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Critical Thinking, version 2.0 oarle 1-1 1. The Chess Board and Pawn Movement Objectives: 1. Name squares and chessmen at start of game 2, Set up the chessmen at the start of the game 3, State and apply rules of movement for the pawns The main objective of this lesson is to teach the rules of movement for the pawns, including en passant, A little about the board is also taught, as well as how the chessmen are set up at the beginning of the game. Students will play the pawn game to practice the rules of movement for the pawn. Outline of lesson: 1. The chess board 2, Setting up the chessmen 3. Using the pawns 4. Student competition with the pawn game 5. Problems that are likely to arise 6. Review Questions C> 2006 u.s. Center

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Page 1: 1. The Chess Board and Pawn Movement - US Chess … Thinking, version 2.0 oarle 1-1 1. The Chess Board and Pawn Movement Objectives: 1. Name squares and chessmen at start of …

Critical Thinking, version 2.0 oarle 1-1

1. The Chess Board and Pawn Movement

Objectives:

1. Name squares and chessmen at start of game

2, Set up the chessmen at the start of the game

3, State and apply rules of movement for the pawns

The main objective of this lesson is to teach the rules of movement for the pawns, including en passant, A little about the board is also taught, as well as how the chessmen are set up at the beginning of the game.

Students will play the pawn game to practice the rules of movement for the pawn.

Outline of lesson:

1. The chess board

2, Setting up the chessmen

3. Using the pawns

4. Student competition with the pawn game

5. Problems that are likely to arise

6. Review Questions

C> 2006 u.s. Che.~;~· Center

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PART 1: THE CHESSBOARD

number of squares

colors

light on the right

names of squares

oage 1-2

Ask a student to tell the number of squares on the board, and how s/he knew there were that many. Point out that there are eight rows and eight columns.

Refer to the colors of the 64 squares as light/dark, not whitelblack or white/green. (Different boards are different colors and the different sides will be called white and black. Referring to the squares as light and dark lessens confusion and ambiguity.)

Correctly placing the board requires a light square in each player's right­hand corner. The teacher might wish to place some boards incorrectly so some student-pairs must rotate the board in order to have a light square in the right-hand corner.

Explain letters/numbers, and that each square has unique name. Have students sitting at the side of the board with low numbers simultaneously point to squares like b4 and hI. Have partuers simnltaneously point to other squares, like c5 and gS.

Without giving names to each square, we would not be able to communicate as effectively. Being able to write down the moves to games they play will later be the most effective learning device a player has.

© 2006 u.s. Chess Center

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PART 2: SETTING UP THE CHESSMEN

using chess notation

rooks, knights, bishops

definition of rank,

queen on its color

pawns vs. pieces

definition of files, kingside, queenside

first rank, last rank

white moves first

1)af!e 1-3

For now, the white chessmen are always to be set up on the side of the board with the low numbers, so that the square "hI" is in white's right­hand comer. Eventually, the students will assign "hI" to white's right­hand comer regardless of which side ofthe board the white chessmen are on, or whether the board has letters or numbers printed on it at all.

The students should consistently use chess notation to communicate their ideas. Questions to students should regularly require students to answer by naming squares on the board.

Set up and name the rooks, knights and bishops, beginning with the rooks, then the knights, then the bishops.

Point out that there are only two squares left on the first rank (row), one dark, one light. The rule is "queen on its color." White queen: light square; black queen: dark square.

Set up the pawns on the second rank. Explain that the pawns are not pieces. Pawns are pawns. Pieces are rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. The pawns and the pieces together are the chessmen.

Explain that the right half of the board from white's perspective-­consisting of the four columns (files) on the right (the e, f, g and h files)-­is called the kingside and the left half of the board (the a, b, c and d files) is called the queenside.

Explain that each player has his or her own first rank, but that white's first rank is also the first rank on the board. Explain ranks by counting rows, showing that black's fifth rank is white's fourth rank, and the fourth rank on the board. Notice that each player's first rank is the other's eighth and last rank.

In chess, white always moves first and the players always alternate turns.

{' }006 us Chess Center

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PART 3: USING THE PAWNS

forward only

capture diagonally

blocked pawns

pawns attack each other

may not capture own men

capture and recapture; protect and trade

oafle 1-4

Have the students remove the pieces, leaving only the pawns on the board. Demonstrate the pawn rules:

Pawns move only forward, one or two squares from the starting rank, but after that only one square forward.

In this position, the white side has just moved a pawn from e2 - e4 on the first move and black responded with the move e7 - e6.

Pawns capture diagonally forward only. Next play the move d2 - d4 for white and d7 d5 for black. Ask what choices the white player has now. White may capture e4 x d5. White also may move from e4 - e5. Captures are not required in chess. White also may move any other pawn, except the d pawn, which is blocked.

Pawns may not "push through" each other, nor may they jump.

Notice that diagonally adjacent pawns attack each other simultaneously. If a white pawn can capture a black pawn, then, on its tum, the black pawn can capture the white pawn.

In chess, you may never capture your own man.

Play the move e4 x d5. Ask what black's most likely response is. The answer is that black's pawn on e6, which was protecting the pawn on dS, will now capture the pawn on dS. This exchange of pawns is known as a trade.

© 2006 u.s. Chess Center

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controlling Define "controlling squares": chessmen "control" the squares that they squares attack, not necessarily the squares to which they can move and never the

squares they occupy.

enpassant captures: capture "in passing"

en passant cannot be delayed

Pawns do not control the squares to which they can move. In the capturelrecapture position above, each of the e pawns controls the dS square but e4 does not control eS. If e4 x dS, then it is likely that black would respond with e6 x dS.

Emphasize that squares are controlled by the men that attack them regardless of the man that happens to be on that square. Have students name squares when they answer questions (e.g., "The white pawn on e4 is attacking black's pawn on dS, and black's pawn on e6 is defending (or protecting) the black pawn on dS").

Demonstrate en passant. The en passant rule is:

(I) A player has a pawn on its fifth rank.

(2) An opponent's pawn uses the double move to pass by the square on which it could have been captured by the player's pawn on its fifth rank.

(3) The player can capture the opponent's pawn diagonally, as if the opponent's pawn had moved only one square.

Explain that the en passant capture must be played immediately or never. En passant cannot be delayed.

Have students move their pawns so that every student gets an opportunity to practice the en passant rule. Alternate whitelblack practicing en passant.

Demonstrate a delayed en passant capture that is not allowed. Demonstrate that if the opponent's pawn moves only one square (either from its starting position or after it has moved) and lands directly next to the player's pawn, then en passant cannot be done.

Be thorough with en passant. It is nearly always a source of confusion for beginning players.

<t) 2006 u.s Chess Cel1ler

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Alternative method of teaching en passant

Encourage critical thinking

Review concept of protecting

paf!e J-6

Start with the board set up with eight pawns in the starting position for both sides. Move white's d pawn forward two squares (d2 - d4) and ask whether that was a good move.

Whether it was strategically a good move or not does not matter, but the students should agree that the move was legal. Then move black's pawn from d7 - d6 and ask the same question. Again, the move was legal.

Now move white's d pawn forward another square (d4 - dS) and again get the students to acknowledge the move was legal. The position will be as shown helow.

Ask whether white may move his d pawn now.

The answer, of course, is, "no." But, to encourage the students to think for themselves and to think critically, ask why white may not move the d pawn.

Answers about the pawn being blocked, not being allowed to move sideways or backwards should all be noted as being correct, but

the most important reason that white's d pawn may not be moved is because white has just moved and now it is black's turn.

Now move black's pawn from e7 - e6 (diagram.)

Ask what white can do with the d pawn now. White may capture the e pawn. What else may white do with the pawn? White may protect it by moving c2 - c4 ore2-e4.

Note that if there were a reason to want the pawn on dS, capturing removes that pawn but protecting will keep a pawn on that square.

f) 2006 us. Chess Center

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Enpassant

PART 4: STUDENT COMPETITION WITH THE PAWN GAME

winning and drawing the pawn game

throwing away pawns

the element of time and winning the pawn game

fJarze 1-7

Next, move the pawn from e6 back to e 7 and ask, "If the pawn had used its double move to go from e7 directly to e5, aud had not moved to e6, what could white do with its pawn on d5?"

Protecting remains au option, but now white may use the en passant rule to capture the pawn on e5 by moving from d5 -e6.

The same rules shown on page 1-5 need to be reviewed at this time.

Have the students set up the pawns in the starting position. Explain the rules of the pawn game.

There are three ways to win the pawn game: (1) advauce a pawn to the last rank (2) capture all of your opponents pawns, or (3) achieve a position in which it is your opponent's turn to move, but your opponent has no legal move aud you do. If neither player has a legal move because all ofthe pawns on the board are blocked, then the game is a tie or, as it is called in chess, a "draw."

Before the students begin, demonstrate a position in which one player moves a pawn so that his opponent cau capture it aud the player cannot recapture. Emphasize that everyone should avoid "throwing away" pawns in this manner.

Explain that the winner is much more likely to get a pawn to the end thau to capture all of the opponent's pawns. This idea is used to teach the student that time (number of moves) is more importaut thau material (number of men.)

© 2006 u.s. Che,'f.~ Center

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drawing the pawn The only acceptable way for a game to be a draw is if both players have game no legal moves. Students should not be allowed to agree to a draw.

a pawn game Students should play the pawn game right away. As in all chess tournament competition, there are rules of etiquette that must be followed at all

times. See Appendix 1: Rules of Etiquette for Chess Competition, in this manual.

touch move Included in Appendix I is reference to the Touch-Move Rule. This rule,

PARTS: PROBLEMS THAT ARE LIKELY TO ARISE

illegal positions

which always must be followed strictly, has several parts. 1) Players must move the first man they touch. 2) Players must capture any opposing man they touch. 3) Once they let go ofthe man, their turn is over.

However, accidentally touching a piece does not require that the piece be moved. If a player wants to adjust a piece that is not in the middle of a square, the player may whisper, "I adjust" and the piece does not need to be moved. Finally, the Touch-Move Rule never requires that the player make an illegal move. If no legal move may be made with the touched piece, the player may make any legal move available just as if no piece had been touched.

See Appendix 2: Directing a Tournament for Beginners, in this manual. These ruJes should be used for all tournament~.

You might run into impossible positions because students move pawns diagonally at times other than a capture. For example, you might see a position that looks like the diagram on the right. This position is impossible because white has two pawns along the b-file, yet none of black's men has been captured. Often, the best way to handle a situation when an illegal position is on the board is to have the two students begin their game again. This approach does not work if a player who is losing tries to foil the game by making illegal

© 2006 u.s. Chess Center

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enpassant

PART 6: BASIC STRATEGY Creating a passed pawn

Vaf!e J-9

moves with the hope that slhe can obtain a fresh start. If a player makes illegal moves repeatedly, it is likely that the player needs to be forfeited for poor sportsmanship.

It is common for students to confuse the en passant rule. Students will try to capture with pawns that are blocked on the fourth rank because their opponent's last move was the double move blocking the pawn. Or students might try to use the en passant rule to capture a pawn that has not just used the double move to pass by the square on which it could have been captured had it moved just one square. The teacher must repeat the rules several times and provide numerous examples oflegal en passant captures.

The most common method of winning involves getting a pawn to the last (eighth) rank. To accomplish this, a player must create a "passed pawn."

A passed pawn is a pawn that does not have an opposing pawn ahead of it on the same file or an adjacent file. Another way of explaining a passed pawn. is by defining it as a pawn that cannot be blocked or captured by another pawn no matter how far it moves.

In the diagram on the right, there are two passed pawns. White's passed pawn is on as. Black's passed pawn is onbS.

The pawns on the d and e files are blocked. The pawns on the g and h files may move or capture, but are not passed.

In this position, the white side is winning because its passed pawn is closer to the eighth rank than is black's passed pawn, so if white uses the good strategy of just moving its passed pawn on every turn, white will win the game.

© 2006 us. Chess Celller

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PART 7: Students must review the rules they have learned. REVIEW

REVIEW Review Questions: QUESTIONS

Who moves first in a game of chess? (White)

What color square is in the corner at the bottom right of the board? (Light)

How many different options does white have at the beginning of a pawn game? That is, how many different pawn moves are legal on the first move? (16)

The position shown here resulted from each player making one move. Name the moves played. (White played 1. e2-e4. Black responded with 1...c7 -c5.)

How many different options does White have now? (15)

Define a rank. (The horizontal rows of the chess board)

Defme a file. (The vertical columns of the chess board)

V 2006 u.s. Chess Center

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2. Review of Pawns .t

Objectives:

1. State and apply rules of movement for pawns

2. Solve problems using pawns

The main objective of this lesson is to reinforce the rules of pawn movement, especially the en passant capture, and to provide students with practice applying the rules of movement for the pawns.

As with Lesson 1, students will play the pawn game to practice the rules of motion for the pawns. The objectives of the pawn game appear in this lesson in Part 2.

Outliue of Lesson:

1. Review of pawn rules

2. Review of en passant and the pawn game

3. Capture/recapture

4. Playing the pawn game

5. Strategic concepts

:{'; 2006 u.s. Chess Cenler

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PART 1: RE­VIEW OF PAWN RULES AND HOMEWORK

PART 2: REVIEW OF EN PASSANTAND THE PAWN GAME

Review of rules and strategy

T)afle 2-2

Thoroughly but quickly review rules of movement for the pawns by demonstration, questioning, and listing the rules on the board. Solicit illegal moves from students and demonstrate these. Check any problems assigned as homework from Lesson 1.

Demonstrate and review the en passant capture. En

passant is one of the rules that can be difficult for beginners to learn quickly.

Set up the position to the left and ask which side is winning.

If it is black's turn, the garne is over and white has won, as black has no legal move and white still may move its b pawn. If it's white's turn to move black will win, as if white moves its b pawn to either b3 or h4. black's pawn will capture it (en passant if it moves to b4) and from there its only moves are to move to b2 and bl.

Set up the position on the right. Ask if there are any passed pawns in this position. There are none at the moment, but either side will create a passed pawn on the next move. (If it is white's turn, b4 x a5 creates a passed pawn, as would a5 x b4 if it is black's turn.)

Ask if any en passant capture is possible right now. (None is possible. Two regular captures are possible - the a5, b4 pair and the c5, d6 pair are attacking each other - but the pawns on e4 and e5 are blocking each other and may not be captured en passant.)

