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ACT IVAORS

CHESS
Mike Basman
Hlustrated by Tim Benton
Consultants: Malcolm Pein and Jimmy Adams
Executive editor and Editor of Chess magazine

Hodder
Children’s
Books

a division of Hodder Headline plc

Text copyright 1999 © Mike Basman
Illustrations copyright 1999 © Tim Benton
Published by Hodder Children’s Books 1999

ACTIVATOR is a registered trade mark owned by and used with the

permission of Addison Wesley Longman Limited.
Edited by Nicola Barber
Designed by Fiona Webb
Series designed by Fiona Webb
The right of Mike Basman and Tim Benton to be identified as the author
and illustrator of the work has been asserted by them in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
10-9.3765.4:3.2 1
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 0 340 73649 6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise
circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is
published and without a similar condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser.
The information in this book has been thoroughly researched and
checked for accuracy, and safety advice is given where appropriate.
Neither the author nor the publishers can accept any responsibility for
any loss, injury or damage incurred as a result of using this book.
Printed by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
Hodder Children’s Books
a division of Hodder Headline plc
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
—

Meet the author

Mis Basman has rarely been out of the chess headlines

since he won his [Link] tournament (the London
Championship) at the age of 13.

He captained the English student team in 1967 in the

legendary match against the USSR which ended in a 3 -1
win for England. Six years later he became British
Champion. Now he scandalises the chess world with his
outrageous openings, such as the Killer Grob, while
teaching chess in schools and running the world’s largest
chess tournament, the UK Chess Challenge (35,000
participants — and rising}).

He says: ‘People think nothing happens on the chess board,

but it’s like a non-stop disaster movie — even better, because
you're right in the middle of it!’
)
|
\ Introduction

hess is one of the most exciting battle games of all

time, and you can take part in it — whatever your age.
Boys and girls of seven, eight, nine — and younger — are
taking up the game in their thousands and amazing adults
by their skill. They often win against grown-ups, and even
masters are not safe any more!

British youngsters Ruth Sheldon and Nicholas Pert recently

won the World Championships held in Spain, and their
success has been topped by Luke McShane, who is running
up grandmaster scores at the age of 13!

This book gives you all you need to start your career as the
chess whizz-kid on the block.

Chess is hip, cool — and it’s definitely not square!

How to use this book

Most of this book can be read without a chess set, because
there are lots of chess diagrams. But for some of the later
chapters (six onwards), it may be useful to set up a chess
board and make the moves shown in the book on the
board as well.

Mike Boryanton
 Contents

Who plays chess?

Join the chess set!

Know the code

Warming up

The tricky rules

Into action

Winning ways

8 Winning by force

9 Getting the edge

10 Winning by tactics

The chess scene

Glossary

Answers

Index
S \ Who plays chess?
BEGINNINGS © EQUIPMENT ® IMPROVING

hess is played all over the world (although ‘Go’ is

slightly more popular in China, and ‘Shogji’ in Japan).
In the United Kingdom by far the greatest number of
players are under 12! Boys play more than girls, but the
balance is shifting as more girls take up the game. The
world’s youngest grandmaster is 13 years old. However,
old fogies should not give up — the oldest successful
grandmaster is 67!
 Who plays chess?

How did chess begin?

Chess began in the 7th century in India, but it may have
been played before. No one knows exactly who invented
the game, or how it started. The game changed in the 15th
century when two pieces (the queen and the bishop)
became extra powerful, which meant that a genteel,
slow-moving game became as fast and violent as a World
War II battlefield! Games got much shorter, from 100
moves each to fewer than 40, and lasted only half an hour
instead of several hours.

A game of skill
Chess is the ultimate battle game, and it is all skill. In this
battle you have no weapons against the adversary except
your own mind, your knowledge, your fighting spirit and
the swiftness of your calculations.

The aim of the game is to capture the enemy king. This is

called ‘checkmate’. It happens once the king is attacked
and cannot escape. On the way to victory you may destroy
the enemy army, but you have not actually won until you
have checkmated.

Enemy pieces can be captured (your piece moves into the

square occupied by an enemy piece, and that piece is taken
off the board). But when you checkmate the king, you
don’t actually remove the monarch from the board. The
fact that the king is about to be captured ends the game.

Of course a game can also be drawn — when neither side

can give checkmate, or when the players and armies are so
evenly matched that neither side can win.
Who plays chess?

The equipment
Chess sets come in all shapes and sizes. Some sets are tiny
pocket sets. People sometimes get them out and play on
buses and trains, or in a restaurant — or during lunch breaks
in the playground at school!

The best sets are the Staunton pattern sets, in plastic or

wood, and you can get these from the suppliers given at
the back of the book (see page 114). A good plastic set
might cost the same as one CD; a good wooden set and
board might cost the same as three or four CDs.

Many schools have chess clubs — over 1000 schools play in

the UK Chess Challenge every year. Sometimes teachers run
these clubs, sometimes a group of boys or girls start playing
among themselves — it’s up to each chess club how it is
organised. ~

8
 Who plays chess?

How to improve
Millions of people can play chess, but only a few play really
well. Make sure you improve by going about it in the right
way:

1 Read books on chess. This is a great way to pick up new

ideas. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand
everything — something will get through.

2 Play! Play anybody: family, friends, at school, abroad. :

Never avoid playing in case you lose — losing is the best
way to improve. Keep moving up the ranks by playing
stronger and stronger opponents, from school chess to
local tournaments, from minor sections to major, major
to intermediate, intermediate to premier, premier to
open, open to national. National to international (and
beyond?).

Read and play!

2 Join the chess set!
|

Pieces * MOVES
e CHECK AND CHECKMATE * CASTLING

hat’s in a chess set? A chessboard has 64 squares,

checkered black and white. There are 32 pieces — 16
on each side — with different sizes, shapes and powers.
One army is white, the other black. On the board, the rows
of squares going sideways are called ranks. The rows of
squares going vertically are called files (see page 29). The
diagonals are also very important — queens and bishops use
them, as, to a lesser extent, do the pawns and kings.

These are the different pieces:

The pawns

99089080
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Be eS eo eee
There are eight pawns and they are the footsoldiers of the
chess board. They can only move forwards, never back.
10
 Join the chess set!

The rooks
There are two rooks,
sometimes called castles.
They are solid, dependable
pieces. They move straight,
up and down and sideways.

The knights
There are two knights.
They are the jumpers, the
prancers, the jesters of the
chess board. They move in
an L-shape.

The bishops
There are two bishops.
They are sly, slippery,
elegant pieces. Their move
is diagonal.

The queen
There is only one queen.
She is the power piece. She
combines the moves of the
rook and bishop, moving
either straight or diagonal.

The king
There is only one king. The
king is the heart and soul of
the game. He is majestic,
moving in all directions, but
only one square at a time.
Join the chess set!

The moves
The armies assemble on the
battlefield. The forces are
equally balanced at the
start of the game, although
white has the first move,
which gives white a slight
advantage.

Before you start your battle, you must first learn a little
more about each of the pieces. You can see how the rooks
are placed on the corners, with the knights and bishops
next to them. In the centre is the royal family — the king
and queen. Placed in front, to protect the more valuable
pieces, are the eight pawns.

The armies are far apart at the beginning of the game, at

each end of the board, but after a few moves the first
pieces come into contact and the battle starts...

We'll start from the lowest, and go up to the highest.

The pawn
The pawn can only move
forwards: never back and
never sideways. A pawn is
worth one point. What it LIKE IN BOARD
DIAGRAMs
lacks in strength it makes
up in numbers. It has
seven friends.

Tz
 Join the chess set!

Pawns can move either one

or two squares forward on
their first go, but after that
only a square at a time.

The way a pawn captures is unusual: one square diagonally

forward, to either side. The enemy piece is then removed
from the board, and the pawn takes its place. :
Like this:

Enemy piece under fire Pawn triumphant

Enemy piece dead

It doesn’t matter how powerful an enemy piece is — the

(This
pawn can always capture it (if it gets close enough).
a king.)
does not include the king. No piece can ever take
13
 Join the chess set!
A pawn that reaches the end of the board can
convert into a piece of higher value: a queen, rook, knight
or bishop. As the queen is the strongest piece, the pawn
usually chooses this.

Pawn trips merrily towards end Pawn reaches end of board

of board. and turns into a queen.

You could have more than one queen on the board at the
same time — up to nine!

This && 44444 4 could be this WWW

+ the original Wy

14
 Join the chess set!

The knight
The knight has a short
range, but a dangerous WHAT } LOOK
LIKE IN BOARD
movement. DIAGRAMS

The knight jumps two

squares straight in any
direction, and then one to
the side. It’s an L-shaped
move, which is especially
powerful as the knight can
jump over obstacles. A
knight can move to up to
eight different spaces
around it:

The knight captures the same

way that it moves:
Join the chess set!

The knight fork is one

of the most powerful
weapons on the
chess. This is when
two or more enemy
pieces are threatened
by a knight attack.
One of them can
escape, but the other
will be captured. Here
a queen and rook are -
both threatened by the knight, and only one can escape.

The knight is valued at three points.

 Join the chess set!

_ The bishop
The knight and bishop are
valued equally, at three |
points. But most experienced
players put the bishop
slightly above the knight. |
THIS |S WHAT

RS, be ee
DIAGRAMS

The bishop is a long-range

piece which can strike along
the diagonals from one end
of the board to the other.
It captures in the same
way that it moves and its
maximum strike of squares
is 13.

This long-range action should make the bishop almost

twice as powerful as the knight (which can hit only eight
squares). But the bishop has two serious drawbacks:

1 It can’t jump over pieces.

ned
2 It can only go on squares of one colour, so it is confi
to half the squares of the board.

None the less, the bishop is a very agile piece, often

s to
weaving effortlessly between crowded pawns and piece
strike a deadly blow to the enemy pieces and king.

by
Join the chess set!

The bishop, lurking in one corner of the board, carries off

a rook.

The black rook has strayed on to a vulnerable square, not noticing

the bishop far away on the other side of the board.

The bishop and knight are called minor pieces, as their

value and fire-power are lower than the queen and rook.

18
 Join the chess set!

The rook
The rook is valued at five
points. It moves forwards,
backwards and sideways as far
as it likes. It cannot jump
(unlike the knight) and this
makes it a clumsy piece at the
start of the game, as other
pieces are constantly getting
in the way.

