Blitz chess Sunday, Feb 7 2010

Call it, Blitz chess or fast chess, lightening chess, speed chess, or sudden death or bullet chess it all gets wrapped up within a matter of 60 to 180 minutes each player. This time is much less than the time given in a proper chess game or under normal Tournament time, which is 1-3hours for each player. The names ascertain and distinguish the time allotted to the game:

Rapid or Quick-15-60 minutes per side; (sometimes a player is given an additional 10seconds).

Blitz-3-5 minutes. Usually always played with no increment.

Lightening: A term used for Blitz or Bullet chess.

Armageddon: a single game certainly to produce a result, where white has 6 minutes and for 5minutes for black.

The terms blitz in chess sometimes means a sudden attack on the f7 or F2 Square early in the game putting a check on the king. Bullet chess is even more fast and hectic than blitz chess.  Sometimes, bulletchess is so fast that tactics and skill are secondary to quick moves, although on chess servers where both blitz chess and bullet chess are played, their ratings for a given player generally tend to be similar, thus indicating that chess skill, overall relates highly to the outcome.World Blitz Chess Champions are namely the following world class players;

Mikhail tal-1988,USSR.

Alexander Grischuk-2006,Russia.

Vassily Ivanchuk-2007,Ukraine.

Leinier Dominguez-2008,Cuba

Magnus Carlsen-2009,Nor.

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Why should my child get into chess? Tuesday, Jan 5 2010

Parents the first teachers to the children always look at the best future for their kids. It cannot be achieved only through selecting best studying environment. Parent’s initiation towards the growth of a child brain sounds more than their involvement towards their former one. Logical thinking and reasoning ability is more significant than the marks or grades obtained. One such domain in field of sports is chess that provides the required skills to adapt themselves to the existing world. Chess is not the game that just entertains the kids, it is the game that teaches the ‘What entertainment with knowledge really means?’ to them.

Parents should know the advantages of making their kids to play chess and the skills that can be derived from the kids to the maximum. It is the only game that increases the concentration power and the IQ of the child. Researches are under process to define and prove these. It promotes abstract thinking among the kids. It evolves decision making attribute in them. They will learn to be independent in the future. Here is the game that makes kids to acquire mental strength towards the challenging world. The time consumed in playing chess always pulls out the intellectual qualities which are possessed by budding scientists.

It is advisable for the parents to make the kids play chess rather making them to watch IQ shows. A tallest building always needs a strong base. Likewise to have great IQ power, a kid needs the basic growth of his brain towards the managerial and critical skills. To enhance this growth make your kid to get involved in the game. This in turn may also set the career for them.

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When will I beat my chess computer? Tuesday, Dec 29 2009

Playing and winning a game of chess against a computer is simple given the fact that the computer goes by the rule book and cannot get creative like you. Of course the masters have designed the computer to put up a strong opposition, but it is certainly possible for you to win over it if you consider the following few basic strategies.

When you play against computers do not go about it blindly as per the written rules and strategies. Experiment against them. As you must be aware of, there are three stages of a chess game: opening, middle and endgame. In the opening game, if you are playing the black, you need to play a defense game. Against a computer, for instance launch an unusual opening. This would certainly make a good start. When you make an “out of the usual” opening the depth to which a computer performs its search reduces gradually in the middle game.

Think hard and make a smart move but make it little quick. Do not take much time to make a move which gives more room for the computer the search. And by the time you make the move the computer might well have decided its next corresponding move.

Avoid redundancy. Repeated moves will make the computer moves easier. The computers have an in-built transition table and the more moves you repeat, the more familiar it gets with the stored moves. Do not exchange pieces unnecessarily.

Play your endgame wisely. Computers have poorly designed endgames and so if you have managed to reach the endgame, take advantage and play boldly. If you are on the losing side, you can manage to reach a draw if not win the game. Just keep repeating your few possible moves and explore what only the system does.

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What is involved with being in a chess club? Thursday, Dec 24 2009

The word “TEAM” can be expanded as “Together Everyone Achieve More”. Being a part of a team is always advantageous. In the pages of history, it is rare that a single man army has won any war. It is true that chess is a one man show, yet it needs a lot of backup support. How does one get this support? The answer is simple- be a part of a chess club.