What move may white make that would allow black to use the en passant rule? (h2 - h4 allows for g4 x h3.)

© 2006 u.s Chess Center

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review of pawn game

PART 3: CAPTURE! RECAPTURE

Pawn chains

Don't "throw away" pawns

strategy

naze 2-3

Review the rules of the pawn game. Point out that capturing all of the opponent's pawns is rare, and that the pawn game is usually won by advancing a pawn to the last rank. Also, emphasize that how many pawns yon have is irrelevant. What matters is who gets to the end first.

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is allowing an opponent to capture a pawn without the beginner's being able to recapture. To help the stndents avoid this, set up a pawn chain (pawns aligned along a diagonal) and demonstrate the capture! recapture nature of the pawn chain.

EXAMPLE: Put white pawns on b2, c3 and d4, and black pawns on e5, f6 and g7. Ifwhite is to move, white's d-pawn can capture black's e-pawn, and black's f-pawn will recaptnre because it was chained with its e-pawn. Likewise if black is to move.

Emphasize that students should try to avoid "throwing away" pawns.

EXAMPLE: Ifwhite's first move is Pawn d2-d4, then a bad move for black is Pawn e7-e5 because the white pawn will capture the black pawn without black's recaptnring.

It is often good strategy to control a square to which one of your pawns will soon be moving. For example, as black, it might be a good idea to put a pawn on f6 before moving a pawn to e5. If white has a pawn on d4, playing the pawn to f6 first will protect the pawn as it moves to e5.

© 2006 us Chess Center

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PART 4: PLAYING THE PAWN GAME

PARTS: STRATEGIC CONCEPTS

More advanced strategy

Capturing is not always the best strategy

vafle 2-4

Have students practice the rules of pawn movement by playing the pawn game. Emphasize that getting to the opponent's last rank depends on time and not on how many pawns you have.

Some teachers like to have a pawn game tournament at this point and give ribbons or certificates for participants and winners. This is particularly valuable for elementary school players.

The procedures for conducting this tournament, and all other tournaments, are described in Appendix 2: Procedures/or Conducting a Chess Tournament.

Set up the position on the right and ask, "Who is winning this position?" Answers such as "White," "Black," "Neither" or "Both" are all incorrect. In a sense, this is a trick question, as you have not provided the students with enough information to answer it correctly. On the other hand, it is not a trick question, as there is a correct answer. The right answer is, "The side that has just moved," or "The side whose tum it is not." Whichever side must

move now should lose, as any pawn that moves will be captured, and the pawn that has done the capturing cannot be stopped from reaching its goal at the end of the board.

Set up the position on the left, with white pawns on f3 and h4, black pawns on f6 and g5. Explain that it is white's turn to move and ask what white's best strategy is. The best move is moving

{;I 2006 us Chess Center

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Creating a passed pawn is usually the best strategy in the Pawn Game

Every move counts

Daze 2-5

from h4 to h5, creating a passed pawn which can now be "pushed" three more times to secure a victory.

If white captures h4 x g5, black's best response would be to recapture f6 x g5. White's only move would then be to move from f3 to f4 and black either would win innnediately by capturing g5 x f4 or would move the g pawn and get to the eighth rank before white does.

This position, while appearing similar to the previous position, is much more complicated.

In the position on tbe left, it is white's turn to move. What would white's best strategy be?

The students should notice that white has two pawns attacking (controlling) the g5 square while black has only

one pawn protecting (controlling) it. Because white has more force on that sqnare than has black, white may win the extra pawn.

Does it make a difference which pawn captures g5?

Yes! If white plays h4 x g5, then if black recaptures with f6 x g5 then white wins either by moving f4 - f5 and pushing the pawn until it gets to the eighth rank or by capturing f4 x g5. Black's only choices are then to move the h pawn to h6 orhS.

If black moves to h6, white can win by capturing it (g5 x h6) or by pushing past it. If black moves to h5, white wins by capturing en passant (g5 x h6) or by pushing past it.

But, if black does not capture f6 x g5 but instead moves the pawn from f6 to f5, as shown below, then black wins.

© 2006 us. Chess Center

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Very difficult exercise and homework

Sacrifice

Daze 2-6

From this position, white has only one choice, moving the pawn gS - g6, which then can be captured by the h7 pawn, ending the game, as white is without moves while black may still move.

If on the first turn, white had captured f4 x gS, then white wins.

This demonstrates the importaoce of every move.

A more difficult problem, strategically, is at the right. In this problem, it is white's turn to move. The question posed to the students may be asked as either "Should this be a win, a loss, or a draw for white?" or "How cao white win this game?" White wins through the following sequence: 1. bS. If 1...axbS 2.cS bxcS 3.aS aod wins. Or if 1 ... cxbS 2.aS bxaS 3.cS and wins. Play through these sequences until you understand them before giving the problems to the students. Emphasize that although black ends up with three pawns to white's one, white wins because his pawn gets to the goal first.

This is a good opportunity to introduce the concept of sacrifice to the students.

A sacrifice is giving up material for a better position. Position always is more importaot than material, although frequently having extra material improves a player's position.

It is position, not material, that wins games.

© 2006 u.:-,~ Chess Center

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3. Bishops 1..

Objectives:

1. State and apply rules of movement for bishops

2. Use movement rules to count moves and captures

3. Solve problems using bishops

The main objective of this lesson is to teach the rules of movement for the bishops.

The students will play the bishop game in order to practice the rules of movement for this piece. Just like the pawn game, the winner is the first to get a pawn to the last rank, or to capture all the opponent's pawns, or to achieve a position in which it is the opponent's move, but the opponent has no legal move and the player does.

Players do not win by capturing the bishops or by getting bishops to the eighth rank. Only by capturing the opponent's pawns or by getting a pawn to the eighth rank does a player win.

Outline of lesson:

1. Review of the pawn - check homework

2. The center

3. Moving the bishop

4. Competition with pawns and bishops

5. Some ideas with bishops and pawns

10 2006 u.s. Chess Genter

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PART 1: REVIEW OF PAWNS

PART 2: REVIEW OF THE CENTER

PART 3: MOVING THE BISHOP

Two colors Light-squared and dark-squared

Bishops are more powerful in the center

DQfze 3-2

Very quickly review the pawn rules. Solicit and demonstrate solutions for pawn problems from the assignment. Be sure to review the en passant capture thoroughly.

Ask which squares are the center of the board.

The center of the board are the four squares adjacent to the midpoint of the board. The names of the four squares are d4, d5, e4 and e5.

Ask how the bishop moves. The bishop moves diagonally, moving as far as it wants along a diagonal line until it meets a man or the edge of the board. That is, it may move as far as it wants until it bumps into something.

Note that each player has two bishops, one that starts of the c file and one that begins on the f file. Each of the bishops is on a different color square, so white has a light-squared and a dark-squared bishop, and so does black.

Ask where the bishops are most powerful. The pieces generally are most powerful where they control the most squares. How many squares does the bishop control from its starting position (or anywhere else along an edge of the board?) If it is not blocked, it controls seven squares.

If the bishop is in the center of the board, how many squares does it control? If it is not blocked, it controls 13 squares, almost twice as many as it controls from an edge.

Therefore, bishops are generally more powerful as they approach the center of the board.

© 2()06 u.s. Chess Center

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Bishop captures

Bishops control entire diagonal~

PART 4: Competition with bishops and pawns

Rules of Etiquette

oafte 3-3

In chess, any man may capture any other man (except the king is never captured, as we will see later.) A man is captured by having another piece land on the square it occupies. Once a piece captures an opponent's man, it stays on the square the opponent's piece occupied and the tum is over.

A bishop may go as far as it wants in a straight diagonal line. It may not change direction in the middle of a turn. It may control as many as seven squares along one diagonal.

The Pawn Game with Bishops has the same goal as The Pawn Game. A player wins by capturing all ofthe other player's pawns (bishops don't matter,) by getting a pawn to the eighth rank or by establishing a position in which the opponent has no legal moves but the player still has a legal move.

The starting position is shown on the right.

Set up the position diagrammed on the left. Note how a bishop controls the entire diagonal from b I to h 7. If white and black take turns moving, so long as the bishop remains on that diagonal it will capture all of black's pawns. Each pawn that moves is captured on the turn after it moves.

Make sure that while playing, all of the Rules of Etiquette (Appendix I) are followed.

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Bishops remain one color

Bishops may not jump

Restart games that reach illegal positions

Forfeit children who act unethically

Bishops always remain on their starting color. Because they move along the diagonals, they remain on their color. If one player has two bishops on the same color square, both players have made a mistake. One player has moved improperly. The other player allowed the first to make that mistake. It is the responsibility of both players to make sure that all of the rules are followed.

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In the position on the left, white has made an illegal move by moving the dark­squared bishop. Because neither the b pawn nor the d pawn has moved, there is no legal way for the bishop now on e3 to have gotten to that square.

To encourage players to pay attention and follow all of the rules. the teacher may decide to have players who reach an impossible position start again from the beginning.

If a player uses that policy to avoid losing and makes illegal moves intentionally, that player may be forfeited for the game.

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PARTS: STRATEGY Bishops are more powerful than pawns

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Chess pieces do not all have the same value. While pawns are necessary to win in The Pawn Game, and because of that they are important, they control at most two squares. Bishops control more squares so they can attack from long range. Bishops also may move backwards.

In the position on the left, it is easy for willte to win the game. The h pawns are

Problem blocked and can never

Harder problem

Connected pawns

Be aggressive to win

move, but willte's bishop can maneuver itself to win black's pawn.

Have a student win tills game. The student playing the white pieces needs to control the e3 square. When the black pawns reaches e3, as it must

eventually, the bishop captures it. Because the h pawn cannot move, the game ends with willte the victor.

(White also can win by blocking black's e pawn.)

It is more difficult to win with a bishop against two connected pawns.

Pawns are said to be "connected" when they are on adjacent files. Connected pawns may protect each other. The pawns will try to advance together, advancing onto the color square on willch the bishop is situated.

Students will learn important strategy by learning to be aggressive to win. If white, in the above position, moves its pawns forward, first by moving the pawn to a dark square, then by moving the other pawn next to it and following that pattern, black will be able to win only by attacking the square the lead

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Tactics

A Pin

Putting pressure on a pinned piece or pawn

Develop the bishops early

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pawn is on and waiting for it to move to a light square. Once it moves to a light square, the bishop must then control the square in front of it along the diagonal that prevents the other pawn from moving next to it

This requires practice for the students to master the concept. The important principles to take away from this exercise are:

1) A bishops is more powerful than a pawn and more powerful than two pawns unless the two connected pawns are on the fifth rank or beyond, and

2) A player needs to make threats and maintain pressure on the other side to win.

Tactics are methods to capture extra men.

A pin is a useful tactic in chess. A pin holds something in place.

A pin is used to prevent a man from moving on the chessboard.

In the position shown to the right, which pawn is pinned? Black's pawn on eS is pinned by white's bishop to black's bishop. If the pawn moves, white will capture black's bishop. Blacks e pawn is allowed to move, but it would be poor strategy to have it move.

It would be good strategy for white to attack the pawn with the fpawn. After f3-f4, if black captures the pawn eS x f4 then white obtains a big advantage by capturing the bishop on g7. If black does not capture the pawn, then white has two men attacking it with black having only one defender.

Nearly always, it is best to move the bishops towards the center early in the game. Moving bishops off of their starting squares is known as developing them and good players develop their pieces early in the game, putting more pressure on their opponents.

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Don't block your The more options you have, the better your position, in general. In the owu men extreme example below, which side is winning the game? Black has a

bishop for a pawn advantage, but because the bishop is trapped behind its own pawns, white will win the game by making the only moves it has, advancing the gpawn.

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4. Rooks I.

Objectives:

1. State and apply rules of movement for rooks

2. Use movement rules to count moves and captures

3. Solve problems nsing rooks

4. Understand the strategy of rook placement and the timing of when to use rooks

The main objective of this lesson is to teach the rules of movement for the rooks.

The students will play the bishop and rook game in order to practice the rules of movement for these pieces. Just like the pawn game, the winner is the first to get a pawn to the last rank, or to capture all the opponent's pawns, or to achieve a position in which it is the opponent's move, but the opponent has no moves and the player does.

Many students have difficulties at this point Dealing with the movement of three different chessmen may be difficult to handle. The teacher must be prepared to spend a lot of time allowing the students to practice The Pawn Game with Bishops and Rooks.

When the students have mastered the concepts in this chapter, moving on to play real chess with all ofthe pieces will come quickly. Moving too fast here, however, will deprive the students of many important concepts that are very nseful in using good strategy in the full game of chess.

Outline of lesson:

L Review of bishop problems

2. Moving the rook

3. Competition with rooks, bishops, and pawns

4. Ideas with rooks and pawns

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PART 1: REVIEW OF BISHOP PROBLEMS

Review the pin

Be aggressive

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Before teaching the movement of the rook, it is very important that the stndents have thoroughly mastered the movement of the pawns and bishops.

In the position to the right, it is white's turn to move. Who should win? With proper play, white should win. If white attacks black's e pawn, by moving either to c3 or d6 white may force a win. Ifwhite moves Bd2 (a passive move that seems to get in the way of the pawns but does not threaten anything) then black should move the pawn to d4 and go on to win the game.

Have the student figure out the minimum number of moves it would take the bishop to capture all of black's pawns assuming that the pawns do not move.

By finding an efficient pattern, such as Bd3 - h7 - g8 - f7 -h5 -f3 - c6 - a4 it takes only eight moves.

A pin is a tactic that holds something in place that can then become a target. Bishops are good for creating pins along diagonals but they are not the only piece that are good for creating pins.

To win at chess, it is important to be aggressive. Create threats. Capture unprotected men. Move pawns forward when the opportunity is there.

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PART 2: MOVING THE ROOK

rook captures

rooks attack/defend each other

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Ask students how a rook moves. Have the students use proper chess terminology. The rooks move along the ranks and files. It is allowed to move along either nntil it is blocked by its own man or nntil it captures something. That is, it moves as far as it wants nntil it bumps into something.

Set up the position on the right and demonstrate captures by a rook. Note that the rook may capture the bishop on e2 or the pawn on b5, but may not capture the bishop on as because the rook is blocked by its own pawn. It also may not capture the pawn on h5 on this turn because once it captures the pawn on g5 it stops and white's turn is over.