Unfortunately this tank-like

piece cannot crush its own
pawns underfoot, and so it
must wait until a pawn has
been captured, which then
opens up an avenue for
attack.

In the diagram below (left) the rook is shut in by its own

pawns: it can’t jump them. But there is an opening to the
left, where a pawn has been captured. The rook moves to
the opening (right) and can then attack vertically against
the enemy black pawn.
Join the chess set!

Like the bishop, the rook also has a long range, but there is
one important difference: the rook can reach all the squares
of the chess board, which the bishop cannot.

The queen
The strongest piece of all is
the queen. Splendid in her
coronet, the queen dominates
the board, firing in eight
directions on to a total of 27
squares. She combines the
moves of the rook and bishop.
She is slippery and sly like a
bishop with the rook’s
steamroller strength.

The queen can demolish an

enemy position almost on
her own. This means that
you may have mixed feelings
about her: on the one hand
you can revel in her power,
but on the other hand a
single false step can mean
the loss of your queen,
and the possible ruin of
your game.

Few strong players bring their queen out early in the game,
because she will be set upon by all the weaker enemy
pieces. But when the way is clear, her power is devastating.

The queen is worth nine points.

20
 Join the chess set!

The king
The king reminds us of the
need for caution. Amid all
the turmoil and hurly-burly
of battle, the king stays in
the rear. It is not for him to
advance in front of his troops.

The king’s move is rather

slow: one square anywhere.
So he resembles a short-
range queen. Nonetheless,
he manages to strike at a
total of eight squares —
quite a respectable number
— though his range is even
less than that of the knight.

A king may take pieces that

are on the next square to him:

However, it is not his plodding

movement that gives the king
his special character, but his
position as head of the army.
The king cannot be treated
like any ordinary piece or
pawn. According to the rules
of chess, the game ends if the
king cannot avoid capture.
any
This special rule colours the whole game. If you lose
can still
other piece — a pawn, a rook, a queen — the game
go on, but lose the king and the game is over.
21
Join the chess set!

Check and checkmate

A king under attack and threatened with capture is said to
be in check. A king who is under attack where there is no
escape is in checkmate, or mated.

Check
Great care is taken to protect the king from danger,
especially at the beginning of the game when so many
pieces roam the board. A king in check must escape
immediately. -

Here we see a Classic

checkmate, delivered by
a queen and bishop team.
The queen comes close up to
the king, and attacks not only
the king but also the escape
squares around him. Nor can
the king capture the queen.
Even though he can can move L— :
one square anywhere, if he Checkmate
takes the queen he walks into the fire of the enemy bishop,
who has been placed there to support the queen’s assault.
22
 Join the chess set!

Fortunately for the king, his life does not usually end
abruptly in checkmate. Although there are many powerful
pieces on the board, the pawns slow things down. They
muffle the fire-power of the pieces, and can form a shield
which protects against attack.

23
Join the chess set!

Castling - protect your king!

You can use the blanketing power of the pawns to set up a
strong fortress for your king. Once in every game, if you
have cleared the spaces between king and rook you can
castle your king into safety. Here is how it is done:

The king moves TWO spaces towards the rook, and the
rook jumps over him, and stands alongside.

See the bank of pawns now in front of the king? There

would not be much point in castling without them.

24
 Join the chess set!

You can castle on the other side too, with the other rook.
This is called castling on the queen-side, and the rule is just
the same: the king moves TWO squares towards the rook,
and the rook jumps over and stands alongside. Like this:
Join the chess set!

Quick reference
PAWN 1 point Moves forward one square, can go

&
two on its first go. Captures diagonally.
Can promote to queen, rook, knight
or-bishop if it gets to the end of
the board.
KNIGHT 3 points Jumps two straight, one to the side.

A
BISHOP 3 points Moves diagonally. Restricted to squares

2 of one colour. Long-range piece.

x ROOK 5 points Up, down, sideways, as far as it likes.

Long-range piece.

QUEEN 9 points Combines the moves of rook and

Wy bishop (straight and diagonal). Can hit

27 squares. The strongest piece.
KING Priceless Only moves one square anywhere,

ue but needs to be protected against

checkmate.

26
 Join the chess set!

Your first game ~

Now you will want to try out your moves on the
chessboard. You may begin by playing against another
beginner, but if you pick an experienced player instead,
remember to be suitably humble!

e Set up the board as shown on page 12, and make sure

that there is a white square in the right-hand corner,
whether you are white or black.
e The white queen goes on a white square, and the black
queen on a black square.
e The white player always moves first in chess, and then
you take it in turns.

Who is going to start? This is usually decided by tossing a

coin, or hiding a white pawn and a black pawn in different
hands behind your back and getting your opponent to
pick a hand.

Done that? Well, off you go!

27
 \ Know the code
ane
NOTATION *® CODE CHECKLIST

hen you have played a few games, you may have

found a few things that puzzled you. Above all, you
will want to be able play better. The key to improving your
game is learning to read chess moves. This is a valuable
skill. It takes only a few minutes to do, and it will help you
to follow the games explained here, and allow you to test
yourself later in the book.

Each of the 64 squares on the chessboard has a name,

based on a grid system. By joining up the numbers and
letters we can give each square an individual name. This is
called notation.
28
 Know the code

“I
oO
UI
bh
WwW
©—N

The diagram above names d3 and g7. Can you find f2? h8?
b6? a2?

Just as each square has a name, so each piece has a letter to

R!
stand for its name. The letter for a rook is (guess what?)
Queen = Q
King =K
Rook = R
Bishop= B
the
Knight = N (because the king pulled rank and bagged
letter ‘K’ first.)
calling
As for the pawns, there are so many of them that
a letter.
them ‘P’ wouldn’t help, so the pawn doesn’t have
29
Know the code

Let’s see how this works in practice:

The rook moves two squares

sideways. You write this as
Rd2 (‘rook moves to the d2
square’). The pawn moves up
one square. You write this as
d7 (remember, there is no
capital letter to show a x

pawn). That’s really all there ©

I
oO
hUW
—-—NW
is to it.
abedefgh

You now know how to read and write chess games,

according to the world’s most popular notational system.
So you will be able to follow the rest of this book.

There are a few other symbols you need to know.

1 The capture symbol. If a piece takes another piece, you

write the move but put an ‘x’ in the middle. So Rd2
means that the rook moves to d2. But Rxd2 means that
the rook takes something on d2.

2 Check and checkmate. A king under threat is said to be

in check. A king under attack from which there is no
escape is said to be checkmated. The symbol for check is
+ ; for checkmate it is ++ . So Rd2+ means: rook moves
to d2 check. Rd2++ means: rook moves to d2 and also
checkmates the enemy king. (There are more details on
check and checkmate on p32-4.)

3 Castling. Once in every game a king can castle. If he

castles on his side (the ‘short’ side) you write 0-0.
If he castles on the queen-side (the ‘long’ side) you
write 0-0-0.

30
 Know the code

Recording |
rap
2Nought dash joe iss castles short,
_ Three gongs is castles long.
: One plus, you’rein check,
_Two pluses and you hit the deck.
- Want to capture— put an ‘x
Guaranteed to get respect.
Place your queens remember where?—
- Same colour, same square! :
One more thing before you move=
White pieces, rows one and two.
_ Black pieces on seven and ei
-Let’s get started |justcanitwai

Here is the start of a game that could be written down

using this code. The white moves are in one column,
the black moves are in another. Try making these moves on
your chessboard.
 \ Warming up
CHECK © CAPTURES

Ve now know the rules, but not how to win. To get you
into shape you need to do some warming-up exercises.
The first ones will be on checkmate, the ultimate object of
the game.

Check
A check is when the king is under attack. A beginner usually
reaches to move the king as soon as he is pig ota}
But hold on! There are other
ways out. Maybe it’s better
to block or capture.

The black bishop moves

down to b4 to check the
king. You could move your
king. But after that you
wouldn't be able to castle.
a esa = ; = .

32
 Warming up

You could block by playing your pawn to c3. This would be

better — but best of all would be to capture the bishop with
your knight at dS.

1. OUT OF CHECK ~
In these exercises you are white and your king is in check.
There is only one way out, either by MOVING the king,
CAPTURING the enemy piece,or BLOCKING the check.
(Answers on p120.)

©
SI
WO
WAU
—N

=—-—
AWE
©
ON
NW
Warming up
2. HOW MANY CHECKS?
Find as many checks as you can for white on this move.
In position one, some of the checks are Qh6+, Bg3+ and
Nc4+. There are others, too. None of the available checks is
checkmate. (Answers on p120:)

2)

WwW
—-—N
©
~
hunwW

abedefgh

-~NWAUANOEPD
es se

‘ak boctdsestay ek
3. CHECKMATING
Now you must learn to finish the game, by finding the
check which is, in fact, checkmate. There are several
possible checks in each position, but only one move is
actually checkmate.
(Answers on p120.)
34
a
Warming up

—-Nwaunnrno®
etre dienfitg: h a Bec doef -goh
3| 4)
8 8
7\
ee :7)

5 5 |
4 4
3) 3|
2 2
1h |
a bc def gh acby.c dice \f_g-h

Captures
Although checkmate is the object of the game, other goals
may have to come first. One of these is the winning of
g
enemy pieces, while safeguarding your own. When playin
against a skilful opponent, the loss of a single piece may
a
spell defeat long before checkmate approaches. As
“Neve r
beginner, when you lose a piece you may think,
mind, I'll get it back later,” or “I'll checkmate my
in the
opponent.” In fact, instead of relying on good luck
capture skills, so
future, it would be better to learn simple
that you don’t lose the piece in the first place!
35
 Warming up

‘Test yourself
Here are some positions that would be unlikely to occur in
a normal game, but they will give you some practice in
spotting captures. In each position it is white to play. How
many captures can white make on this move? It’s best to
write your answers down. (Answers on p120.)

SN
oO
hLUW
WwW
—_N
©

Test your vision!

Chess is a game of foresight. Have you ever seen players at
a board, pondering a move? They are considering the
possibilities: “If | choose that move, what will happen, and
how will my opponent reply?”

