The game of chess is an ancient game that requires a lot of thinking and practice. These two premises do not make it more special than any other sport. However, chess is probably the most popular tabletop game that has been loved and played for centuries.
Guide To Playing Chess
Usually, most of us get to play our first games early in childhood, so we do not even remember when the last game we played was. Therefore, here is the ultimate chess guide for those who want to revise and those who want to learn how to play.
Learn How to Set up a Chess Board
Just as everybody knows, chess is played by two players. It is mandatory to have a chess board and pieces for playing chess. There are 16 white-colored and 16 black-colored pieces that are positioned on the board right before the players.
The pieces are arranged in two horizontal rows, with each component having its own allotted space. In the first horizontal rows come rooks that are placed on the rightmost and leftmost squares.
Then, they are followed by knights and then bishops. The central two squares are reserved for the king and queen. It is important to note that the color of the queen matches the color of the square. The next horizontal row is reserved for pawns.
Board and Clock
Before you start playing chess, get yourself some equipment. These two make up essential chess equipment. If you are looking for the grandmaster chess player sets, then these may include not only the board and clock but scorebooks and the bag to store all of your goodies.
Since we have already explained how to position the pieces on the board, it is time to explain how to use the clock. Usually, clocks are set at ten minutes. Once you tap a clock, the game is on. Every time you make a move, you must stop your clock. Otherwise, you will run out of time.
The main goal is to checkmate your opponent before the time is up. When it comes to scorebooks, they are used for writing down all of your moves so that you can analyze them after the match.
How to Move Pieces
The first row of the pawns is the first to be moved. These can be moved a single square forward in a straight line. These pieces cannot be moved either horizontally, diagonally, or backward.
However, there is an exception for the pawn when it is moved for the first time. In this case, the pawn can be moved two squares forward. Also, pawns are moved diagonally when capturing the opponents’ pieces.
A rook, also called a castle, can move a countless number of squares along the row or column. Also, rooks cannot pass through pieces of the same color but can capture pieces of the opposite color.
These can move forward, backward, horizontally, or vertically. However, these pieces can not move diagonally.
Knights are the pieces that can move through other pieces since they can jump over other pieces. The Knight can move in two ways. The first one is by moving the piece two squares forward and one either left-wise or right-wise.
The other way of moving a piece is by moving one square forward and three either left or right. This is the same pattern for capturing the pieces of the opponent.
Bishops are figures that can only move diagonally, both forward and backward. These pieces have no possibility of going through same-color pieces but can capture the ones of the opponent.
Finally, there are kings and queens. The king has a limited number of squares. It can move just one square in any direction. There is a rule where two opposing kings must stay a square apart.
The queen, on the other hand, can move a countless number of squares in any direction. It is the only piece that may move straight, forward, backward, diagonally, horizontally, and vertically. These are also the directions for capturing the opponent’s pieces.
Check and Checkmate
When you move a piece in a direction that will capture its king, this move is known as a check. The opponent is forced to either move the king or protect it with some other piece. On the other hand, if you make a certain sequence of moves so that the king cannot move to any other square without being captured, this is known as the checkmate and announces the end of the game.
Chess is an ancient game that has been played for centuries now. This is the game that tests and improves your mental abilities and helps you boost your intellectual capacities.
Chess teaches you how to implement strategies that could be used in real life. The only thing you need to do is to stop and think for a moment.
