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ARTICLES & REFERENCE
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St. Louise Chess Club Handbook
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St. Louise Chess Club Handbook
To download a PDF copy of the St. Louise Chess Club Handbook, click here. (File is about 500K and will take about 30 seconds to download on broadband/DSL, and will take significantly longer on dial-up.)
(updated Sept 2004)
Introduction
Welcome to the St. Louise School Chess Club!
Chess is a game that can take a few hours to learn and a lifetime to master. So, please be patient with yourself and the students around you as we learn together.
Our goals for each member of the chess club are;
Sportsmanship
How you handle yourself during a game and with your teammates and opponents in general might be the most important part of your chess club experience.
It is important to remember that we all have different skills and gifts and we are all learning together. Being courteous, considerate and honorable are the most important skills to master in chess as well as in your daily life.
While we are sure most of you don't need these reminders, just to make sure everyone knows what to expect ... here are a few thoughts;
The Game
The Pieces
At the beginning of the game, each player has 16 chessmen.
Each piece has;
Here is a chart that will be very important for you to learn by heart;
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Knowing this information is very important to your use of printed materials for learning the basics as well as advanced strategy.
Page 3
Knowing the value of the pieces is also a very important part of the game of chess.
The Chessboard
Page 4
Board Set-up
Game Play
Each player is a general commanding an army on a battlefield!
The goal of the battle is to capture the opponent's king. The king is never actually captured. He is trapped on a square from which he cannot escape attack. This is called CHECKMATE. We will learn more about this later but you must remember this always;
CHECKMATE
(trapping the opponent's king on a square so that he cannot escape)
IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THE GAME OF CHESS!
To begin a game, each player, starting with White, takes turns moving.
A move is when you take one of your pieces from one square on the board and place it on a different square on the board. The goal for moving your pieces is to attempt to position them for controlling squares on the chessboard and to attack and capture your opponent's pieces (removing them from the board). Ultimately, trapping your opponent's king in checkmate and winning the game!
Each piece on the chessboard moves in a different manner and learning these moves is the first step toward being able to play your first game.
Page 5Moving The Pieces
The King
The King moves one square in any direction.
It cannot leap over any other piece.
The King captures the same way it moves.
When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square.
In this example Black's King has 8 possible moves, indicated by dots.
Page 6
The Queen
The Queen is the most powerful piece of all the chessmen.
It can move in any direction any amount of squares as long as no other piece blocks its path (the Queen cannot leap over any pieces).
The Queen captures the same way it moves.
When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square.
In this example Black's Queen has 25 possible moves, indicated by dots.
Page 7
The Bishop
The Bishop moves in one direction at a time.
It moves and captures diagonally any amount of squares as long as no other piece blocks its path (the Bishop cannot leap over any pieces).
The Bishop captures the same way it moves.
When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square.
Black's Bishop has 13 possible moves, indicated by dots.
The Knight
The Knight is the only piece that can leap over other chessmen (either his own or the opponent's).
The Knight is also the only piece that has a move of fixed length. It moves a total of three squares - in either of two ways:
1) One square forward or backwards and then two squares right or left
2) Once square right or left and then two squares forward or backward
The Knight captures only on the last square of its move.
When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square.
Black's Knight has 8 possible moves, indicated by dots.
Page 9
The Rook
The Rook is the second most powerful piece of all the chessmen after the Queen.
It can move horizontally or vertically - one direction at a time - any amount of squares as long as no other piece blocks its path (the Rook cannot leap over any pieces).
The Rook captures the same way it moves.
When it captures an enemy piece it replaces that piece on the square.
White's Rook has 14 possible moves, indicated by dots.
Page 10
The Pawn
The Pawn is the only piece that is limited to moving in only one direction: straight ahead.
Here is how the Pawn moves on his FIRST MOVE ONLY ... you have a choice of two squares
At any other time in the game ONCE THE PAWN HAS ALREADY MOVED, here is how it moves ... one square at a time.
Page 11
Pawn Capture
In capturing, however, the Pawn can take an enemy piece only if that piece is located on either of the diagonally-forward adjoining squares - that is, one square forward to the right or left as indicated on the diagram (the black Pawn).