You can get quite bogged down in all that thought,

especially as there are more possibilities in chess than atoms
in the universe! But chess is not only a game of thought — it
is also one of decisions, so at some point you must stop
thinking and make a move.

In these exercises, you look ahead to see whether a capture

can be answered by a re-capture. There are already several ~
36
 Warming up

possible outcomes, even with this simple forecasting. In the

diagram below, white can make five different captures.
Which one is the best?

eb c d see f gah

Captured pieces

In this position the points are quite level but, with the right
capture, white can go ahead. Two captures are clearly bad:

° Nxg6, which loses a knight for a pawn after black

recaptures by hxg6.
© Rxc6, a suicidal capture that gains you only one point
but loses five after the re-capture Rxc6 or Qxc6.

One capture is neutral:

© Nxf5. This exchanges knight for knight after the reply

gxf5.

That leaves two captures: Rxb3 or Nxe6. Which is the best?

is worth five
Apparently Nxe6 is the best, for the black rook
ng
points. Many players would make this capture, showi
two points,
their lack of foresight. In fact, it would only win
37
Warming up
because the black bishop at b3 could step back and
re-capture the knight, reducing the black loss to two points.
The best capture is therefore Rxb3, when white wins a clear
three points. Black would then need to move a rook to
avoid losing more pieces.

You are already starting to think ahead with the accuracy of

an accomplished chess player!

Now test yourself on the following positions. Which are the

bad captures (that lose points after re-capture), the neutral
captures (exchanges), and the good captures? Finally
decide what your best move is. (Answers on p120-1.)

—-NW
NN
LUO
©
 Warming up

TIME To CHALLENGE
YOUR NEXT OPPONENT!
THIS TiME TRY To
MAKE Good CAPTURES
AND STof YouR
OPPONENTS REST
CAeTURES!

39
edd
| The tricky rules
CASTLING © STALEMATE © EN PASSANT
e TOUCH PIECE MOVE ® RESIGNATION

esides the basic rules of chess, you need to know about

three tricky rules:

e castling
e stalemate
e en passant

40
 The tricky rules

ell, you already know how to castle, but in case you've

orgotten... the king moves TWO SQUARES and the rook
jumps over.

NE
AP
peek
ee
HA
LET
NNT
SE
NEED
RE
TA
Le
he
OI
IB
The tricky rules

=
Vitae Qucenaite —>

You can only castle once in a game.

Some common mistakes are:

e that the king and rook swap places. (They don’t!)

e that the king moves THREE squares when he castles on
the queen’s side. (He doesn’t. He moves only TWO
squares, whichever side he goes.)

42
a

The tricky rules

Why castle?
e You take the king away from the centre of the battlefield.
e You tuck him behind a shield of pawns, where he is
much safer. Try not to move these pawns up or you will
lose your shield.

Uf guys
GILG)
pe
g 7, “g3 A

Y; AY )

Sometimes you might decide to move up the pawn at the

edge of the board to give the king an escape route if an
enemy rook or queen invades your basement.
The tricky rules

When you can’t castle

e lf there are any pieces between the king and the rook.
e If the king or the rook have already moved. Castling
‘must be the first move of the king and the rook.
e If the move means going into, out of or through check.
INTO CHECK
You can’t castle here, as the king would land in check fom
the black queen.

OUT OF CHECK
Here the king is already in check from the black bishop.
He can’t get out of check by castling (it’s against the rules).
So white must either move the king or block the check.
 The tricky rules

THROUGH CHECK
You can’t go through check. (Though thousands of players
do, without noticing it!)

If the king tries to castle, he will pass over a square attacked

by an enemy piece (the black rook). This is called ‘castling
through check’ and it is strictly forbidden.
The tricky rules

Stalemate
The aim of the game is to checkmate the enemy king, but a
game can end in a draw if:

e both sides agree.

e they run out of pieces and haven’t got enough pieces
left to checkmate with.

But what if one side runs out of moves without being

checkmated? It can happen.

Here the white king is boxed

into a corner. Things look
desperate, and the black
king and queen are closing
in to deliver checkmate. But
suddenly white (to move)
finds that there are no
moves. The white pawn is
paralysed, blocked by the
—-—
GoW
hLW
©
I
NW
enemy black pawn. And the
white king can’t move abcdefgh
anywhere, because all the
nearby squares are attacked
by the enemy queen and
king, and it is against the
rules to move your king
into check.

This sort of position is called stalemate, and it is declared a

draw. White was lucky. White should have lost this game,
but black carelessly suffocated white, leaving white no
squares to move to before delivering the checkmating blow.

46
 ’ q 4

Lilt
The tricky rules
1am

Here black has avoided the stalemate trap. White’s king is

cornered, but still has two squares to move back and forth.
When the king makes his move, the black queen can then
checkmate (for example, by moving two squares sideways).

QEMEMBER:
CHECK MATE —
DONT SUFFOCATE!
The tricky rules

En passant
En passant is French for ‘in passing’. En passant came in
when modern chess began about 500 years ago. The new
rules of chess allowed pawns to make an initial move of two
squares, instead of just one. But there was a problem...

Under the old rules, a pawn moves up just one square and
is captured by an enemy pawn. But under the new rules the
pawn can move up two squares. This means that the
enemy pawn can’t capture it. Or does it?

This is where the en passant rule comes into action. This is

what happens:

e A pawn moves two squares.

e It stands next to an enemy pawn.
e The enemy pawn can capture the first pawn as if it had
moved only one square.
e The capture must be made immediately, or not at all.

48
 The tricky rules

1. Before en passant

one square.
3. Enemy pawn takes first pawn as if it had moved
Game opens up.

| 49
The tricky rules

En passant is optional — black can choose to capture or not.

But once you decide not to make the capture, you can’t
do it later. The capture must be made immediately or not
at all.

Touch piece move

This rule is always used in chess tournaments, and it is a
good idea to use it in friendly games too:

e If you touch a piece you must move it.

e If you touch an enemy piece you must capture it if
you can.
e If you put a piece on a square and take your hand off it,
that move should stand.

So sit on your hands, to avoid mistakes!

Resignation
A player who feels that their position is hopeless will
sometimes give up, or resign, rather than continue. This is
often shown by turning down the king, or stopping the
clocks (if it is a tournament game), saying “I resign,” or
making a small gesture. .
50
;3 The tricky rules
Temperamental players sometimes sweep all the pieces off
the board and storm out of the room. An angry king once
brained his opponent with a wooden chessboard for
beating him!

ye, YY
YEW
y
yy
A
ZG

51
a
\ Into action
FOUR IDEAS * THE OPENING

Vee are now ready for your next battle. The board is set
up. Your opponent sits opposite you. What is your
approach? To play successfully, you must bear in mind four
general ideas.

1. Maximum power —- minimum

exposure
Every piece aims for maximum power. In chess the power
zone is the centre of the board. From the centre a piece
attacks more squares, and its reach extends to all four
corners of the board.
52
 Into action

Think of the centre as being on the top of a hill. On the

hilltop, you can see all around and you can reach any side
of the hill quickly. So should we all rush into the centre as
soon as possible? Well, no, because the more powerful you
are, the weaker you are! Think of the most powerful people
in the world: the President of the USA, rich millionaires,
famous film stars. Are they Safe? No — the President fears
assassination, the millionaire may be kidnapped, the film
star is mobbed by fans. They all need bodyguards. And the
in
same goes for chess: if you put all your powerful pieces
the centre straightaway, they will be mobbed by smaller
you
pieces. So approach the centre carefully. It’s where
want to be, but start by putting your lower value pieces
the
there first, and only risk your most valuable pieces when
danger from the enemy is less.

) is at his
For example, the king (the most valuable piece
checkmated very
most powerful in the centre, but would be
His turn in the
quickly if he moved there in the opening.
, when only
centre usually comes at the end of the game
puny pawns are left on the board.

2
fs)
Into action

2. Get your team to work together

You need as many pieces in action as quickly as possible.
All these pieces need to guard each other, to work together
against different enemy targets, and to work separately to
cover different parts of the board. All this means teamwork,
and good planning by the team manager — you!

3. Watch the enemy

The single most serious mistake is to forget about the
enemy while you are thinking of your own plan. If you do
that you will lose pieces because you will put your pieces
where they can be captured, you will overlook enemy
threats, and you may not even notice when your opponent
makes mistakes. Guard your king, too. Poor defence can
lose a game by checkmate after only two moves!!

4. Be aggressive
You want to win. Your opponent makes mistakes too!
Don’t resign too soon, and don’t agree to draw until you’ve
exhausted every winning chance.

» CERI
Ce cag 4 Gee!
ii, 4) GRE. Geet |
Ve ~—

Besides these general ideas, you should also use these

special rules for the opening.

54
 Into action

| The rules of the opening

_ Follow these simple rules and you'll soon be playing the
opening like a champion!

1 Put one or two pawns in the centre. Pawns are the

weakest pieces and will help to scare away stronger
enemy pieces. They will also shield your own pieces
from the attentions of enemy pawns!

Bring out your knights and

bishops near the centre.
Get them off the back
row, otherwise they will
block your rooks. Bishops
are at home in the centre,
but as long-range pieces
they can also function well
away from the centre.

en cud elt xo h
Central (at c4) Fianchetto (see page 56) at g2
striking across centre.

55
Into action a

WwW
—-_N
Oo
AU
©
I

Off back row (on e2) allows castling.

3 Move each piece once in the opening (except when

capturing or avoiding capture).

Who has played better

here?

White has begun badly

by moving up a pawn
to a4 and neglecting
the centre; then white
played a knight out to
a3, b5, then back to
c3 and finally home
again to b1. Black
has followed all our
opening rules!

5G:
 Into action

Castling. Get the king into safety by castling. After

castling, keep some pawns back around the king.

Queen. Move her off the back row on to the second

or third rank, but do not bring her into action too early.
lf you leave her on the back row, your rooks may be
shut in. 5

Rooks. As rooks are high-value pieces, aim for maximum

power and minimum exposure. Exchanging pawns
opens up the game and gives the rooks scope. From the
back row they can pound away against the enemy with
very little danger to themselves.

Try to keep the balance of pieces even (unless you can

actually win pieces) — exchange pawn for pawn, bishop
for bishop or knight, rook for rook. In some openings,
pawns are sacrificed to open up the game and to make
ise,
the enemy lose time by capturing them but, otherw
losing pawns and pieces is bad news.

ay,
Into action

Board talk :
‘Sacrifice’ is when you give up a piece or a pawn to win
more pieces quickly, or to force checkmate.