How many different moves may the rook make? (The answer is 8.) The rook has many squares to choose from, including two different captures. Remember to have students speak answers by naming squares using chess notation. The teacher can also list on the board using chess notation all the moves the rook can make in this position to help the students learn chess notation.

Rooks on opposing sides attack each other, and same color rooks defend each other. Rooks along the same rank or file control the same squares between them, and each controls the square that the other rook is on.

In the position on the right, each pair of rooks ofthe same color is defending each other and both white rooks are attacking black's rook on f5 while black's rook on f5 is attacking both of white's rooks.

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PART 3: COMPETITION WITH ROOKS, BISHOPS AND PAWNS

Practice (Competitive Reinforcement)

PART 4: IDEAS WITH ROOKS AND PAWNS

Students compete with pawns, bishops, and rooks. As before, there are three ways to win: (1) advance a pawn to the last rank (2) capture all of your opponent's pawns (it is not necessary to capture the bishops or rooks to win) or (3) achieve a position in which it is your opponent's tum to move, but your opponent has no legal move and you do.

It is very important for

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students to practice many games with the rooks, bishops and pawns. They must become very comfortable with the properties, strengths, differences and strategies of each.

The teacher should insert each ofthe lessons in short segments interrupting students' games but allowing the majority oftime for students to play.

Set up the diagram at left, and have students move the rook so that it will ultimately capture the advancing pawn.

Attacking from the side does not win as quickly as placing the rook along the file on which the pawn is placed, then capturing it.

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PART 5: TACTICS

forks

Think about what the other side will do

Now set up the diagram at right and repeat the exercise. The rook should be able to defeat the two pawns so that neither pawn reaches the last rank safely. In this case, however, the quickest way to win is to start by placing the rook along the rank on which both pawns are placed, then capturing one of the pawns on the next turn, then moving the rook behind the remaining pawn and capturing it on the fourth move.

Students will find many useful strategies to win games.

A fork is when one man is attacking more than one man at a time. Any piece maybe used to create a fork. In the position on the right, ask the students what white's best move would be.

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Capturing the pawn on c7 looks inviting, but students must consider what their opponent's reaction would be. In this case, it probably would be to capture the rook with the bishop lurking on a5. White also could move a pawn forward. While that may not be a bad move, it is not the best choice, either. The best choice is to move the rook to c5, attacking both bishops simultaneously. Attacking two bishops at the same time is known as a fork

If black moves one bishop into safety, there will be another to capture. Making two threats at once is better than making one threat at a time.

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Discovered attacks

A fork

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Set up the position on the left. It is white's turn to move. What is white's best strategy?

White has many reasonable choices. Two bad moves are R x a5 (giving away a rook for a pawn) and RbI (where it may be captured for free by the bishop.) Other moves could be good but not best.

The best choice is moving the pawn from e2 - e4. That move attacks both the bishop and rook at the same time. The bishop had been blocked from capturing the rook but is not blocked now. Moving one man to create an attack with a piece behind it is known as a discovered attack. These can be very powerful.

In this case, the pawn is attacking the bishop while white's bishop is attacking the rook. Black may move either piece to escape the attack but may not move them both.

If black's bishop captures the pawn on e4, white's bishop will capture the rook on a6. On the following move, white's rook will capture the newly unprotected pawn on as. So long as white does not make the mistake of giving away the rook or of moving the pawn that is safely on c3, white will win the game, and should win the game very quickly.

If black moves the bishop back to c8 to protect the rook, white will capture the rook on a6 anyway. (See diagram.)

After black captures the bishop on a6, what is white's best move? Again, the best choice is to capture the pawn on as which no longer is protected. This position allows the teacher to review the concept of fork because when white captures the pawn on a5 the rook is attacking both the bishop and the pawn.

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Relative value of rooks and bishops

Rooks control more squares

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What is more powerful, the rook or the bishop? Because they have different properties, there will be times when having a bishop would be more useful than having a rook. Usually, however, a rook is more powerful. Why is that?

First, a rook controls more squares than a bishop. Place a bishop on an empty board and ask how many squares it controls if nothing is blocking it. The answer will be 7, 9,11 or 13 depending on how close to the center you place it.

Now place a rook anywhere on the board and ask how many squares it controls if nothing is blocking it. It controls 14 squares from anywhere. So the students can see that a rook may control up to twice as many squares as a bishop, and controls more squares even when a bishop is placed at its most advantageous position.

Now set up the position on the left. Ask how many turns it will take the bishop to captnre the rook if the rook does not move. Have the students use chess notation to explain either of the two methods of capturing the rook (l.Bc4 then to e6, or 2.Bf5 then to e6.)

Ask how many turns it will take the rook to captnre the bishop, assuming the bishop

does not move. Again, have the students practice using chess notation by explaining the two routes the to d3, or 2.Rd6 then to d3.)

Now change the position of the rook or bishop by just one square, an example of which is on the right.

It still takes just two turns for the rook to captnre the

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Rooks control both color squares, bishops just one.

How rooks may be more powerful than bishops

Making a plan

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bishop, but the bishop will never capture the rook, as the rook is on the opposite color square from the bishop.

Whereas a rook can get to any square on the board, a bishop is limited to moving on just one color square.

Now we have two reasons for believing that rooks are more powerful than bishops, in general.

Set up the position on the right. Tell the students that in this game the rules are different. Pawns may neither capture nor be captured.

The object in this game is for white to move first and to capture the black bishop. The object for the black bishop is just to avoid being captured.

If white's move does not control the fS square, black should move its bishop to fS and then out into the open, making sure that it does not stop on a square controlled by the rook.

White needs to figure out where black wants to move its bishop, then plan ahead to keep it under control. The quickest way to win is for white to move Rc8. Black has three possible moves for the bishop. If the bishop moves to fS or h8 it gets captured by the rook. So it moves to h6.

White's best move is moving Rg8, controlling both squares where black may then move. White captures the bishop as it moves to either square.

It is best for the students to figure all of this out for themselves. The teacher should do little more than play the black side, moving BfS and then out into the open while allowing students to try to win.

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Practical tactics Planning ahead

Combination

Rooks best position

Rooks should not be used early

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Set up the position on the left. Tell the students it is white's tum to move and ask what would be the best strategy.

White has many reasonable options. This is a complex position. Moving pieces where they may be captured for free generally is bad strategy. But looking for a useful sacrifice should be encouraged.

In this case, the best move is to play R x M. While the more powerful rook is being given up for a bishop, after black plays R x M it is white's turn again. What is white's best move? BgS forks the two rooks. At the end of this sequence of moves (a combination, as it is known by chess players) white is ahead by a bishop. An extra bishop in a complicated position like this should be a winning advantage.

Ask the students while they are playing to figure out where rooks are most powerful and if it is best to bring them forward early or if it is better to have them wait until later.

With bishops, the students should remember that they determined that it was best to bring them out early and have them head towards the center where they are powerful. Rooks are different.

White bas made the mistake of bringing the rook out early. What is black's best response?

Capturing the rook on a3 with the bishop on f8 is a very good trade for black.

White's decision to move the rook early was not a good one.

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Rooks are powerful on the seventh rank

Open file

Closed file

Rooks are most powerful on the seventh rank and on open files.

To help the students figure out how best to use the rooks, set up the position on the right.

Ask the students to think of themselves as the white side. Ask them on which empty square they would want to have a rook if it was then black's turn to move.

Many suggestions are reasonable, including placing it along the fourth or

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fifth rank where it can move in four directions and, if it is not on the d or e files, attacking a pawn.

However, if the rook is attacking a pawn from along a file the pawn can defend itself by moving up one square (where it is protected by a pawn on an adjacent file) or by moving the rook behind the attacked pawn.

However, if the rook is placed on the seventh rank it attacks more than one pawn. What is that called? A fork. If one pawn is defended, at least one other may be captured.

In most games, several pawns will not have moved. Where are the rooks most powerful? As the students will have reinforced when they are playing real chess, rooks are very powerful on the seventh rank, the rank on which the opponent's pawns begin. How should the rook get to the seventh rank? Ask the students for a good term for a file on which there are no pawns. Chess players refer to such files as open. What do chess players called the opposite kind of file, on which there are pawns of both colors?

Files with pawns of both colors on them are known as closed files.

Where are rooks better placed? Because they can control more squares where pawns do not block them, rooks are usually better on open files. Once on an open file, a rook may be able to move safely to the seventh rank, or to other ranks if a good strategy calls for that.

In summary, rooks are usually most powerful on the seventh rank and on open files.

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Rooks usually do not move early in the game

In the starting position, how many open files are there? There are not any. It is not until pawns are traded that open files are created.

Usually, it is best to wait until there are open files to move the rooks, as it is only then that a player knows where it is best to place the rooks. Moving the rooks earlier than that is just a waste of time.

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Sa. Knights"

Objectives:

1. State and apply rules of movement for knights

2. Solve elementary problems using knights

The main objective of this lesson is to teach the rules of movement for the knight

After this lesson, the students will play with all the pieces except the queen and king in order to practice the rules of movement. Just like the pawn game, the winner is the first to get a pawn to the last rank, to capture all the opponent's pawns (not pieces), or to achieve a position in which it is the opponent's turn to move, but the opponent has no move and the player does.

Outline of lesson:

1. Review of bishop/rook rules

2. Check bishop/rook homework

3. Moving the knight

4. Playing with all the men except the king and queen

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PART 1: REVIEW OF BISHOPIROOK RULES

PART 2: DON'T START WITH THE KNIGHTS UNTIL THE STUDENTS ARE COMFORTABI,E WITH PAWN, BISHOP AND ROOK

PART 3: MOVING THE KNIGHT

moving the knight from a square on the edge of the board

moviug a knight from a corner

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Quickly review the rules of movement for the rook and bishop through demonstration and questioning.

It is suggested that a substantial amount of time be spent demonstrating and discussing the rook and bishop problems before continuing with this lesson. Students should master the use ofthe rooks, bishops, and pawns before learning to move the knight.

Place a knight in any center square of the board and demonstrate the movement of the knight. A knight moves two squares horizontally or vertically, then one square at a right angle, forming the letter "L". The knight is the only piece that can jump over other chessmen. Place a kuight on a central square of the board and ask a student to place a pawn of the opposite color on the squares the kuight controls. Then have other students name the other squares the knight controls from that central square of the board. Note that the kuight controls 8 squares.

Then place a kuight on the edge of the board and have a student place pawns on the squares that knight controls. Have the students name the squares the kuight controls from the edge. There are a total offour, unless it is close to the comer, in which case it is three.

Place a kuight in a comer of the board and repeat. The knight controls only two squares.

Ask the students on what part of the board the knight is strongest. Emphasize that the knight is strongest in the center because it controls more squares. Point out that this is true for the bishop also. The general principle here is that pieces are stronger on squares nearer the center. "Centralizing" pieces is one of the three ideas that determine good

moves during the opening of a chess game.

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center, edge, Knights attack S squares from a center square, 4 squares from an edge, corner and 2 from a comer.

Set up the position on the knights jump over left and demonstrate the

a knight controls only squares that are the opposite color of the square it is on

Set up the position on the right and ask these questions:

(a) How many squares does each knight control? (Ans. d2 knight controls 6, t3 knight controls S, bS knight controls 3, h8 knight controls 2.)

(b) To which squares can each knight move? (Ans. d2 knight to bl, b3, c4, e4 and fl, the t3 knight to d5, g5, h4, h2 and g I, the bS knight to a6, c6 and d7, and the hS knight may not move anywhere.)

knight's ability to jump over the other chessmen.

The knight may jump over its own men and the opponent's men.

In this position, the knight controls eight squares but may not capture anything.

(c) Which knights are creating forks right now? (Ans. All except the knight on hS.)

Use the answers to these questions to demonstrate a knight capture, the knight's ability to jump over men, and to reinforce the general principle that knights are stronger on squares that are closer to the center.

Return the knight to the center and ask about the color of the square the knight is standing on and the color of the squares it controls. Repeat on an edge and in a comer. RULE: The knight controls only squares that are the opposite color of the square it is standing on.

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good moves for knights in the beginning ofthe game

knights on the rim are grim

knight forks

a knight moving to fork two men

PART 4: PLAYING WITH ALL THE MEN EXCEPT THE KlNGAND QUEEN

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Place both white knights in their positions at the beginning of the game. Solicit good first moves for the knights (Nf3, Ne2 for the King's knight, and Nc3, Nd2 for the queen's knight). Bad first moves are Na3 and Nh3. Moving toward the center is what matters here. "Knights on the rim are grim" is a chessplayer saying that tells of the weakness of knights on the edge of the board.

A fork is defined as one chessman attacking more than one of the opponent's chessmen. Place two white pawns on b4 and e5. Ask: "On which square should the black knight be placed so that the knight attacks both pawns simultaneously?" (d3 and c6 both are correct answers.) Do this type of exercise several times. A position in which a knight is attacking two men simultaneously is called a knight fork. A knight fork is one of many different kinds of double attacks.

Set up white pawns on d6 and g7 and a black knight on e3. Ask: "To which square can the knight move to attack both pawns simultaneously?" (f5 is the correct answer.) Repeat this kind of exercise.

Students can now compete with all the men except the king and queen. Again, the rules for winning are the same as with the pawn game. Because the knight does not move in a "straight" path as do the bishop and rook, it is very important that the teacher confirm that every student has mastered the movement ofthe knight before moving on to the next lesson. The teacher should allow time for competition using the knights.

It usually does not take long for all but the youngest students to master the use of knights.

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5b. Queens.

Objectives:

1. State and apply rules of movement for the queen

2. Solve elementary problems using the queen

The main objective of this lesson is to teach the rules of movement for the queen.

After this lesson, the students will play with all the pieces except the king in order to practice the rules of movement for the pieces.

Outline of lesson:

1. Review of knight rules

2. Check knight homework

3. Moving the queen

4. Competition with all men except the king

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PART 1: REVIEW OF KNIGHT RULES

PART 3: MOVING THE QUEEN

pieces stronger toward center

demonstrate queen captures

queen multiple attacks

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Review the rules of movement for the knight. Be sure to include these ideas:

- Knights are stronger on squares closer to the center because they control more squares. - Knights are the only chess men that can jump over other chess men. - Knights attacking more than one man simultaneously is called a "knight fork," a kind of "double attack."

