Right, But How Do You Play?

Unfortunately, people don’t want to learn a game that they think is outside of their wheelhouse or if it will take a while to learn. Chess is one of those games that if you’re not already interested, few people can change your mind. I know, because I was the same way. I learned to play because I wanted to be part of it, I wanted to feel the competition. I found a passion for it, not because it is an intellect’s game, but because it can be anyone’s game.

(Chess Basics: Lesson For Kids)

Some of you may be here because you want to be, some may be here because you have to be. Either way, you’re here! While I have you, I want to teach you to play Chess by showing you why I fell in love with it, not by reciting the rulebook.

For some terminology, the object of the game is to put your opponent’s King in danger (called check). If you continue this and trap the opponent’s King so he cannot move without putting himself in danger, you have won (known as checkmate). You can do this with your different pieces. There are 6 pieces to cover: The Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen, and King. (If my descriptions are confusing, reference the diagram above to see how the pieces move).

 

The Pawn is a very interesting piece, because of how broad its move set it. In general, they only move forward one space at a time. However, they can choose to move two spaces forward on their first move of the game (which can be done for all 8 pawns on the board).  Moving two spaces can speed up the game and make for some tricky maneuvers. In Chess, you take the other player’s piece rather than hopping over it like in checkers. The pawn ‘attacks’ on a diagonal, while most pieces attack based off of how they move forward. Also, If given the chance for a pawn to move from one end of the board all the way to the other, it can become any piece it wants (including her majesty the Queen).

 

Besides the Pawn, the Knight is the only other piece that can change the way it moves. A Knight is restricted to galloping in an L shaped pattern. It moves two spaces forward and one space to the left or the right (creating an L). Because the Knight is on horseback, it is also the only piece that can hop over other pieces. I personally enjoy using the knight, because they can be very unexpected and always throws the opponent off guard. You don’t have to use this trick, but when I play my Knight I always remind myself that “The Horsies Raid The Castle”.

 

The next piece is the righteous and holy Bishop. The bishop only moves diagonally but can move as far as they want. Each player has two bishops, one for each colored square. Therefore, Bishops can be very long-ranged players, which allows them to execute attacks such as pins or forks (I will explain those in a later blog). Beware though, the bishop’s cemetery has a casket with your king’s name on it.

 

The Rook is a very intriguing player. Speculation claims in the early versions of the game, the Rook resembled a chariot: heavily armored, equipped with a long-range passenger such as an archer. It makes sense, then, the Rook is a long-range piece that moves horizontally or vertically as far as they please. Each player has two Rooks, one on each side of the board. The Rook can also execute pins but don’t ask it to sew anything, it might prick you when you least expect it.

 

All rise for her majesty, The Queen; she definitely wears the pants in this relationship. The Queen can move any way she wants, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Not only that, but she can also move as far as she wants in any of these directions. She still can’t hop over pieces, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t capable of jumping your king.

 

Alas, we arrive at The King. He can only move one square at a time but in any direction. As I said before, the objective of each player is to attack the King so he cannot move. This happens because the King is not allowed to put himself in danger, which can make it especially difficult to move himself out of it. Even though he has the ability to execute forks, don’t let his short range fool you, he can still cut like a knife.

____________________________________________

Remember to Say It With Your Chess!

– Michael Magnotti

Part-time writer, Michael Magnotti, thrives on leading passionate people to see the world in different ways. Although Michael writes about very different topics, he uses them all as an easy-to-read guide for seeing what you didn’t know was there!

____________________________________________

Special Thank You:

I would like to thank VectorStock for allowing the use of their royalty-free content. I am not sure if they make money off of ads, but I am not sponsored by or affiliated with them in any way.