Chess: Game of the Mind Module

Module

Chess- Game of the Mind

Introduction

Chess is the most popular war games ever invented. The kings and queens who lead the two chess armies must face all kinds of dangerous situations. They are attacked and defended by castles, bishops, knights on horseback and common soldiers. Eventually, one of the kings is trapped and he must surrender to the other army. Every new game of chess is a different battle, and the two players are the two generals who plan the battle.

Brief History

           The game is said to be originated from India (Chaturanga). The word chess is derived from the Persian word “shah” which means king. Checkmate, signifying that the enemy king is threatened and cannot be saved originated from the Arabic phrase “shah mat” which means the king is dead. Checkmate, stalemate, pawn and gambit are English words used in the game. Many world-renowned players were produced by the game, namely: Bobby Fisher (14 years old World Champion), Anatoli Karpov, Gary Kasparov, and of course the Filipino bets like Eugene Torre, Antonio, and Anthony Paragua to name a few.

            Federation Internationale des. Esches (FIDE) is the worldwide organization of chess players.

Equipment

         

A.     The Pieces

White and black pieces are the two opposing sides in chess. Each has

16 pieces. The armies of each side consist of the following pieces:

1.      King  (1) – the most important piece in chess and must always be protected

                   from capture

2.      Queen (1) – the most powerful of all the pieces

3.      Bishops (2)

4.      Rooks (castles) (2)

5.      Knights (2) – favorite piece of many players

6.      Pawns (8)

B.     The Board - has 64 squares, 32 light –colored (white) and 32 dark-colored

     (black)

                       

Board is always set so that the first row ends with a white square on each player’s right.

                        Files- the eight rows that run vertically between the two players

                        Ranks- the eight horizontal rows that run from left to right

                        Diagonals- lines of the same colored squares running in a slant wise direction

                       

Setting the Board

                       

1.      The two rooks occupy the extreme right and left squares of the first rank.

2.      The two knights stand next to the rooks.

3.      The bishops are placed next to the knights.

4.      The queen is “on her color.”

5.      The king stands on the one remaining along the first rank.

6.      The pawns are then lined in the rank directly in front of the more important pieces.

Movement of the Pieces

1.     King – one square at a time – on the rank. the file, or the diagonal

   - captures in the same way that he moves

2.     Queen – moves vertically, horizontally, vertically or diagonally with any number

   of squares along the line that is not block

3.     Bishop – moves in any number of squares on either side of its diagonals and     

                remains on the color of the square as the game started

4.     Rook – moves any number of squares on either the horizontal or the vertical

 rows

5.     Knight – moves two squares in either horizontal or vertical direction and one

   square in the other direction forming an “L”.

- can jump over pieces

            6. Pawn – may move one or two squares straight ahead on its first move and once it

     made its first move, it can advance only one square at a time and can move

    forward

Capturing

          A piece captures an enemy piece by moving onto the square occupied by enemy piece. The piece is removed from the board, and the capturing piece replaces it on the square.

            Two pieces can never occupy the same square. A player is not forced to capture an enemy piece unless there is no other legal move to make.

Rules of the Game

          White always starts the game then black makes a move. Players continue to alternate moves until the game is over. No player is permitted to let a turn a pass. The player must make a move.

I. The King is in Check

When a player sees and hears that his King is in check, he must make a move which will take the King out of check. Any other move is illegal. A player cannot stay in check if he can possibly get out of it.

Three ways a King may get out of check

1.      by having the King move to a square on which he no longer is in check

2.      by capturing the checking piece

3.      by placing a piece between the checking piece and the King

II. Checkmate

            If the King is in check and, no matter what he does, he cannot go out of check then his side has lost the game. The King is checkmated. Player wins if he is able to checkmate the opposing King even, if the player has weaker or fewer pieces.

III. Castling

            Castling is a special move involving only the king and thee rook.

                        1. The king and the rook have not yet moved during the game.

                   2. The squares between the king and the rook are not occupied.

                        3. The king is not on check and will not have to move across a square

     threatened by an enemy piece.

IV. En Passant

En passant is a French word for “in passing.” If a pawn has reached its 5^th rank, and enemy pawn advancing two squares on its first move passes a square on which it could have been captured in the usual V-shaped with the pawn on the 5^th rank. The pawn on the 5^th rank may capture the advancing pawn as if it had moved only the square forward on its first move. This capture must be made on the very next move. If not taken advantage of immediately, the opportunity to capture en passant is lost.

V. Stalemate

            A player who is losing his game sometimes has one last resource. He may get a draw by stalemate. When a player is not in check and he has no legal moves – the game is drawn.

VI. Drawn Game

a.       Draw by Mutual Consent –players  feel that, since further play would lead to

nothing but a draw, they might as well save their energy and call the game draw

b.      Draw because of Inadequate Forces – neither player has enough material with                                             which to mate

c.       Draw by Fifty-Move Law – an opponent can invoke the fifty-move law and the

opponent must either mate or show some tangible proof that he has made headway, if not the game is drawn

Scoring

1. Traditional Scoring

In most chess tournaments held since the middle of the 19th century, there has been a very simply scoring system used. Players who scored a win in a game were awarded a point, while those scoring draws were given a half-point. Losing a game, as you might expect, was worth zero points.