Place a queen near the center of an empty board. Tell the students that the queen moves like a rook and a bishop put together. Demonstrate the movement of the queen, and have the students count the number of squares a queen attacks from the center of an otherwise empty board (27 squares).

Now place the queen on the edge and have the students count the number of squares the queen attacks from the edge of the board (21 squares).

Again, pieces are stronger toward the center because they control more squares.

Demonstrate how a queen captures. Demonstrate the black queen capturing a white piece and note that a white piece (or pawn) may

capture the black queen.

Set up the position on the left and demonstrate that the queen is attacking of the white men on the board. Explain that this is an example of a queen attacking more than one man simultaneously. Ask a student what attacking more than one piece with just one of yours is called. The correct answer is, "a fork."

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Queens are very powerful

PART 4: COMPETITION WITH ALL MEN EXCEPT THE KING

naee 5-7

Any chessman may fork pieces and pawns of an opponent. One very powerful characteristic of a queen is that it can attack many of an opponent's men at the same time. Ask how many different directions a queen may attack. (The answer is eight.)

What other piece may attack in so many directions? (The knight, and it has greater restrictions on its movement.)

Set up the position on the right Ask which square the white queen can move to so that it is attacking all the black men at the same time. The correct square is e5. How may black defend all of its pieces except one? (Bd6) Which piece has been left undefended? (Rook on b2)

Have the students set up all the men except the king in their starting positions and play the game. The rules for winning are the same as for the game played with only the rooks, bishops, and pawns. It is not as important to allow for practice with the queen because the queen moves so much like the rook and bishop that the students will be very familiar with its movements. We recommend that the teacher move on to the king very quickly after some practice with the queen.

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6. The King, Check and Checkmate.

Objectives:

1. Practice rules for all the chessmen

2. Solve problems with all the chessmen

3. Use check and rules of illegal moves in elementary positions

The main objective of lesson 6 is to teach the rules of movement for the king. The meaning of check and how to get out of check are taught, as well as the meaning of an illegal (invalid) move. Checkmate is not introduced until lesson 7.

Lessons 6, 7 & 8 will take substantial amounts of time to teach. In general, the younger the students, the more review and practice the teacher must provide every day. Review is critical, particularly for the younger students. Once checkmate is learned (after lesson 7), students should play the game often to reinforce the rules.

The check and checlanate lessons are particularly important in that they teach the student how the game of chess is won, and the object of the game is to win. Until this point, the students won a game by getting a pawn to the end, or capturing all of the opponent's pawns, or blocking the opponent's men. After lesson 7, students should play nntil checkmate is achieved.

Again, lessons 6 through 8 are not necessarily intended to be completed in any specific amount of class time. How long each lesson takes, and how much practice and review the students need, should be decided by each teacher.

Outline of lesson:

I. Review of all chessmen

2. Apply the rules of movement to the king

3. Check and getting out of check

4. Illegal (invalid) moves

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PART 1: REVIEW OF ALL CHESSMEN

PART 2: APPLY THE RULES OF MOVEMENT TO THE KING

rule #1: movement

Deductive Reasoning

Definition of check

oaf!e 6-2

Set up a simple position that contains at least one of each of the chessmen, then ask questions that require the students to name squares that any man is attacking, name diagonals, ranks, files, light/dark squares, captureirecapture, etc. Be sure to review the en passant capture.

Place a king in the center of an otherwise empty board. State and demonstrate the rule of movement for the king (one square, any direction). Then have students name the other squares the king is attacking (a total of eight squares). Write rule #1 for the king in a list on the board.

Rule #1 for the king: The king moves one square in any direction.

Demonstrate that a king captures the same way it moves. By now the students are accustomed to the idea that pieces capture the same way they move. (Only pawns move differently from the way they capture.)

Set up the position on the right. Ask the students to figure out

whose tum it is to move, and to explain how they know which side has just moved, even to know what that side's last move was.

Often students will explain that it is white's tum to move because white moves first. Because this is a position from the middle of the game, that answer is not correct.

The correct answer is that it is black's turn to move. We can figure that out because black is in "check" and white's most recent move was to move the rook to e2.

Check means that the king is in danger. Nothing more than that, just that the king is in danger.

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King safety is paramount

king most exposed in center

emphasize king safety

PART 3: CHECK AND GETTING OUT OF CHECK

rule #2: check

demonstrate check and getting out of check

three ways out of check

Dafle 6-3

Explain that the rules of chess are different from those of The Pawn Game. No longer do players win by getting a pawn across the board or by capturing the other player's pawns. The most important rule of chess is that the king must always be kept safe.

Place a lone king on a square on the edge of the board, have the students count the number of squares it can attack (five), then do the same for a lone king in the comer (three). Ask: "In chess you are to protect (hide) your king, so where is the worst part of the board to place your king if you are trying to hide your king?"

Students should say why the center is the worst place for the king (because the king is most exposed to attack in the center). Emphasize king safety from here on. The king is to be "hidden" and protected from attack until late in the game.

Rule #2 for the king: When the king is in check (a position in which a king is under attack), it must get out of check immediately.

On the board, write the definition of check as rule #2 for the king. (Check means that the king is in danger.) In the position on the left, what is putting the king in check? (The rook.)

List the following three options under rule #2 for the king. Remind students that if a player is in check, he must get out of check immediately. The three ways to get out of check are:

i. RUN AWAY: MOVE the king to a safe square, or ii. CAPTURE the man that is checking the king, or iii. BLOCK the check by interposing a man between the attacker and the king.

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find the ways out of check

rule #3: no illegal moves

touch-move rule

PART 4: CHECKMATE

vafle 6-4

Have the students find three ways out of check. Running away means moving to a safe square. In this position, that is fl.

Capturing means taking the piece that is attacking the king. In this position, that is B x e2.

Blocking means putting something between the attacking piece and the king. In this position, that is Ne7.

RuIe #3 for the king: A player cannot make a move that puts or leaves his own king in check.

This is an illegal (or invalid) move and the player must take that move back and make a legal move. A player does not automatically lose by making an illegal move. Both players are responsible for making sure that all moves played are legal.

For example, if black had tried to run away by moving Kf8, what would white do? White wouId silently point out that the queen controls fS, so black may not move the king to that square. What must black do now?

Black does not lose because of the illegal move, so black takes back the invalid move and makes the only move now available: Kfl. What can't black play Bxe2? Because of the touch-move rule. Black touched his king and has a legal move with it. Black must

mC'VlflO" the king.

Staying with our position, ask what would be white's best move if black chose the option to block the check. Place the knight on e7 so that the position on the left is showing.

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there is never a move better than checkmate

definition of checkmate

PARTS: PLAYING THE GAME

[Jaffe 6-5

White has many moves. Rxe7, moving the king anywhere, moving Qb8+. Any legal move should be noted as a possibility, but one move is better than any of the rest.

The best move is Qxe7#. Rxe7+ is a good move, but black may then play Kf8. After Qxe7 the game is over.

Checkmate is a compound word, and for there to be a checkmate both parts of the compound word must be met: 1) the king must be in danger (check) and 2) there must be no way out.

Before the players agree that the position is checkmate, have them identifY the chessman attacking the king (giving check) and make sure that there is no way to run, block or capture to get out of check.

The only way to win is to checkmate their opponent. There are more rules to learn but it is time to play.

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7. Pawn Promotion and the Rule of Stalemate

Objectives:

1. Review of check and checkmate

2. State and apply rules of pawn promotion

3. State and apply rules of stalemate

4. Recognize and apply the defmition of stalemate to elementary positions

The primary purpose of this lesson is to reinforce the student's understanding of check and to teach pawn promotion and stalemate. Stalemate is also introduced in this lesson, and comes again the lesson on drawn games

It is critical that students distinguish between checkmate and stalemate as soon as possible. The best way to avoid confusion is to stress the simple fact that for checkmate, the king must be in check (Checkmate is a compound word, combining "check" and "mate.") "Check" means that the king is in danger. "Mate" means "disabled" or that there is NO WAY OUT. In a stalemate, the king is not in danger, not in check.

Outline for Board:

1. Review of king rules- check homework

2. Checkmate and stalemate

3. Finding checkmate

Review: Rules for king:

1. One square any direction

2. CHECK - King under attack

- MOVE to get out of check

-BLOCK

-CAPTURE

3. ILLEGAL MOVE - Can't put your own king into check

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PART 1: REVIEW OF KING RULES

review of the ways out of check

king may not be iu check at the end of the turn

PART 2: PAWN PROMOTION

Pal!e7-2

Set up the position on the left and ask which side is in check. (White is in check.) Ask which piece is putting the king in check. (The queen is putting the king in check.)

Ask for a way for white to get out of check. There are 14 correct answers. Have the students try to find all of them.

The position to the right is impossible. The kings may never be adjacent to each other because the king may never end its turn on a square controlled by the opponent. White may not move its king next to black's king because black controls the squares around it. This is true whether or not the king is protected on the square on which it is in danger.

In The Pawn Game, one way to win was to get a pawn to the last rank. Now, the way to win is to checkmate the opponent. So what happens when a pawn reaches the eighth rank?

The pawn becomes a piece. The pawn reaching the eighth, on that same turn, becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight. The player with the pawn reaching the other end of the board decides which piece the pawn becomes. The pawn leaves the board (the same as if it had been captured) and the piece replaces it on the square along the eighth rank it had just reached.

At that point, the turn is over and the other player may make any legal move, including capturing that newly created piece, if that player already had a piece controlling that square.

A player does not need to substitute a piece that already had been captured.

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strategy

PART 3: STALEMATE

definition

Set up the position to the right. What is white's best move here? (Nearly always, the best option is to get an extra queen. Here, the best move is a8=Q. Black's only move then is to play Kb6 and white may then move Qd5-c6#. Two queens are very powerful and should results in a checkmate very quickly.)

Parte7-3

Set up the position on the left. Ask what white's best move is.

This position is very similar to the previous position, but if white makes the same move as before (a8=Q) the result is very different.

If a student suggests promoting the pawn to become a queen, ask what move black should make.

Look at all eight squares adjacent to the king and ask whether the king may move to each, having the students point out which of white's pieces is controlling each square.

If the king is not in check and the player who should now move has no legal move, the game is a stalemate.

A stalemate ends the game in a draw.

In the position above, black has achieved the best possible result, as with only a king black had no chance to win the game. White, however, should be disappointed with that result. With an extra queen, white should have been able to win.

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examples

common difficulties

pinned piece

If white has just moved in either of these positions, the game is over. These positions are examples of stalemates.

p(Jf!e7-4

Start with the position above. Ask the students what the position is called. (Stalemate.) Now add a black pawn at h5. Is it still a stalemate? (No, the pawn may move.) Add a white pawn at h4. Is it a stalemate now? (Yes, the pawn is blocked and may not move, so even with the pawn the game is over because black has no legal move.)

Add a black knight at c8. (Diagram at right.) What would black do now? (The best move is to capture the queen on b6.)

Add a white rook on fS. Is this a stalemate now? (Yes, the knight may not move because it is pinned to the king and it is never legal to make a move that causes the king to be left in anger.)

The teacher may continue with this position, adding a black rook at d5 followed by a white bishop on b2, then a black bishop at a5 but a white rook on a2, demonstrating the pins and creating more examples of stalemates.

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forcing a stalemate

It usually is very difficult to force a stalemate. The side with extra material is trying to avoid ending the game as a draw. However, sometimes an opportunity arises.

Set up the position on the right.

Ask what white would do if it were his turn. (There are three checkmate moves: Qb8#, Qd8# and Qf8#. Other moves are not as good.) Say that it is black's move. What should black do to get out of trouble?

Students most often suggest moves such as Qa 1+ or

Pa~e7-5

Qc4+ as they place the white king in danger, giving black another move to try to escape. However, white may wiggle out of danger by heading towards the eighth rank and blocking the checks.

Black's best move is Qc2+ forcing Kxc2. Black has no legal move but is not in check. The game is over and black has escaped.

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8. Castling

Objective:

Correctly apply the rules of castling

The primary purpose of this lesson is to teach the rules of castling and the importance of castling as a means of protecting the king from attack. Keeping the king safe is one of the three principles governing opening play. The importance of keeping the king safe should be emphasized by encouraging students to castle early in the game.

Outline of lesson

1. Review of the movement of the king

2. Review that the king must be kept safe

3. How to castle

4. When a player may not castle

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PART 1: REVIEW OF KING RULES

two pieces move on tbe same turn

bow to castle

king bas moves two squares

rook bas "jumped" over tbe king and landed next to it

Second way to castle

Paee 8-2

Ask the students to recite how a king moves. A king may move one square in any direction.

Set up the position on the right. Explain that there is an exception to the rules of how a king moves and that in chess there is one (any only one) move that allows two pieces to move on the same turn. Ask if anyone knows the name of that move.

The move is called "castling." (It may be because of the

name that some people mistakenly refer to the rook as a "castle."

Ask for a volunteer to come to the board to demonstrate one way to castle. Ask the student to use the white pieces to castle.

The board should look like this when you have a correct answer. (Queen-side castling is also an appropriate answer, but it is rare that a student will castle on that side. A diagram of queen-side castling appears on the following page.)

Ask the students how many squares the king has moved from its starting square. The king has moved two squares

and the rook has moved next to the king on the other side.

All of this has taken place in just one move.

Now ask the students for a second way to castle, using the Black pieces.

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Queen-side castling

neither piece may have moved

Paee 8-3

Students may try a variety of patterns, sometimes switching the position of the king and rook, or moving the king three squares towards the rook on the queenside. None of these is correct except for the pattern shown to the right.

As with castling on the kingside, the king moves two squares and the rook 'jumps" to the square on the other side.

Ask the students when castling is not permitted There are many such circumstances and none is more important than any other.

Castling must be the first time the two pieces have moved. In the position to the left, Black will never be able to castle, as its king has moved.

If a piece moves, it may not be used in the castling move that game even if it returns to its original square. If one rook moves, the other may still be used for castling.

In the position above, White may still castle if its king has not yet moved and at least one of its rooks has not moved.

Of course, a player may castle only once in a game, as the king moves as part of castling.

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may not castle "out of check"

having been in check does not prevent a player from castling

may not castle into check

may not castle "through check"

not prevent a player from castling.

