Chess Secrets

There are many things about chess that I will call " chess secrets ", that are never explained in chess books and can't be explained as they occur on a subconscious level. Most chess books are written by chess grandmasters and for them to see plans and concepts comes natural and they often assume that the reader sees what they see. They read a position like a newspaper, and I mean, that they read it fast.

They feel and see the right concept in a given position immediately and start calculating, whereas normal players -non-grandmasters- as we are, have to virtually force themselves mentally to illuminate themselves by going through all this step by step, hammering each concept into our minds to grasp and never forget these ideas.

Chess is not only about memorizing hundreds of opening lines. There is something below the surface that is hard to grasp. Just try to understand the following game. Fritz Chess Program versus No Name. Try to understand why Black has drifted into a lost position. Black has played well, you think....yeah, that's what YOU think.

Both players have developed their pieces. So far so good. BUT what is disturbing in my mind is that Black has not castled but played b6 very early. Well this might mean nothing yet but it POPS UP in the mind of a fine-tuned player. You just notice it. Then you feel the urge to use this to your advantage and try to seize the initiative in the center, where else, playing e4.

Hey! Don't make a silly waste-of-time-move now like a3 or h3 or Bd2! or some other stupid thing. I must formulate a principle to grasp for you or we will get nowhere!

So, here it is!
This move puts pressure on the center and the pawn threatens to go ahead to attack the f6-knight. So what? If this happens the black knight must retreat and this will weaken the kingside.I formulate a new principle now! Memorize it!
This will liberate your sleeping c1-bishop in the long run because it MIGHT come out along the c1-h6 diagonal, but this is just a positive side effect. You have to think about the future, my friend, and increase your possibilities and your development potential. Add up potential in chess.
1.e4 dxe 2.Nxe 0-0
leads us to the following position. Play the last moves up till here in your mind. In a real game you must do this too before you execute your moves.

What now?
You know one thing for sure. Whatever you do, you should play in the center. Now where to go with the queen. I show you another concept.
Queen goes to e2. Why?

to make room for Rd1 to protect the e4-knight to be able to go to e4 to put pressure to e6 which is located IN THE CENTER and near the KINGSIDE because e6 will somehow tends to become weakened because the black white-colored bishop will probably go to b7 as Black has played b6 and will not protect e6 in the future.

3.Qe2 Re8
see diagram below

What now?
Well, you know you should play in the center and this will help you to think about center moves ONLY, avoiding trash moves!

You know that if the black f6-knight gets driven away that this will weaken the kingside.

this move attacks the c6-pawn and limits Black's choices as he probably plays Bb7 which is a mistake, but very hard to see. If Black trades off the Knight playing Nd7xNe5 then your d-pawn recaptures and moves to e5 and DRIVES AWAY the f6-knight. Remember, this is one of our formulated principles: Driving away the kingside knight to weaken the kingside! If Black trades off the e4-knight then your queen recaptures and comes to e4 and threatens to hit or penetrate to h7. To stop this Black has to make pawn moves at the kingside and this will weaken his kingside, making it easier for you to attack it.
4.Ne5 Bb7
leads us to the following position.

What now?
Just relax and look at this position for a moment. What do you see? What are the facts?
I know it is hard, very hard, to see anything for White now.
White's Queen is better placed than Black's Queen because the white queen can go to center square e4 in the future or will attack the kingside when the defending f6-knight gets traded off or moves away in the future.White's kingside knight is better placed than Black's kingside knight that still sits on f6, the original square, whereas White's knight is sitting right in the center on e5, which makes it more powerful.The white queenside knight is placed better on e4 than Black's queenside knight that sits on d7.Black rook is looking a bit funny. It has moved to e8 and weakened f7. You think that this is a crazy thought. But look! F7 is weak!
Hello! I am not gone mad! F7 is weak!
weakens the e6-pawnweakens the kingside

Now switch on your brain and start calculating. Let's see, if you can estimate that this is a winning move.

5.Nxf7 KxN 6.Ng5+ Kg8 (if 6...Kf8 7.Qxe6 and checkmate cannot be avoided)
This leads us to the following chess position below.

Now think, think....

7.Qxe6+ Kh8 (if 7...Kf8? 8.Qf7++)
8.Nf7+ Kg8
9.Nh6+ Kh8
10.Qg8!!+ NxQ (or RxQ)
11.Nf7++ Checkmate

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Chess Tutorial - The Discovered Attack

This is a chess tutorial about the discovered attack. If you overlook this attack you can lose the game right away. Train your mental eye to spot it. You can use this knowledge to win games.