A ‘gambit’ is a sacrifice in the opening of the game,

usually of a pawn, to improve your position — maybe
by opening up the board, or to launch an attack.
‘Gambit’ literally means ‘legpull’!

Capablanca v. Janowski
Now for a game that shows these rules in action. This is the
opening of a game played between José Raoul Capablanca
(white) and David Janowski (black) in New York, 1918.

Make these moves on your chessboard!

WHITE BLACK
Capablanca Janowski
1. d4 d5
(Rule 1: pawns in centre.)
2. Nf3
(Rule 2: knights and
bishops near centre.)
3. c4 e6
(Rule 1 again. But note that
a pawn capture is now
possible — the black pawn at
d5 can take the white pawn
at c4, or vice versa, and
pawn captures open lines for
 Into action

rooks (Rule 6). Eagle-eyed players will notice that black can
capture the pawn at ¢4 for nothing, but in this opening, called
‘The Queen’s Gambit’, white can usually recover the pawn
after e3 and Bxc4.)

4. BgS
(Rules 2 and 3: move each piece once in the opening.)
4. ... Nbd7
(Why is this written Nbd7, not Nd7? This is because the
knight on f6 (the ‘f’ knight) could also have gone to d7.
In fact the knight at b8 (the ‘b’ knight) went there.)
5.e3 c6

6. Nbd2 Be7

7. Bd3 dxc4

8. Nxc4
or
(Rule 3: move each piece once, except when capturing
(white) evens up the points by
avoiding capture. Capablanca
recapturing a pawn.)
Bos: 0-0

9. 0-0
(Rule 4: castle your king into safety.)
Bt: cS

10. Rel
(Rule 6: place rooks where
they are not blocked by their
own pawns. The knight at
c4 is in the rook’s way, but a
knight can move off a file
and a pawn cannot.)
POs b6
(Black plays b6 to get the
bishop at c8 out into the
game (Rule 2).)
Into action

11. Qe2
(Rule 5: take the queen off the back row (to get her out of
the way of the rooks) but not too far forward (to avoid
exposing her). The second or third rank is best.)
Lies Bb7
12. Rfd1
(Rule 6: place rooks on open lines. The pawns at c5 and d4
may be exchanged, and then the road will be clear for the
rook.)

One quick way of measuring your success in the opening is

to count how many moves it will take you to ‘connect
rooks’ (set up a position where the rooks guard each other
along the back row).

Now you've learned how to play the opening. Try out your
new-found knowledge in your next game of chess!

60
 Into action

, champs: Bobby Fischer

“(World
; Champion 1972-5)
'Bobby Fischer was a grandmaster at the age of 15, and
his tantrums and on-off tactics always made headline
_news of his matches. He turned down a million dollars
to play for the world title declaring: “No-one’s going
to qrrake atee out of me!”

Chess without tears

the worst
Mistakes are easy to make in chess, but to avoid
checklist:
ones, ue the Re thinking method in this

it
: a is itrealsafe?

61
7 ;\ Winning ways
SCHOLAR’S MATE-* DAWN RAIDER
e DIAGONALS © GiIUOCO PIANO
e Copy CATS ° CASTLED KING

\ Gn chess database is filling up — the rules, capturing,

checkmating and opening play. Now for some special
tips to help you win.

1. Scholar’s Mate
Try this out — it’s guaranteed to beat most people! Every
chessplayer needs to know about these pitfalls, if only
to avoid them. Scholar’s Mate is the classic four-move
checkmate. If your opponent knows it, he or she is not
a beginner!

62
 Winning ways

WHITE

1. e4

2. Bc4

3. Qh5
(The moment of truth. Does~ 7
black know how to defend?) 6
5 ae. Nf6
5 fe
(Not this time! White 4
finishes with a snappy
3
checkmate.)
2
4. Qxf7++
(Game over.)

think one
Why does Scholar’s Mate trap so many victims? |
beaten so
reason is that players do not believe they can be
even
quickly, so they are caught out before they have
is that all the play is on
begun to think. The second reason
bishop.
the diagonals, used effectively by queen and
to get used to than
Diagonal moves are much harder
rooks), so these
up-and-down and sideways moves (like the
threats are often missed.

63
Winning ways
Let’s have an action replay of this game.

WHITE

1. e4

2. Bc4

3. Qh5
(Stop! How would you
defend as black?)
ice Qe7
(Simple as that. Black
defends the pawn at f7, and
white cannot checkmate any
more. If white plays...)
SN
oO
DhUWU
©
NW
—
4. Qxf7+ Qxf7
5. Bxf7+ Kxf7
(...black emerges two points ahead.)

Another good defence is:

Saree Qf6

64
 Winning ways

Variations on Scholar’s Mate

The zigzag attack

WHITE
1. e4
2. Bc4
3. QhS
4. Qxe5+
(At least black doesn’t get
checkmated.)
cee
5. Qxh8
(But black does lose a rook.)

The ambush
Mate.
This is the most complicated version of Scholar’s

WHITE BLACK

1.e4 e5

2. Bc4 Bc5

3. QhS Nh6é
(Black guards the f7 square
with the knight. White now
has a cunning plan — to
[Link] knight at h6
with the white bishop, at
present hiding behind the
pawn at d2.)

4. d4 Bxd4
5. Bxh6 gxh6
ei b ms d F f g h
6. Qxf7++
(Same old story!)
Winning ways

2. Dawn Raider
This is another rapid opening attack, which again targets
the weak square at f7.

WHITE

1. e4

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bc4 Nf6
(Of course, black does not
necessarily play these moves,
but they are quite common,
so here is how you carry out
your raid.)
Y—-—NWAUA
NO
4. Ng5
(Aiming for f7.)

4A aes h6é
(Black hasn’t woken up yet!)
5.
5. Nxf7
(This is a perfect example of 8
a knight fork — and black 7|,
walked straight into it! The 6
knight at f7, guarded by the
bishop at c4, threatens both 5]
the queen at d8 and the 4
rook at h8, and white will 3
win one or the other.) 2
27 ee Qe7 1]
(Best of a bad job!)
6. Nxh8&
(White is now six points ahead.)

66
 Winning ways

IBM main frame known |

hampion Garry Kasparov
can look at
“omputers |
, but humans still have
can always turn
ind they —

3. Grab that opportunity!

In football, when a striker sees a defender is in the wrong
place, the striker quickly uses the opportunity to score.
gap
But the chance must be seized at once, before the
is closed.

The deadly diagonal

nent
In chess, there is an opportunity when your oppo
king. You can often get a
weakens a diagonal leading to the
checkmate or a big advantage out of this.

WHITE
1. e4
2. d4
3. Qh5++

You have reached

checkmate already
because the pawns
cannot block the diagonal.
This is your pattern.
Winning ways
The exact moves shown on page 67 will hardly ever turn
up, but similar situations do and it’s up to you to spot
them! For example:

WHITE BLACK

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 f6
(Black guards the pawn at
e5. There doesn’t seem to
be anything wrong with
that, but...)

3. Nxe5
(White seizes the chance!)

S307 fxe5

4. Qh5+
(Now black is in a mess. If black plays 4. g6, black is going to
be zigzagged (see page 65) by the moves 5. Qxe5+ and
6. Qxh8. On the other hand, if black’s king takes a walk, it
could be just as dangerous.)

4. Ke7
5. Qxe5+ Kf7

6. Bc4+ Kg6
7. QFS+ Kh6
8. d4+ g5
9.h4
(Black’s king is suffering a
non-stop barrage of
attacking moves. It’s
unlikely the king will
survive this treatment.)
 Winning ways

And now another example from a game played by José

Raoul Capablanca. This game took place in a simultaneous
contest — Capablanca was playing about 30 players at the
same time, but he thought so quickly that he managed it
with ease!

Capablanca knew exactly

what to do because he
recognised the pattern.

The diagonal was open and

Capablanca went straight on:

WHITE BLACK
11. Qh5+
g6 here?
(How would you continue if black played 11.
Bxg6+ hxg6
The most successful attack would be 12.
Kd6 16. Nf7+,
13. Qxg6+ Ke7 14. Rxf6 Nxf6 15. Qg7+
winning black’s queen with a knight fork.)
What actually happened was:
hee Ke7

12. Bxh7 Nf8

and black defends the
(A new weakness has appeared at g6,
fork by Ng6+. Now
square against the threat of a knight
ve checkmate.)
Capablanca rattled off his seven-mo
13. Qf7+ Kd6

14. Nc4+ dxc4

15. Ne4+ Kd5

69
Winning ways

16. Rf5+
17. Rel+
18. c3+
19. Rd5++
Fantastic!
The final check is a double
check (from rook and
bishop). White has far fewer
pieces on the board, but the
attack was so ferocious that
black never stood a chance.
 Winning ways

1 You are WHITE. It looks

like you are in trouble
here, your bishop on g3 is
trapped by the advancing |
black pawns. But suddenly
you remember the deadly
diagonal, and you find a
way out. What is it?
(Answers on page 121.) unwn
—-—Nwrara_
©

2 Here you are BLACK, and

you are pondering where
to move your knight,
which is attacked by the
pawn at d3. But then you
see something else.
What is it?
(Answers on page 121.)
©
AN
—-NWAaAU

Straight down the middle

of the centre as
Some openings try to get the pawns out
enemy with rooks
soon as possible so you can attack the
Piano, and it
and queens. This one is called the Giuoco
works like a dream!
Winning ways

WHITE BLACK 4.
the e4 e5 8

2. Nf3 Nc6 ey
3. Bc4 BcS 6
4,¢3 =a
4
ye Nf6 3h
5. d4 exd4 2
6. cxd4 Bb4+ a2
7.Nc3
The two pawns side by side
on the central squares d4
and e4 give white ‘midfield
domination’, because the
pawns also attack four
squares in black’s half of the
board. Black acts swiftly to
destroy one of the pawns,
and wins the battle in the
centre.
—-—N
UM
CO
N
ON
Wa
is Nxe4
(Black can do this because
the white knight at c3 is
powerless and pinned.)
8. 0-0
(Black has snapped at the bait, the ‘e’ file is now open — let’s
get a rook on to it!)
Face Nxc3
(A wary opponent would have captured the knight with the
bishop and then stabilised the position with pawn to d5,
keeping the ‘e’ file closed with the knight. But black hasn’t
seen this one before.)

