You Who were the first people to play chess Archaeologists have evidence that the great Egyptian civilization developed a board game nearly 5 ,000 years ago The Hindus created a war game played by four players nearly 5 ,000 years ago Unfortunately the exact origins of the game of chess will remain a mystery An Ancient oriental poem written nearly 1 ,500 years ago describes a game more like the game of chess we play today Which was played in the royal courts of India during the fifth century Two players each commanded a miniature army of foot soldiers chariots horses elephants and military advisors all led by a king Soon ambassadors from India introduced the game to their neighbors the Persians Civilization intrigued by the mysteries of astronomy and mathematics the Persians quickly adapted their own version of this fascinating game When Arabian armies conquered the Persian Empire in the seventh century the game of chess began its long journey west the Arabian conquerors crossed northern Africa Traveling westward until they invaded the shores of Spain in the eighth century In time the Arabs built palaces schools and libraries in Spain they introduced a new system of numbers and mathematics and a new pastime chess during the Middle Ages Chess became a favorite among royalty throughout Europe The shapes of the pieces were changed and some of the rules of the game were altered Until the modern chess game was standardized in the 16th century Feudalism was a social system developed during the Middle Ages to provide protection for the people during an era of wars and strife Serfs were farmers and laborers in the servitude of powerful noblemen Who were the wealthy landowners? During time of war the Lords would provide protection for their serfs in great stone castles The church had great influence and power during the medieval times Bishops were men of wisdom and the churches were centers of knowledge The king and his queen were the absolute rulers of their land loyal knights and envoys enforced the royal laws The familiar Staunton chess pieces used in the game of chess today Symbolize people of the Middle Ages The object of the game is to capture the enemy's king The white army and the dark army are placed on an imaginary battlefield called the chessboard The board is placed between two players so that the right -hand corner square nearest each player is a white square There are six different chess pieces pawn rook knight bishop queen and king Chess pieces move on the board in three distinct paths If a piece moves from one side to another the path that travels is called a rank If a chess piece moves forward or backward up and down the board the path that travels is called a file Rank and file are old military terms used to describe soldiers lining up for battle The third way some chess pieces move is forward or backward diagonally With the board placed properly the white square to the right of each player Let us see how the chessmen prepare for battle Eight pawns are lined up on the second ranks The pawns protect the more powerful pieces Two rooks are placed on each corner behind their pawns Two knights are placed next to the rooks The two bishops are placed next the expression Queen on her own color means If you are playing the white pieces the queen is placed on the white square and the king takes the remaining black square If you're playing the black pieces the queen is placed on the black square and the king is placed on the remaining white square Now that the two armies are ready for battle let us see how each piece moves or captures the enemy On its first move Each pawn has the option to move forward in its file one or two squares After the first move each pawn can move forward only one square at a time A pawn cannot move backwards and cannot move forward if blocked by a piece occupying the square in front of it The serfs were foot soldiers called pikemen and like the pawns were the first to charge in battle They carried their heavy shields directly in front of them and held their pikes to either side when attacking The pawn attacks diagonally in the same manner After the pawn has captured his enemy square.
He can continue to move up the new file one square at a time If the pawn is able to reach the opposite end of the board during the game, he may be replaced with any piece except the king Usually the queen is chosen because of her great power in the game The castle -shaped pieces are called rooks The rooks were the special envoys of the king covering the far boundaries of the king's land carrying out his orders The rook travels on the rank and file paths throughout the game The rook moves forward and backward on any open rank or file providing there's no other piece in his way If you are white, how would you move your rook? Your rook can safely capture either pawn numbered one Or pawn numbered two If your rook were to capture pawn numbered three He would expose himself to capture by pawn numbered four The knight was a member of nobility in the king's court.
He was a trained warrior from early boyhood The knight fought swiftly his moves in battle were unpredictable The knight in the chess game also has a very special move The knight moves two squares forward Or backward on any rank or file And then one square to either side The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces both his own or the enemy If you are white, how would you move your knight? Your knight can safely capture either pawn numbered one Or rook numbered two But if your knight were to capture pawn numbered three He could then be captured by rook numbered four The bishops were the judges of good and evil during the middle ages their knowledge aided the king in his decisions There are two bishops one travels diagonally only on the light squares And the other travels diagonally only on the dark squares throughout the game The bishop moves forward or backward on the diagonal as many squares as he wants providing there's no other piece in his way If you are white, how would you move your bishop? Your bishop can safely capture either pawn numbered one Or rook numbered two Two But if your bishop were to capture pawn numbered three He exposes himself to possible capture by knight numbered four Early in the history of the game of chess the space now occupied by the queen Was occupied by a piece called the counselor who had very limited power During the 15th century powerful european queens introduced the queen with all her power to the game of chess The queen is the last protector of the king her power combines all the moves of the rook and the bishop The queen may move forward or backward on any open rank Or five And also move on a diagonal in any direction If you were white, how would you move your queen? Your queen can safely capture either pawn numbered one Or knight numbered two But if your queen were to capture bishop numbered three She exposes herself to possible capture by rook numbered four And your queen can safely capture either knight numbered five Or rook numbered six But if she captures pawn numbered seven She would be captured by bishop numbered eight The king was the most important figure in medieval times During a war the king was well protected from capture by his subjects The chess king moves and captures just like the queen except he can move only one square at a time Remember the object of the game is to capture the enemy's king When a king is threatened to be captured we say the king is in check The king must move out of the square.