The chess clubs are places where all intelligent minds wage the game war against each other. Being a part of such a club brings about a lot of exposure.  One can challenge against a best player in town. It is not necessary that one has to win the game but the spirit to play and learning from past mistakes gives it all. By being a member of a chess club one learns to play a professional game of chess rather than playing it for mere entertainment. The upcoming chess tournaments are updated to the chess club members well in advance and hence one can get equipped to it.

Some chess clubs are supported by the international organizations. Being a member of such a chess club is more advantageous as a good standard is maintained and that the player’s talent is well recognized. One gets to play more chess when in a club and hence gets more practice and learns more strategies. The various training programs arranged by these clubs help a long way in improving the talent and interest towards the game chess.

There is high expectation from the chess club members that they will play a fair and ethical game. If one is a part of any chess club then he is looked up by the audience with high expectations which provides the much needed encouragement. Thus chess clubs are not for the one who plays chess for entertainment. If chess is your profession then being a part of the chess club is the first step towards the goal.

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How long can normal chess games last? Thursday, Dec 24 2009

Chess is time bound and at the same time it is difficult to predict how long it lasts. It is not the game which is limited to certain time. The duration is fully independent of the organizer here. It depends on the two strong minds involved in the competition. Even the tie between the players cannot be decided by considering the time. It is based on the player’s tactics and rules followed in the game. Chess is a game where we have to pay more for the mistakes committed. So obviously it consumes time to put ourselves as the best but it has an end. Sources say that the world’s longest chess game lasts for five days.

It is the players who decide the duration of the game and not the organizer. Maintenance of the ethics of the game and fair plays makes the game to lasts long than we expect. At the same time it keeps the audience cool and focused without distraction. We can say the strength of the players is proportional to the duration of the game. If both the players are strong enough then automatically game lasts long and becomes quite interesting too. Tie in the game is possible when any one of the players tries to survive with the predefined moves to save the king. Time factor doesn’t leads to tie as in other outdoor games.

It is so obvious that the game duration is very difficult to be predetermined or predefined. At any circumstances only the masters brain predicts the duration of the game. Being a brainy game, the viewers never get bored by watching it.

Once we enjoy and realize the pulse of the game, our thirst towards the game gets increased. It purifies our thought process by extracting our intelligence. This involvement cheers us towards the game. Thus focus towards the duration of the game gets eradicated.

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ILLEGAL POSITIONS Sunday, Nov 22 2009

If, during the game, it is found out that an illegal move has been made, then the position shall be reconstructed as it was immediately before the illegal move was played. The game shall then continue in accordance with the rules. If during a game, one or more pieces have been accidentally displaced and are not correctly replaced, the position shall be set up as it was immediately before the mistake and the game continued. If it proves impossible to set up the position again, the game shall be annulled and the fresh game started. If, after on adjustment to set up the position is incorrectly put up, then the position as it was on adjustment shall be set up again and the game continued.

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ILLEGAL POSITIONS* Sunday, Nov 22 2009

If, during the game, it is found the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, then the game shall be annulled and a fresh game played. (F.I.D.E. Interpretation— this has been extended to apply to the case where the players have started with the wrong colors). If, during a game it is found that the position of the chessboard is incorrect, then the position reached shall be transformed to the chessboard correctly placed and the game continued.

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DRAWN GAME Sunday, Nov 22 2009

When the king of the player whose turn it is to move is not in check, and the player make a legal move, situation is called ‘’stalemate’’. On the demand by one of the players when the same position appears three times, the same player having move each time. the position is considered the same if pieces of the same kind and color occupy the same squares, and the possible moves of all pieces are changed. The right of claming the draw belongs only to the player:

(a)    who is in a position to play a move leading to such repetition of the position, if he indicates this move and claims the draw before making it; or

(b)   who is due to reply to a move by which such repeated position has been produced, provided he does not move before claming.