Page 12
Checkmate
The King is the most important piece in chess.
The object of chess is to attack the opponent's King in such a way that it cannot escape. This is called "checkmate".
The King is never actually captured; the inability to escape from attack is what constitutes checkmate.
Any attack by a piece directly on a King is called "check". When a King is checked it must immediately get out of check.
The King cannot be allowed to remain in check.
If it is a player's turn to move and his King is not in check, he cannot make any move that exposes his King to check.
The King must never come within the capturing range of enemy pieces.
There are three ways to get out of check:
1. Capture the piece that is giving check;
2. Interpose one of your own pieces between the King and the piece that is giving check.
3. Flee – moving the King away from the attack, but not into the line of attack of some other enemy piece;
If none of these three methods can be applied (as in the diagram below) , then the King is checkmated and the game is over.
Review Quiz Number One
Look at the picture above and answer these questions;
What kind of chessman is on f4? ______________
What color is it? ______________
What square is the black Bishop on? ______________
What squares are the two rooks on? ______________
What square is the white queen on? ______________
What squares are the two black Pawns on? ______________
What is the only man on file c? ______________
What kinds of chessmen are on rank 2? ______________
What squares are the two f Pawns on? ______________
Special Moves ... Castling, En Passant Capture and Pawn Promotion
Page 14
Now that you have learned the basic moves ... it's time to learn three special moves. One for the King and his Rooks and two for the lowly Pawn!
Castling
Since the King is our most important piece, he needs extra protection. The King and his Rooks have a special move they can do to help better protect him during your battles! It is called castling.
In castling you actually move TWO PIECES on the board in one turn! The purpose of castling is to safely nest the King on the other side of one of his two Rooks. If you castle with the Rook closest to the King ... you are castling Kingside. If you castle with the Rook closest to the Queen ... you are castling Queenside.
Castling is easy but there are some rules;
1) You may not castle if you have already moved your King or castling Rook.
2) You must have cleared the way by moving the Knight, Bishop (and Queen if castling Queen-side) between the King and the Rook with whom he will castle.
3) You may not castle with a King who is in check.
4) You may not castle the King through check (through a square being attacked).
5) You may not castle the King into check (onto a square being attacked).
To castle, you simply move the King two-squares toward the Rook and then you move the Rook to the square on the other side of the King, right next to him. See the diagrams below which show both the before and after positions for the castled Kings and Rooks.
Positions before Castling Castling King-side Castling Queen-side
In general you want to castle early in the game, to move your King away from his center-of-the-board starting position. You want to use the edge of the board as protection early in the game and reduce the number of angles of attack on your King. We will learn later when the King should be moved from this "haven" and when he should go on the attack himself!
Special Moves: continued
En Passant Capture
The pawn has a very special move that he may perform only during a special circumstance on the board.
When you have advanced a Pawn 3 ranks to it's 5th rank from starting position ... and your opponent makes a two-square, first-move with one of his Pawns ... and that pawn lands on a square right next to one of your own advanced Pawns ... you may capture that Pawn "en passant" ... that's French for "in passing!"
Your Pawn simply passes behind your opponent's Pawn as though it captured on a one square first move.
Capturing en passant is easy but there are some rules to remember;
1) Your capturing Pawn must be 3 ranks from starting position (5th rank for White, 4th rank for Black).
2) The Pawn to be captured must begin on its starting position.
3) The Pawn to be captured advances two squares (its first move).
4) If you wish to capture en passant, you must do so right after your opponent has moved his Pawn ... otherwise you lose the right to capture en passant
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White has advanced a Pawn 3 ranks to the 5th rank. |
Black uses his Pawn's first move privilege of moving two-squares. |
White captures en passant by crossing over one file and placing his pawn behind the captured Pawn's square |
You are not required to capture en passant and it may not always be the best choice for your move.
Special Moves: continued
Pawn Promotion
If a pawn is advanced all the way across the board to the last square in a file, it is promoted to any other piece except a Pawn (obviously, it already is one!) and the King (there can be only one King per-side!).
You may choose to make it a Queen (most common) or a Rook, Bishop or Knight and you may have as many of those pieces as you have pawns you can promote. So it is possible to have three or four queens toward the end of a well-played game!