He is occupying to the safety of another Check again When the king is trapped it is called checkmate The king is placed down on the board and the game is over A stalemate occurs When a player's king is not in check and his only move on the board puts his king into check A stalemate is a tie game There is a special move in chess called castling In castling the king and the rook are moved on the same play In order to castle the king and the rook must remain on their original squares from the start of the game Also, there can be no other pieces yours or your opponents between the king and the rook Castling can be done on both the king side and the queen side of the chessboard For castling king side The king moves two squares on its side of the board And the kingside rook moves two squares around the king For castling queen side The king moves two squares to the queen side of the board And the queenside rook moves three squares around the king Castling king side Castling queenside.
If the king is in check, he cannot be rescued by castling.
One other special move in chess is called en passant, which means in passing.
This occurs on the first move of a pawn when it is faced by an enemy pawn, two ranks up, and one file to the side.
If the white pawn moves forward two squares, the dark pawn may capture it as though it had moved only one square.
This is known as capturing en passant.
Let us play a game of chess.
We are white.
The white side always moves first.
A strong opening move would be to move our king pawn forward two squares.
This move opens up possible diagonal moves for both our queens.
And bishop.
Our opponent also opens in the same manner by moving his king pawn forward two squares.
This move blocks forward movement of our pawn, and opens up his queen and bishop diagonals.
We now advance our king bishop.
This enables us to control two of the open squares in front of our opponent's queen and king.
Dark moves his king bishop in the same manner.
We move the queen knight to protect our pawn.
The enemy moves his queen forward.
We must remember to study our opponent's moves at all times.
Since the queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and dark has moved his queen so early in the game, we must be alert to a possible attack.
We move our knight to threaten the opponent's queen, forcing him to move the queen or risk capture.
If the queen is moved, our knight could capture the queen bishop pawn on its next move, putting the dark king in check, and be in a position to capture the queen rook.
Our opponent's attack is cleverly developed.
The dark queen captures our pawn and puts our king in check.
Since the queen is protected by the dark bishop, we cannot capture it with our king.
Checkmate.
We lose the game.
Let's play the game again.
Sometimes chess games take 40 or 50 moves.
We'll start the game at the third move.
This time, we move our king knight instead of the queen knight to threaten dark's pawn and launch an attack.
Our opponent moves his queen forward again to protect his pawn and hopes that we will move our knight so that his queen can capture our pawn and check our king, like in the first game.
We now move the queen bishop pawn forward one square.
Dark moves the queen pawn forward one square to protect his bishop and pawn.
We continue the attack by moving our queen pawn forward two squares, threatening the enemy's bishop and pawn.
Our opponent's bishop must either retreat, which is a wasted move, or capture the pawn, which is a bad move because we would capture the dark bishop with our backing pawn.
It is unwise to capture a weak piece and lose a stronger piece.
Therefore, dark uses his pawn to capture our pawn.
We expand the attack by moving our queen bishop forward to threaten the enemy's queen.
Our bishop is protected by the knight.
Dark's queen cannot retreat because our bishop would capture her.
She cannot move forward because of our pawn.
She cannot move diagonally forward because of our knight.
She cannot move to the square on her right because of our other bishop.
Her only safe move is one square to her left.
We decide to castle on the king's side to assure the safety of the king and at the same time free our powerful rook to continue the attack.
Our opponent is worried about all our pieces controlling the center of the board, so he captures an undefended pawn.
We move our rook to trap Dark's queen.
She cannot move out of the file without exposing her king to check.
The dark queen must capture our rook to protect herself.
She checks our king.
Check.
Our queen captures the enemy's queen and checks the dark king.
We call check.
Dark blocks the check by moving the king knight.
Our queen captures the enemy's knight.
We call check.
Our queen is protected by the bishop.
Our opponent's king is unable to move out of check.
Checkmate.
We win.
© BF -WATCH TV 2021
