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Chess Opening
The opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established Chess_theory#Opening_theory, theory. The other phases are the chess middlegame, middlegame and the chess endgame, endgame. Many opening sequences, known as ''openings'', have standard names such as "Sicilian Defense". ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' lists 1,327 named openings and variants, and there are many others with varying degrees of common usage. Opening moves that are considered standard are referred to as "book moves", or simply "book". When a game begins to deviate from known Chess theory#Opening theory, opening theory, the players are said to be "out of book". In some openings, book lines have been worked out for over 30 moves, such as some lines in the classical King's Indian Defense and in the Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation, Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense. Professional chess players spend years studying openings, and they continue doing so throughout their careers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to as White and Black in chess, "White" and "Black", each control sixteen Chess piece, pieces: one king (chess), king, one queen (chess), queen, two rook (chess), rooks, two bishop (chess), bishops, two knight (chess), knights, and eight pawn (chess), pawns, with each type of piece having a different pattern of movement. An enemy piece may be captured (removed from the board) by moving one's own piece onto the square it occupies. The object of the game is to "checkmate" (threaten with inescapable capture) the enemy king. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw (chess), draw. The recorded history of chess goes back to at least the emergence of chaturanga—also thought to be an ancesto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alekhine's Defense
Alekhine's Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 Nf6 Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad , with plans to undermine and attack the white structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's imposing mass of pawns in the centre often includes pawns on c4, d4, e5, and f4. Grandmaster Nick de Firmian observes of Alekhine's Defence in ''MCO-15'' (2008), "The game immediately loses any sense of symmetry or balance, which makes the opening a good choice for aggressive fighting players."Nick de Firmian, ''Modern Chess Openings, Fifteenth Edition'', 2008, p. 159. . History The opening is named after Alexander Alekhine, who introduced it in the 1921 Budapest tournament in games against Endre Steiner and Fritz Sämisch. Four years later, the editors of the Fourth Edition of ''Modern Chess Openings'' (''MCO-4'') wrote: Nothing is more indicative of the iconoclastic conceptions of the 'hypermodern school' than the bizarre defence introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Silman
Jeremy Silman (August 28, 1954 – September 21, 2023) was an American chess player and writer. He obtained the title of International Master (IM). Early life Silman was born in Del Rio, Texas, on August 28, 1954. His father was in the military and the family moved frequently before settling in San Diego by the early 1960s. Silman began playing chess at the age of 12. In high school, he wanted to move to the Soviet Union and study chess, due to the game's popularity and the number of skilled players he knew there. This was infeasible, so he instead served briefly in the U.S. Army before moving in San Francisco to continue playing chess. His family was not understanding of his passion for chess, and he grew apart from them over the years. In San Francisco, Silman was involved in the Haight-Ashbury scene in the 1970s. The preface to his Endgame Course mentions this, and fellow chess players Daniel King and Ronan Bennett allude to this in a newspaper column from 2007. His years i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms (performance benchmarks in competitions including other titled players). Once awarded, titles are held for life except in cases of fraud or cheating. Open titles may be earned by all players, while women's titles are restricted to female players. Many strong female players hold both open and women's titles. FIDE also awards titles for arbiters, organizers and trainers. Titles for correspondence chess, chess problem composition and chess problem solving are no longer administered by FIDE. A chess title, usually in an abbreviated form, may be used as an honorific. For example, Magnus Carlsen may be styled as " GM Magnus Carlsen". History The term "master" for a strong chess player was initially used informally. From the late 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First-move Advantage In Chess
In chess, there is a consensus among players and chess theory, theorists that the player who makes the first move (White and Black in chess, White) has an inherent advantage, albeit not one large enough to win with Solved game#Perfect play, perfect play. This has been the consensus since at least 1889, when the first World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, addressed the issue, although chess has not been Solving chess, solved. Since 1851, compiled statistics support this view; White consistently slightly more often than White and Black in chess, Black, usually achieving a between 52 and 56 percent. White's advantage is less significant in Fast chess, blitz games and games between lower-level players, and becomes greater as the level of play rises; however, raising the level of play also increases the percentage of draw (chess), draws. As the standard of play rises, all the way up to top engine level, the number of decisive games approaches zero, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pawn Structure
