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Reciprocal 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 writers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distinguish it from related games, such as xiangqi (Chinese chess) and shogi (Japanese chess). The recorded history of chess goes back at least to the emergence of a similar game, chaturanga, in seventh-century India. The rules of chess as we know them today emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide. Chess is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no use of dice or cards. It is played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My System
''My System'' (german: Mein System) is a book on chess theory written by Aron Nimzowitsch. Originally over a series of five brochures from 1925 to 1927, the book—one of the early works on hypermodernism—introduced many new concepts to followers of the modern school of thought. It is generally considered to be one of the most important books in the history of chess. Contents The book is divided into three parts: "The Elements", "Positional Play", and "Illustrative Games". The Elements In "The Elements" (german: Die Elemente), Nimzowitsch writes about the basics of his "system". He regards the following as the elements of chess strategy: # The center # Play on the open files # Play on the seventh and eighth ranks # The passed pawns # The pin # Discovered checks # Exchanging # The pawn-chain Positional Play The next part, "Positional Play" (german: Das Positionsspiel), is based largely on the elements taught in the first part. In it, Nimzowitsch tells how to play for a po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tempo (chess)
In chess and other chess-like games, a tempo is a "turn" or single move (a half-move or ply made either by White or Black). When a player achieves a desired result in one fewer move, the player is said to "gain a tempo"; conversely, when a player takes one more move than necessary, the player is said to "lose a tempo". Similarly, when a player forces their opponent to make moves not according to their initial plan, one is said to "gain tempo" because the opponent is wasting moves. A move that gains a tempo is often called "a move with tempo". A simple example of losing a tempo may be moving a rook from the h1-square to h5 and from there to h8 in the first diagram; simply moving from h1 to h8 would have achieved the same result with a tempo to spare. However, such maneuvers do not always lose a tempo—the rook on h5 may make some threat which needs to be responded to. In this case, since both players have "lost" a tempo, the net result in terms of time is nil, but the change broug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was called "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess" because he had a brilliant chess career but retired from the game while still young. Commentators agree that he was far ahead of his time as a chess player, though there is disagreement on how his play ranks compared to modern players. Morphy was born in New Orleans to a wealthy and distinguished family. He learned to play chess by simply watching games between his father and uncle. His family soon recognized the boy's talent for the game and encouraged him to play at family gatherings, and by the age of nine he was considered to be one of the best players in the city. At just twelve years of age, Morphy defeated visiting Hungarian master Johann Löwenthal in a three-game match. After receiving his law ... [...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 ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Walker (chess Player)
George Walker (13 March 1803 – 23 April 1879) was an English chess player and author of ''The Celebrated Analysis of A D Philidor'' (London, 1832), ''The Art of Chess-Play: A New Treatise on the Game of Chess'' (London, 1832), ''A Selection of Games at Chess played by Philidor'' (London, 1835), ''Chess Made Easy'' (London, 1836), and ''Chess Studies'' (London, 1844). His father was a publisher and novelist. In 1839, Walker visited Paris and the Café de la Régence, where he lost (+1-2) a short match to Boncourtbr> In 1845, he teamed up with Henry Thomas Buckle, William Davies Evans, George Perigal, and William Josiah Tuckett in London in two telegraph games (one win and one draw) against a team of Howard Staunton and Hugh Alexander Kennedy in Portsmouth. He won a match against Daniel Harrwitz (7-5) at London 1846. Walker used his column in ''Bell's Life in London'' to propagate organizing the international London 1851 chess tournament, the first international chess tourname ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Check
In chess and other related games, a double check is a check delivered by two pieces simultaneously. In chess notation, it is almost always represented the same way as a single check ("+"), but it is sometimes symbolized by "++" (however, "++" is also sometimes used to denote checkmate). This article uses "++" for double check and "#" for checkmate. Chess The most common form of double check involves one piece moving to deliver check and revealing a discovered check at the same time from a piece it had been blocking. The only possible reply to a double check is a king move, as it is impossible to block or capture both checking pieces at once (though the king move may capture one of these pieces). In exceptional circumstances, it is possible for the moved piece in a double check to not give check. The only way for this to happen in orthodox chess is by way of an ''en passant'' capture. In the position shown, Black has just played 1...g7–g5. White replies 2.hxg6++. The result ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François-André Danican Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the ''opéra comique''. He is widely regarded as the best chess player of his age; his book ''Analyse du jeu des Échecs'' was considered a standard chess manual for at least a century. A well-known chess opening, an endgame position, and a checkmate method are all named after him. Musical family François-André Danican Philidor came from the well-known musical Philidor family. The original name of his family was Danican, but François-André's grandfather, Jean Danican Philidor, was given the nickname of Philidor by Louis XIII because his oboe playing reminded the king of an Italian virtuoso oboist named Filidori. Music career Philidor joined the royal choir of Louis XV in 1732 at the age of 6, and made his first attempt at the composition of a song at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Bertin
Captain Joseph Bertin (1690s – c. 1736) was one of the first authors to write about the game of chess. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld in ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' call his book ''The Noble Game of Chess'' "the first worthwhile chess book in the English language". David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1992, p. 38. . B. Goulding Brown, writing in the December 1932 ''British Chess Magazine'', called it the first original English chess book. Philip W. Sergeant, ''A Century of British Chess'', David McKay, p. 23. Bertin was a Huguenot born at Castelmoron-sur-Lot in the 1690s. He came to England during his youth, became a naturalized citizen in 1713, and married in 1719. In 1726, he joined a line regiment serving in the West Indies. He was later promoted to the rank of Captain, and ultimately was released from the Army as an invalid. In 1735 he published a small volume entitled ''The Noble Game of Chess''. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Promotion (chess)
In chess, promotion is the replacement of a pawn with a new piece when the pawn is moved to its last . The player replaces the pawn immediately with a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same . The new piece does not have to be a previously captured piece. Promotion is mandatory; the pawn cannot remain as a pawn. Promotion to a queen is known as queening; promotion to any other piece is known as underpromotion. Promotion is almost always to a queen, as it is the most powerful piece. Underpromotion might be done for various reasons, such as to avoid stalemate or for tactical reasons related to the knight's unique movement pattern. Promotion or the threat of it often decides the result in an endgame. Rules When a pawn is promoted, it is removed from the board, and the new piece is placed on the square of promotion. A piece may be promoted to regardless of whether it has been captured. Consequently, a player might have two or more queens, or three or more rooks, bishops, or kni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giulio Cesare Polerio
Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550, – c. 1610; reconstruction of places and dates by Adriano Chicco) was an Italian chess theoretician and player. Name affixes used for him are ''l'Apruzzese'', Giu io Cesare ''da Lanciano'' (Salvio/Walker), and ''Lancianese'', because he was born in Lanciano, a town in the province of Chieti of the region Abruzzo of Italy. He died in Rome. Chess playing The first published mention of Polerio is from 1634 in '' Il Puttino'' by Alessandro Salvio. It recounts an event that must have occurred around 1575. "Il Puttino, altramente detto il Cavaliere errante" is a nickname used by Alessandro Salvio for Giovanni Leonardo. According to Salvio, Polerio accompanied Giovanni Leonardo on his way to Madrid until Genoa. After returning to Rome around 1584, Polerio became a chess player and writer in ordinary of Giacomo Boncompagni, Duke of Sora and son of Pope Gregory XIII (born Ugo Boncompagni). Polerio wrote a number of codexes in which a lively inter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