72.
 Winning ways

9. bxc3
(Two pawns ahead and a
rook in prospect, black is
asking “Can chess really be
this easy?” It isn’t!)

10. Ba3 eS

A sly move to trap the black

king in the centre (you can’t
castle through check (see
page 45).)

0... Bxal
(Black takes another valuable piece)

‘11. Rel+
and sees
(The trap is sprung. Desperately black looks around
It’s too late...
‘no exit’ signs plastered all over the board.
black has
black should never have taken that last rook. Now
to give it all back and lose the queen as well.)
Sea Ne7 14. Qxal

12. Bxe7 Qxe7

13. Rxe7+ Kxe7

14. Qxal

King in the middle, rooks

and bishop inactive on their
starting squares, and the
white pieces all poised to
attack. Defeat for black is !
almost certain. =e Head ire tech

in action in another
Now you know the pattern, let’s see it
position.

73
Winning ways

The copy cat trap

This can be used against those annoying people who copy
everything that you do.

WHITE

1. e4

2. Nf3
(Copy cat!)

3. NxeS
(Copy cat!)
4. Qe2
(Now black stops and has a
think. If black plays 4. Qe7
(copying), white could play F
CO
I
AO
—-NWAUW
5. Qxe4 and then black
Qxe5 loses the queen to
6. Qxe5+! Not liking this, 4
black decides to save the
knight.)
See Nf6
5. Nc6+
The discovered check wins
the black queen, because °
how ever black gets out of
check, the white knight will
take the black queen next @&
—-NWrareunwns
move.

Black tried to copy white, but white knew better, and

used the pattern of attack down the central line to win
the queen.

74
Winning ways
Winning ways

1 Black captured a pawn — 2 You can win in two

here with Qxe4. moves here. (Clue:
Was black correct? remember, straight
(Answers on page 121.) down the middle!)
(Answers on page 121.)

—-N
SN
UDO
Wh
©

3 Black’s king is safe and castled, white’s is not. Now, using

your queen, rook and bishop, checkmate white in five
moves (every move is check, so white hasn’t got much
choice!). (Answers on page 121.)

76
ron
Winning ways

| at
ak pawn is a pawn that is hard to defend.
This may be because it is cut off from other pawns,
00 far behind, or stacked up with other pawns.
~ Careful — pawns are easy targets!

in the middle. To
A castled king is muc h safer than a king
his defenders, the
get to the king, you must first overcome
pawns. So weaken! Invade! Destroy!
77
Winning ways 4

Here is an example from a game between Belitzmann |

(white) and Akiba Rubinstein (black).

WHITE BLACK
Belitzmann Rubinstein

Pie Qh4
(The threat of checkmate by ...
Qxh2++ forces a pawn to
advance.)

13. g3 Qh3
(Getting closer.) ©
NSN
UO
Dh
-—_NW

14. c3
(White sees that he is not in danger of checkmate by
... Qg2 because both his knights guard that square.
So he decides to attack, starting with the knight at d4.)
Ags h5
(Black does not bother to move the piece, but begins a
brilliant plan to open up the file for his rooks.)
15. cxd4 h4

16. Qe2
(White sees that the line
is about to be opened, and
with this cunning move
hopes to keep the vital h2
square guarded. If black
now plays 16. .... hxg3
17. fxg3 by a miracle
checkmate is avoided,
because the white queen
now defends the h2 pawn.)
 Winning ways

A brilliant defensive move needs a brilliant attack to secure

victory. Can you see how Rubinstein checkmated from the
last diagram in only three moves? (Answer on page 121.)

Ss Tee

1 White is ready to 2 Here white has another

checkmate on h7 with way to make use of the
queen and bishop. idea of checkmate at h7.
But there’s just one How does he win a rook
drawback — the knight or checkmate after his
at f6 guards the vital next move? (Answer on
square. How does white page 121.)
solve the problem?
(Answer on page 121.)

SN
UTED
dh
©NW
—
 et
Wi nning ways ;

3 White has got her queen 4 Black has castled — can

lined up against the g7 you bring up an extra
square, but she needs attacking unit and set up
reinforcements. What do unanswerable threats?
you suggest? (Answer on ~ (Answer on page 121.)
page 121.)

©
SI
DW
hUW
—-NW

80
 \ Winning by force
LAWN MOWER MATE
e QUEEN MATE ° Box MATE

ured more
: chess, superior force wins. If you have capt
your opponent's
pieces than your opponent, either due to
a clear path to
mistakes or your own good play, you have
t the three
victory. At this point, you need to know abou
basic checkmates.

14. The Lawn Mower Mate

rooks against a
The Lawn Mower Mate is done with two
used with a queen
king, although the same pattern can be
and a rook together, too.
81
Winning by force

The black king is the last

piece left, but black is still
hoping for a stalemate. How
can white checkmate black
from this position, in fewer
than ten moves?

The first thing to remember

is that white mustn’t just ©
N
DO
LUE
—-—NwW
check black. If white keeps
on putting black in check,
the game will be called a
draw (by ‘perpetual’ check).

White needs two ideas: the fence and the lawn mower. The
plan is to force the black king to the edge of the board.
White’s first task is to make a fence.

WHITE BLACK
1. Ra4
(White does not check but with one move cuts the board in
half. The rook fires along the fourth row, and the black king
cannot pass over this line, because he would be moving into
check. So this is the fence.)
i ae Ke5
(The black king walks along the fence, looking for a way out.)
2. Rh1
(You will see the point of this move in a minute.)
2. ie Kf5
3. RhS+
(This second idea is the lawn mower. The rook checks along
the rank, and forces the black king back towards the edge of
the board. Because the other rook is still guarding the fence,
the king cannot step into the middle of the board. Because of
the way the rooks seem to mow the board into neat strips,

82
 Winning by force

this checkmate is called the

lawn mower.)
Bales. Kg6
(Black steps back but is still
not giving up without a
fight. Black has found a
weakness in the fence, and
with the next move intends .
to capture the rook. What
does white do here?)
Ww
O&O
Uw
=—-NWh
4. Rb5
(Excellent move! The black
king is too close, so white
whizzes his rook over to the
other side of the board, far
away from the feeble king,
who now has to trudge back
towards the rooks to find a
hole in the fence.)
= ee Kf6
(Back goes the king. But
now the rooks are in a FS
—-NWAUANO
position to finish him off.)
5. Ra6+
(The rooks swap roles.
Earlier, this rook was the
fence and the other one was
the lawn mower. Now this
rook mows the lawn, while
the other guards the fence.)
Spee Kf7

6. Rb7+ Ke8
N—NWAU
O
DN
7. Ra8++
(The rooks checkmate well
below the target of ten moves.)
 Winning by force

- Board talk
A chess clock is a double clock which times the moves of
both players, so they do not take too long. Chess clocks
were introduced at the beginning of the 20th century,
when time limits were about 12 moves per hour. —
Things have speeded up since then — regular
tournament time limits today are 20 moves an hour!

2. The Queen Mate

This is one of the most
important checkmates, and it
is a good way to learn about
stalemate as well!

White has the same problem

as before. How to checkmate
black? If white can manage
the checkmate in 15 moves —-
©
ahaeunwns
NW

or fewer, white is doing well.

As in the Lawn Mower, it’s no good just checking. White

has to build fences and force the enemy on to the edge. In
this case white’s ‘team’ is the white king and queen,
because the white queen cannot checkmate on her own.

The white king cannot actually do any checking himself,

but he can deny the enemy his squares and guard the
white queen if she checks the black king at close range.

Practise this checkmate with a friend, taking turns to be

white. Call it a win for black if white can’t checkmate in
fewer than 15 moves!

84
 Winning by force

re are some mating positions to aim for.

<

Queen on top. The queen is guarded by the white king and

delivers a close checkmate.

the edge, while

~ Queen sideways. The queen checks along
the white king prevents any escape.

85
Winning by force
Starting from the position on p84, white can play:
WHITE BLACK
—_— Qf3
1. QF3
(White immediately boxes
the black king in. The king
cannot stray beyond the
boundary lines marked out in
the diagram.)
race Kd4
(Black must try to stay in the
middle.)

2. Kb2 KeS
ee
—-—
UW
Dh
©
WN
NW

a buicaducetcgen
3. Kce3
(The white king arrives on the scene. Black cannot now move
into the central d4 square.)
Soc ten Ke6
4. Kd4
(White is now dominant in the centre and can chase the
black king wherever he moves.)
4.... Kd6
5. Qf6+
(A Lawn Mower type check
drives the king ever closer to
the edge.)
lass Kd7
6. Kd5 Kc7
7. Qc6+ Kd8
(Black has been driven to
the edge of the board.
But black sets a last
desperate trap. What move
would you choose as white? N=-NWAUAN
@O
The answer is on page 122.) a bcdef
gh

86
 Winning by force

3. The Box Mate

king. The
This is the checkmate by king and rook against
Mower and
forces here are not as powerful as in the Lawn
toget her to
Queen mates, so they need to work closely
overcome the enemy king's resistance.

Once again the black

king starts off in the best
defensive position in the
middle of the board.
White’s job is to get him
on to the edge of the board.
White starts by approaching
with the king. —-
©
ON
UM
NWA
Winning by force

WHITE BLACK
1. Kb2 Kd5
2. Kc3 KeS
(Next white links the king up
with the rook.)

3. Rh4 Kd5

4. Rd4+ Ke5
(This is the first position to
aim for — you can see that
A—-NWA
O&O
UWA
black’s king has been boxed =
in to one quarter of the abcdefgh
board. By itself, the rook cannot control the black king,
because the king can always attack the rook diagonally. That
is why the rook needs to be supported by his own king to
make the box watertight.)

Having set up the box, white must now gradually make it

smaller. There are three types of move to do this:

¢ Making the box smaller with the rook.

¢ Bringing the king closer.
¢ Playing a waiting move with the rook.