In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawn (chess), pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large role in determining the strategic character of the position. General observations Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as Isolated pawn, isolated, Doubled pawns, doubled, or Backward pawn, backward pawns and , once created, are usually permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid them (but there are exceptions—for instance see ''Boleslavsky hole'' below). In the absence of these structural weaknesses, it is not possible to assess a pawn formation as good or bad—much depends on the position of the pieces. The pawn formation does determine the overall strategies of the players to a large extent, however, even if arising from unrelated openings. Pawn formations symmetrical about a vertical line (such as the #e5-chain, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Middlegame
The middlegame is the portion of a chess game between the opening and the endgame. It is generally considered to begin when each player has completed the development of all or most of their pieces and brought their king to relative safety, and it is generally considered to end when only a few pieces remain on the board. However, there is no clear line between the opening and middlegame or between the middlegame and endgame. At master level, the opening analysis may go well into the middlegame; likewise, the middlegame blends into the endgame. Theory on the middlegame is less developed than the opening or endgames. Since middlegame positions are unique from game to game, memorization of theoretical variations is not possible as it is in the opening. Likewise, there are usually too many pieces on the board for theoretical positions to be completely analyzed as can be done in the simpler endgames. Defining the middlegame Views vary on when the opening ends and the middlegame be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transposition (chess)
In chess, a transposition is a sequence of moves that results in a position that may also be reached by another, more common sequence of moves. Transpositions are particularly common in the opening, where a given position may be reached by different sequences of moves. Players sometimes use transpositions deliberately, to avoid variations they dislike, lure opponents into unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory or simply to worry opponents. See review at To transpose is to play a move that results in a transposition. Transposition tables are an essential part of a computer chess program. Transpositions exist in other abstract strategy games such as shogi, Go, tic-tac-toe and Hex. Examples Positions reached by different routes For instance, the first position can be obtained from the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Nf6 But this position can also be reached from the English Opening: :1. c4 e6 :2. Nc3 Nf6 :3. d4 d5 so the English Opening has transposed into the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pawn Structure
In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawn (chess), pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large role in determining the strategic character of the position. General observations Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as Isolated pawn, isolated, Doubled pawns, doubled, or Backward pawn, backward pawns and , once created, are usually permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid them (but there are exceptions—for instance see ''Boleslavsky hole'' below). In the absence of these structural weaknesses, it is not possible to assess a pawn formation as good or bad—much depends on the position of the pieces. The pawn formation does determine the overall strategies of the players to a large extent, however, even if arising from unrelated openings. Pawn formations symmetrical about a vertical line (such as the #e5-chain, ... [...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] |
Backward Pawn
In chess, a backward pawn is a pawn that is behind all pawns of the same color on the adjacent and cannot be safely advanced. In the diagram, the black pawn on the c6-square is backward. Disadvantages Backward pawns are usually a positional disadvantage because they are unable to be defended by other pawns. Also, the opponent can place a piece, usually a knight, on the in front of the pawn without any risk of a pawn driving it away. The backward pawn also prevents its owner's rooks and queen on the same file from attacking the piece placed on the hole. If the backward pawn is on a half-open file, the disadvantage is even greater, as the pawn can be attacked more easily by an opponent's rook or queen on the file. Pieces can become weak when they are devoted to protecting a backward pawn, since their obligation to defend the pawn keeps them from being deployed for other uses. In practice Modern opening theory features several openings in which one of the players deliberat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doubled Pawns
In chess, doubled pawns are two pawns of the same color residing on the same file. Pawns can become doubled only when one pawn captures onto a file on which another friendly pawn resides. In the diagram, the white pawns on the b-file and e-file are doubled. The pawns on the are doubled and isolated. In most cases, doubled pawns are considered a weakness due to their inability to defend each other. This inability, in turn, makes it more difficult to achieve a breakthrough which could create a passed pawn (often a deciding factor in endgames). In the case of isolated doubled pawns, these problems are only further aggravated. Several chess strategies and openings are based on burdening the opponent with doubled pawns, a strategic weakness. There are, however, cases where accepting doubled pawns can be advantageous because doing so may open up a file for a rook, or because the doubled pawns perform a useful function, such as defending important squares. Also, if the opponent i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
