Chess

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, showing a Muslim playing a Christian]]

**Chess** is a board game for two players. It is played on a square board, made up of 64 smaller squares, with eight squares in each row and column. Each player starts with 16 pieces: eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, one queen and one king. 

The goal of the game is for each player to try and checkmate the king of the opponent. Checkmate is a threat ('check') to the opposing king which no move can stop. When checkmate happens, the player who is being checkmated loses, and the other player wins. 

Chess is popular and is often played in competitions called chess tournaments. It is enjoyed in many countries, and is a national hobby in Russia.

## History 
 chessmen (c. 12th C. British Museum)]]

Most historians agree that the game of chess was first played in northern India during the Gupta Empire in the 6th century AD. This early type of chess was known as *Chaturanga*, a Sanskrit word for the military. The Gupta chess pieces were divided, like their military, into the infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots. Over time, these pieces became the pawn, knight, bishop, and rook. The English words *chess* and *check* both come from the Persian word "*shāh"* meaning king.

The game changed greatly between about 1470 to 1495. The rules of the older game were changed in the West so that some pieces (queen, bishop) had more scope, it was easier to get pieces into more powerful places, and the game was more exciting. The new game formed the basis of modern international chess. Chess historians consider this to be the most important change since the game's invention.

## Rules 
The rules of chess are governed by the World Chess Federation, which is known by the initials **FIDE**. The rules are in the section *Laws of Chess* of the *FIDE Handbook*. FIDE also give rules and guidelines for chess tournaments.

### Setup 
Chess is played on a square board divided into eight rows of squares called ranks and eight columns called files, with a dark square in each player's lower left corner. There are 64 squares on a chess board. The colors of the squares are laid out in a checker (chequer) pattern with light and dark squares. To make speaking and writing about chess easy, each square has a name. Rank are numbered from 1 to 8, and each file is lettered from *a* to *h*. The letter assigned to a file comes before the number. Each square has its own name, such as g1 or f5. The pieces are in white and black sets. The players are called White and Black, and at the start of a game each player has 16 pieces. The 16 pieces are one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.
* The **knights** (Kt or N) move in an "L" shape. Each move must be either two squares along a rank and one square along a file, or two squares along a file and one square along a rank. It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces. Like the other pieces, it captures an opposing piece by landing on its square.
* The **pawns** can only move up the board. On its first move a pawn may move either one or two squares forward. A pawn captures one square diagonally, not as it moves: see black crosses (white)/ white circles (black) on its diagram. In some situations, pawns can capture opponent's pawns in a special way called *en passant*, which means *in passing* in French (see below).

To win the game one player must checkmate the other player. Checkmate happens when the other player's king is in check and there is no way to get out of check. Castling is only allowed if all of these rules are kept: The player gets to choose which piece the pawn turns into, but they need to pick one, it cannot stay a pawn. Normally, the pawn is promoted into a queen, but in some cases another piece is chosen to get an advantage. This is called 'under-promotion'.
* **Threefold repetition**. If the exactly same position is repeated three times during a game with the same player to move each time, the player next to move may claim a draw. The game is now drawn. This is called a *draw by threefold repetition*.

## Competition rules 
The FIDE rules for competitive chess include all the rules above, as well as several others.

### Chess clocks 
Competitive games of chess must be played with special chess clocks which time a player only when it is their turn to move. After moving, the player presses a button on the clock, which stops the player's clock and starts the opponent's clock. Usually the clocks are , but some are electronic. In algebraic notation, each square has one name, regardless of whether you are looking from White's side of the board or Black's. Here, moves are written in the format of:  of piece moved – file where it moved – rank where it moved. For example, Qg5 means "queen moves to the g-file and 5th rank" (that is, to the square g5). If there are two pieces of the same type that can move to the same square, one more letter or number is added to show the file or rank from which the piece moved, e.g. Ngf3 means "knight from the g-file moves to the square f3". The letter P showing a pawn is not used, so that e4 means "pawn moves to the square e4".