88
: Winning by force

5. Kd3 (king closer)

6. Re4 (box smaller)
7. Kd4 (king closer)
8. Ke5 (king closer)
9. Rf4 (box smaller)

a bc defgh

the
Now white can neither make the box smaller, nor move
king closer. So try this:

8. Ke4 (waiting move) Kg6

9. RF5 (box smaller) Kg7
10. Ke5 (king closer) Kg6

11. Ke6 (king closer) Kg7

12. Rf6 (box smaller) Kg8

13. Rf7 (box smaller) Kh8

14. Kf6 (king closer) Kg8

o
an
UM
—NwWa
aa “ = ree :
15. Kg6 (king closer) Kh8

two squares, and it is”

Now black is down to a box of only
to make the box
time to take stock. It’s no use continuing
be stalemate.
smaller and if white plays 16. Rg/7, it will
kmat e.
Instead white can win with 16. Rf8 chec

h8, white would first

if the black king were on g8 instead of
play Rf6, then Rf8++.
89
Winning by force

Board talk : |
Time trouble happens when players leave themselves
too little time to make their remaining moves, and then
have to rush to beat the clock. If the clock beats them,
they may lose the game, even if they’re a queen
_ ahead onpoints!
——————

No win situations
To end this chapter we'll look at positions where extra force
does not win.

White has extra force here This position can’t be won

in the shape of a knight — either. There will never be a
an advantage of three checkmate — the best white
points. But white can never can do is to stalemate with
checkmate, so the game the bishop and king against
will end in a draw. a lone king.

—-
SN
AO
ALAUI
©
NW ©
NN
UO
ALA
—-_NW

abcdefgh a b¢ de fg “hs
90
 Winning by force

hat about this position?

jo you think white can
in it?
Answer on page 122.)

—-
SN
oO
©
DW
NW

91
§ \ Getting the edge
e [MPROVING YOUR GAME °

‘Improvement comes through refinement. ’

his means that hitting your opponent over the head is

not always the best way to win an argument! If there is
no checkmate, and no way to win pieces, you can still build
up your advantage by:

e placing your pieces better, nearer the centre, or nearer

the enemy king.
e controlling important squares with your pieces and
pawns, especially centre squares.
e weakening enemy pawns, or the pawns around the king.

92
 a

Getting the edge

Here is a classic example from José Raoul Capablanca, who

uses many of these ideas in one game. He was playing
Rudolf Spielmann at New Yorkin 1927.

If we look at this position, it

is hard to see who is better.
The points are level, black’s ~.
king is safe, and white will
soon castle. But black’s
bishop at c8, and central
pawns, are both on the same
coloured squares. This means
that black is strong on
squares of one colour (white)
a b c def gh
but weak on squares of the
other colour. Put it another way: if you had lots of horses
and carts and controlled the roads, you might still be
defeated by an opponent who used the rivers and canals.

WHITE BLACK
Capablanca Spielmann
12. 0-0 a6
13. Rfel
(White prepares to play a pawn to e4. We know why pawn
exchanges are made.)
tis 3 Qe6
(Black unpins the knight, which was trapped by the white
bishop at g5. Black is now ready to capture the white pawn if
it foolishly moves to e4.)

14. Nd2
(White renews the threat of playing the pawn to e4.)
AS b5
Getting the edge q

15. Qa5S
(The white queen settles on
a dark square where the
black pawn and bishop,
marooned on white squares,
cannot attack her.)

hone Ne4
(Finally, black plugs up the
e4 square, and puts paid to
white’s attempts to play e4.
It is clear that the white rook
will not get into the game
from e1.)

16. Nxe4 dxe4

17. a4
(White makes a pawn thrust
to break up the chain on the
queen side. It would not be a
good idea now for black to
capture by 17. ... bxa4, since
after 18. Rxa4, the pawn at
c4 would be on its own and
difficult to defend.)
WwW
—-N
©
sas
hunmW
Ufo Qd5
(The players are matching
each other blow for blow.
But now Capablanca unleashes the winning combination.)
18. axb5
(White is prepared to lose the bishop at g5 in order to
destroy black’s position on the queen side.)
184.8 Qxg5
(Black has no alternative but to make the intended capture,
since if black plays 18. ... axb5, black loses a rook after 19.
Qxa8 Qxa8 20. Rxa8.
 Getting the edge

19. Bxe4 Rb8& 20.

20. bxa6
Black’s defences have
crumbled. Capablanca’s
pawn at a6, ready to queen
in two moves, gives him a *

winning advantage.
White used central play,
line opening and better
placed pieces to overcome ©
I
BH
—NWAU
his opponent.

95
10 Winning by tactics
THE FORK @ THE PIN. ®° DISCOVERED ATTACK

P the early part of this book we looked at simple capturing

ideas, but as we moved on, many of the games showed
complicated movements lasting for several moves, needing
good calculating skills. This part of chess is called tactics.
We are now going to look at some of the most simple
tactical ideas.

The fork
(also called the
double attack)
Black’s knight attacks two
or more pieces at once,
ensuring that black will win
one of them. This is one of
the best ways to win pieces. —-
DUI
NN
A
©
NW
.

abcde
f gh

96
': Winning by tactics

The pin
The stronger piece is shielded
by the weaker piece, and if
the weaker piece moves out
of the way, the stronger one
is captured. In the diagram, |
the knight at f6 is pinned by
the bishop at g5. If the
knight moves away, white
can capture the black queen.

Only rooks, bishops and queens can pin, whereas all pieces
can fork. Here are three ways to use the power of the pin:

The pinned pieces are both

worth more than the pinner.
A simple capture wins pieces.
In this diagram, we’re only
four moves into the game,
and black has hit the jackpot.
Black’s move 4. ... Bb4 pins
and wins the white queen.

The pinned piece is held in

place while other pieces attack
it, allowing white to capture 8 :

and win points. The rook at

7\4
el pins the bishop at e7 6
."
against the black king.
Instead of capturing the 4
bishop immediately, white 3]
plays a bishop to g5. No 2
black piece can come to the IE
rescue of the e7 bishop, and
black must lose pieces.
Winning by tactics

A pinned piece does not

defend. White carelessly plays
1. Qxd5 here, thinking she
has won a knight, because
her queen is guarded by the
white knight at c3. But after
black replies 1. ... Qxd5,
white realises that she has
lost her queen, because the
knight at c3 is pinned and
cannot re-capture.

Pro quote oe
"Chessis99%-tactics.”
Richard Telchoiann 4

The discovered attack

The discovered attack includes the discovered check and
the double check. It is rather like a free kick in football.
One piece moves out of the way of another, and discovers
(or uncovers) an attack from the piece behind. To inflict
maximum damage with your ‘free kick’, the piece MOvlDig
out of the way should also attack something.
98
 Winning by tactics

Here the black rook and

knight are lined up against
the white king. Black
uncovers a check against the
white king by playing the
knight to f4. At the same
time, the black knight Pa

threatens the white queen

at h5. After white has moved —-
©
A
UO
NWA
out of check, black captures eh ceed cet se ch
the queen.

Try testing yourself with these diagrams.

(Answers are on page 123.)

Forks
In each position one side can make a fork that will win
points or end in checkmate. Find the crushing move and
the two threats.

@ white to play. @ white to play.

abcdefgh a bcdef gh

99
Winning by tactics
© white to play. O White to play.

zs : a 7 = TT:

5] White to play.

|=
| _e =e

abcde f h a beds

@ Black to play. 8) WI hite to play.

aia ¢ SI
oO
hUW
WwW=
—-—N
©

100
 Winning by tactics

ins
a8

Find the pinned piece in each position. Attack the pinned

piece so that you can win points on your next move.
(Answers are on page 123.)

@ Black to move and attack a @ White to move and attack a

pinned piece. = pinned piece.

WwW
-—_N
©
ns
hun

abcdefgh

3] White to move and attack a 4) White to move and attack a

pinned piece. pinned piece. Make sure it is
a legal move!

101
Winning by tactics
© White uses a pin to win points. | @ Black wins three points. How?

@ Should black take a rook, or is © White mates in two moves.

there a better move? The pin helps.

102
)s Winning by tactics

_ Discovered check
“In each position, white or black has a devastating
discovered check, or a discovery that wins points.
(Answers on page 123.)

@ Black to play. @ Black to play.

Wari
—-N
©
unn

Pe pecriedose-feg=h Sahara
dee (alee bh

© Black to play. © Black to play.

WwW
—_—N
nw~
hw
© —-
oO
©
hU
I
NW

103
Winning by tactics
© white to play. @ White to play.

8x

Ni)
a ete
ab, dud tach

@ Black to play. This time a

double check leads to
checkmate. See if you
can mate in two moves.

nN
—-
©
wWwWdbaunwn —-—
DW
hU
©
NW
~

104
 Winning by tactics

Mating attacks
Terminate your opponent in just one move! The queen is
the strongest attacking piece. In these positions, the white
queen delivers the mating blow in one move.
(Answers on page 124.)

© White to play. * @ White to play.

SN
AO
©
EU
NW
= Re

PT ee ee a b c def gh

© White to play. © white to play.

WD
hUWU
WwW
—-N
I
a bc de ff g h

; 105
Winning by tactics
© white to play. © White to play.

OH
UI
Dh
WwW
=—_N ©
YN
AO
WAU
—N

abcdefgh abcedefgh
@ White to play. @ White to play.

—-
©
I
UO
NWA

106
 Winning by tactics

More mating attacks

These are a bit harder. White is to play and checkmate in
two moves. |
(Answers on page 124.)

@ White to play. @ White to play.

—-
Lh
©
UDWn
NW

a bc deefgh

© White to play. @ White to play.

107
Winning by tactics
And finally - white checkmates in three moves.

@ White to play. @ White to play.

=—-
©
SN
LUO
NW

108
|2 Winning by tactics

__ We have come nearly to the end of this book, and like all
iq endings, it is the start of a new beginning. If you have read
this book carefully you will soon find that you are streets
ahead of your friends and can go on to further challenges.

So to help you on your future journeys, | have included

some information about chess clubs and tournaments that
you might like to take part in, and other books and
magazines too.

See you at the world championships!