2. 3-1-0 Scoring

            In this system, players are given an added incentive to win games. Each win is worth three points, while a draw is only worth one, and losses are still worth zero. The major difference in this scoring system is that players who score a win and a loss are ranked above those who have scored two draws (three points vs. two), so fighting play is encouraged.

3. Other Scoring Systems

From time to time, other organizers have tried more radical approaches to changing the scoring system in order to liven up their events. One notable effort in recent years was the Ballard Antidraw Point System, better known as BAPS. The scoring system was the brainchild of Clint Ballard, a chess organizer in Washington who was looking for a way to ensure that players wouldn’t want to draw their games. His answer was BAPS, which scored games as follows:

• Black Wins: 3 Points
• White Wins: 2 Points
• Draws: 1 point for Black, 0 points for White
• Losses: 0 Points

Given the slight disadvantage for Black, the second player is consistently given more points for the same result as White. However, White has a second disadvantage: they do not receive any points whatsoever for a draw. This makes a draw no better than a loss for White. The scoring system was most prominently used in a “Slugfest” tournament organized by Ballard back in 2005, but was not otherwise widely used.

Chess Notation                                         

The moves of a chess game can be recorded in a variety of ways. You will probably see algebraic notation used more often but older chess books often use descriptive notation. It is a good idea to be conversant with them both. Chess positions can be recorded using Forsyth notation.

Full Algebraic Notation

The rows of squares on the chessboard are called ranks and the columns of squares are called files. The ranks are labelled from 1 to 8 and the files are labelled from a - h. We use these numbers and letters to describe where pieces are on the chessboard. In the diagram the blue cross is on the squared named f3 and the circle is on c7. Notice how the letter always comes first and the number follows it.

There are some symbols you should know when reading or writing chess notation.

Symbol	Meaning	Symbol	Meaning
K	King	Q	Queen
R	Rook	B	Bishop
N	Knight	x	Captures
+	Check	++ or #	Checkmate
O-O	Castles King's side	O-O-O	Castles Queen's side

If you play in tournaments you will have to record the game so it is a good idea to practice as soon as you begin playing. You can also later go over your games to find out where you or your opponent made mistakes.

The moves are written in two numbered vertical columns like this:

1.f2-f4	e7-e5
2.f4xe5	d7-d6
3.e5xd6	Bf8xd6
4.g2-g3	Qd8-g5
5.Ng1-f3	Qg5xg3+
6.h2xg3	Bd6xg3#

The first column is for the White moves and the second column is for the Black moves. First of all the symbol for the piece is written, then the square on which this piece was standing, then a hyphen (-), then the square to which this piece moves. If a pawn moves the symbol is omitted.  For example, 1. f2-f4 means on the first move the pawn on the f2 square moved to the f4 square. 5. Ng1-f3 means the Knight on the g1 square moved to the f3 square.

If you wish to refer to a Black move by itself you put three dots before the move.

For example, 4. ... Qd8-g5 means on move 4 Black moved his Queen on d8 to g5.

x indicates a capture took place so: 5. ... Qg5xg3+ means the Black Queen on g5 captured a piece on g3 and the + means with this move the opponent's King was checked.
# means checkmate so: 6. ...Bd6xg3# means the Black Bishop on d6 moved to g3 and checkmated the White King.

This is what this game would look like on the chessboard:

1. f2-f4 e7-e5	2. f4xe5 d7-d6
3. e5xd6 Bf8xd6	4. g2-g3 Qd8-g5
5. Ng1-f3 Qg5xg3+	6. h2xg3 Bd6xg3#

Abbreviated Algebraic Notation

In this type of notation the starting square of the chess piece is left out and only the destination square is written. If a pawn makes a capture then the file on which the pawn was standing is indicated.

In the diagram on the right, both the White Rooks can move to d1. To make it clear which one moves, the file on which the piece stands before it moves is indicated.
The diagram shows the Rook on f1 has moved to d1. This is written Rfd1.

Sometimes it may be possible that two pieces on the same file can move to the same square.

In the diagram on the right, both the Rooks can move to the d5 square. To show which Rook moves there we indicate the rank the Rook has moved from.
The diagram on the right shows the Rook on the seventh rank has moved to d5. We write this as R7d5.

This is how the game above would be written in short algebraic notation:

1. f4 e5	The White pawn moves to f4 and the Black pawn to e5.
2. fxe5 d6	The White pawn on the f file takes the pawn on e5. The Black pawn moves to d6.
3. exd6 Bxd6	The White pawn on the e file takes the pawn on d6. The Black Bishop takes the pawn on d6.
4. g3 Qg5	The White pawn moves to g3. The Black Queen moves to g5.
5. Nf3 Qxg3+	The White Knight moves to f3. The Black Queen takes the pawn on g3 and checks the White King.
6. hxg3 Bxg3#	The White pawn on the h file takes the Queen on g3. The Black Bishop takes the pawn on g3 and delivers checkmate.

Chess Score Sheet

References:

1.      Clemente, Danilo A. et.al.2006. MAPEH CAT-IV. Saint Bernadette

                                    Publications, Inc.; Quezon City,Philippines

2.      Favila, Salve A. et.al.2007. MAPEH. St. Augustine Publications, Inc.

         Manila, Philippines.

3.      http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/basic/notation/notate.htm

4.      http://chess.about.com/od/chesshistory/a/Scoring-Systems-In-Chess-Tournaments.htm