The term check refers to an immediate threat on the opponent’s king forcing him to move to a safer square or defend with one of his pieces. When we talk about checkmate however, this is when the king is under attack but has no legal moves to erase the threat. The game is over. With […]
Castling is a special move in chess that involves the king and the rook. It involves exchanging the places of the king and one of the rooks. Castling is only possible if neither the king nor the rook has previously moved. Castling is a great move as it allows for the protection and safeguard of […]
When you are starting out chess for the first time, it’s important to understand clearly how the pieces move over the board. The most significant piece in chess is by far the king since the loss of the king signifies the end of the game. However, the fact that the king is the most important […]
Most beginner players fear knights as they are known to be very tricky pieces. They can jump over other pieces like a real horse would and create deadly forks between two or more pieces. They can sometimes be referred to as the horse, squid, octopus, jumpers or neons. Whatever you may call them, knights are […]
Pawns are the least powerful piece on the board, they are only valued 1 point because of their restricted movement. The queen however is the most powerful piece and can control a total of 28 squares carrying it’s value to a whopping 9 points. Due to their contrasting differences, it makes us wonder can the […]
The other side of a chess board is often referred to as the back rank or 8th rank. In chess, a magical thing happens when a pawn manages to land on the other side of the board. It is promoted to a major or minor piece. Most chess players prefer to promote it into a […]
Pawns are deemed as the least important piece in chess because they are only worth 1 point. Their movement are restricted to only one square forward. On the other hand, the king is the most important piece on the board since the death of the king means the loss of the game. Due to this […]
Prior to the creation of the Staunton chess set, the king along with all the other chess pieces were often ornately carved in likenesses of human figures. After chess moved to Europe in the 15th century, revisions were made to the game including the appearance of the pieces. The new Staunton set was created and […]
The protection of our king during the early stages of the games is quite critical. If we are to become a better chess player, we must know how to protect our king and what pieces should be involved in safeguarding it from attacks and threats of the opposing side. At the beginning of the game, […]
The King is the ruler of the whole army and is the most important piece on the chess board. The loss of a king means the end of the game. In chess, the word power denotes the number of squares a piece can control. For example, a queen can control a total of 28 squares, […]