General notes for the less experienced player
Submitted by
PerfectGent on Fri, 08/22/2008 at 12:57am.
Please note that these are guidelines and not hard and fast rules. First learn them and then the trick is knowing when to disregard them.
1: piece values so that you can judge the price of an exchange
pawn = 1
N = B = 3
R = 5
Q = 10
2: opening moves develop in this order
centre pawns, knights, bishops then castle.
Try not to move pieces twice during the opening
Dont bring the Q out too early
The opening is usually deemed to be over when castling takes place.
3: use the analysis board on EVERY move and check for the following:-
each piece can it take or be taken.
is there a threat of a N fork (see notes on N practice below)
Make your move then check the above points again.
Only then play your chosen move on the real board.
4: use the notepad. No one but you can read it so it is safe.
Write down your reasons for your chosen move and what you expect in response from your opponent.
5: If you use an openings book/database dont follow it blindly, you will learn nothing from this.
The moves suggested should be seen as candidate moves. Ask at each move what is this doing for my game plan.
Buy a copy of the book by Ruben Fine - 'ideas behind the chess openings'
This way when your opponent plays a 'non-book' move you will not be lost.
Points 3 & 4 have the added effect in that they slow down your responses. A common cause of beginners losing games is playing too fast. Just because your opponent is online does not mean that you have to respond.
Some notes on N moves and forks.
It is best to use a real chess set? This will help you set up positions quickly.
Start with a white N in the middle of the board.
Now place a black pawn on each of the squares attacked by the N.
You should have the N surrounded by 8 pawns in an octagon shape.
Notice that all the black pawns are on the opposite colour square to the N.
This gives us some rules for N moves.
1: it can only attack the opposite colour from that on which it stands.
2: at each move it will change its colour square.
3: from the first 2 if the black K is on a white square attacked by a white N then if the K moves to another white square the N will need 2 moves to attack it again.
From the first setup you can see that the N can attack many pieces at once. This is called the fork.
Set up the black Q on d7 and the black K on e8 (a common setup during a lot of games)
Now place a white N on f6. The K must move as it is in check and so the Q will be taken next move.
next put a black R on h8 and the black Q on d8 with the white N on f7. again only one piece can move so the other is lost.
A little more obscure is black R on h8 black Q on e5 -
now which square(s) can the white N occupy for the fork.
A general look at N positions.
Repeat the first setup but with the white N on the edge of the board. Now your black pawns will only number 4.
Again put the white N in a corner and now it only attacks 2 black pawns.
From this we see that a N is better in the middle of the board and becomes less effective near the edge or corners.
Place a N and another piece at random on the board.
Work out the shortest path for the N to capture the other piece.
Finally when you are playing a real game make a habit of checking ALL the squares that each N (yours and opponents) can attack/defend.