Black may not castle in the position to the right. Why not? Castling either way, kingside or queenside, would place the king in check and that is never permitted.

A player may not castle into check.

There are no exceptions to the rule that a player's king must be safe at the end of the turn.

Pave 8·4

A player may not escape check by castling. In the position to the left, Black is in check. To get out of check, Black may move its lang to d7, d8 or f8 or may block with the knight.

Which move would preserve the right to castle? Blocking with the knight would allow Black to castle later.

Having been in check does

Set up the position on the left. Assuming that neither king not rook has moved, may White castle on the kingside? Yes. May White castle on the queenside? Yes.

May Black castle on the kingside? Yes. The rook is in danger, but there is no rule against castling when the rook is in danger, only a rule against a player castling "out of check." A rook may not be

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no castling out of check, into check or through check

nothing may be between the king and the rook

summary

notation

in check, so there is no rule against castling when the rook is in danger.

May Black castle on the queenside? No. Because the queen controls d8, and the king would need to pass over that square to castle, Black may not castle on the queenside.

The rule protecting the king is very powerful. A king may not castle out of check, into check or through check.

Summary:

Pa"e 8-5

In the position to the left, may White castle on either side? Yes. May Black castle on either side? No, ouly on the kingside.

The undeveloped Black knight prevents Black from castling queenside, as there may be nothing between the king and rook when castling.

Castling involves moving the king and rook on the same move. The king moves two squares towards the rook and the rook "jumps" over the king to the square next to it.

Castling must be the first move for both pieces involved with the move. There may be nothing between the king and the rook at the time of the move. A player may not castle out of check, into check or through check.

Kingside castling is notated as 0-0. Queenside castling is notated as 0-0-0.

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9. Drawn Games

Objective:

I. Know the rules of drawn games and recognize when a game is drawn

The main objective of this lesson is to teach the rules of how games may be drawn and to provide opportunities for students to apply these rules.

It is more important for this homework than for any other that the teacher thoroughly review the assignment before assigning any of the problems as homework. The teacher may decide that the hardest problems should be studied in class by students and not assigned as homework. The teacher might wish to use substantial amount of class time specifically for the study of these problems.

Outline oflesson:

1. Review castling

2. Teach rules of drawn games

a. Three-position repetition

b. 50-move rule

c. Insufficient material

d. Stalemate

e. Agreement of the players

3. Sample problems

It should be noted that the five ways a game can be drawn that are studied in this lesson are not the only ways a game can be drawn. There are other, more complicated ways in which a game sometimes is drawn in toumam.ent competition, but it is not important to discuss those now.

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1.

PART 1: REVIEW OF THE RULES OF CASTLING

castling early is good strategy

Set up the position on the left. In this very unlikely position, it is White's turn to move. What is White's best move?

The best move is to castle, as that creates a checkmate.

This is not a position likely to arise for several reasons. So late in the game it is unlikely that neither the king nor rook has already moved. It is also unlikely that the Black king would suffocate itself with its

own men. Black's last move would have had to have been moving a bishop or the rook onto just the wrong square.

However, the important part of the position is to remind the students that castling is an important rule and needs to be considered at all times until both sides either have castled or have given up the possibility of castling.

shown on the diagram.

Castling is important. Strong players ordinarily castle early every game. In the following game, that principle is presented clearly.

White 1. e4 2.Nf3 3. Bc4 4.0-0 5. Nc3

Black e5 Nc6 d6

Bg4 Nd4

The position reached here is

All of the moves until Black's fifth showed a good understanding of the strategy of chess. But White has castled early and protected the king while Black has started an attack without first making sure the king is safe.

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PART 2: DRAWN GAMES

three-time repetition

50 move rule

insufficient material

White 6. Nxe5 7. Bxf7+ 8. Nd5#

Black Bxdl Ke7

The final position is shown on the right. Black launched its attack before castling. While Black won White's queen, it lost the game.

It is very important to keep the king safe in chess and nearly always the best way to do that is to castle.

Pa~e 9-3

There are five important types of draws for the students to know.

If a player is to move and the move the player is to make will result in a position on the board that has already appeared on the board twice, with the same player having the move, the player may claim a draw. The position does not need to appear three consecutive times.

The procedure for claiming a draw is to inform the opponent that the same position is about to occur for the third time, but not to actually make the move. The claim must be made while it is the claimant's turn and the position has not yet, but is about to, be repeated for the third time.

If the opponent agrees, the game is over. If the opponent does not agree, the player making the claim must prove with a complete scoresheet that the same position is about to occur for the third time.

If after 50 consecutive moves, no man has been captured and neither player has advanced a pawn, the game is a draw. This means that one player has made 50 consecutive moves without either player making a capture or pawn move.

If a player does not have enough material to force checkmate the opponent may claim a draw. If one player has just a king, just one knight and a king or just one bishop and a king and the other player has only a king, the game is over and is a draw, as it is not possible to construct a checkmate with only a king and a knight or a king and a bishop.

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stalemate

agreement

examples of draws

Palle 9-4

In practical play, if each player has just one minor piece (a knight or a bishop) they should agree that the game is drawn, as it would require a very unusual set of circumstances for the game to end with a checkmate.

For example, the position to the left could happen, but only with extraordinary moves by black.

As a matter of sportsmanship, when neither player has no realistic chance to win, the two should agree that the game is drawn_

lfthe king is not in check and the player who should now move has no legal move, the game is a stalemate. A substantial discussion of stalemate was held in Chapter 7 and does not need to be repeated here.

It should be noted that a stalemate is one kind of draw, and the words, "stalemate" and "draw" are not interchangeable.

If the players agree to a draw, the game ends as a draw.

Draws by agreement should be discouraged. Players learn by playing and should learn not to fear losing. Agreeing to a draw ends a game prematurely and eliminates opportunities for learning.

Set up the position on the right. Ask which side has the advantage. Clearly, Black has the advantage which comes from the extra material (an extra rook, knight and three pawns) and from slightly better king protection.

In such a circumstance, White's best hope is to secure a draw.

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three-time repetition

stalemate is faster

If it were Black's move in this situation, what would be the best choice. Either Ra8# or Nc2# are equally good choices, as each ends the game with a checkmate.

Nxfl, winning the queen, is not a good choice. Why not? (The game ends as a stalemate, as it is now White's move, the king is not in check, but White has no legal move, as the only piece left is the king and all three of the squares adjacent to it are controlled by Black's queen.

White may secure a draw through the process of a three­time repetition. How does White do that?

1. Qxf6+ (diagram at right) This places Black's king in check and forces Black to play 1 ... Kg8, its only move.

2. Qg5+ comes next. Black may not block or capture, so the only legal move is to return to the comer with 2 ... Kh8. 3.Qf6+. This is the second time this position has been seen in this game. 3 ... Kg8 4.Qg5+ Kh8 and now White may claim a draw by indicating that the next move is Qf6+, and that would be the third time that position has been reached with the same player having the move.

What would have been a quicker way to achieve a draw in the position above? A stalemate could have been forced on the second move. If instead of playing 2.Qg5+ White had played 2.Qg7+ Black would have been forced to play Kxg7 and White now has no legal move and the king js not jn check.

If the same position had been on the board and white had an extra man, for example a pawn on h2, then the three-time repetition works to achieve a draw but White would not have had the stalemate option.

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another example

PMe 9·6

Set up the example to the left. Ask the students which side has the advantage. Black clearly has more material and if it were Black's turn to move the game would end soon.

Ask the students to create a plan to win for the Black side. One plan would be to move 1...Qcl+.lf2.Kh2Qf4+and if3.Kgl Rbl#. If after

2 ... Qf4+ 3.g3 Qf2+ and the White king is forced to the first rank (either 4.Kgl or 4.Khl) then after4 ... Rbl+ 5.Qel Rxel#. Remember to ask questions so that the students explain the checkmating pattern. Simply showing them the checkmate is ineffective in having them learn the pattern.

But it is Black's turn to move. Recognizing the disadvantages that come from having less material, White simply want to avoid losing. How does White do that? After 1.Qe8+ the only way Black may get out of check is by moving 1...Kh7. Where does White move now? 2.Qh5+, again leaving Black only one option, 2 ... Kg8. White may not repeat the position with 3.Qe8 Kh7 4.Qh5 and when the position is about to repeat itself again, White claims a draw.

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10. Forcing Checkmate

Objective:

I, Consistently be able to force checkmate (win) with a king and two rooks against a lone king, or a king and a queen against a lone king.

The purpose of this lesson is to teach students to force checkmate on a lone king using only two rooks, then by using only a queen with the king. During the forcemate exercise all of the following ideas appear and should be consistently pointed out by the teacher:

(I) Force a king to the edge to checkmate it because it is easier to checkmate a king on an edge than in the center. (2) It is easier to checkmate a king on the edge because the Idng can move to fewer squares. (3) The attacker first cuts off the enemy king to force it to an edge, then attacks the enemy king to achieve checkmate.

The king and queen vs. king exercise, and the king and two rooks vs. king exercise, are only the first of several drills requiring the students to force checkmate on the opponent. Students also willieam how to checkmate with just a king and a rook against a king.

In each of the three exercises above, the lone king should begin in the center of the board and must be forced to an edge and checkmated.

Outline of lesson:

1. Review of check and mate

2. Review of stalemate

3. Forcing checkmate: King and two rooks vs. king

4. Forcing checkmate: King and queen vs. king

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PART 1: REVIEW OF CHECK AND MATE

3 ways out of check

PART 2: STALEMATE

PART 4: FORCING

Set up the diagram at right on the demonstration board. Then ask the following sequence of questions:

1. How do you know whose move it is?

It is black's move because black is in check.

2. How many ways can black get out of check?

3 ways: Block (Ne7), Run Away (Kf7), and Capture (IIxRe2)

3. What is the worst move for black? Ne7 is the worst because white mates black with QxNe7. (Rxe7 is good bllt 1I0t the best because it is not checkmate.)

Set up checkmate with K & Q vs. K. Then write the definition of stalemate on the board:

STALEMATE: a position in which a player's king is not in check, the player is to move, but has no legal move.

Have students use K & Q vs. lone king to set up a position in which the lone king is stalemated. Explain stalemate thoroughly and have students set up other simple stalemates with only a few pieces.

Explain that in a tournament game "stalemate" is a draw. Therefore, stalemate is bad for the king and queen but good for the lone king.

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Critical Thinking, version 2.0 page 10-3 MATE WITH Have students set up two TWO ROOKS rooks ofthe same color on VS. KING d2 and c3, and the opposite

ideas that appear in the two rooks vs. king forcemate exercise

cut offthe king rank by rank, or file by file

demonstrate the solution

color king on f4 in a position similar to the one shown on the right. Students try to force checkmate on the lone king with the two white rooks. Some ideas in this exercise are:

- Use the rooks to force the lone king onto an edge to checkmate it.

- A rook controls an entire empty file or rank, thus cutting off the lone king from that rank or file.

- The rook is a long-distance piece and does not need to be near the king to cut off a rank or file.

- Checkmate requires attacking the square the king is on and all the squares the king can move to.

The students win at this exercise by forcing the king to an edge of the board and then delivering the checkmate move.

Teachers may have the students discover the correct methods of winning, or they may explain the procedure first, then have the students practice.

In explaining to the class how to accomplish this, ask them first to explain why they want the king to move to the edge of the board. Then ask them to choose an edge they will aim towards.

In the example above, the students may choose to have the king forced to the top of the board, the eighth rank.

Ask for a first move. The best move is 1.Rd4+, forcing the king to the fifth rank. Other choices, such as 1.Rc4+, allow the king the choice of which direction it will move. Because the rook controls the entire rank, the king will have to vacate the rank if it is placed in check, but the students need to see a systematic method of forcing the king where they want it to go.

After 1.Rd4+ ask what choices the king has. The king has three choices, 1.. . Ke5, Kf5 or KgS. Which is best?

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PART 3: FORCING MATEWITHK & QVS. K

ideas that appear in forcemate exercises

using only the queen to force the lone king to the edge

1 ... Ke5 is best for two reasons: it attacks the rook and it stays closest to the center of the board, where it is safest.

Move 1...Ke5 and ask for White's second move. White must protect its rook. There are two good ways to do this. White may use the superior mobility of the rook to move far away from the king, for example by moving 2.Ra4. Or White may use the second rook to protect the rook by moving 2.Rcc4. (See diagrams below.)

After2.Ra4

The Black king should stay as close to the center as it can, so 2 ... KdS is the most logical move. This move also makes 3.RcS a bad move, as there would be nothing preventing the Black king from capturing the unprotected rook.

Remaining consistent, White should again use the superior

mobility of the rook to move away from the defending king, but not get in the way of the other rook. 3.Rh3 is a good move. 3 ... KdS (remaining in the center.) 4.Rh5+ forces the king to the sixth rank. (4 .RaS+ would give Black the option of moving to the sixth or the fourth rank.) By keeping the rooks away from the king but marching the king to the eighth rank, White will force mate by having one rook on the seventh rank and other on the eighth rank.

After 2.Rcc4, the king must move away from its attack on the rook. 2 ... KfS keeps the king away from the eighth rank. 3.KdS+ forces the king to the sixth rank. 3 ... KeS attacks the rook. White continues with the same pattern: 4.RccS Kf6 S.Rd6+ Ke7 6.Kcc6 Kf7 7.Rd7+ Re8 8.Rcc7 Kf8 9.Rd8# or Rc8#.

Put a white king on aI, a white queen on hI, and a black king on d4. Explain that the problem is for white to force the black king into checkmate, and allow the students time to try to checkmate each other. Some ideas are:

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try to keep the queen a "knight's move" away from the enemy king

cut off squares closest to the center to drive the king to the edge

- White should try to force the black king onto an edge of the board by cutting off squares nearest the center that the black king can move to.

- The black king should stay as close to the center as possible.

- A queen attacks along ranks, files, and diagonals, making those squares inaccessible to the lone king.

- Checkmate requires attacking the square the king is on and all the squares the king can move to.

- The white king must be placed properly before checkmate can be played.

- White should avoid stalemating the lone king.

FOR TillS DRILL "CHECK" IS NOT ALLOWED, ONLY CHECKMATE. TillS MEANS THAT WHITE CANNOT CHECK BLACK UNLESS IT IS ALSO CHECKMATE. Tills helps the student learn how to avoid wasteful, unnecessary checks, reinforces the importance of checkmate over check, and shows how the queen by itself can force a lone king onto an edge of the board.