1) 1.Rc8 Rxa 2.Kb6+! and the rook is lost.
2) 1..Qd3+! KxQ 2.BxB+ and Black recaptures the queen after and has regained its piece and is a pawn up.
3) 1...Bxf1+!! 2.QxQ Rxf2+ 3.Kh1 Bg2+ 4.Kg1 Rxe2+ 5.Kh2 Bf3+ and Black recaptures his queen and wins
4) 1.Nxg+ QxN 2.Rxc4+ Qg7 3.QxQ KxQ 4.Rc7+ Kf6 5.f4 big advantage for white.
5) 1.Rd5+! Kc6 (1...KxR? 2.c4+ with loss of queen)2.Rc5+! Kb6 3.Rb5+! Ka6 4.Ra5+! Black can't win...draw
6) 1.Bxh7+ Kh8 2.Bg6+ Kg8 3.Qh7+ Kf8 4.Qf7+#
7) 1...Rxg2+ 2.KxR Nc3 and wins the queen.
8) 1.Bf6! QxQ 2.Rxg7+ Kh8 3.Rxf7+ Kg8 4.Rg7+ Kh8 5.Rxb7+ Kg8 6.Rg7+ Kh8 7.Rg5+ Kh7 8.RxQ and White wins.
9) 1.Rf5+ Kb4 2.Rf4+ and White wins the queen.
10)1.Qe6+ Kh8 2.Bxf! Qg5 3.f4! Qxf 4.QxQ RxQ 5.KxB and White has more material and wins. Here Black had no time to start the mechanics of the discovered attack.

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Chess Tutorials - Your Move - See the Danger!

It's your move - see the dangerous moves of your opponent in these chess tutorials.

1) threat is Qb4+ and wins the bishop
2) "" 1.Nc7+ wins the bishop
3) "" 1.Rh8+ Bf8 2.Qd8+#
4) "" 1.Nd6 followed by 2.Re8
5) "" 1.Rd1 and Black loses the bishop
6) "" 1.Rxa7+ KxR 2.Qa5+#
7) "" 1...Nxe4
8) "" 1.BxNc6 RxR 2.Re8+
9) "" 1...BxBc3 2.bxB QxN 3.QxR QxR+
10) "" 1...Nc5+ and NxR loses the exchange
11) "" 1.Rxe4 would lose the knight
12) "" 1.Rg7+ followed by RxR

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How to play Chess

To understand how to play chess you have to get to know the chess pieces first and understand the objective of the game.

There are 16 white pieces and 16 black pieces.
The board has 64 squares on which your pieces can move.

You have:
1 King
1 Queen
2 Rooks
2 Bishops
2 Knights
8 Pawns

Each piece has a unique character and moves in a special way. See here how the chess board is set up properly and study the different abilities of each chess piece. Learn more about the king and the Chess Pieces and about lines, rows and square description and how to start a game.

Every square has a name depending on its coordinates on the board. For example g2 or f3.

About Checking the King

You can attack the king with a piece. This is called giving a check. The king must move away to get out of the check or destroy the checking piece or move another piece in between the enemy piece and the king to block the check. This is not possible if a knight gives the check because knights can jump and there is no way to block the check of a knight. If a knight checks your king you must either destroy the knight or move away with your king.

Objective of the game

The objective of the game is to checkmate the king. But to achieve this you need to set up your pieces correctly in the first place to get a strong position first and win material or start a strong attack against the enemy king. You should learn to play a good chess opening. This will help you to set your pieces on strong squares right from the start of a game.

Usually you win games because you have won pawns or pieces and thus have more material in the endgame where you can transform one of your pawns into a new queen. If this is possible the opponent will usually resign as it is just a matter of time until you checkmate him with your material advantage. It is just a waste of time to play on if your opponent has a queen or a rook and you got nothing but the king. You will be checkmated sooner or later. Just resign and start a new game.

To understand how to play chess properly you need to learn chess tactics first to understand combinations. After this learn chess strategies and openings, study grandmaster games, analyze your own games and learn from your own mistakes.

Writing down moves

You always write down your moves in serious games played in a chess club or chess tournament. In a serious game always a chess clock is used and a time limit is given. For example, two hours each for 40 moves and one more hour for the next 20 moves. In this case a game can last up to six hours.

