|
Pawnless Chess Endgame
A pawnless chess endgame is a chess endgame in which only a few chess piece, pieces remain, and no pawn (chess), 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 (chess), king and queen (chess), queen versus king, king and rook (chess), 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 (chess), 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 (chess), Grandmaster John Nunn wrote a book (''Secrets of Pawnless Endings'') summarizing the research of endgame tablebases for several types of pawnless ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Endgame
The endgame (or ending) is the final stage of a chess game which occurs after the middlegame. It begins when few pieces are left on the board. The line between the middlegame and the endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with a quick exchange 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 attempts to promote a pawn by advancing it to the eighth . The king, which normally is kept safe during the game, becomes active in the endgame, as it can help escort pawns to promotion, attack enemy pawns, protect other pieces, and restrict the movement of the enemy king. Not all chess games reach an endgame; some of them end earlier. All chess positions with up to seven pieces on the board have been solved by endgame tablebases, so the outcome (win, loss, or draw) of best play by bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chessboard
A chessboard is a game board 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 constitute the , and the e- through h-files constitute the ; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zugzwang
Zugzwang (; ) 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. More generally, the term can also be used to describe a situation where none of the available options lead to a good outcome. 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 coine ... [...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 in which 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 whi ... [...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. Grandmaster Jesús de la Villa said, " 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 king in the diagram) is on the square of the pawn (or adjacent to it). The pawn can be on ... [...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 an unattacked square, interposing a piece between the threatening piece and the king, or capturing the threatening piece. If the player cannot remove the check by any of these options, or if using any of these options would result in the player being in check by another piece, the game ends in checkmate and the player loses. Players cannot make any move that puts their own king in check. Overview A check is the result of a move that places the opposing king under an immediate threat of capture by one (or, in rare cases, 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 ... [...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 , 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 King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ... is one of the attacked pieces, the term ''absolute fork'' is sometimes used, while a fork not involving the enemy king is a ''relative fork''. A fork of the king and queen, the highest -gaining fork possible, is sometimes called a ''royal fo ... [...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 w ... [...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 play an unending series of checks from which the defending player cannot escape. This typically arises when the player who is checking feels their position in the game is inferior, they cannot deliver checkmate, and wish to a draw. A draw by perpetual check is no longer one of the rules of chess, but will eventually allow a draw claim by either threefold repetition or the fifty-move rule. Players usually agree to a draw long before that. Perpetual check can also occur in other forms of chess, although the rules relating to it might differ. 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 same position w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in 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 variants and 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, in which neither player wins. Draws are codified by various rules of chess including stalemate (when the player to move is not in check (chess), 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 (chess), 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 draw by agreement, 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 unsp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two Knights Endgame
The two knights endgame is a chess endgame with a king and two knights versus a king. In contrast to a king and two bishops (on opposite-colored squares), or a bishop and a knight, a king and two knights cannot checkmate against a lone king (however, the superior side can force stalemate). Although there are checkmate positions, a king and two knights cannot them against proper, relatively easy defense. Although the king and two knights cannot checkmate of the lone king, there are positions in which the king and two knights can force checkmate against a king and some additional material. The extra material of the defending side provides moves that prevent the defending king from being stalematedor, less commonly, the extra material obstructs the defending king from escaping check. The winning chances with two knights are insignificant except against a few pawns. These positions were studied extensively by A. A. Troitsky, who discovered the Troitsky line, a line on or behi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