The students should see a demonstration of how the queen by itself is used to force the lone king to the edge ofthe board after they have had the opportunity to discover this method for themselves. It is natural that the queen is best used to force a king to the edge ofthe board by generally staying on squares that are a knight's move away from the enemy king. Keeping the queen in this position in relation to the king cuts off the king most effectively by attacking not only the largest number of squares but also the squares that are closest to the center, leaving the enemy king access only to the squares farther from the center, where the queen wants the enemy king to move.

The queen stays a knight's move away from the king until the king is on the edge of the board. Once on the edge, the queen is used to constrain the king to the edge but is not so close as to cause a stalemate. Then the king moves in for the checkmate.

After allowing time for the students to checkmate each other, be sure to have such a solution demonstrated to the class using the demonstration board.

The ability to checkmate with king and queen vs. king is critical and

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Critical Thinking, version 2.0 page 10-6 must be mastered. This exercise, and other forcemate exercises, can be used for every student as one item on as an assessment task, or appear on a successive list of specific skills to be mastered by each student.

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11. How to Open a Chess Game

Objectives:

1. Recall the three principles governing opening play

2. Begin demonstrating understanding of opening strategy

The main goal of this lesson is to teach the opening principles and to guide students' application and understanding of these principles. The students should come away with the knowledge of why the opening principles are good guidelines to follow, and begin obeying the opening principles in competition with other students.

From this lesson, the students should learn to pay constant attention to the basic opening strategies of controlling the center, developing pieces toward the center, and keeping the king safe. All mistakes in the opening violate one of these principles, and such violations should be pointed out by the teacher at every available opportunity.

It is important to understand that these general principles are just that: principles. It is sometimes a good idea to violate a principle if something unusual occurs. Again, the position ultimately determines whether an opening move, or any move, is a good move. The principles should be relied upon and generally followed as a guide to opening play, but they are not absolute laws that should be followed without thought.

Outline of lesson:

1. Three stages of a chess game

2. Three general principles

3. What to do and what not to do in the opening

4. Examples of opening play

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PART 1: THREE STAGES OF A CHESS GAME

PART 2: THREE GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Control the center

Develop pieces

Keep the king safe

A student must have a good reason for violating opening principles

PART 3: WHAT TO DO AND WHATNOT TO DO IN THE OPENING

page //-2

Introduce the three stages of a chess game, in order of importance, as the Endgame, the Middlegame and the Opening. There are principles to guide play in each stage of the game. This lesson concerns the principles that guide play in the opening stage of the game.

Solicit from the students some ideas of what a player might try to accomplish in the beginning of the game. Students should have enough experience to come up with the main ideas themselves. Give hints to help if necessary. As each principle is described by a student, list the principle in the student's words, then summarize with the ideas listed below:

Pieces are stronger toward the center. Center squares are more important. Whoever controls the center usually controls the game.

The pieces (not pawns) are weak on the back rank. Pieces on the back rank cannot attack at all and are weak defenders. Mobility of the pieces is critical in the opening.

Checkmating the king is the ultimate goal, so it must be kept safe from attack. An exposed king is open to attack. This means that players should usually castle the king to help' keep it safe.

Emphasize that these are general principles and not absolute laws. There are times when a player's king is safe right where it is and need not be moved. There are times when immediate attack is better than developing pieces that are not yet developed. Students should be advised to violate an opening principle only if they have a good reason, one they can explain in words, for doing so. Such reasons are few.

On the next page is a chart of opening DO'S AND DON'T'S that follow naturally from the three opening principles. The students should be able to provide the reasons behind the DO'S AND DON'T'S by referring to the three opening principles. Try to get students to explain why these DO'S AND DON'T'S make sense.

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DO

a. Castle early for king safety. Again, this is just a principle. There are positions in which castling is unnecessary or even a mistake, but in 90% of tournament chess games both players castle within the first ten moves! It is recommended that the teacher insist that students castle early to emphasize the importance of castling. In the rare circumstance in which the student chooses not to castle the student should be able to explain a good reason for not castling.

b. Try to set up a strong pawn center - this helps to control the center. The "d" and "e" pawns are usually moved first to control the center and open up lines for the bishops and the queen.

c. Develop knights before bishops - knights can jump over pawns, bishops can't, so it the takes longer to develop the bishops. Get a knight out first to help control the center immediately.

d. Prepare before attacking. Attacking usually requires that development be complete and the king be safe first.

page 11-3

DON'T

a. Move the same piece twice - This usually is a waste of time. Pieces moved once are usually developed adequately. (NOTE: there are many positions in which moving the same piece twice is a good idea, but in general it is not a good idea.) A player that moves the same pieces again and again allows the opponent to get a lead in development. This generally helps the opponent prepare to attack first.

b. Bring out the queen early. The queen is worth more than the other men. A queen brought out too early can be attacked again and again by weaker men, and forced to waste time retreating from the attack.

c. Play on the edge of the board. Moves like Ph2-h3 or Ph7-h6 are not toward the center and don't contribute to development of the pIeces.

d. Attack prematurely - premature attacks almost always break down because all the forces are not prepared, or the attacker's king is left exposed to a counterattack from the opponent.

PART 4: EXAMPLES OF OPENING PLAY

Again, these ideas are all sound in general. However, there are positions in which violating these principles is correct. Emphasize this to make the point that a player should have a reason for violating the principle. If there is no clear reason to violate the principle, then don't violate the principle.

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A famous game

Review of the opening principles

Examples of good opening moves

Pins

Optional review: Relative pins vs. Absolute pins

page 11-4

Nearly every serious player has memorized the following game. There are many stories surrounding this game, involving Paul Morphy, America's first chess prodigy. The game was played at the Paris Opera House in 1858 against two men who were consulting each other: Count Isouard and the Duke of Brunswick. Maybe it was played during the

. intermission of the opera, The Barber of Seville, or maybe it was played during the performance, providing the incentive for the American to fInish the game quickly.

It was Morphy who developed the opening principles we believe to be true:

] ) Contro] the center, 2) Develop the minor pieces, and 3) Protect the king, usually by castling.

This game illustrates those principles beautifully.

l.e4 e5 2.NfJ d6. With each move, ask the students jfthe move is good or bad, and why. The correct answer to each of the fIrst four moves is that the moves are good because they control the center, develop (or help develop) pieces and protect the king. How do these moves help protect the king? By getting closer to castling, the players are helping to protect their kings and by controlling the center of the board the king is safer as nearly all good attacks come from or through the center.

3.d4 Bg4 What was the purpose of Black's third move? (Ans. While moving bishop to g4 does not control a center square, it removes some of White's control over the center by pinning White's knight to the queen.)

The teacher may want to review the two types of pins. This is an example of a relative pin as the knight is allowed to move but doing so while the pin exists would allow Black to capture White's queen.

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Converse of the opening principles

Breaking the pin

Fork

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For each of the three opening principles there is an equally important converse principle. If a player wants to control the center that player would prefer that his opponent not control the center. It is better for a player's game ifhis opponent does not develop pieces or protect his king.

By pinning the knight, Black intends to reduce White' s control of the center. It would seem that the move was a good one. However, the young American playing the White pieces was not concerned about Black's idea.

4.dxe5. What does Black do now? Planning ahead, what would happen if Black recaptured the pawn with 4 ... dxe5? The students will correctly figure that the continuation of this variation would be 5.Qxd8 Kxd8 6.Nxe5, leaving the position diagrammed to the right. By trading queens, White broke the pin and now has captured a free pawn in the center of the board and has an additional threat. What is that threat? (Ans. 7. Nxg4 winning the bishop or 7.Nxc7, forking the king and rook. In addition, some students will note that Black has lost the right to castle. That is correct and is important.)

4 ... Bx.f3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 What is White's threat? (Ans.7.Qxfl would be checkmate unless Black has protected the fl square with something in addition to the king. This is the basic pattern of the Scholar's Mate, which will be covered in more depth in a later lesson.)

6 ••• Nf6 The obvious move, developing a piece towards the center and protecting the king. The position is shown to the right.

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7.Qb3. What is White threatening now? (Ans. The pawn on f7 is again under attack and now the pawn on b7 also is under attack. This is considered a fork as the queen is involved with both attacks.) Why would it not be a good idea for Black to play 7 ... Nxe4, capturing a pawn

A mating threat so that when White captures a pawn the material will be equal? (Ans. After 7 ... Nxe4 8.Bxf7+ and when Black plays either 8 ... Ke7 or 8 ... Kd7, the only two choices, 9.Qe6# ends the game. Note that 8.Qxb7 captures a pawn but students who believe that it also would win a rook for free should be shown that Black would play 8 ... Nd7 and the queen protects the rook.)

The initiative Note that every move White makes contains a serious threat. In chess, we call this maintaining the initiative. By being forced to defend against White's threats, Black never has time to create his own attack, allowing White greater freedom to choose his moves.

7 ... Qe7 What does Black have in mind with this move? (Ans. The move protects the f-pawn, of course, but it does something more. What would Black play after 8.Qxb7? How does Black avoid losing the rook on a8? By playing 8 ... Qb4+ forking the king and queen. After 9.Qxb4 Bxb4 Black is behind by a pawn but White no longer has such a powerful initiative. It is for this reason that White does not capture the free pawn.) What does White play to continue the attack while remaining consistent with our three opening principles?

Students may suggest castling, which is a good move but not as aggressive as the young Morphy wanted. 8.Bg5, pinning the knight to the queen does not protect the king, allowing Black to trade off the queens. 8.Bd2 protects the king but has little impact on the center of the board and does not continue the attack.

8.Nc3 controls two center squares, develops another piece and protects the king along the a5-el diagonal. Now 9.Qxb7 is a serious threat that would win a rook. 8 •.. c6 How does that protect Black? (The queen now

defends b7.) 9.BgS bS (Diagram)

How many minor pieces has White developed? (All four.) How many has Black developed? (Two.) How many pawns has White moved? (Two.) How many pawns has Black moved? (Four.) Is White ready to castle? (Yes, in

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either direction.) Is Black ready to castle? (No.) With White having followed the general opening principles and Black not having done so, the game reaches its climax.

10.Nxb5 cxb5 II.Bxb5+ How should Black get out of check? (Blocking with the queen is not a good idea, as that gives up the powerful queen for a bishop. Blocking with the knight on f6 also gives up the queen as the knight is pinned by the bishop on g5. Moving the king to d8 exposes it to more of an attack along the d-file and magnifies the pin from White' s dark-squared bishop.)

1l ..• Nbd7 develops a piece (finally) and protect') the king. How does White continue the attack? (The obvious target is d7, attacking the king. The knight is pinned. When something is pinned it is a target for capture. How does White bring more force to d7? 12. Rdl looks good, but what move can White make that accomplishes the same thing but adds another component of the three general opening principles? 12.0-0-0.

How many things does White have attacking the knight on d7? (Two) How many things does Black have defending that knight? (The king may not capture the first thing that captures the knight as that would put itself in check. The queen does not want to be the first to capture, as the queen would be captured. The knight is pinned so if it captures first, the queen would be lost to the bishop. While Black has three pieces seemingly protecting the knight, none ofthem can be the first to capture.)

12 .•. Rd8 What is wrong with 12 ... O-O-o? (Castling without pawns in front of the king is very dangerous. In this case, can you fmd the winning combination? 13.Ba6+ Kc7 14.Qb7#.)

13.Rxd7 Why not 13.Bxd7? (After 13 ... Rxd7 nothing is pinning the rook on d7.) 13 ... Rxd7. What move now is consistent with the previous moves? 14.Rdl , putting more pressure on the piDDed piece. 14 ... Qe6 breaking the pin, allowing the bishop on f8 to move and offering to trade queens, reducing the pressure on Black' s king.

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Optional, complicated variations

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Now we look for the winning combination. Allow the students some time to work out the attack, which is not at all easy to see from here.

15.Bxd7+ forking the king and queen. 15 ••• Nxd7 (the king is not allowed to capture and taking the bishop with the queen loses to a pretty attack which probably is not worth the time to show: 16.Qb8+ Ke7 (if 16 ... Qd8 17.Qxd8#) 17.Qxe5+ Qe6 18.Qc7+ Ke8

(if 18 ... Qd7 19.Qxd7#) 19.Rd8# Sharp students may notice that Black could have moved 17 ... Kd8 which avoids the checkmate, but after 18.Qb8+ Ke7 19.Rxd7+ Kxd7 20.Qb7+. Ifa: 20 ... Ke8 21.Kc8+ Ke7 22.e5 winning a knight and giving White an overwhelming advantage. b: 20 ... Kd8 21.e5 a6 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.exf6 and Black cannot move any of its three pieces without losing something important. If23 ... Ke8 24.Kc8# If23 ... Ra7 24.Qb8+ Kd7 25.Qxf8 If23 ... Bd6 24.Qa8+ and after the king moves off of the eighth rank 25.Qxh8. Black could try 23 ... h5 intending to play 24 ... Bh6+ to untangle his pieces, but White has the choice of ignoring the threat and capturing two more of Black's pawns (on a7 and fl) or blocking the threat by moving 24.f4 or 24.Kdl and staying on light squares. c: 20 ... Kd6 21.Bf4+ Kc5 22.Qc7+ 23.c3+ Kxe4 24.Qe5+ Kd3 25.Kdl Kc4 26.b3+ Kd3 27.Kd4# d: 20 ... Ke6 21.Qc6+ Ke5 (if21. .. Ke7 22.e5 produces a game-ending advantage) 22.f4+ Kd4 23.Qf3+ Kxe4 24.Qe5#)

Going back to the game, after 15 ... Nxd7 the students might be asked where Black's king may move. (Nowhere.) So if White can fmd a check it might be checkmate. The game ends with 16.Qb8+ which is not checkmate because of 16 ..• Nxd8. Have the students find 17.Rd8# which is how the Morphy game ended.

Review of principles: How many pawns did White move in the game? (Two.) How many did Black move? (Four.) How many pieces did White move? (All of them.) How many did Black move? (Three never moved, including the king and four seem to be on their starting squares.) Did White castle? (Yes.) Did Black castle? (No.) Who won? (White.)

