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David Lynk - Filip Comley
tacticsOnce the basic rules have been learned, it helps to know how to put it together. It is commonly said that no move should be made without a plan, but where do the plans come from? Firstly, an understanding of some of the terminology, the value of the pieces and the three parts of the chess game is required. Remember that the rules that are talked about here are general guidelines, they do not always get followed, but they are useful and following them will improve your game of chess.
The Opening is obviously the start of the game, and is where all the pieces are moved into attacking or defending positions. This is known as development.
The Endgame is where most of the pieces have been taken off the board and the most important feature is the pawns that are left and trying to get them promoted.
The Middlegame is the part between the two, this is the main part of the battle, when the two sides are in full contact and before there have been too many pieces removed.
The Value of the Chess pieces.
These are arbitary values, and can be used as a rough guide. In some circumstances, different pieces are more useful. For example in the Endgame, as a general rule, Bishops are more powerful than Knights, even though on this scale they have the same value. It is useful, when starting, to think of these values as a guide to exchanges.
A Pawn can be considered to have a value of 1. This means that all the other values can be seen as being worth so many Pawns
The Knights and Bishops have a value of 3. In reality, Bishops are probably worth slightly more than Knights, but there are circumstances when a Knight is the better piece to have.
Rooks are worth 5 points or Pawns.
Queens are worth 9 points, illustrating their power.
Kings can be considered to have an astronomical points value, as the loss of the King is the loss of the game.
An Exchange is where pieces are swapped off with ones opponent. A Knight exchange is where both sides lose a Knight each. If a Knight is exchanged for a Rook, then the owner of the Rook has lost in the exchange, according to the points system above.
A Combination is a series of moves planned to achieve an objective. One example would be a series of exchanges to remove the defence on a piece that is causing trouble.
There is a lot of theory and many books been written about the openings, but when first starting out this is a lot to take in. All the openings are based on a few rules. Learn these and you will be able to make progress in this crucial part of the game.
The most important consideration in the opening is to get your pieces out quickly. This is known as development. The other rules are just methods to achieve this. Not all pieces should be developed straight away. The first to be developed should be Knights and Bishops. Of course, pawns will need to be moved before the Bishops can get out, so generally a pawn is moved first, then the pieces are developed.
One rule about development is to castle early. This moves the King to safety, but it also (and for development this is important), gets the Rook into a position where it can support the other one when all the other pieces are off the back rank.
The Queen should be developed carefully. If the Queen is moved too early, then she will become the object of attack, and that will mean the Queen will need to move around the board, wasting time.
In the opening, development is paramount, and to develop all pieces quickly it is advisable to move each piece once and only once. If one player moves a Knight twice, that gives the other player time to move a Knight and one other piece. That means the second player is ahead in development. This concept of time is important. Each move that does not go towards development gives more time for the other player to develop.
White always has a one move advantage because white goes first. It is important that white tries to keep this advantage. Black cannot afford to give away any more time in the opening, so must be very aware of this concept.
This is a general rule, and one that is often broken in openings to gain other forms of advantage. Even so, it is something that must be taken into account, especially in the first few moves.
It is for this reason that the Queen should not come out too early. If the Queen is developed early, then the other side can develop pieces and attack the Queen at the same time. This forces the Queen to move and then it can come under attack from other pieces. This will lead to one side making a large advantage in development.
It is important to gain control of the central four squares. If one side gains control and the other side loses it, then the side with the control has a pathway from one side of the board to the other, which is very useful in preparing an attack or pulling back to defend against one. It can be controlled directly by moving pieces or pawns onto them or indirectly by moving pieces or pawns onto squares attacking them.
Moving pieces to the outside of the board or moving the outside pawns early in the game is considered to be giving time to one's opponent.
It is for this reason that the pawn in front of the King or Queen its two space first move is used as a starting move so often. Moving one of these pawns takes control of the centre by occupation and opens up a route for a Bishop to get out.
Basic Tactics of the Middle Game
These tactics are not just for the middle game, but they are often employed then. When playing Chess, keep a look out for these. Watch for when you can use them and watch for when your opponent can too!
To fork pieces, means to attack them both at the same. The Knight is often used to fork two pieces, but other pieces can too. In the opening, pawns are often used to fork other pieces. Here in a game I played as black, my opponent forks my Queen and Knight after I move my queen to a bad square. I cannot take the pawn with my Queen because it is protected by the Rook, so I lose my Knight
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David Lynk - Filip Comley
A piece is pinned when it is between an attacking piece and a more powerful piece is behind it. This stops the pinned piece from moving, because if it moves then the other piece will be taken. If a piece is pinned against the King, then it cannot move at all, because if it moves then the King would be in check. Here is an example from a bit later in the game above, where I, used my Rook to pin the pawn in front of my opponents King, which could not defend the f3 square. I was then able to attack that square with my pieces. Firstly he puts a Pawn on the square, and then his Rook.
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White - Black
A skewer is similar to a pin, but the more powerful piece is in front of the weaker piece, which means the stronger piece must move, leaving the other piece vulnerable to attack. It is often seen where the King is skewered, and after moving leaves an attack on a powerful piece such as a Rook or Queen. In the following example, white moves the black KIng by using the Rook to put him in check, and then skewers the King, allowing an attack on the Queen.
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White - Black
Another form of pin, which can be deadly when used against the opponents King, where it is known as discovered check. Instead of the opposing sides piece, it is a friendly piece that is between attacker and attacked piece. In the following example, white can safely put his Bishop where it is en prise (or attacked) by the Queen and pawn. The King must move to get out of check and the Queen can be taken.
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White - Black
I have produced a couple of games which should illustrate some of the ideas talked about here.
