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Pawnless Chess Endings
A pawnless chess endgame is a chess endgame in which only a few pieces remain, and no pawns. The basic checkmates are types of pawnless endgames. Endgames without pawns do not occur very often in practice except for the basic checkmates of king and queen versus king, king and rook versus king, and queen versus rook. Other cases that occur occasionally are (1) a rook and versus a rook and (2) a rook versus a minor piece, especially if the minor piece is a bishop. The study of some pawnless endgames goes back centuries by players such as François-André Danican Philidor (1726–1795) and Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani (1719–1796). On the other hand, many of the details and recent results are due to the construction of endgame tablebases. Grandmaster John Nunn wrote a book (''Secrets of Pawnless Endings'') summarizing the research of endgame tablebases for several types of pawnless endings. The assessment of endgame positions assumes optimal play by both sides. In some cases, one sid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Endgame
In chess and other similar games, the endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when few pieces are left on the board. The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick exchange of a few pairs of pieces. The endgame, however, tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawns become more important as endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn by advancing it to the eighth . The king, which normally should stay hidden during the game should become active in the endgame, as it can help escort pawns to the promotion square, attack enemy pawns, protect other pieces, and restrict the movement of the enemy king. All chess positions with up to seven pieces on the board have been solved, that is, the outcome (win, loss, or draw) of best play by both sides is known, and textbooks and reference works teach t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chessboard
A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the board is oriented such that each player's near-right corner square is a light square. The columns of a chessboard are known as ', the rows are known as ', and the lines of adjoining same-coloured squares (each running from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge) are known as '. Each square of the board is named using algebraic, descriptive, or numeric chess notation; algebraic notation is the FIDE standard. In algebraic notation, using White's perspective, files are labeled ''a'' through ''h'' from left to right, and ranks are labeled ''1'' through ''8'' from bottom to top; each square is identified by the file and rank which it occupies. The a- through d-files comprise the , while the e- through h-files comprise the . History and evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand ( he, בוריס אברמוביץ' גלפנד; be, Барыс Абрамавіч Гельфанд, Barys Abramavich Hel'fand; russian: Борис Абрамович Гельфанд, Boris Abramovich Gel'fand; born 24 June 1968) is a Soviet-born Israeli chess player. A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, making him challenger for the World Chess Championship 2012. Although the match with defending champion Viswanathan Anand finished level at 6–6, Gelfand lost the deciding rapidplay tiebreak by 2½–1½. Gelfand has won major tournaments at Wijk aan Zee, Tilburg, Moscow, Linares and Dos Hermanas. He has competed in eleven Chess Olympiads and held a place within the top 30 players ranked by FIDE from January 1990 to October 2017. Early years Boris Gelfand was born in Minsk, in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, on 24 June 1968 to Bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zugzwang
Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", ) is a situation found in chess and other turn-based games wherein one player is put at a disadvantage because of their obligation to make a move; a player is said to be "in zugzwang" when any legal move will worsen their position. Although the term is used less precisely in games such as chess, it is used specifically in combinatorial game theory to denote a move that directly changes the outcome of the game from a win to a loss. Putting the opponent in zugzwang is a common way to help the superior side win a game, and in some cases it is necessary in order to make the win possible. The term ''zugzwang'' was used in German chess literature in 1858 or earlier, and the first known use of the term in English was by World Champion Emanuel Lasker in 1905. The concept of zugzwang was known to chess players many centuries before the term was coined, appearing in an endgame study published in 1604 by Alessandro Salvio, one of the first wri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triangulation (chess)
Triangulation is a tactic used in chess to put one's opponent in zugzwang (a position when it is a disadvantage to move). Triangulation is also called ''losing a tempo'' or ''losing a move''. Triangulation occurs most commonly in endgames with only kings and pawns when one king can maneuver on three adjacent squares in the shape of a triangle and maintain the basic position while the opposing king only has two such squares. Thus, if one king triangulates by using three moves to return to the original square and the opposing king cannot do the same, he has lost a crucial tempo and reached the same position with the other player to move. Triangulation can occur in other endgames and even in some middlegames. Example Consider this position, with White to move. Here, Black has the opposition and is keeping the white king out. However, if White had the opposition (i.e. it were Black's move in this position), the black king would have to move away from d7 and allow the white kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philidor Position
The Philidor position (or Philidor's position) is a chess endgame involving a drawing technique for the defending side in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. This technique is known as the ''third defense'' due to the positioning of the defending rook. It was analyzed by François-André Danican Philidor in 1777. Many rook and pawn versus rook endgames reach either the drawn Philidor position or the winning Lucena position. The defending side should try to reach the Philidor position; the attacking side should try to reach the Lucena position. Said grandmaster Jesús de la Villa, " he Lucena and Philidor positionsare the most important positions in this type of endgame ..and in endgame theory." Description The diagram shows an example of Philidor's position. The important characteristics of the position are (from the point of view of the defender): * The defending king (White in this diagram) is on the queening square of the pawn (or adjacent to it). The pawn can be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Check (chess)
