Learn to play chess from scratch on your own

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:45

The question of how to learn to play chess is of interest to those people who like strategy games, but they do not know the rules of this entertainment. This article contains a guide for beginners with an explanation of the main aspects. This theoretical knowledge will be enough to start honing it in practice.

Board and moves

If a person wants to learn how to learn to play chess, then the first thing he should do is familiarize himself with the general rules. The board must be set up so that each player has a white square on the bottom right. In the bottom row, the figures are installed one identical on each side. First the rooks, then the knights, then the bishops, and the queen is placed on the cell of the remaining two, which corresponds to its color. The king gets the last position in the bottom row. The second rank is completely occupied by pawns. It should be remembered that it is forbidden to walk through your pieces, the exception is the knight. It is also impossible to put them in the places of other soldiers on the field. In chess, it is not necessary to beat the opponent's fighters, this is done at will.

General strategy and first pieces

When the question arises of how to learn to play chess, you should first remember the general tactics. It is not necessary to beat the pieces, but the player's goal is to create a threat to every opponent's warrior and at the same time save his fighter. Chess is often compared to a real battlefield where similar laws apply. That is why the pieces on the board can be considered units in the army or fighters. Any great commander of past eras could play this game perfectly.

The first and most important piece on the field is the king. He has to be defended with all his might and at the same time try to kill the enemy monarch. It can only move one square in any direction, including the diagonal. When a threat to the king is created, it is called "check". In this case, the user must remove the main figure or cover it with another fighter. If it is impossible to do this because of the blocked retreat routes, then the enemy checkmate and the game ends.

Queen and rook

To ensure that the question of how to learn to play chess never arises again, users should remember the moves of all the pieces very clearly. One of them is the queen - the strongest squad on the chess battlefield. They can move in all directions to any number of positions, including diagonal transitions. The queen cannot jump over own or enemy pieces. This fighter should act to the utmostcarefully, because his loss will greatly weaken the overall position. The rook is also a strong piece and can move horizontally and vertically to an unlimited number of positions. It differs from the queen only in that it cannot move diagonally. In practice, coordination of actions between the rooks is welcomed. If they cover each other, they create powerful pressure on the ranks of the enemy. This should be remembered and used in practice in different games.

Other shapes

In the manual on how to learn to play chess from scratch, it is necessary to mention the elephant figure. At its core, it is similar to a rook, but it can only move diagonally to an unlimited number of cells. Due to the set-up rules, each player's bishops only move diagonally and one color at a time throughout the game. This is done for tactical variety and to prevent pieces from colliding.

The knight is one of the most difficult pieces to implement because of its moves. It can only move in an "g" shape. This means that he steps three squares horizontally or vertically, then one at a ninety-degree angle. This is where he must stop to complete his turn.

A pawn is considered a simple piece only if there is not enough experience. On the first move, it can move two steps forward; on subsequent moves, it can only move one cell. A pawn can capture enemy pieces when they stand diagonally in front of it in adjacent positions. Other fighters can stand directly in front of her, and then the squad will have to stop. In this casethe pawn will not be able to move, and also remove the obstacle.

Exceptional pawn abilities

If you want to learn how to learn to play chess from scratch, the user should be introduced not only to the moves, but also to some special rules. Two of them touch pawns - the weakest pieces. The first is that upon reaching the enemy's extreme row, the pawn can turn into any other piece. Most often, players choose the queen, but there are no restrictions in this case. This feature is available only to pawns, because it is incredibly difficult for them to reach the last horizontal of the enemy. The second rule is called "en passable". You can use it if the opponent's pawn on the first move two cells forward slipped through the danger zone diagonally and stood side by side with your weakest piece. In this case, you can pick it up and stand on the diagonal position where the enemy fighter should have been if he went one, not two cells. In theory, these rules may seem complicated, especially for those who are trying to learn how to play chess on their own. In practice, their implementation is elementary and does not require many resources.