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ADDITIONAL RULES OF THE COMPETITIONS ‘’ RECORDING OF GAMES’’ Sunday, Nov 22 2009

1)      During the play, each player is required to record the game (moves of his own and his opponent’s), move by move, as clearly and legibly as possible on the score sheet provided for the contest.

2)      If , acutely pressed for time, a player is clearly unable to comply with the section 1 above, he shall nevertheless do his best to indicate on his scores sheet the number of moves made. As soon as his time trouble is over he shall immediately complete his record of the game by writing down the omitted moves.

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ADJOURNMENT OF THE GAME Sunday, Nov 22 2009

If, after the lapse of the time laid down for the play, the game is not finished, the player whose turn it is move shall write down his move in unambiguous notation on his score sheet, put this score sheet as well as of his opponent in an envelop, close the envelope and then stop his clock. This move is called ‘’sealed move’’. Should the player make his move on the chessboard he shall seal the same move on his score sheet. On the envelope shall be stated:

(a)    the name of the players.

(b)    The position immediately before the sealed move.

(c)    The time taken by the player.

(d)   The name of the player who has sealed his move and the number of this move.

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RESUMPTION OF THE GAME Sunday, Nov 22 2009

When the game is to be resumed position immediately before the sealed move shall be set up, and the time taken by each of the players when the game was adjourned shall be indicated on the clocks. The envelops shall not be opened until the player whose turn it is move (i.e the one who is to reply to the sealed move) Is present. The clock of this player shall be started when the sealed moves has been made on the chessboard. If the player whose turn it is to move is absent, then his clock shall be started, but the envelope shall be opened only when he arrives.

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VALUE OF THE QUEEN Friday, Nov 20 2009

Before ending the game, the Queen is worth two Rooks, but in the end game, the two Rooks are nearly always worth a Pawn more, unless the Rooks’ king is exposed to checks. Another approximate equivalent of a Queen is three minor pieces e.g two knights and a bishop are almost always at least equal to Queen, and two Bishops and a knight are usually superior. Rook plus bishop (or knight) plus two pawns are always almost superior to a Queen. Exception to these valuations occur where the king of the army opposing the Queen is very exposed, so the Queen can recognize many checks, giving itself virtually several successive moves while the opponent is powerless to make useful replies.

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ABOUT THE KING Friday, Nov 20 2009

Since the fate of the game hangs on the king, it cannot be given a numerical value. However, so many pieces have exchanged that mate is no longer a serious danger, it may and indeed must be used as a fighting piece, as such it rates well below a Rook but above a bishop or knight, when almost the fighting pieces have been exchanged, including the Queens and atleast one pair of the Rooks, your king ceases to need shelter of pawns in a corner. Use him as a marauder right in the enemy lines, having your king uncastled and therefore near the centre is usually an asset when Rooks, Queen and one pair of the minor pieces have been exchanged off.

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THE CHESS BOARD AND ITS ARRANGEMENT Friday, Nov 20 2009

1) The chessboard is made up of 64 equal squares in color alternatively light and dark
(‘’white’’ and ‘’black’’ squares respectively)

2) The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the square in the corner to the right of each player is white

3) The eight row of squares running form one player to the other are called ‘’files’’.

4) The eight rows of squares running at the right angles to the files are called ‘’ranks’’

5) The rows of squares of the same color touching at the corners are called ‘’diagonals’’

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THE MOVE IN GENERAL Friday, Nov 20 2009

1)      With the exception of castling a move is transfer to a piece from the square to another which is either unoccupied by an opponent’s piece.

2)       No piece, except the Rook when castling or the knight, can cross a square occupied by another piece.

3)      When the piece is played to a square occupied by an opponent’s piece, the opponent’s piece is said to have been ‘’captured’’ and it is immediately removed form the chessboard by the player who has made the capture.

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TOUCHED PIECE Friday, Nov 20 2009

Provided that he first warns his opponent the player whose turn it is to move may adjust one or more pieces on the square. Apart from the above case, if the player whose turn it is to move touched one or more pieces he must make his move by moving the piece first touched which can be moved or taken. The touching of a piece or pieces entails no obligation of a breach of this rule is not pointed out by the opponent before he touches a piece, or if none of the moves indicated above can be carried out in accordance with the rules.