In chess and similar games, check is a condition that occurs when a player's king is under threat of on the opponent's next turn. A king so threatened is said to be in check. A player must get out of check if possible by moving the king to a safe square, interposing a piece between the threatening piece and the king, or capturing the threatening piece. If the player cannot get out of check by any of these options, the game ends in checkmate, and the player loses. Players cannot make any move that puts their own king in check. Many chess variants feature check, such as shogi, xiangqi, and janggi. Overview A check is the result of a move that places the opposing king under an immediate threat of capture by one (or occasionally two) of the player's pieces. Making a move that checks is sometimes called "giving check". Even if a piece is pinned against the player's own king, it may still give check. For example, in the diagrammed position, White has just played Be4+, simultaneous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fork (chess)
In chess, a fork is a tactic in which a piece multiple enemy pieces simultaneously. The attacker usually aims to capture one of the forked pieces. The defender often cannot counter every threat. A fork is most effective when it is forcing, such as when the king is put in check. A fork is a type of . Terminology A fork is an example of a . The type of fork is named after the type of forking piece. For example, a fork by a knight is a knight fork. The attacked pieces are ''forked''. If the King is one of the attacked pieces, the term ''absolute fork'' is sometimes used. A fork not involving the enemy king is in contrast a ''relative fork''. A fork of the king and queen, the highest material-gaining fork possible, is sometimes called a ''royal fork''. A fork of the enemy king, queen, and one (or both) rooks is sometimes called a ''grand fork''. A knight fork of the enemy king, queen, and possibly other pieces is sometimes called a ''family fork'' or ''family check''. Strategy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Freeborough
Edward Freeborough (18 August 1830 – 14 September 1896) was the co-author, with Charles Ranken, of ''Chess Openings Ancient and Modern'' (1889), one of the first important opening treatises in the English language and a precursor of ''Modern Chess Openings''. He was a member of the editorial staff of the ''British Chess Magazine'' from 1883 until his death in 1896. He also wrote the books ''Chess Endings'' (1891, 1896) and ''Select Chess End-Games from Actual Play'' (1895, 1899), and edited the book ''Analysis of the Chess Ending, King and Queen Against King and Rook'' by "Euclid" (a pseudonym for A. Crosskill) (1895). Freeborough had just completed the third edition of ''Chess Openings Ancient and Modern'' and transmitted the final version to the publisher "when he was struck down by a sudden and mortal illness". Legacy book The first edition of the book was published in 1889. Later editions were published in 1893, 1896, and 1910. It was one of the first opening books ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perpetual Check
In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can a draw by an unending series of checks. This typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate, and failing to continue the series of checks gives the opponent at least a chance to win. A draw by perpetual check is no longer one of the rules of chess; however, such a situation will eventually allow a draw claim by either threefold repetition or the fifty-move rule. Players usually agree to a draw long before that, however. Perpetual check can also occur in other forms of chess, although the rules relating to it might be different. For example, giving perpetual check is not allowed in shogi and xiangqi, where doing so leads to an automatic loss for the giver. Examples In this diagram, Black is ahead a rook, a bishop, and a pawn, which would normally be a decisive advantage. But White, to move, can draw by perpetual check: : 1. Qe8+ Kh7 : 2. Qh5+ Kg8 : 3. Qe8+ etc. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position to draw the game rather than lose. In more complex positions, stalemate is much rarer, usually taking the form of a swindle that succeeds only if the superior side is inattentive. Stalemate is also a common theme in endgame studies and other chess problems. The outcome of a stalemate was standardized as a draw in the 19th century. Before this standardization, its treatment varied widely, including being deemed a win for the stalemating player, a half-win for that player, or a loss for that player; not being permitted; and resulting in the stalemated player missing a turn. Stalemate rules vary in other games of the chess family. Etymology and usage The first recorded use of stalemate is from 1765. It is a compounding of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Draw (chess)
In chess, there are a number of ways that a game can end in a draw, neither player winning. Draws are codified by various rules of chess including stalemate (when the player to move is not in check but has no legal move), threefold repetition (when the same position occurs three times with the same player to move), and the fifty-move rule (when the last fifty successive moves made by both players contain no or pawn move). Under the standard FIDE rules, a draw also occurs in a dead position (when no sequence of legal moves can lead to checkmate), most commonly when neither player has sufficient to checkmate the opponent. Unless specific tournament rules forbid it, players may agree to a draw at any time. Ethical considerations may make a draw uncustomary in situations where at least one player has a reasonable chance of winning. For example, a draw could be called after a move or two, but this would likely be thought unsporting. In the 19th century, some tournaments, nota ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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