduce White\'s central pressure, and is
popular among club players because White suddenly has to demonstrate
some sophistication.

{{-}}

**1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3** - possible
continuation\...

This is a general continuation of the Scandinavian Defense. White
developing its pieces towards the center by 4.d4 and 5.Nf3 placing the
Knight on the natural f3 square. Meantime black develops also in a
simple way 4\...Nf6 and 5\...Bg4 creating a pin for the white Knight.
There is another pin for c3 Knight - created by the d4 pawn push. Now
white has to eliminate the pins - in order to make the Knights free to
move. White can do it by 6.h3 move or 6.Be2 - simple relieve for the
Bishop pin. After 6.h3 black Bishop can retreat by 6\...Bh5 -
maintaining the pin or can capture the white Knight 6\... Bxf3.

{{-}}

**1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 ?!** - thematic
continuation\...not the best one\...

Most of the club players - or \"players in the parks\" or casual
internet players without any deep opening knowledge are taking this
**6.Be2?!** move as a smooth continuation to relieve from the Bishop
pin.

The normal development of the pieces continues 6\...Nc6 7.0-0 0-0-0
8.Be3 \... {{-}}

## **Queen\'s Pawn Openings** (closed and semi-closed games)

### Queen\'s Gambit

**1.d4 d5 2. c4**

{{-}}

**2\...e6** 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 leads to Queen\'s Gambit Declined
1 variations. A
special characteristic among the declined games has the Tarrasch-Defence
3\... c5, mostly followed by 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.cxd5 exd5.

{{-}}

**2\...c6** (usually followed by 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4) leads to the
\"Slav Defence\".

{{-}}

This is one of the opening \"families\" with interchangeable moves. It
is quite possible to play both \...e6 and \...c6 (known as the
Semi-Slav), and there are large numbers of interchangeable points called
transpositions.

**2\...dxc4** is the \"Queen\'s Gambit Accepted\".

{{-}}

Black has gained a pawn but Black cannot keep it. If White wants it back
White can play e2-e3 at some point, threatening the pawn with the bishop
and if Black tries to defend it with \...b5 Black will find the
queenside severely weakened (and the pawn should fall anyway).
Nonetheless, this is playable for Black as well, instead of trying to
keep the pawn, it is best to develop quickly and strike back at the
White centre.

### King\'s Indian Defence

**1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6**

{{-}}

**3.Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6**

{{-}}

Popularised after World War II, the King\'s Indian Defence involves
opposite sides strategies in a race between Black\'s mating attack vs.
White\'s methodical attempts to unravel Black\'s Queenside.

At World Class level, there is some concern that Black\'s concept is
very committal, leading Former Champion Garry Kasparov to discontinue
his use of the opening shortly before he retired from the game. At any
level below that, it is still very popular due to the deep developmental
work by Fischer and Kasparov.

### Grünfeld Defence

**1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6**

{{-}}

**3.Nc3 d5**

{{-}}

Looks a bit like a cross between the Queen\'s Gambit and the King\'s
Indian Defence, but this opening is played differently from both of
them. Black gives White an early opportunity to grab control of the
centre with 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4. Black will need to launch a counterattack
against that centre, perhaps with \...c5 to stop White from getting the
upper hand. If Black succeeds, the White centre may indeed be very
vulnerable, if Blacks fails, the centre will be very dominating.

### Nimzo-Indian Defence

**1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6**

{{-}}

**3.Nc3 Bb4**

{{-}}

After 3.Nc3, White threatens to take control over the centre by playing
4.e4. The Nimzo-Indian, named after the hypermodern player Aron
Nimzowitch, is one of the two main ways of preventing this (the other
way is the direct 3\...d5 which leads to the Queen\'s Gambit Declined).
Black puts a bishop where it pins the White knight, and often intends to
trade it off, surrendering the bishop pair but inflicting White with
doubled pawns if needed to recapture with the b-pawn. White can avoid
these doubled pawns by playing the queen to c2, but this costs time. On
the other hand, Black has not staked out a big claim of the centre yet,
and White can get a real space advantage if Black is careless.

### Queen\'s Indian Defence

**1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6**

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**3.Nf3 b6**

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Strategically, this opening is similar to the Nimzo-Indian. White has
played 3.Nf3 rather than 3.Nc3 so he is not threatening to grab the
center with 4.e4 just yet. Playing the Nimzo-like 3\...Bb4+ anyway is
possible (and called the Bogo-Indian) and tends to lead to rather quiet
play. More usual is 3\...b6 which opens up for the bishop to go to b7
where it will continue the clamp-down on the e4-square, or to a6 where
it will put pressure on White\'s pawn on c4.

### Modern Benoni

**1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5**

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**3.d5 e6**

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### Benko Gambit

**1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5**

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**3.d5 b5**

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## Other openings

### English Opening

**1.c4**

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Black\'s most common responses are:

**1\...e5**, a reversed Sicilian Defence

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**1\...c5**

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**1\...Nf6**

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**1\...e6** (preparing 2\...d5)

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and **1\...c6** (preparing 2\...d5)

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### Réti Opening

**1.Nf3 d5 2.c4**

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### Benko Opening

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This opening threatens to fianchetto the bishop on f1 to g2, threatening
a rook capture, or h3, threatening a bishop exchange, either of which
would also threaten a Black pawn center. However, this opening is rather
passive and is relatively easy to parry.

### King\'s Indian Attack

**1.Nf3 d5 2.g3**   {{-}}

### Barnes Opening

This can end almost as quickly as it begins, with an *extremely* fast
checkmate by Black (called *fool\'s mate.*)  {{-}}

The Barnes Opening goes like this: **1.f3 e5**.

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It can be continued as the Fool\'s Mate: **2.g4?? Qh4#**. Fortunately
for White, the fool\'s mate is extremely rare, even among novices,
because the Barnes Opening is passive and has no advantage over 1.f4,
and because it is very easy for even a novice to see that the
continuation of the Barnes Opening gives Black an immediate mate
opportunity.

it:Scacchi/Aperture di base
fi:Shakkiaapinen/Avausteorian
alkeet