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VALUE OF THE ROOK Wednesday, Nov 18 2009

Winning a Rook for a minor piece (a bishop or a knight) is called ‘winning the exchange’. The exchange is worth, on average, nearly two pawns. Two minor pieces equal a Rook and two pawns for most of the way, but (unless they are two bishops) only a Rook and one pawn if the other pieces have been exchanged make the comparative value of Rook increase tremendously. Rooks like the great spaces and are therefore strongest in the end game when the board is comparatively clear of the obstructions.

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PASSED PAWNS AND MINOR PIECES Wednesday, Nov 18 2009

When a pawn has no enemy pawn that could hinder it from Queening—that is, no enemy pawn in front of it on its own file either of the next door files, it is called a Passed pawn. A passed pawn in the end game is great asset, particularly if well advanced, as the enemy has to use pieces to stop it Queening, thus reducing their efficiency.

Since the knight can jump over the other pieces, it is good on a crowded board. A knight ‘fork’ (called Kainchi in north Indian Colloquial parlance when a knight gives simultaneous check to the king and threatens the Queen also) is a deadly coup. A well posited knight is as good as well posited Bishop, but it takes longer for a knight to get to a good position.

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VALUE OF THE PAWN Wednesday, Nov 18 2009

In the early stages of the game, the pawns have various functions. Those are in the centre, the most valuable, and used for guarding central squares. Pawns in front of a castled king are used as a shelter. To wreck the shelter, the enemy often advances Pawns upon yours, to force them to advance or exchange; this operation is called a Pawn storm. Pawns sometimes resemble neither tanks nor infantry; their lack of mobility makes them more like natural obstruction that interfere with the mobile warfare. When one of your own pawn becomes an obstruction to your attack; it often pays a sacrifice.

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‘’CHECK’’ Wednesday, Nov 18 2009

When the piece moves to a square from which it threatens the enemy king, that piece is said to give check, and the king is ‘’in check’’. You are not permitted to commit suicide in chess; the king Must get out of the check. It is customary in social chess foe the checking players to announce ‘’Check!’’. Even if he or she omits to do so, the check remains very much ‘on’ just the same, and the opponent must get out of it.

There are three possible ways of getting out of the check:

1)      capturing the checking piece;

2)      moving the king to a square where it is no longer in check;

3)      Interposing something between the king and the checking piece. This measure, however, is not effective when checking piece is the opponents Knight which has the power to jump over the intervening pieces.

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CASTLING* Wednesday, Nov 18 2009

The very purpose of castling is to bring the king away form the centre, where the game is usually opened up, and to bring the Rook to a position where it will not be shut out of the play by its own King. Castle always early and keep the king sheltered with Pawn. To be prevented from castling is usually a serious handicap because your king is likely to become exposed. But the handicap may be infinitesimal if the Queen has been exchanged off. It atleast one pair of Rooks and atleast two pairs of minor pieces (Bishop, Knight) have also been exchanged, having your king uncastled and therefore near the centre is usually an asset. So if prevented form castling, seek whole exchanges especially of the Queen.

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CASTLING Tuesday, Nov 17 2009

Once in a game you have the right to move two pieces is a single move—the King and the one Rook. This is called ‘castling’.when applying the move, The king moves two squares towards the Rook with which he is to castle and the Rook then jumps over the King on the square just beyond him. However, you cannot castle to get out of the check; while castling your king you must not, of course move into check; and the king must not even cross a square in a range of an enemy piece. But the Rook may cross such a square (this can happen in castling with the Queen’s Rook).

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THE MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES AND THEIR MANNER OF KILLING THE ENEMY PIECES ‘’THE KING’’ Tuesday, Nov 17 2009

The king moves in any direction like Queen, but any one square at a time. Thus the king can move in any direction along a rank, file or diagonal, forward or backward. Only in special circumstances it can move to more squares, the move is known as ‘Castling’. He can capture any piece within his range. But—and this is a big ‘hut’—he cannot move into the line of fire of any enemy piece. In the following diagram the king can move to any of the squares. If the enemy piece occupied one of those squares the King could capture it and take its place—provided the in doing so he did not move into the range of any enemy piece.

