Chess For Dummies. Eade James

problems with the material in this book. (And if you don’t know anyone who can, I provide plenty of websites and computer programs that can help you navigate the road through the world of chess.) After all, everyone has to start somewhere.

      Icons Used in This Book

      The icons used in this book point you to important topics and help you pick out what you want to know. Make a mental note of the following icons to guide you on your path to chess greatness.

       This icon wouldn’t be necessary if chess didn’t have so many good, general rules. Keep the rules of thumb in mind when you play. You’ll be surprised how many you can retain – and how helpful they can be.

       This icon points to helpful hints – anything from playing better chess to where you can find more chess stuff.

       This icon warns you of impending danger that you just may be able to avoid.

      Throughout this book, I also use sidebars (in shaded gray boxes) to introduce famous chess players or to add miscellaneous information you don’t really need to know to play chess. I’ve included this information to increase your sheer enjoyment of the game. If you’re crunched for time, feel free to skip the sidebars.

      Beyond the Book

      In addition to what you’re reading right now, this product also comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that summarizes some key info, such as setting up your board, naming ranks and files, knowing how each type of piece can move, and understanding check and the different types of mate – plus a few chess-related articles on topics that just wouldn’t quite fit here. To see this Cheat Sheet and articles, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Chess” in the Search box.

      Where to Go from Here

      If you have no knowledge of chess whatsoever, I highly suggest that you start right at the beginning with Chapter 1. Otherwise, just remember that it’s perfectly okay to skip around the book to locate the chapters and sections of most interest or use to you. Dig in!

      Part 1

      Laying the Groundwork for Champion Chess

IN THIS PART …

      Discover how to set up a chessboard and explore the chess pieces and the ways they move.

      Get familiar with the fundamental elements of chess: the concepts of material, development, space, pawn structure, and king safety.

      Glimpse the end of the game with definitions of check, stalemate, and checkmate and see what they look like in play.

      Check out a few special chess moves, such as castling, and decipher chess notation – a written record of the moves in a game.

Chapter 1

      Tackling Chess Basics

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      Discovering what chess is all about

      Familiarizing yourself with the chessboard

      Setting up your army

      If you’re interested in participating in an endlessly fascinating and stimulating mental activity – an activity that sports a rich history and may provide you with countless hours of amusement – you’re in luck. You can play chess.

      If you’re new to chess, don’t despair. No chess gene decides who can and can’t play; take my word for it. Everyone can learn to play a passable game of chess, and after you come on-board (no pun intended!), it’s just a matter of time until you find someone you can play well against.

      In this chapter, I define the game of chess, discuss the basics of how you play, and describe the materials you need.

      Chesstacular! Understanding the Basics of the Game

      Chess, simply stated, is a board game for two – one player uses white pieces, and the other uses black. Each player gets 16 pieces to maneuver (although, technically, pawns aren’t pieces, but I’ll get to that). Players take turns moving one piece at a time, with the ultimate objective of checkmating their opponent’s king.

      Because chess has so many great rules and because the pieces all exercise their individuality with different moves and abilities, the game has lots of interesting nuances that you’ll want to keep in mind as you play. I cover each aspect of the game in this book, so if you’re a novice, you’ll find sufficient information to get acquainted with chess; if you already know how to play but want to hone your prowess, you’ll find plenty of information to help you do just that. This section gives you the nutshell version of all this book has to offer.

       The underlying concepts

      Components of a chess game can be broken down into categories that are so fundamental that they’re referred to as elements. The element of time, known as development, is one example. The element of force, known as material, is another. If one player deploys more force more quickly than the other player, it may be impossible for the latter player to defend against a subsequent invasion. The first step in a player’s progress is learning how the pieces move, so I cover the bases in Chapter 2. Gaining an appreciation of the importance of the game’s elements is usually the next step, so I describe all the chess elements in Chapter 3.

      The elements are all a part of what drives a game to the desired end result: checkmate. If the king is attacked and can’t escape the attack, the aggressor has secured checkmate, and the game is over. However, checkmate doesn’t always come to fruition – sometimes a game ends in stalemate, which is one way to draw. You can also have a situation called check, which is an attack on the king. One thing to note, however, is that placing your opponent in check doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win – check can actually happen several times in a game, and if your opponent can effectively escape from check, you may just be wasting your time. I discuss all these events in Chapter 4.

       You also have some special moves at your disposal that your opponent (if a novice) may not know about – namely, en passant, promotion, and castling. To give you an edge (and a resource to help quell any arguments that may arise after you make one of these tricky moves!), I provide the inside scoop on these special moves in Chapter 5.

       To make it easier to talk about what’s happening on the board, someone, somewhere, at some point in time came up with a naming system for the exact pieces and squares, and I use those conventions throughout this book. In Chapter 6, I dive into the subject of notation, which expands on these naming conventions and shows you how to write the moves of a game. You really don’t need to know this stuff to enjoy playing chess, but it does help to have the basic terminology under your belt, and throughout this book, you can read the extra notation information I give to you as I explain moves.

       The finer points of the game

      Holding an advantage in one or more of the elements of chess doesn’t guarantee victory. It does, however, increase the likelihood of success. When the inevitable clash of opposing armies takes place, the resulting tactical possibilities generally favor the one with elemental advantages. These clashes usually feature common tactics and combinations such as the ones that I present in Chapter 7. Tactics decide the outcome of most of the games played at a fairly competitive level, so a good understanding of the basic tactics and combinations pays off extremely well.

      One of the ways