[thechat] email chess

[Morgan Kelsey]

madhu,

> Can someone teach me how to play good chess? :D
>

welp, there's no hard-fast anything, but after reading a bunch, and playing a
bunch, this is what works for me (uh, when i win anyway):

openings:
- stick to the regular stuff, don't try nothing fancy, try to gain control of
the center four squares of the board.
- try not to move a piece more than once in the opening (impossible in the ruy
lopez).
- develop knights before bishops.
- don't even think about attacking until you've developed at least both knights
and a bishop.
- castle early, unless the center is a locked-pawn formation. even then, be sure
to castle your king to safety. if the center is open, a blinking red light on
your head should go off that says CASTLE [blink] CASTLE [blink] CASTLE.
- if you castle queenside, make sure the rook pawn is covered! (see my game with
mr luther for the why).
- don't move pawns for no reason (this is the hardest to learn, and most
important)
- position aside, piece values are generally accepted to be:
pawns - 1pt
bishop or knight - 3pts
rook - 5pts
queen - 9pts
two bishops is generally preferable to two knights or a knight and a bishop (see
endgame, below)

middlegame:
- don't worry about the middlegame until you understand the endgame.
- a trade where you recapture with a pawn, and thus "double" your pawns (have
two on the same column) is no trade, you've just been screwed.
- sometimes people have trouble envisioning where a complicated trade will end.
try NOT to think : "i take with this, he takes with , i take with this, etc etc"
DO try to count how many forces you have aimed at the square, versus how many
your opponent does. keeping in mind the weight of the pieces, you can save
yourself alot of thinking time by thinking instead: "i win a pawn, bishop and
knight for a rook and 2 pawns".

endgame:
- learn how "opposition" works. kings cannot move next to each other (because
the other guy will kill ya). you can learn to use this to your advantage, and
limit the squares your enemy king has access to. learning to work this is the
key to winning king and pawn endgames.

- to force a checkmate on a lone enemy king, you need to have at least (from
easist to hardest):
  1. a queen or
  2. a rook or
  3. two bishops or
  4. a bishop and a knight or
  5. two pawns

one pawn can also win, but it depends on the setup. two knights can win, but the
other side has to blunder.

the best advice is to practice the mates above. setup a board with both kings,
and one queen, and learn the mechanics. bishop and knight is the most difficult.

- in more even endings, with many pawns per side and a few minor pieces, or
rooks vs rooks, try to mach your king toward the center of the board. don't do
it too early though!

then there's all kinds of stalemate stuff -- a king and bishop can stalemate a
king and rook for instance. the king has to make his way to a corner that is the
opposite color of his bishop. then, he can have the bishop right next to him to
block the checks from the rook, forcing a draw (when technically, the side with
the rook is superior, eh?)

middlegame:
everyone likes to win with a fancy mate before move 20, but in evenly matched
opponents it rarely happens. the purpose of the middlegame is to create a small
advantage for yourself going into the endgame. maybe you have an extra pawn, or
a better pawn structure. maybe you're up a whole piece, etc etc.

once you understand the endgame, you'll be able to drive the middlegame to an
endgame you can win. not very romantic or flashy, but its the method employed by
the grandmasters.

there's lots more stuff of course, and lots that pertains to each piece. one
worth mentioning is about bishops: you may have heard of a "bad bishop". if most
of your pawns are on white squares, your white-squared bishop is probably locked
down. this makes him a "bad" bishop. try to trade this bishop for one of your
opponents knghts, and you'll have a superior game. your dark-squared bishop will
zoom around the board poking his billyclub out from between the light-squared
pawns.

whew, my 2cents.


nagrom