When you play a serious game you don't talk with your opponent but concentrate entirely upon your game. A tournament game can last over 4 hours sometimes 6 hours. This depends on the time limit given in a tournament. You are not allowed to talk about your position with somebody else while the game is still is progress.

When the game is finished you shake hands and sign up your score sheet and the score sheet of your opponent. After that you set up the chess pieces properly. Then you give the copy of the score sheet to the tournament organizer. After that you can analyze your game with your opponent in a different room to avoid disturbing the other players.

Learn how to play chess well

If you want to learn how to play chess properly then join a chess club in your town. There you can play every week in club tournaments and teams and you will get a lot of hints and ideas to improve your game and you will get a rating. Buy good chess books and study them to achieve a higher rating and better results. Read these chess tips to improve your chess.

For beginners I recommend Logical Chess - Move by Move by Chernev because every move is explained here.

Another good book for beginners that received very good reviews is the Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess.

Beginner I Start from there.Beginner II.Chess Tactics Learn to see tactical combinations.Chess Openings and learn some decent openings to know how to start a game properly and make strong moves right from the beginning.

Then study

Chess Strategies IChess Strategies IIChess Strategies III

Get practical training at:

Play Chess IPlay Chess IIPlay Chess IIIPlay Chess IVPlay Chess V - Robo Chess

First start by playing the weakest chess program "Play Chess V--Robo Chess", which does not play chess properly, regarding chess principles. It makes really bad moves. Try to beat it, then work your way up higher until you finally reach and play "Play Chess I". If you can beat this program then you are pretty good.

If you are a beginner, it may take years until you can beat "Play Chess I". So take your time. To learn, how to play Chess properly, is not easy.

Make sure to get some Top Chess Books or you might make the same mistakes for the rest of your life.

Join a chess club first to get registered as a chess player with the United States Chess Federation (USCF), then play in chess tournaments to get a rating. All chess tournaments that are organised in America report their results to the USCF, who will then calculate the rating for every chess player in the US and publishes regular updates in chess magazines. This procedure is similar in other countries.

To get a rating you must provide data, this means you must play tournament games. The more games you play the more data they get and the more accurate your rating can be calculated.

So play some tournaments this will get yourself an accurate rating. To ensure that players of roughly similar strength are matched up with one another, there are ratings sections, e.g. Under 1400, Under 1600, Under 1800 etc.

If you are a beginner, having no rating yet, you play in the lowest section to get a rating first, which will be calculated and published some time after the tournament has finished.

When you get your first rating after some weeks you know your exact rating and can work your way up playing better and better in future tournaments provided you study Top Chess Books.

Chess expert is a rating and title given by the United States Chess Federation. It is awarded to chess players rated from 2000 to 2199. Players rated above are masters while players below are class players.

Approximately 400,000 chess players in the US have USCF ratings, of which approximately 4000 are rated 2000 or better. Thus, chess experts are in the top 1% of all USCF tournament chess players. Read more at Wikipedia.

Join a chess club then you are registered with the USCF automatically as you pay monthly fees and your rating will be calculated when you play in chess tournaments. If there is no chess club in your area then join the United States Chess Federation (USCF). Discounted rates for juniors are available. You will get a monthly magazine and it will list the chess tournaments in your state. You will only be eligible to play in these chess tournaments if you are a USCF member.

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Electronic Chess Game - Computer Chess Sets - Electronic Chess Sets

To play an electronic chess game at home regularly on your own chess computer is quite fascinating and helps to learn finding good routine chess moves fast and disciplines your chess thinking over time.

If you consider buying a chess computer go for quality and don't just buy any computer with plastic chess pieces and sensory chess board. This is my opinion based on reality. I had a computer with sensory chess board for many years myself.

A higher level computer can always play at easier levels, but you can outgrow a novice level computer for beginners fairly fast. If this happens, you need to buy a better one. So why not buy a high level and good quality computer in the first place?
I don't like chess computers, that have sensory chess boards because if you make a move, you must press each time on two squares, the starting square and the destination square.
Let's say you move the bishop from b2 to e5. You must press the square b2 and then the square e5 and place the bishop to e5. If you have to do this all the time, thousands of times for the next ten years to come, this will be annoying. This was annoying for me anyway.
Squares: And if you press too hard on to a square it might damage this particular square and the computer is ruined and you have to send it in to get it fixed. This happened to me once.
Playing strength: Buy a chess computer with at least 2000 Elo. If you buy a weak computer at around 1800 and lower, it will not play proper positional moves but will play inferior setups. It will still win against you on a tactical basis, but you don't learn the right strategy as it does not play correct opening setups and has no idea about the right plan. It just calculates better than you and sooner or later it will win a pawn or a piece and you lose.
Most computer chess sets are too small and have plastic pieces. This is no fun to play with. To enjoy an electronic chess game I want big pieces and a big board like in a chess club and I like to play with wooden pieces.
Get Quality, because you probably have the computer for many years to come and if you save money and buy lower quality, you will regret it sooner or later. I speak from experience.Buy a good one and you will enjoy every electronic chess game for the next ten years or longer without regret.

