Chess - Fortress Productions

Chess

Chess - argubly the most perplexing game in existance. Here you can learn how to play the game, and master it. Many powerful stadegies are discuessed below. If you wish to jump to other topics, use the quick-access links on the right.

Also sure to check out the chess downloads section to get free chess software for Windows PCs.

Traps to Avoid

Here are some examples of common traps you should come familiar with. You must learn to recognize these ahead of time, that way you will know how to avoid them.

1. f3? e5 2. g4?? Qh4++
This called fool's mate and it's the shortest checkmate possible in chess. White should never open by moving the f-pawn, unless he plans to follow the bird system with 1. f4.

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5 Bc5?? 4. Qxf7++
You may think this is an attractive attack, but Scholar’s mate is very bad because it brings out the queen too early with little benefit. It is playable, but do not play it until you firmly understand opening principles. After 2. Bc4, Black could play Nf6 and attack White’s center pawn and defend the square h5 instead.

1. e4 c5 2. f4 e5 3. fxe5? Qh4+
This completely destroys White’s position, as he has no choice but to play 4. g3 in which case black will play 4. ... Qxe4+ and then take the king rook. White should not take the pawn on the third move, but he should just play Nf3 and let Black take the pawn on f4. White has compensation for the pawn in the form of being ahead in development and also Black’s pawns on d7 and f4 are very weak.

1. e4 c5 2. Bb5?! a6 3. Ba4? c4
Black wins the bishop with a pawn. This is called the Noah’s Ark Trap. White’s second move also deserves some consideration because the bishop is not doing anything on b5. Usually this move is only played if there is a knight on c6. Moving the bishop is a bad move in this position, but if it must be moved, it should go to c4, a more useful position.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. h3 Nxe5 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bb2 Qe7 7. a3 Nd3++
This is a trick associated with the Benko Gambit. White played 4. h3 to attack black's knight, however, he should of played 4. Nf3 or 4. Bf4 and protected his pawn on e5 instead. But after making that mistake, white could have still prevented the trap by moving 5. Nd2 and then 6. e4.

Things to Avoid

Don’t develop your knights to the side. An old chess saying goes, "A knight on the rim is dim. It’s chances are slim."

Don’t go pawngrabbing when your pieces are undeveloped and your king is not in safety.

Generally, you shouldn't bring the queen out during the opening. When playing against weaker opponents, however, this rule may under the right circumstances be ignored. But in most situations, bringing the queen out too early has little benefit.

Don't develop your rooks in the opening. Begginers often think bringing the rook out will prove worthy, but it only delay's time and prevents the king from castling.

Forks

A fork is a very famous trick in chess. It involves attacking two pieces at the same time, thus the opponent is forced into forfitting one of the two pieces being attacked. Here are some common examples:

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Be7? 5. Nxf7
In this example, white has attacked both the queen and the king rook at the same time. Black is unable to take the knight on f7 because white's bishop is pretecting it. Black can prevent the fork by moving 3. ... Bb4. Should black finds himself unable to move his bishop, he should play 4. ... d5 and block white's bishop instead. In a similar problem, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Ng5 O-O!. A bishop and a knight are worth more than a rook and a pawn, so black should be quite happy with 6. Nxf7 Rxf7 7. Bxf7 Kxf7. White should avoid Ng5 because it loses time for him.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qa4+ Nc6 4. Qxc4 Qxd4 5. Qxd4 Nxd4 6. e3? Nc2+
After forking, black turns out a rook ahead of white. White should have prevented it by playing 6. Na3, which would have protected the c2 sqaure, however in situations such as this, Kd1 is often played.
1. Nc3 Nf6 2. e4 d6 3. Bc4 g6 4. Nge2? Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5
After white played 4. Nge2, black knew he could fork white with his pawn. Notice black only played this move because white did not protect the e4 sqaure, and that white did not have a piece attacking black's pawn on d5.

Gambits

A very common strategy used in chess is a gambit. A gambit is when you risk a piece, usually a pawn, in order to gain a better playing position.

Example #1

Black obviously is very close to trapping White's queen. Given that white will always make the best move possible, there is only one way for Black to successfully do this. Black should not play Rdg8, as White's queen would then take the pawn on f5 and escape capture. The same is true if Black were to play Rhg8 or Nge4. The best move for Black is Nh3+, as White would then be forced to play gxh3. With no piece inbetween White's queen and king, Black would play Rdg8 and trap the queen.

Example #2

It may seem obvious to most players that White should move the bishop to evade capture. But there is a far better move. Notice that Black's king can only move along the yellow diagonal from f7 to h5. Furthermore, this diagonal is unprotected, with exception of the pawn on h7. So what White is trying to do is find a way to get rid of the pawn on h7 so that he can move his queen to h5 and win. This is accomplished by playing Bd3. If Black takes the bishop with his pawn, he will loose the game in only three moves, as White would then play Qh5+, in which case Black is forced to play g5, and then White would sacrifice his queen with Qxg6. After Black plays hxg6, White would play Bxg6# and win.