How do I win?
Submitted by
Chessroshi on Sat, 11/24/2007 at 1:27am.
This is the first, and most important question to address when beginning to play chess. The answer to this question will provide answers for many other areas of the game of chess. A game of chess is won when one player attacks the opposing king, and he is not able to remove himself from check during his turn. Important to note is that for this situation to occur, the checkmated king must be attacked with more force than he is defended with, else the winning check will not make it through. Whenever a king is check, there are three ways to resolve his dilemma. If none of these solutions is available, then the king will be subject to capture at the end of his move, and the game is over, he is checkmated.
3 questions to test for checkmate:
1. Can the king flee to a square that is not controlled by an opposing piece?
2. Can the attacking piece be captured by a piece or the king?
3. Can the line of attack be blocked a piece?
The whole chess game is composed of multiple mini-battles to obtain the superiority in force necessary to attack the king with an unstoppable attack. An attack that is met with equal force cannot win, so each move we make in a chess game must be made with this end in mind, to swing the balance toward favorable conditions for ourselves.