Promotion must happen; you cannot choose NOT to promote a Pawn.
Most Chess sets do NOT have extra pieces, so If a captured piece of the appropriate type is unavailable a Rook turned on its head (inverted) is usually used to represent it.
If there are no obvious pieces available, a Pawn with a bit of string or rubber band tied around it can be used. Sometimes it is good to have a few spare pieces from another chess set available to use in this fashion.
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It is his turn and he will now move onto the back rank. |
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White replaces the Pawn with an upside-down Rook (represented by the Queen symbol here).
Now he has two queens!
He also has checkmated his opponent who had no escape from the now checking Queen that was once a lowly Pawn! |
Page 17
The Importance of Notation ... Learning the SECRET CHESS CODE
OK ... so you know the pieces ... you know their moves ... you know how to identify the squares on the chess board by file letter and rank number and you JUST WANT TO PLAY!!!!
However, the goal of our club is to prepare you for being the best player you can be, which may at some point involve tournament play.
So, let's think about a few questions. How will you learn how and why you lose or win games? How will you keep track of a game after it is over, so that you can go over your moves and see where you made great moves that led to a win ... or mistakes that caused you to lose?
There is only ONE WAY for players to learn from their games and improve ... that is by writing down their games in a special code ... called Chess Notation! There are several methods of notation but for now, we will use long-form Algebraic Notation, meaning we will mark the symbols for the pieces as well as the start and finish squares of their moves.
The reason we teach you the identification of the squares (file letters and rank numbers) is so that you can learn to; record all the moves in your games, reproduce your games for enjoyment later (kind of like taping a favorite movie!) and so that your coaches can better advise you on your positions and help you learn from your mistakes.
Here is a table of symbols used in Chess notation. There are symbols that represent pieces and there are symbols that represent the moves and actions those pieces can take in a game.
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Symbol |
What It Represents |
Symbol |
What It Represents |
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Q |
Queen |
e.p. |
en passant (in passing) |
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R |
Rook |
! |
a good move |
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B |
Bishop |
!! |
a very good move |
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N (or Kt) |
Knight |
? |
a bad move |
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P |
Pawn |
?? |
a very bad move |
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x |
captures |
!? |
not sure, but looks good |
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- |
moves to |
?! |
not sure, but looks bad |
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+ (or ch) |
check |
# (or X) |
checkmate |
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dis ch |
discovered check |
o-o |
castles kingside |
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++ or (dbl ch) |
double check |
o-o-o |
castles queenside |
Here is an example of the first few moves in a game of Chess;
1. Pe2-e4 Pe7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Pd7-d6
This notation tells us that the first move was White Pawn on square e2 moves to square e4 ... then Black moves the Pawn on square e7 to the square e5 ... then White's second move was the Knight on square g1 moving to square f3 ... then Black's second move was the Pawn on square d7 moving to square d6. Get it? It's easy!
Page 18
Examples of Moves and Accompanying Notation
White 1. Pe2-e4 or e2-e4 Black 1. Pe7-e5 or e7-e5 White 2. Ng1-f3 or g1-f3
Black 2. Pd7-d6 or d7-d6 White 3. Pd2-d4 or d2-d4 Black 3. Bc8-g4 or g8-g4
White 4. Pd4xe6 or e4xe6 Black 4. Bg4xf3 or g4xf3 White 5. Qd1xf3 or d1xf3
Page 19
Black 5. Pd6xe5 or d6xe5 White 6. Bf1-c4 or f1-c4 Black 6. Nb8-c6 or b8-c6
White 7. Qf3-h5 or f3-h5 Black 7. Nc6-a5 or c6-a5 White 8. Qh5-f7# or h5-f7# (checkmate!)
Notation is taken on a pad that may look something like this:
Event name: ______________________ Date: ___________ Location: ___________________
Round: _______ Board: ________ Section: _____________ Opening: ___________________
White: _____________________ Rating: ______ Black: ___________________ Rating: ______
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# |
White |
Time |
Black |
Time |
# |
White |
Time |
Black |
Time |
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1 |
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8 |
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