VChess - Learn all about Chess Game

Welcome to Part 2 of Chess Pieces: King, Queen, Rook, Knight, Bishop & Pawn. If you have not read Part 1, then refer to  this . Let us continue with the check, capture, and basic checkmate patterns of each piece. Check by each piece: We have already learnt about the piece movement in article Part 1. Let us now learn how each piece gives a check with a demonstration: We all know that the check is given only to the King. By King:  King doesn't have the ability to give checks to each other.  By Queen:  Just like how it moves, the Queen gives checks through files, ranks or diagonals.  Position:  W-Kb3,Qg5  B-Kg8 Example of a check by the White Queen to the Black King through the direction: Files (Vertical). By Rook:  Just like how it moves, the Rook gives checks through files or ranks. Position:  W-Kb3, Rb7  B-Kh7 Example of a check by the White Rook to the Black King through the direction: Rank (Horizontal). By Bishop:  Just l...

In Chess , each piece has a unique way of moving across the board, giving checks & capturing the opponent's pieces. Understanding these basic movements, techniques & their limitations is essential to master the game of chess. It is important to note that all pieces in the chessboard are very important even though they have their own restrictions. In different gameplays, different chess pieces will prove to be the key piece that will push us towards victory. Therefore, no piece is any less than the other. We will realise this when we encounter different positions where different pieces contribute in their own way and pave the path towards advantage. In this article, we will introduce the movements of all pieces, its capturing style, how it gives checks with examples along with basic checkmate pattern of each piece. We will also look into the value of each piece and the notation symbol used to represent these pieces. To start with, let us first know the total number of chess ...

Chess puzzles are a great way to improve our game & challenge our mind. Among them "One move mate" as the name goes, it is to checkmate the opponent in just one single move! You will be given a setup chess position & ask to find a best move that results in checkmate. It may seem easy, but not so much when you start solving. These puzzles can be tricky but the key is to practice more and more one move mate puzzles so that you will gain the understanding of solving a variety of them.  How do we solve them?  Let us consider this above position, its white to play and win in one move . In this chessboard, a position is setup. The goal here is to checkmate the black king, so our focus lies there. How can we search for a move that checkmates in one move?  1. Scan the board: Firstly it's important to know the piece placement in the board, this is not your game, so you are not familiar with where the pieces are placed, which pieces have support, which of them have potenti...

Stalemate is a unique concept in the game of chess that even an experienced player might go through if not careful. It occurs when a player is not in check but has no legal moves available to make either. We then considered the game a draw, which can be both a blessing and a curse depending on the player's perspective. Stalemate can happen in many scenarios. For example, while a player is trying to checkmate their opponent, the opponent may run out of moves to make or one may intentionally put their own king into stalemate while trying to defend against a check or an unfavourable situation. Regardless of how it happens, stalemate is always a possibility in every game of chess. Stalemate can be both frustrating and exciting for players. It can be frustrating when a player is trying to win a game, only to have it end in a draw due to the stalemate concept. On the other hand, it can be exciting when a player is losing and manages to turn the game around with a stalemate concept, salv...

This article talks about the crucial role of a Chess Arbiter . Have you ever wondered who is responsible for ensuring that chess games run smoothly and fairly? Who ensures that players adhere to the rules and regulations of the game? That's where the Chess Arbiter comes in. So let's see how they bring order to the chess battlefield. Imagine you go to a chess tournament. You arrive at the tournament venue, excited to see the matches being played. You notice an individual sitting at the tournament table, keeping a watchful eye on the games or some other individual patrolling the game area to ensure order is kept & the match is running smoothly. Those individuals are the Chess Arbiters .   Their role is to enforce the rules of the game and ensure that players adhere to them. Without them, chaos would reign on the chess battlefield. One tournament can have one or more chess arbiters or assistants. It depends on the scale of the tournament & participants. An arbiter's...

When you think of chess, you think of two players sitting at a table, deep in thought, moving pieces around a board and taking forever to make a move… wait. if they take forever then when will the game end? To solve this issue, there's another essential element to chess that many people don't know about: the Chess Clock . To ensure the game ends within stipulated time we use chess clock. In this article, we'll explore the significance of the chess clock in the game of chess. Digital Chess Clock A chess clock is a device with two clocks, each with a button . It's used to keep track of the time each player takes to make their moves throughout the game. The clocks are set to a particular time at the beginning of the game, this timing depends on if its Standard/Rapid/Blitz Play (refer 3 types of Time Control ), and each player gets a set amount of time to make all their moves. The clock timings are not changed unless an illegal move occurs & the other player requests...

One of the most significant and well-known aspects of competitive chess is the rating system used to measure a player's strength & ability. The ELO rating system , named after its creator, Arpad Elo , is the rating system used in chess. It is used by chess organizations & players to determine the skill level of other chess players and to determine eligibility for certain tournaments, such as national or international.  Hence, it is important to know about this ELO rating system. The ELO rating system assigns a numerical value to each player based on their results against other rated players, usually it starts from 1000 and can go upto 2882 hold by Magnus Carlsen (highest rating as of the article published date). Magnus Carlsen is the highest-rated player for classical and rapid time controls and third in blitz time control. To know more about time control, refer 3 Types of Time Control . This rating number is a reflection of a player's strength and is used to determ...

Comes once in a while concept, yet can't be easily overlooked. Let's try to understand Enpassant rule & how we can utilize it to our benefit.  Enpassant rule is not compulsory to opt. You can choose not to use this concept in case it brings misfortunes to your position. This can come as a hidden technique if in case your opponent is unaware of it. Enpassant rule is applied only to pawns and not always we can use this. Certain conditions must be met to use Enpassant rule by the pawn.  Let us see what Enpassant rule is with an example and what all are the conditions to be met to use this concept. "En passant" is a French word that means "in passing". This is exactly how the capturing works as well. Enpassant Definition:   En passant rule is a special type of rule in which a pawn is allowed to capture opponent's pawn on an adjacent squares under certain special circumstances.  Till now we have known pawn to capture on an immediate diagonal only, like s...