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PAWN PORMOTION Tuesday, Nov 17 2009

On reaching the eight row the pawn must take the rank of any piece except the King. Naturally a Queen is almost invariable choice. This promotion means a huge increase in force, and is much more important than ‘Crowning’ in draughts. You can make a Pawn a Queen even through your original Queen is on the board. This calls for a cotton reel or an inverted Rook. This promotion of the Pawn takes effect at once in the whole game, so don’t take Pawns so lightly, they are so powerful when they reach their full potential.

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THE MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES AND THEIR MANNER OF KILLING THE ENEMY PIECES ‘’ THE PAWN’’ Tuesday, Nov 17 2009

We have seen that pieces move in all directions. Pawns move only straight ahead, and one square at a time, except that on its first move each Pawn has the option of moving either one or two squares. Another difference is that the Pawn does not capture with its ordinary move. It captures with diagonally forward. Thus in a diagram the White Pawn cannot the capture the piece immediately in front of it—-the Black pawn in front of it. It can only capture the Black pawn which is in diagonal position.

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THE MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES AND THEIR MANNER OF KILLING THE ENEMY PIECES ‘’ THE KNIGHT’’ Tuesday, Nov 17 2009

The knight is known as the Springer, the jumper or vaulter, the king has the power to jump over his own or enemy pieces. He only captures the piece that occupied the square on which he lands. He is the great one for operating in the close quarters; he can literally leap into right out again. Thus the knight moves one square along a rank or file, then one square along the diagonal, this gives him eight ways to move; right up, right and down; left and down; left and up; up and right; up and left; down and right; and down and left.

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MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES AND THEIR MANNER OF KILLING THE ENEMY PIECES ‘’ THE QUEEN’’ Monday, Nov 16 2009

As already explained this is the most powerful piece on the board. What makes it strong? Look as the way she can move. She moves along the ranks and files as well as long the diagonals. That is, she has the combined power of the Rook and the Bishop. Thus she can command 27 squares from her centre position. And any enemy pieces that happen to stumble into her far sweeping line of fire can be captured. Queen is all pervasive power that no player would want to give up his Queen in return for a Bishop or a Rook. So, when the Queen is attacked by a lesser piece which is well protected you have no go but to make your Queen beat an ignoble retreat.

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MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES AND THEIR MANNER OF KILLING THE ENEMY PIECES ‘’ THE BISHOP’’ Monday, Nov 16 2009

Now place a white Bishop on a board bereft of all the other pieces in the game. The Bishop move the following ways:-

As you can see the Bishop moves along the diagonals and is confined to squares of one color. It can command as many as 13 squares, but few as 7 (try putting the Bishop where the lower left hand arrow in the diagram; you will see that the Bishop’s range has been cut down) like the Rook it can capture any enemy piece that stands in its line of fire. And, like the Rook, it cannot jump over any pieces.

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MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES AND THEIR MANNER OF KILLING THE ENEMY PIECES ‘’ THE ROOK’’ Monday, Nov 16 2009

Study the diagram. This is the position when you have cleared your board of all the pieces and placed White Rook in the position as shown. The Rook moves in straight lines, along the ranks and files, as indicated by the arrows in the diagram. As long as the Rook’s path is unobstructed there is nothing to stop him except the edge of the board. Any enemy piece within this range can be captured. The piece that is captured is removed from the board and the capturing piece takes its place.

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SETTING THE BOARD Monday, Nov 16 2009

The board Is placed always in such a way that each player has the last black square on the right hand corner and the white square on the left hand corner. The pieces in the board are put in the identical fashion. Let us begin with placing the white pieces. Put the white Rook on the lower right hand square and the other white Rook in the dark square at the lower left. Now, on the same rank (horizontal row) , place a knight next to Rook, then Bishop next to each Knight. Now only the centre square of the bottom rank should now be unoccupied. These are for the king and the Queen. The Queen always stands, at the start of the game, on a square of her own color. Thus the white Queen should be placed on the left hand centre. The king stands next to her.

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