If the piece makes a capture, "x" is written before the square in which the capturing piece lands on. Example: *Bxf3* means "bishop captures on f3". When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn left is used in place of a piece initial. For example: exd5 means "pawn captures on d5."

If a pawn moves to its eighth rank, getting a promotion, the piece chosen is written after the move, for example e1Q or e1=Q. Castling is written by the special notations 0-0 for kingside castling and 0-0-0 for queenside. A move which places the opponent's king in check normally has the notation "+" added. Checkmate can be written as # or ++. At the end of the game, 1-0 means "White won", 0-1 means "Black won" and ½-½ is a draw.

In print, *figurines* (like those in diagrams, but smaller) are used for the pieces rather than initials. This has the advantage of being language-free, whereas the initials of pieces are different in every language. Typefaces which include figurines can be purchased by chess authors. Also, basic notes can be added by using a system of well-known punctuation marks and other symbols. A chess opening is a name given to a series of opening moves. Recognized patterns of opening moves are *openings* and have been given names such as the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian defence. They are listed in reference works such as the *Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings*. There are dozens of different openings. They range from gambits in which material, such as pawns are offered for fast development (e.g. the King's Gambit), to slower openings, which lead to a maneuvering type of game (e.g. the Réti opening). In some opening lines, the sequence thought best for both sides has been worked out to 20–30 moves; most players avoid such lines. Expert players study openings throughout their chess career, as opening theory keeps on .

The basic aims of the opening phase are:
* *Development*: to place (develop) the pieces (mostly bishops and knights) on useful squares where they will have the most powerful impact on the game.
* *Control of the center*: the center is the most important part of the board. The player who controls the center can move their pieces around freely. The opponent, on the other hand, will find their pieces cramped, and difficult to move about.
* *King safety*: keeping the king safe from danger. Castling (see section above) can often do this.
* *Pawn structure*: pawns can be used to control the center. Players try to avoid making pawn  such as ,  or backward pawns, and pawn islands – and to force such weaknesses in the opponent's position.

White, by virtue of the first move, begins the game with a better chance of winning. Black normally tries to equalize or to get counterplay during the game.

### Middlegame 
The middlegame is the part of the game where most pieces have been developed. It is where most games are won and lost. Many games will end in resignation before the endgame takes place.

A middlegame position has a structure. That structure is determined by the opening. The simplest way to learn the middlegame is to select an opening and learn it well (see examples in English Opening and French Defence).

These are some things to look for when analyzing a middlegame position:
* *Material*: changes in the balance of material are very important. If a player loses a piece for nothing, it is often a very big mistake that will lose the game. If the players are evenly matched, then both players usually have the same amount of pieces. Material balance (how many more pieces a player has than the other player) is often something that does not change quickly: it may not change for many moves.
* *Development*: the opening may have left one player with a lead in development. That player has the initiative, and may attack before the opponent can get his pieces out. It is a temporary asset; if a lead in development is not used effectively, it will disappear.
* *The centre*: in the centre pieces have their greatest effect, and some (such as the knight) attack more squares in the centre than at the sides. The player who controls the centre will almost always have the advantage.
* *Mobility*: a position is mobile if the pieces can get to their ideal squares. Almost all middle game positions have some limitations to mobility. Look for open files for the rooks, and open diagonals for the bishops. Knights are best placed on outposts, where they cannot easily be dislodged.
* *King safety*: ideally, the king should be castled and kept behind a screen of pawns. If a king is weak, it may targeted for an attack by the opponent.
* *Pawns*: they provide the skeleton of a position. They move slowly, and may become blocked for many moves. Everything takes place around the pawns. Different openings produce different pawn structures. In this way, openings influence the whole game (François-André Danican Philidor: "Pawns are the soul of chess").

Here is an example from the borderline between opening and middlegame. In the diagram to the left, White will mainly play on the queenside, while Black will play on the kingside.