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Second example

Restricting the opponent's options

Gambit

Attacking the queen and king

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l.d4 There are as many good moves as bad ones on the first move. To be good, the fust move must:

1) Control the center 2) Develop minor pieces, and 3) Protect the king.

Ten of the 20 possible first moves as white meet those criteria and should be considered good moves. The other ten do not. 1.d4 is a good move because it fulfills the three opening principles.

1. .. Nf6. Black is discouraging white from moving 2.e4. When white has its pawns on d4 and e4 that gives it a powerful start. But white wants to move its pawn to e4. How should he go about getting it there? 2.Nc3 is a good idea, but it removes the option of later moving the c­pawn. 2.D is not a good option, as it removes the natural developing square from the knight and opens the e I-h4 diagonal to the king. 2.Nd2 was played, but it is not a good move as it blocks the dark-squared bishop.

2 ... e5 is a gambit. (A gambit offers material, usually temporarily, to gain a positional advantage.) Black is giving away a pawn in order to get White to make a move that does not develop another piece while at the same time Black is able to develop its dark-squared bishop. 3.dxe5 Ng4 threatening to regain the pawn, now with a knight powerfully placed in the center.

4.Ngf3 Be7 White has developed a piece and Black has developed both king-side pieces and is ready to castle. 5.h3 A terrible move, shown below. White obviously was concerned about Black's knight being close to the king, but White needed to worry more about king safety, control of the center and the development of his pieces. 5.e4 would have been good and several other moves would have been better than the move that was played.

5 ..• Ne3 Attacking White's queen that cannot move. To save the queen, White's only move is to capture the knight. 6.fxe3 Bh4+ leads to mate in two more moves. 7.Nxh4 Qxh4+ 8.g3 Qxg3#

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Third example This next example reviews the same mistake as in the second example.

Exposing the king to a diagonal attack

Developing additional pieces

Conclusion

l.e4 eS Most games among children begin with these moves. Both moves allow the king-side bishop to develop so as to allow a quick king­side castle. This opening is very common because it uses good moves.

2.d4 This is an aggressive move. Controlling the center immediately it allows for White's dark-squared bishop to develop and puts pressure on Black.. It is common for Black to capture the pawn with 2 ... dxe4 at which point White has a number of good moves to respond. No serious player can make a good argument as to which of White's many good moves is the best.

2 ••• f6 This is mistake. Although Black is controlling a center square (e5) Black will have difficulty developing its king-side minor pieces now, as the f6 square no longer is available for the knight and if the knight moves to e7 it is blocking the bishop. 2 ... f6 also opens up a line for attack (the h5-e8 diagonal.)

3.dxeS fxeS 4.QhS+ and Black has no good way to defend. After 4 ... g6 (blocking the check) 5.Qxe5 forks the king and rook. After 4 ••• Ke7 S.QxeS+ Kfi 6.Bc4+ (bringing a piece into the attack with a checking move, so Black has no time to develop a corresponding piece to assist with the defense.

6 .•• Kg67.Qf5#

B1ack cou1d have escaped the checkmate by giving up the queen. Instead of6 ... Kg6 Black could have played 6 ... d5 7.Bxd5+ Qxd5 (If7 ... Be6 8.Qxe6#) but 8.exd5 and White has an overwhelming advantage.

Students must be taught that it is very dangerous to expose the king to an attack along the diagona1.

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Fourth example

Using the f-file for an attack

A gambit

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I.f4 This is also a popular opening idea. White controls a center square (eS) and intends to develop a knight to fJ , develop the light-squared bishop and castle, using the f-file with the rook behind it to create an attack on Black's kingside.

1. .. eS Black offers a gambit pawn. As is usually the case, the gambit is designed to give the side offering material some extra time (tempo) to develop pieces.

2.fxe4 As a general rule, if a player does not see a good reason not to capture extra material, it is best to capture the material. The worst that happens is that the player learns something about chess. The best that can happen is that the player learns something about chess and wins the game with the extra material.

2 ... d6 Black offers another pawn. White does not need to capture it and could reasonably playa move that develops a piece and controls the center. However, there is no good reason not to capture the next pawn in the chain.

3.exd6 Bxd6 The purpose of a gambit is to develop pieces, and Black now has a piece developed in exchange for its pawn, while White has no pieces developed. Where is Black' s threat? Notice White has an entry along the dark square diagonal of f2 - h4 and notice that the only piece that either side has developed so far is Black's dark-squared bishop. If White makes a random move like 4.Nc3, what does Black do? (4 ... Qh4+ S.g3 Qxg3+ 6.hxg3 Bxg3#)

4.Nf3 Controlling the h4 square (so as to save the king) in addition to developing a piece and controlling the center.

4 ... gS Black intends to scare White's knight away by moving the pawn to gS in order to create the checkmate. If White prevents S ... gS by playing S.h3 how would Black respond? (S .. . Bg3#) S.g3 is a good move, as it protects the king from the checkmating threats and allows White' s light-squared bishop to develop to g2 and control the center.

In this game, both sides have reasonable chances. Black is behind by a pawn but has slightly superior development. Both sides are in a good position to protect their kings and both sides will be able to establish good control over the center.

White has an extra pawn, which, late in the game, has the potential to be promoted to a queen. When both sides control the center, develop the minor pieces and protect the king, a good game of chess is the likely outcome. If one side forgets any of the three principles, that side is likely to have problems throughout the game.

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12. Forks

Objectives:

1. Understand and be able to explain what a fork is

2. Be able to find forks during games

3. Plan ahead to place the opponent in positions where forks may be played

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PART 1: FINDING A SIMPLE FORK

Definition

Spotting a fork

Creating a fork

Relative value important

Defending by attacking

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Ask, "What is the name for attacking two or more men with one of your own?" (Ans. "A fork")

In the position to the left, does anyone see a fork? (The knights are forked by the queen.)

Using a fork Suppose Black didn't care about the knights but wanted to capture the bishop. How would Black use a fork to

capture the bishop? (l...Qhl+ forking the king and bishop will allow Black to win the bishop. If2.Kfl Qxh4. What have we created here? Another fork, this time between the king and the knight on h7. Suggestions like 1 ... g3 to win the bishop may be discussed as a discovered attack, but because White has a way to defend the bishop, 2.Bxg3 is the most obvious, such a move is not the most powerfuL)

But in the position above it is White's turn to move and White does not want to lose a knight or bishop for nothing. Would White be willing to trade a minor piece (a knight or bishop) for Black's queen? (Ans. Yes!)

What will White do to avoid losing a piece for free? Suggestions from the students of moving a knight should be discussed but it should be noted that any place one knight moves, whether White is threatening the queen or not, Black will respond by either capturing the other knight or by forking the king and bishop to win the bishop.

I.Be7+ may be suggested. While that prevents a knight from being captured, Black likely will respond with 1...Qxe7 capturing the bishop for free. LBel +, however, places Black's king in check with the bishop protected by the king. Ask, "Why can't Black capture a knight, now?" (Because Black has to get out of check and capturing a knight does not get Black out of check.)

Move the king to one of the four light squares and ask, "What is White's best move now?" (If I ... Ka4 2.Nc3+ Teacher: What is that called? Student: A fork (or better, "A royal fork"). Move the king to another light square and ask a different student for the best move. I ... KbS 2.Nc3+; I. .. Kc4 2.NdZ+, L.Kb3 2.NdZ.)

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Finding forks Then move to the other possible square, 1 ... KcS and ask another student for White's best move. Any knight move results in the knight that does not move being captured. The only good move for White is 2.Bf2. Then, go around the class asking for the correct response for White to each of Black's king moves to a light square. (2 ... Kb5 3.Nc3+, 2 ... Kd5 either 3.Nc3 or 3.Nf6, 2 ... Kc4 3.Nd2.)

Not all forks are worthwhile

Finding the best plan

Continue with this pattern with each move, asking different stndents with each position to provide the right answer either for a royal fork (forking the king and queen) or a check with the bishop.

Remind the stndents of the definition of a fork. Ask if there are any forks shown in the position to the left. (Ans. There are no good forks. Black's queen is attacking three things the pawn on a2, the knight on d5 and the rook on fl - but with all of those men having less value than the queen and all of them are protected. So although the queen is attacking three things we do not consider it to be a real fork By a fork we mean that we

are attacking two or more things that are unprotected or relatively nnprotected. )

Using that restrictive definition of a fork, what forks can either side create this move? (Ans. Black has no good forks available as the only man White has that is unprotected in the pawn on b2. But there are three good forks for White. Ask different stndents to identity all three: (1.Nc7+, l.Nb6 and l.Ne3.)

Which of those three is the most powerful? (Ans. Nc7+ wins Black's rook on a8 for free and the knight will be able to escape without serious trouble.) The other moves either allow Black to capture the knight immediately after it captnres the rook or at least trap the knight in the corner of the board.

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Good fork vs. Bad fork

Creating a combination

Family fork

Combination

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Now set up the position to the right. Ask who has more material? (Black is ahead by a pawn.) What does White have in exchange for that pawn? (A safe king and one more piece developed.)

It is White's turn to move. How can White make a fork? (White may play l.Nxc7 but that is not a good fork. Why

not? Because the knight on a6 will capture White's knight if it captures on c7.) Does this give us any good ideas of how to make a good fork?

White removes the defender of c7 by playing I.Bxa6. For the moment, White is ahead by a piece for the pawn that it had been behind. How can Black regain the material advantage? (Ans. By capturing the bishop on a6.) If 1.. .bxa6 what would be White's best response? (2.Nxc7, forking Black's king and rook.)

Suppose Black had captured 1.. . Qxa6. What is White's best move now? (2.Nxc7 is still the best move. In fact, it is even better now than in the

position above, as more of Black's pieces are under attack. What is being threatened now? (Ans. The king, rook and now the queen.)

We have a special term for a fork involving those three pieces. When the king, queen and rook are under attack we call it a family fork.

The fork in this position required more than one move. We first had to remove the defender before we could safely play Nxc7. When we make such a series of moves we call it a combination.

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Review of forks and family forks

Any man may fork

Set up the position on the left and let the students know it is White's turn to move.

Ask the students for the best move. Playing either rook to e 1 forces the king to a safer place, so those are not good choices. Emphasize that placing the opponent's king in check usually is not a good plan.

I.Nf6+ also makes black protect the king more.

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Nc7+ attacks the king, queen and rook at the same time. What do we call that type of move? (Ans. A family fork.)

Knight forks, using a knight to attack two or more pieces, are powerful, as the knight ordinarily is not a strong piece. If it can be traded for a queen or a rook, that usually is a very good thing to do.

What other piece can attack many things at once? The queen can. Both the knight and the queen may attack in eight different directions. However, a player ordinarily will not want to trade a queen for a different piece. In the position on the right, how many men is the White queen attacking?

The queen is attacking three pawns, but would it be a good idea for the queen to capture any of them? (No. Each of the pawns is protected.) What is protecting the pawn on h7? (The rook.) The pawn on f7? (The king.) The pawn on e5? (The knight.) If the queen captures a pawn right now, what will black do on its tum? (Capture the queen.) Is that a good trade? (No.)

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Pawn fork

Review of opening principles

Combining to

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The position on the left was created by the following moves:

1. e4 eS 2.Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nxe4

Black is behind by a knight for a pawn, but it is Black's turn. What is Black's best move now?

Black may fork White's two aggressive pieces by playing 4 ... dS. The exchange that follows will make the material even, but Black's position is better than it was before the trade was made.

It would be reasonable to ask questions from the beginning of the game. Why did White make its first move? (To control the center, help develop a minor piece - the bishop - and help protect the king by getting one step closer to castling.)

The second move developed a piece, added more control to the center and also helped to protect the king. Adding more control to the center always makes the king safer, as good attacks nearly always come from or through the center.

The third move for White developed a piece, helped to clear the way for White to castle and controlled a center square.

Of course, Black had many options other than to capture the pawn on move three, and White was not forced to capture the knight on move four. What might have been some alternative moves for White? (QhS, threatening checkmate by Qxf7# is one interesting move. It brings the queen out early, usually not a good idea, but it was also not usually a good idea for Black to move the same piece - the knight - twice in the opening.)

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create a fork Set up the position to the right. Ask the students which side has the better position.

Evaluatiug which side is better

The player with the move can establish an initiative

Things to consider are:

1) Material. (White is ahead by a pawn.)

2) Control ofthe center. (Both sides have done a pretty good job of keeping the other side out of the center but Whlte has done a bit better.)

3) King safety. Both kings are castled but neither side is completely safe. Black's king looks somewhat better protected as it has pawns on the adjacent g- and h-files while White has a gaping hole in its defenses along the g-file and White's king carmot get off of the back rank.

If it is Black's turn to move, Black can exploit White's weaknesses with 1 ... ReI +. White carmot move the king to escape check and blocking (2.Qelleads to 2 ... Rxel#.) The third method of escaping check, capturing, is the best, so 2.Qxc 1 is essentially forced. How does Black proceed? 2 ... Ne2+ creates the royal fork and Black has traded a rook for a queen, a powerful advantage.

If it is White's tum to move, the advantage is not so clear. The discovered attacks on the queen do not lead to an advantage. If 1.Ng6+ Qxg6. If 1.Nxf8 Black has options of either capturing White's rook (1...Qxg7) or playing 1...Qg6+. Two of White's three moves are very bad. (2.KhI Qg2#; 2.Qg3 Ne2+ creating the royal fork and 2.Kfl Qg2+ forking the king and rook.

This lesson, however, is about forks, not discovered attacks. The move White should play does not create a checkmate or even win a queen. White needs to have a more modest goal. White wins a minor piece with l.Qxf4. This takes away Black's major threat.

But I ... Qxf4 means that Black is ahead by a queen for a knight. How does White use a fork to create an advantage? 2.Ng6+ creates another royal fork and now White is ahead by a knight and a pawn, not just a pawn as we had at the start of this position.

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A similar example

Another example

Attacking beats defending

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In the position to the left, it is White's tum to move. After seeing that the material is equal at the moment, how should White gain the upper hand?

l.Qxf6+ wins a piece. If Black retreats the king White is simply ahead by a knight. How does White follow up after 1 ... Kxf6? 2.Ne4+ creates a royal fork, and after Black moves the king to safety

(2 ... Ke5, for example) 3.Nxc5 creates another fork, winning a pawn. White will need to promote a pawn to win the game and with the extra minor piece White will be able to capture some extra pawns making it easy to promote one and win.