AMP
yaOries Bd
NGS.

| 109
 “| The chess scene
Some useful addresses:
British Chess Federation
9a Grand Parade
St Leonards-on-Sea
East Sussex TN38 ODD
tel: 01424 442500
email: office@[Link]
Australian Chess Federation
Mr Gary Bekker
5-10 Carawford Road
Brighton-el-fands
New South Wales
2216
tel: 61 2 9556 3960
email: gbekker@[Link]
Irish Chess Union
Mr M Cinneide
45 Harty Place
Dublin 8
tel: 353 1 7062482
email: ocinneide@[Link]

New Zealand Chess Federation

PO Box 216
Shortland Street
Auckland
email: nzchessfed@[Link]

Chess South Africa

Mr Arthur Kobese
PO Box 90673
Bertsham
2013 Johannesburg
tel: 27 11 985 4538
s

110
I
Le
The chess scene

x
Join the club
_ Start on the road to the top by taking part in school chess
tournaments. If your school hasn’t got a club ask your
teachers to set one up. Alternatively, get a little pocket set
and challenge your friends to a game. You'll soon gather a
club of chess nuts around you!

The UK Chess Challenge

One thousand schools and 35,000 players aged 6-18 take
part in this, and any school or chess club can join in. Details
from Mike Basman, 7 Billockby Close, Chessington, Surrey,
KT9 2ED. Tel: 0181 397 1826

Local chess clubs

Most counties and major cities have junior clubs, teams
and leagues. There are junior county teams at Under 9,
Under 11, Under 14 and Under 18 ages, as well as
separate girls teams for Under 11, Under 14 and Under 18.
For details of junior chess clubs in your area, write to:
The British Chess Federation, 9a Grand Parade,
St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex TN38 ODD.

111
The chess scene

The chess ladder

Start at the bottom by entering some junior events.

Standard

World Champion (Garry Kasparov)

Supergrandmaster
Grandmaster
International Master
National standard
County player
Club player
Novice
Beginner

The world champions

Chess has been played since at least 600aD, and probably
before that. World Champions have been recognised for
almost 150 years.

1886-94 Wilhelm Steinitz Austria

1894-1921 Emanuel Lasker Germany
1921-7 José Raoul Capablanca Cuba
1927-35 Alexander Alekhine Russia
1935-7 Max Euwe The Netherlands
1937-46 Alexander Alekhine Russia
1948-57 Mikhail Botvinnik USSR
1957-8 Vasily Smyslov USSR
1958-60 Mikhail Botvinnik USSR
1960-1 Mikhail Tal USSR
1961-3 Mikhail Botvinnik USSR
1963-9 Tigran Petrosian USSR
1969-72 Boris Spassky USSR
1972-5 Bobby Fischer USA
1975-85 Anatoly Karpov USSR
1985- , Garry Kasparov Russia
' The chess scene

_ Chess books
Here is a short list of great titles to help you prepare for
your World title challenge.

Subject Title
Capturing Beginner to winner in two months
Checkmating Find the mate!
Checkmate in two moves
Openings Secrets of chess
Chess traps
How to play the opening like a master
Silent encounter
Chess openings
Tactics Two birds with one stone
100 death-defying chess positions
Tactics
Endgame Endgames
All available from Audio Chess, 7 Billockby Close,
Chessington, Surrey KT9 2ED.

Cyber chess
Computers are tremendous to train with, because they
don’t let you get away with anything! (Garry Kasparov
reckons that his grade improved 100 points from training
with computers.) You can get good cheap computers from
your local store or Dixons. National distributors are:
Chess & Bridge, 369 Euston Road, London, NW1 3AR
Tel: 0171 388 2404
Countrywide Computers Victoria House, 1 High Street,
Wilburton, Cambridge CB6 3RB. Tel: 01353 740323
You can find out about chess software on the Internet site:
[Link]
113
 The chess scene [

Chess on the Net

General link site:
[Link]
To play and get advice:
[Link]

Deep Blue vs. Kasparov site:

[Link]

Garry Kasparov's site:

[Link]
To play chess online:
[Link]
Chess news — The Week in Chess:
[Link]

Chess shops
For chess sets, books, chess computers and software,
videos, audiotapes, scorebooks, and tournament
equipment.
Chess and Bridge
369 Euston Road, London NW1 3AR
(0171-388-2404)
which also publishes Chess magazine.
Chess Shop
69 Masbro Road, Kensington, London W14 OLS
(0181-603-2877)
which also publishes British Chess Magazine.
Tournament Chess Supplies
51 Borough Way, Potters Bar, Herts.
(01707-659080)

114
 The chess scene

_ Chess magazines
The leading magazines are:
Chess
British Chess Magazine
(see above for addresses under chess shops).

Mind Sports Olympiad

There are hundreds of other games as well as chess, and at
the Mind Sports Olympiad (held in London every August)
you can play them all — and win junior gold, silver and
bronze medals as well!
Contact David Levy (0171-485-9146).

115
| a Glossary
adjournment if a game goes on too ends as a win to the side that
long it can be adjourned — broken checkmates.
off and continued at a later date. chess clock a double clock which
adjudication when a game goes on measures the time taken by each
too long and the result is decided player, so the game doesn’t last
according to the position on the too long.
board. combination a sequence of moves in
algebraic notation the method of which the pieces link up together
naming the squares on the to achieve an objective. A
chessboard with letters and spectacular sacrifice is usually
numbers. involved.
congress a chess competition or
blindfold chess chess played without tournament, where players
sight of the board. Usually the compete for prizes. There are
player sits away from the board, thousands every year throughout
so he or she cannot see it, and
the world.
calls out the moves using correspondence chess (or postal
algebraic notation. chess) chess played by post, with
blitz chess (also rapid, lightning,
players sending moves to each
five-minute chess) chess played other through the mail.
at a very fast speed, using the
chess clock as a timer. demonstration board a large board
which usually hangs on a wall and
capture when one piece takes
can be used to demonstrate a
another enemy piece. The
game to a class of pupils, or
capturing piece moves on to the
an audience. Demonstration
square of the enemy piece, and
boards are frequently used in
the enemy piece is removed
tournaments, when the organisers
from the board.
do not want spectators
castling a combined move of the
crowding round the real board.
king and one of the rooks. The
development a key word in chess, it
king is moved two squares along
means getting your pieces off the
the first rank towards the rook,
back row and into a more central
which is then placed on the
position before launching an
square crossed by the king.
attack. The king is also usually
check a king under attack is said to
castled, and the rooks
be in check.
‘connected’, to ‘complete
checkmate (mate) a position in
development’.
which the king is under attack
diagram a picture of a chess position
and cannot escape. The game
with pieces on it.

116
 Glossary
_ discovered attack when you move a the endgame begins when the
: piece out of the way of another queens have been exchanged.
piece, and an attack on an enemy exchange to swap or trade pieces.
piece is uncovered, or
‘discovered’. fianchetto development of a bishop
discovered check a check that is on the square b2, b7, g2 or g7. It
uncovered by a piece along a means ‘little flank’, and comes
straight line after a blocking piece from the Italian fianco.
has moved out of the way. =e file a row of squares going vertically.
double check a check given by two fork (double attack) every piece on
pieces at the same time. It always the chess board can fork, as every
involves a discovery. piece can attack at least two
doubled pawns a poor position for enemy pieces at the same time.
pawns, it happens when they are Making these attacks can be
stacked on top of each other deadly winning weapons, as the
instead of being placed side by opponent may not be able to
side. They cannot defend each guard both pieces at the same
other, and the front one gets in time.
the way of the back one. fool’s mate the shortest game,
draw a game that cannot be won by possibly ending on the second
either side is called a draw. A draw move. 1. g4 e6 2. f3 Qh4++ is
is quite common in chess — one example.
possibly a quarter of all games are
gambit an opening where one player
drawn.
gives up a piece, usually a pawn,
en passant a special form of pawn to gain an advantage in position.
capture, where a pawn that has grading the ranking of players
just moved up two squares can be according to their strength.
captured by an enemy pawn
hole a weakness in a position, usually
standing alongside. The capture
a square that cannot be defended
has to be made straightaway and
by a pawn and which is ripe for
the capturer lands on the square
invasion.
the enemy pawn passed over.
En passant is French for illegal move a move that breaks
‘in passing’. the rules of chess, for example
en prise This means leaving a piece moving a knight like a bishop, or
where it can be taken by an moving a king into check.
enemy piece, usually for nothing. international master a title for a
In games between strong players, chess player, recognising
this sort of mistake rarely occurs, internationally a player of great
except when players are stressed strength.
or short of time. international grandmaster a rank
endgame the last part of the game, above the international master.
where there are a few pieces on One of the strongest players in
the board. Many players consider the world.

117
Glossary
j‘adoube a French word, meaning pocket set a small chess set that has
‘| adjust’. This is what you say miniature pieces, enabling games
before you touch a piece if you to be played on buses, trains and
only want to adjust it on a square, in other cramped places.
and not move or capture it. promotion when a pawn gets to the
end of the board, it can change
king-side (short side) the king-side into a rook, knight, bishop or
of the board is the four files e, f, queen.
g, h which are nearest to the king.
queen-side (long side) the four files
lose on time to lose a game because a, b, c, d, nearest to the queen at
you did not make enough moves the start of the game.
before your time ran out on the
clock. rank a row of squares going
losing chess or suicide chess a fun sideways.
game where the winner is the one re-capture after losing a piece to
who lost all his or her pieces. If a your opponent, taking a piece of
piece can be captured, it must be, same or similar value. Re-capture
and kings can be taken as well. keeps the two opponents at level
points in a game.
middle game after the opening
(getting the pieces into action), sacrifice a move that gives up pieces
the middle game begins. The to gain an advantage, an attack,
players try for definite objectives — or a forced checkmate.
for example, increasing central simultaneous display a number of
control, or attacking the enemy games played at the same time by
king or pawn weaknesses. one player. The master usually
walks around making one move at
opening the first part of the game, a time on the board of each of his
where the pieces are being or her opponents.
brought into position, before the stalemate a situation where a player
start of the attack. is not in check, but anywhere they
move will put them into check.
pawn chain when pawns are linked
None of the other pieces can
together along a diagonal. The
move, and the game is a draw.
pawn further back defends the
strategy the planning of the long-
pawn further forward, like links in
term objectives of the game as
a chain. A difficult position to
opposed to short-term tactics and
break down.
actions.
perpetual check continuous
Swiss system the most popular way
checking which results in a draw,
of playing chess tournaments, in
but not checkmate.
which the players do not play
pin a piece that holds down an
everyone in the tournament, but
enemy piece because if it moves,
neither is it a knockout event.
the piece behind will be in
danger. *
Players play a selected number of
opponents, and the player with

118
 Glossary
the best overall score is the bishop = 3 points; pawn =
winner. 1 point. The king = the game.
It helps you decide which piece to
touch piece move in competition exchange, and who is winning
chess, touching a piece means during a game.
you have to move it, unless you
said ‘j‘adoube’ first. Touching an world champion the best player in
enemy piece means you have to the world.
capture it, and putting apieceon |
a square and taking your hand off " zugzwang a German word, it means
it means you have to leave it that you have to move, even
there. though the move leads to defeat.
trap a line of play to lure your It usually occurs in the endgame.
opponent into a trap by allowing zwischenzug a German word
him or her what appears at first meaning ‘in-between move’.
sight to be a good move. A trick! Instead of following an expected
series of moves or captures, a
value of pieces a useful way to rank player inserts an in-between move
the pieces. The queen = 9 points; which may decisively alter the
rook = 5 points; knight = 3 points; course of the game.