If White to play, he may wish to stop Black's threat of playing 10...Nf4. He can do this by playing 10.g3, or by playing 10.Re1 so that if 10...Nf4 11.Bf1 will preserve the bishop (in this position it is an important defensive piece). However, White may try to plough ahead with 10.c5, the key move on the queenside. ChessBase shows that the number of tournament games with these choices were:

:10.Re1: 2198
:10.g3: 419
:10.c5: 416

The database also shows that the overall results were significantly better for 10.Re1. During a middlegame, the player should note the features of the position on the board, and formulate a game plan. The opponent will try to interfere with the plan or gain counterplay.

### Endgame 
The endgame is the part of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. There are three main strategic differences between earlier parts of the game and the endgame:

* *Pawns*: during the endgame, pawns become decisive in the result of a game. In the endgame, both players try to  their pawns by advancing them to the first or last ranks, depending on which side is advancing. When a pawn reaches the end of the board, it can promote to a queen; this action is called queening. It can also promote to a rook, knight, or bishop, called underpromotion, which may be favorable under certain circumstances.
* *Kings*: becomes a strong piece in the endgame. The king can be brought towards the center of the board. There, it can support its own pawns, attack the opponent's pawns, and oppose the opponent's king.
* *Draws*: in the endgame, a game may be drawn because there are too few pieces on the board to allow a player to win.

Endgame positions are easier to analyze than middlegames, as there are fewer pieces on the board. Many endgame positions can be won by force. A drawn endgame is one that is legally drawn (checkmate is impossible), or drawn by chess experience (drawn with best play by both sides). All endgames in master chess revolve around the borderline between winning and drawing. Generally, once a 'textbook' drawn position is reached, the players will agree a draw.

Endgames can be studied according to the types of pieces that remain on the board. For example, king and pawn endgames have only kings and pawns on one or both sides, and the task of the stronger side is to promote one of the pawns. Other endings are studied according to the pieces on board other than kings, e.g. rook and pawn versus rook endgame.

#### New in Chess 
This is a Dutch magazine for advanced players, which runs an online database called NicBase as part of its services. NicBase is free, and has over a million games.

#### Chessgames 
Chessgames.com runs an online database of games. It is mostly free, but full access to all its facilities costs a subscription. It has over half a million games on its database.
* Playchess

## Further reading
* Burgess, Graham and John Nunn 1998. ''The mammoth book of the world's greatest chess games*. Carroll & Graf. 
* Chandler, Murray 1998. *How to beat your dad at chess*. Gambit, London.  (Improvers)
* Chandler, Murray 2004. *Chess for children*. Gambit, London.  (Beginners)
* Euwe, Max and Kramer H. 1994.  *The middlegame*, books I and II. Hays.  and  This goes further than improvers need, but might be used by chess teachers as a source of classic positions.
* King, Daniel 2000. *Chess: from first moves to checkmate*. Kingfisher, London. Illustrated, 64 pages. (Beginners, children).
* Polgar, Laszlo 2006. *Chess: 5334 problems, combinations and games*. Illustr. ed, Black Dog & Leventhal. 
* Pritchard, David Brine 2008. *The right way to play chess*. 8th ed, Right Way.  (Beginners > impovers)
* Silman, Jeremy 1997. *How to reassess your chess*. 3rd ed expanded, Siles. 
* 
* Ward, Chris 1994. *Opening play (think like a chess master)*. Batsford, London. 
* Wolff, Patrick 2005. *The complete idiot’s guide to chess*. 3rd ed, Alpha, New York. (Beginners > improvers)
* Znosko-Borovsky, Eugene 1980. *The middle game in chess*. Dover.  (Improvers > intermediate)

### Endgames 
These are endgames for improvers, based on reviews by John Watson.
* Flear, Glenn 2000. *Improve your endgame play*. Everyman, London. 
* Seirawan, Yasser 2003. *Winning chess endings*. Everyman, London. 
* Silman, Jeremy 2007. *Silman's complete endgame course: from beginner to master*. Siles. 
* Snape, Ian 2003. *Chess endings made simple''. Gambit, London. 

## Related pages 
* List of World Chess Champions
* List of chess terms
* Chess Olympiad
* History of chess
* Middlegame
* Shogi
* Xiangqi
* Janggi

## References