The Novag Citrine Top Chess Computer would make me happy! It has: Magnet Sensor wooden chessboard - magnetic pieces! No pressing on squares!Hand carved wooden Staunton chess pieces - a delight to play withgood playing strength - USCF rating (2100)- plays correct opening setups.See below! Watch the video and you will see that you just move the pieces without pressing on any squares.

How to choose a Chess Computer?

Tell Us About Your Chess Computer. Write Your Review! You can upload Pictures.

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Brass Chess Set

A Brass Chess Set is solid and sometimes a set comes along with a brass-wood combination. Brass chess pieces require a lot of time for completion.

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, the proportions of copper and zinc can be varied to create a change in properties. In comparison, bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.

Sometimes types of brasses are called bronzes and vice-versa. Brass is used for decoration and for chess pieces because it has a bright gold-like appearance.

Get your Brass Chess Pieces

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Nimzo Indian Defense - Top Opening

The Nimzo Indian Defense starts with the moves:
1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 Bb4

This defense is classified as a closed opening. It comes to us from the great theoretician and chess grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch who used this opening in the 20th century.

The idea is to control the center with pieces instead of pawns. The bishop on b4 pins the knight which otherwise would support a pawn going to e4. If white plays now e4 black would just capture the pawn playing Nxe4 winning a pawn as the knight is pinned. Furthermore the black bishop threatens to capture the knight and create double pawns in white's position.

As you can see black stops white to build a strong pawn formation in the center by applying pressure with pieces on center squares.

The Nimzo-Indian Defense is highly respected, very popular and one of the best chess openings. It is a flexible weapon for Black against the move d4 and has been played often in world championships.

In variations in which Black captures the knight and creates a double pawn, white will have the bishop pair as compensation. If you are a beginner this opening is too difficult to grasp for you.

To avoid double pawns White can play the line 4. Qc2 but this loses time.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 popular is now 7...c5 8. dxc5 g5 9. Bg3. If you are Black, surprise your opponent and play the alternative variation 7...g5 (instead of 7...c5) 8. Bg3 Ne4 9. e3 h5!?

This move will very likely upset White psychologically as Black shows unexpected aggression, avoids the popular line and White might find himself unprepared.
Now 10. f3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 looks ok for Black.

Variation of the Nimzo Indian

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Blog Archive

• ▼  2011 (23)
  • ▼  January (23)
    • Chess Secrets
    • Chess Tutorial - The Discovered Attack
    • Chess Tutorials - Your Move - See the Danger!
    • How to play Chess
    • Electronic Chess Game - Computer Chess Sets - Elec...
    • Brass Chess Set
    • Nimzo Indian Defense - Top Opening
    • Bobby Fischer - searching for Bobby Fisher - the C...
    • Good Chess Strategies - learn the strategies of chess
    • Make the right Chess Moves
    • Your Chess Tournaments - Write Your Own Review
    • Sharp Chess Opening - Marshall Attack
    • Top Chess Books, Chess Software and Fritz Chess
    • Fritz Chess - Man versus Machine
    • Beginner Chess Game
    • Chess Photos and Chess Posters
    • Unique Chess Set - Art Deco Chess Set Pieces
    • Play Games Win Money - Play Games For Money
    • Albin Counter Gambit
    • Chess Problems - Defend Yourself against the Pin
    • Jose Capablanca - the " Chess Machine "
    • Different Colored Bishops - Organize an Attack
    • Chess Tips - Improve your Game of Chess

• ►  2010 (16)
  • ►  December (16)

About Me

Moises

Your not so average out of the ordinary guy in search of knowledge and peace of mind. An open minded young man who sees and thinks before he says yes. Confident, positive, and now online to share what I've learned. Life is short and so are its many wonders. Nothing lasts forever so I decided to help others know about things they didn't know are out there in the world to enjoy . Lets all share this big world of ours.

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