119
 Answers
PAGE 33 OUT OF CHECK
1. Kf2 2. Rxd6 3. Nb1 4. Kg5

PAGE 34 HOW MANY CHECKS?

1. Nc4+ Ne4+ Bg3+ b7+ (discovered check) Qe5+ Qe6+
Qxe7+ Qg3+ Qf4+ Qh6+

2. h6+ Nf5+ Bd4+ Rg6+ Rb7+

3. Qe4+ Qe3+ Qe2+ Qg6+ Qd6+ Qa6+ QF5+ Qh3+ Qd7+
Qd5+ Qc4+ Qb3+

4. Ne3+ Ne5+ Bd3+ Bf7+ Ra4+ Rc8+ (d3 is not allowed,

as it also puts white’s king into check from the rook.)

PAGES 34-5 CHECKMATING

1. Qf4++ 2. QdB++ 3. Qa6++ 4. Nf5++

PAGE 36 TEST YOURSELF: CAPTURING TESTS

1. cxd6 gxh6 Nxcl Nxa5 Bxa6 Bxh7 Qxc1 Kxh2 Qxe6

2. exf6 Nxa2 Nxe2 Bxc8 Rxcl Rxg7 Kxc5 Kxc6

PAGE 38 TEST YOURSELF: CAPTURES

1. Good captures: Nxb7 Bxb7 (wins 2 points)
Bxd8 Kxd8 (wins 6 points)
Swaps: cxd6 Bxd6; Nxe5 Nxe5
Bad captures: Bxb5 axb5 (loses 2 points)
Qxe6+ fxe6 (loses 8 points) Qxh7 Rxh7 (loses 8 points)
2. Good'captures: Nxg7 (3 points) Bxa7 Kxa7 (2 points)
Nxd6+ (1 point)
120
' Answers
ro Swaps: Qxa4 bxa4; Rxh8 Bxh8
Bad captures: Nxe5 dxe5 (loses 2 points)

PAGE 71 TEST YOURSELF: DIAGONALS

1. 1. e3 if black plays 1. ... fxg3 2. QH5++. If 1. ... Nf6
(to stop checkmate), white frees his bishop with 2. exf4.

2. 1.... Qh4+. If 2. Ke2 Qf2++. Or 2. g3 Nxg3, and if

3. hxg3 Qxh1.

PAGE 76 TEST YOURSELF

1. 1. ... Qxe4. 2. Rel pins the black queen.
2. 1. Nf6 (double check) Kd8 2. Re8++.
3. 1. ... Qxd2+ 2. Kf1 Rci+! 3. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 4. Bdl (The
queen cannot be taken because the knight at e2 is
pinned.) Qxd1+ 5. Bel Qxe1++.

PAGE 79 BELITZMANN VS RUBINSTEIN

Black won with a queen sacrifice: 1. ... Qxh2+ 2. Kxh2
hxg3 (double check) 3. Kg1 Rh1++.

PAGES 79-80 TEST YOURSELF: CASTLED KING

1. 1. Rxf6 Qxf6 2. Qxh7++
2. 1. Qe4 threatening Qxh7++ or Qxa8.

3. 1. Bh6 threatens checkmate by Qxg7++. Black cannot

take the bishop as the pawn is pinned. To stop
checkmate black must play 1. ... g6, which loses 2 points
after 2. Bxf8 Bxf8.
4. 1. Qh5 Now white threatens Qxh7++ and attacks f7
three times. Black’s position is lost. For example:
1. ... h6 2. Nxf7 Qe8 (2. ... Rxf7 3. Qxf7+ is the best
chance.) 3. Nxh6 (double check) Kh7 4. Nf7+ Kg8
5. Qh8++.
121
Answers

PAGE 86 THE QUEEN MATE

WHITE BLACK
8. Qb7
(This is by far the best move. If you choose the more obvious
Ke6 or Kd6, you will soon discover that you have stalemated
your opponent, and the result of the game will be a draw.
Instead, white makes a fence with the queen, just as in the
Lawn Mower mate. The black king cannot escape from his
position at the side of the board.)
S25 Ke8 10. Qf7+4+

9. Ke6 Kf8 :
(Running for safety, but he’s
not fast enough!)
10. Qf7++

abedefgh

PAGE 91 NO WIN SITUATIONS

Yes, white is only a point up, but white’s pawn has a clear
run to the end of the board. When it gets there, it can turn
into a queen. And from earlier in this chapter, you will know
how to checkmate then. (A good tip: don’t get left with a
bishop and a knight at the end of a game — keep a pawn
handy so you can turn it into a queen!)

y
72
 Answers

‘ PAGES 99-100 FORKS

1. 1. Ne8+ followed by Nxd6
| 2. 1. Qxd5 attacking the black knight at h5 and the rook
at a8
. Nf7+ and Nxd6
. Qa4+ and Qxa6
. Qc8+ and Qxb7 a
. Rf5 threatening Rxh5 and Rxe5
.. €4 forking queen and knight
cd
aa
gb
gid. Qg5 threatening both Qxd8+ and Qxg7++
ee
ee!

PAGES 101-2 PINS

Be Ly ano 1 4
2. 1. Rd1. If black plays 1. ... Qxc4, white inserts the
zwischenzug (in-between move) 2. Rxd8+ Kg7
3. bxc4, and comes out a rook ahead.
we 1. d5 attacking the pinned knight at c6
4. 1. d4. Not 1. f4 because that pawn is also pinned!
1. Rxe5+. Black cannot reply 1. ... fxe5 because the
pawn is pinned
6. 1. ... Qxe4 2. dxe4 Rxd2
7.1. ... £2 and the pawn queens, as the white rook is
pinned.
8. 1. Qxg6+ Kh8 2. Rh1++

PAGES 103-4 DISCOVERED CHECK

.1.... d4+ and dxc3
1. ... Bxe5+ and Bxd6
BE Sexhay 2. Nxh2 Rxd3
1. ...Ng3+ and Qxc2
1 Nc5+ and Nxa6
1. fxg5+ and gxh6
1. ... Rxh3+ 2. Kgl Rh1++
>ONAWARWN
1; Bd5+ and Bxb7 wins a piece

123
Answers

PAGES 105-6 MATING ATTACKS

1. Qe4+
. Qc4++
. Qxb7++
. Qxd6++
. Qxd7++
. Qb6++
. Qe8++
Do
ened
Fer
Poot
ee
ee
i| . Qe7++

PAGES 107-8 MORE MATING ATTACKS

Mate in two moves
1. 1. Nb6+ Kd8 2. Qd6++
2. 1. c3+ Ke4 2. Re3++
3. 1. Qe8+ Rxe8 2. Rxe8++
4. 1. Qxb6+ Nb7 2. Qxb7++

Mate in three moves

1. 1. QhS+ Kg8 2. QF7+ Kh8 or h7 3. Qxg7++
2. 1. Rxg7+ Kh8 2. Rh7+ Kg8 3. Rh8++
3. 1. Bf8+ BhS 2. Qxh5+ gxh5 3. Rh6++
4. 1. RcS Ke8 2. Rf5 Kd8 3. Rf8++

124
 Fischer, Bobby 61
Alekhine, Alexander 25 forks 16, 96, 99-100
ambush, the 65
G
B gambit 58, 59
bishop move 11, 17-18, 26 Giuoco Piano 71-3
Botvinnik, Mikhail 39, 50 grandmasters 6, 70
Box Mate 87-9
i
Cc International Masters 6, 80
Capablanca, José Raoul 39, 58-60,
69, 93-5 J
captures 7, 30, 31, 35-9, 61 Janowski, David 58-60
castling 24-5, 30, 31, 40-5, 57,
77-80 K
check 22-3, 30, 31, 32-5, 44-5 Karpov, Anatoly 64, 91
checkmate 7, 22-3, 30, 31, 32, Kasparov, Garry 67, 75
34-5, 46, 47, 62-5, 79-80, king move 11, 21, 26
81-9, 90, 105-8 knight fork see forks
chess clocks 84 knight move 11, 15-16, 26
chess clubs 8
chess computers 67 L
chessboards 10, 12, 27, 28-9, 31 Lasker, Emanuel 23
Lawn Mower Mate 81-3, 87
D
Dawn Raider 66 N
Deep Blue 67 notation 28-31
diagonals 10, 11, 17, 63, 67-71
discovered attack 98-9 Oo
discovered check 74, 98-9, 103-4 opening 55-60
double check 98
P
E pawn move 10, 12-14, 26, 48-50
en passant 40, 48-50 pins 97-8, 101-2
en prise 45 Polgar, Judith 91
Euwe, Max 47
Q
F Queen Mate 84-7
fianchetto 56 queen move 11, 20, 26
files 10

125
Index
R T
ranks 10 touch piece move 50
re-captures 36-7, 38
resignation 50-1 W
rook move 11, 19-20, 26 World Champions 16, 23, 25, 47,
50, 61, 64, 75, 91
RY
sacrifice 58 v4
Scholar's Mate 62-5 zigzag attack 65
Spielmann, Rudolf 93-5 Zugzwang 53
stalemate 40, 46-7, 90-1
Steinitz, Wilhelm 16

126
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