Castle

Another difficult rule for those who want to learn how to play chess from scratch on their own is mastering a feature called castling. This is a special move with the interaction of the king and rook. The main piece on the board moves twocells to the side, and the second fighter comes out from the extreme corner and stands on the other side of the monarch. This can be done only if a number of important conditions are met. First, both pieces must not make any moves before castling. Secondly, between them there should not be other pieces that occupy the necessary positions for the exchange. Thirdly, castling cannot be done if it exposes the king to the attack of an enemy fighter. This combination is actually very useful, because it helps to bring the rook into battle. At the same time, the king moves further away from the center, where he will become more vulnerable over time. In practice, castling is actively used in both directions, the main thing is compliance with the conditions.

Game start and victory conditions

The questions of how to learn to play chess are quite understandable for beginners, because the game takes time. It is impossible to sit down and immediately become a grandmaster, because it must take hundreds of hours of hard training. At the beginning of each game, you should know that the white side makes the first move. A coin is usually tossed between opponents for the right to choose this color. The second move of the black side, and then in turn. Checkmate, which was mentioned above, is a signal for the victory of one of the users, but victory does not always happen. There are several options that lead to a draw. This can happen by mutual agreement or as a result of not having enough pieces on the board to checkmate either side. A draw is also declared when the same arrangement of fighters is repeated three times on the field, even if this did not happen in a row. With a stalematesituations when a player on his move cannot move pieces, and the king is not threatened. The last variant of such a result could be fifty moves from each side, in which the pawns remained in place, and not a single piece was captured.

Tactical Tips

If you want to learn how to become a good chess player, these tips are a great start before practicing. Initially, the user should get used to the fact that the king is the main figure and you need to focus not only on the attack. You can be one move before checkmate, but if the main piece of the entire squad is taken right now, then it will not matter. Take care to fulfill the castling conditions in order to bring in the rook and create the best defense for the king. Any player should always remember the location of forces on the board. For this, a simple scoring system was specially created, where the pawn is taken as the base unit. The remaining pieces are worth more, and on this basis, conclusions can be drawn about which units can or cannot be given to the enemy. A bishop and a knight are worth three pawns, a rook is worth five, and a queen is worth nine. The main figure is not included in this list, because its loss means the end of the whole game. Such a system helps to make decisions in moves. For example, exchanging a rook for a bishop will be a losing option, but you should not refuse to get a queen at the expense of it.

Several other recommendations

If you want to know how to learn fastplay chess, then this material, along with practical battles, is perfect for beginners. Users should be aware that the parties here are not in vain compared to the battlefield. Another confirmation of this is the struggle for the center of the board. Seizing the advantage in these positions will greatly simplify the path to victory. Create pressure on these areas in order to prepare a springboard for the assault on the king. It is not worth sacrificing important figures, the goal can be achieved by the competent use of all resources. This is connected with the second simple advice - all available units should be brought into battle. As long as they stand below, they will not be able to do anything to attack or defend. Knights and bishops are the first to enter the battle, then the queen, and the rook is connected only after castling. This is the easiest way to include this fighter in the fight.

The invention of the game and the best moves

To learn how to learn to play chess, children or adults should not only read all the theoretical information, but also be patient for practical fights. This game is far from being one of the simplest, because then it would not have such popularity among people. It is believed that similar entertainment was invented two thousand years ago in India. The modern style of chess emerged sometime in the fifteenth century and has not waned in popularity ever since. One of the reasons for this is the variety of this game with hundreds of different strategies. There are no best moves in it, although experienced players have identified several successful positions for starting. For example, Bobby Fischer argued that it is best to start the game with a pawn over the king andmove it two positions forward. That is why many users continue to do this in battles. It is also popular to advance a pawn over a queen or knight. The rest of the moves at the start are considered not so promising.

Skill Improvement

Many players are wondering where to learn to play chess. The answer will be online battles, where thousands of other users are looking for an opponent. It is in the network that you can hone your skills and apply theoretical knowledge. For professionals, a personal competition with beautiful wooden figures and a board will be an aesthetic pleasure. For beginners, digital training is more suitable. Software algorithms will not allow you to make wrong moves, and in practice, the interactions between the pieces on the battlefield are better mastered. We should also not forget that chess is primarily designed to give aesthetic pleasure to users. It is enough for beginners to train, remember mistakes, and in the future they will definitely be able to reach new heights.