It might be worth noting that Black would be well advised not to capture White's queen on the first move. Black has better chances keeping the queens on the board.

There are innumerable examples of this maneuver. Several are presented here not because every student needs to be exposed to every example but because teachers may want to use the same concept with various groups that have overlapping students. In the position to the right, the teacher may want to discuss the potential fork Black would have were it Black's turn (1 ... Nd4 forks White's queen and rook) so as to demonstrate that the best way to parry an attack is with an attack that is even stronger.

If 1 ... Nd4 2.Ne7+ Kh8 (forced) 3.Nxg6+ fxg6 4.Qd3 Nxfl 5.Qxd2 and White has captured a queen and a knight while Black has captured a rook and a knight.

If it is White's tum to move, what is the best plan? Is l.Ne7+ a good

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Looking throngh options

Defending against a fork

Attacking something of greater value

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fork? (No, 1...Nxe7 is a simple defense that captures a piece for nothing.) If Black's knight were not defending the e2 square, White's threat ofa fork would be very powerful. Wbat is Wbite's best move?

I.Rxc6 threatens the queen directly with the rook. How can Black protect its queen?

Capturing the rook seems like the first idea to explore and there are two alternatives. Wbat would White play after 1 ... bxc6? (2.Ne7+ forking the king and queen.) After 1...Qxc6? (2.Nxe7 again forking the king and queen.)

Black can block the rook's attack on the queen with 1 ... f6. What does White play then? (2.Ne7+ with that same royal fork.)

Are there any safe squares to which Black's queen may move? (No.) Having now explored all of the options, we conclude that l.Rxc6 will allow Wbite to win Black's queen for a rook.

Attacks frequently do not work before a player has defended properly. In the position to the right, what is the threat? The only thing being attacked is the knight. It is White's move. Is there a good threat for Wbite?

Consider what happens with I.Nf7. What does White have under attack? (Both rooks.) How is Black likely to respond? 1...Rc8 (either rook) attacks the knight, but the knight had not planned to remain on that square and will capture the rook that did not move. What would have been more effective? Moving either rook to e8 places Wbite's exposed king in check, giving Black the opportunity to move the other rook to attack the knight. Because the knight has no good squares to fmd sanctuary, Black will win the minor piece.

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How to find a fork

Unprotected material is not always free

Finding a good fork

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What is under attack in the position to the left? White has an unprotected e-pawn but if Black captures it with the knight, the position becomes quite complicated with White having threats on fl (with the rook, bishop and soon the queen) after the moves: 1.. .Nxe4 2.Qd7. For example, 2 ... Rf8 3.Rxfl Rxfl 4.Qxfl+ Kh8 5.Qf8+ Ng8 6.Qxg8#

Several of Black's moves in the illustration above were not fmced. After 1...Nxe4 2.Qd7 Rf8 3.Rxfl Black could have played 3 ... Qb6+ 4.Khl Qxb3 5.Rxg7+ Kh86.Rxh7+ Kg87.Qg7#

That leads us to a better variation for Black. As shown above, Black starting by taking the apparently unprotected pawn on e4 leads to White winning. However, Black could achieve an advantage with a different move, suggested by a variation we just reviewed.

What does White have that is not protected? Three of White's men are unprotected. They are the queen, the bishop and the pawn on e4. Everything else has something protecting it. We have seen that capturing the pawn on e4 was not a good idea. Does Black have a way to capture White's queen? Black can attack the queen with its rook or queen by moving either to d8, but in neither case is there a forced combination to win the m1\ior piece.

Let's look at that unprotected bishop. Is there a way for Black to attack the bishop at the same time as something else of importance is placed under attack? Now we can see the process for finding the fork. 1 ... Qb6+ places the king and bishop under attack at the same time. White must get the king out of check. With any of its moves (2.Khl, 2.Rf2 or 2.Qf2) the bishop remains unprotected so Black can follow with 2 ... Qxb3 and has won a piece for free.

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Another example of finding a fork

Placing the king in check is frequently not a good plan

Players should look to gain a series of smaller advantages

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Set up the position to the left. IdentifY whatever chessmen are not protected. (Ans. White has a pawn on b3 that is not protected, Black's rook on a5 and bishop on g4 are not protected.)

Let the students know that it is Black's turn to move and ask for ideas for Black's best plan.

Students often will suggest direct attacks on the king and each suggestion should be

explored. For example, l.Qe8+ Kg7 2.Qe5+ Kg8 can lead to a repetition of position and a draw.

White would like to do better. 1.Qb8+ Kg7 2.Re8 looks like it could develop into a promising attack. However, 2 ••• Qc1 + forces 3.Bfl 3 ••. Bh3 4.Rg8+ Kh6 (this is why Black played 2 ... Qcl+ instead of 2 ... Qbl+ or 2 ... Qdl+.) S.Qrs (note that every move White plays from now until the end of the game must be a check. Why is that? (Ans. As soon as Black gets an opportunity to make a move other than getting the king out of check, Black will play Qxf1#.)

5 ..• KhS 6.g4+ Kxg4 7.Qc8+ Kh4 8.Qd8+ (It is a fork, but one without value because if White captures the rook without giving check, White will be checkmated with Qxf1#.) 8 ••• Kh5 and White has run out of good checks that do not involve the giving away of the queen.

From this variation, we see that attacking the king does not lead to victory. Usually, it takes an accumulation of smaller advantages to win a game of chess.

In this case, it is possible to win a piece. From the starting position, we saw that some of Black's pieces are undefended. Where could White have a piece located that would be attacking two ofthem? Having the queen on c8 attacks the king and bishop. What is wrong with having a queen on that square? (The bishop will capture it.) Similarly, having the queen on a4 attacks both the rook and bishop. But a similar problem exists. What would make a good fork? Having the queen on b4 attacks both the bishop and the rook simultaneously. How does White get it there?

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Knowing what you are trying to find makes it easier to find it

An easier example

Look for patterns in the opponent's placement of pieces that would permit forks

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Once a player knows what to look for it becomes much easier to find it. Students should be taught that every move they should look to see what material is being left unprotected to help them find a tactic that will allow them to capture free material.

In this case, the correct combination is l.Qb8+ forcing 1. •. Kg7 2.QM forking the bishop and rook.

Students always should look for opportunities for forks. In the diagram to the right, where are the pieces in a position to be forked? White's king and rook on al could be forked by a bishop on c3. So how does White place a bishop on c3?

1...Rxc3! (1...Bxc3 wins a pawn but using the rook first with the threat of the fork wins much more material.) If White does not recapture

It is White's move in the position to the left. What has Black left unprotected? (Aus. The bishop on as.) How should White win it? (Aus.1.Qa4+ forking the king and bishop.)

Note that if Black tries to save the bishop with 1...Nc6 2.Nxc6 may win even more. For example, 2 ... bxc6 3.Qxc6. Now what is being forked? (Aus. The king and rook.)

Black is ahead by a bishop. If White plays 2.bxc3 Bxc3 wins the rook in addition to the pawn that was just captured.

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Forks can happen even in positions that look like there is nothing happening

Exposing the enemy king

Creating a fork

sides are using all of their pieces.

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How would we evaluate the position to the left? Ask students for the important considerations in evaluating a position.

Material is equal.

Control the center. Black has good control of the center but White has two of the squares controlled.

Piece development. Both

King safety. Black's king has castled behind a row of pawns but the h­pawn has moved, allowing White potentially to have a perch on g6. White has castled behind two pawns but cannot move the king.

It is Black's move. What can Black do with that move? What initiative can Black create? 1 ... Bxg2+ forces 2.Kxg2. How would Black follow up? 2 ... Qd2+ forks the king and rook so Black will end up with a rook and a pawn in exchange for a bishop, an excellent trade. In addition, if White moves the king to the first rank to escape the queen's attack (3.Kfl or 3.Khl) then 3 ... Qxcl+ is another fork, winning the bishop. Of course, if White plays either 3.KgI or 3.Qe2 then Black will have to be content with taking the rook and having a substantial, if not overwhelming, advantage.

In the position to the left, it is White's turn. The position on the board looks pretty equal. Both sides have kings in places where they are only somewhat protected. Black has an extra pawn but White has the small advantage of having a knight to work with its queen while Black has a bishop instead, and bishops do not work as well paired with queens.

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Using the initiative

Looking for forks

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The largest advantage White has is the move. White can now create an attack. What would be the best plan?

White could immediately trade the knight for the bishop. (I.Nxe7+) Is that a good idea? What are the reasons that trading the knight for the bishop is not a good idea?

1. A knight complements a queen more than a bishop does.

2. Black is ahead in material, so trading minor pieces is to the advantage of Black.

3. White's knight is better placed, closer to the center and to the opponent's king than is Black's bishop.

After rejecting l.Nxe7+, we can look at the other checking move with the knight, I.Nh6+. How would Black respond? Black has to get out of check, so Black will have to move the king. Black may not move 1 ... Kf7, and moving to the comer is contrary to the idea that in the endgame, the king should be centralized. 1...KfS or 1.. .Kg7 need to be analyzed. 1 ... KfS allows for an additional attack on the king with 2.Qa8+ whereas 1...Kg7 does not. White must figure that Black would play 1...Kg7 at which point White's knight is under attack from the king and White has no way to keep its own attack going.

White may look for a way to fork Black's two most important men, the king and queen. But the only square for the knight to attack them both (f6) is controlled by Black's bishop. But, using that same line of thinking, White has another move that would attack both of Black's royalty. What is that move? l.Qd5+ attacks both Black's king and queen. Black must get out of check. If Black moves the king or blocks with 1...Qe6 then White will capture Black's queen for free.

What does White do if Black plays the more obvious 1 ... Qxd5? Right, 2.Nxe7+ forks the king and queen. After Black moves the king to a safe square, White plays 2.Nxd5 and now White has a large advantage, with a knight and two pawns facing three pawns. That should be enough of an advantage to win the game.

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Combining ideas

Overloading the opponent's men

Combining tactics

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Most chess positions do not lend themselves to locate simple forks. Forks must be created. In the position to the left, in which it is Black's turn to move, what pieces look like they might be forked?

We want to look to attack men that are unprotected or pieces that we can trade for men of lesser value. The first combination of men to look at are the queen and the king. Where could we potentially

place a piece to attack them both simultaneously? (Ans. 1 ... Nfl) What is wrong with just playing the fork on the first move? (Ans. The rook will capture it.)

Something else to notice in the position: The queen is guarding the g2 square. Why is that important? (1.. . Qxg2 would be mate except for the queen guarding the g2 square, ready to capture the queen if it moves there.)

How does Black gain a winning advantage, then? (1.. .Rxcl. If2.Rxcl Nxfl, forking the king and queen. If2.Qxcl Qxg2#. White has no good options.

The position to the left arose with White to move in a 2007 game between two strong players, Jakovljevic, a master, and Vukic, a grandmaster. As is usually the case, the players had to use several concepts together.

White tried to create a fork. What move did he make to get Black's queen to move to a square where it could be forked? l.Re8 (If Black had

captured the rook with 1...Qxe8 White would have played 2.Nf6+, taking advantage of the pin on the bishop to win the queen.) 1. •• Qd3. What is Black attacking? The bishop is under a real threat of being captured with check. The knight, while technically under attack, is

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Keeping the initiative with forks

A Grandmaster example

Review of opening principles

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protected both by White's rook and queen. Still, it is good to respond to an attack with a threat of one's own. 2.RxfS+ KxfS White continues the attack with a forcing move. Black does not have time to capture White's bishop because Black is in check.

White continues the attack with a fork, and a fork that does not allow Black any time to create its won attack. What move for White will do that? 3.Qc8+ Not only does this make a fork between the king and rook, but the king must move to a square so that when White captures the rook, it will be check again. 3 ... Kf7 4.Qxb7+ Ke6 Black had other options, but White now has a winning game. What fork did White now use? 5.Nc5+ forking the king and queen. Black gave up at this point.

Strong players always look for opportunities to win. It is a myth that grandmasters will agree to draws quickly when facing each other or that their games always are long and complicated. Here is a game between two grandmasters played in 2008. Grigoriants is using the white pieces and Tregubov is playing Black.

l.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 (see diagram)

Both players are doing what they can to control the center and develop their pieces. Grandmasters use the same concepts as beginners, they just usually use them better. Those concepts are:

1) Control the four center squares,

2) Develop the minor pieces, getting them off of their starting squares and out towards the center where they can help, and

3) Protect the king. Usually castling is the best way to keep a king safe.

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5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e4 [Diagram on right] Black could have continued trading, but White had as many things controlling d4 as Black had attacking it, so Black would not have gained anything. What is Black's threat this way? This is not a complicated threat, Black is attacking White's knight on f3, forcing it to move. White elects to move the knight to the center. 7.Ne5

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BM pinning White's knight to the king. This absolute pin removes some pressure fTom Black's pawn on e5.

8.Bd2 breaking the pin but also blocking White's queen from protecting the d-pawn. 8 ... Nxd4 9.Nxe4 [Diagram] Both sides are visualizing attacks. White has just discovered an attack on Black's bishop and is heading towards Black's king with a pair of knights. What square do you think Black is looking at? (Black would like to get a knight safely to c2, forking White's king and rook.)

9 .•. Qe7 with many tactical purposes. Not only is Black protecting his bishop on b4 (it is under attack from White's bishop) by placing the queen along the e-file where White's king still is, Black also hopes to use the pin on White's knights to his advantage. lO.Bxb4 QxM+ 1l.Qd2 (probably expecting the trade of queens, but Black sees that his queen is protected in another manner). 11 ..• Nxe4! White gives up, seeing that after he captures the queen with 12.Qxb4 Black wins the queen right back with the royal fork of 12 ... Nc2+ and will be ahead by a knight with a better position.

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Many impressive games result when the players are looking for the tactics. In the following game, Black keeps the pressure on with one fork after another.

l.e4 eS 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 (It is somewhat dangerous to bring the queen into the center early, as the opponent can gain time to develop pieces by attacking the queen. That happens here.) 3 ••• Nc64.Qd3 [Diagram) It

Had White played 7.Nc3 he would have been a little worse off because Black would capture the knight with 7 ... Bxc3+ leaving White with the unenviable choice of doubling the c-pawns with 8.bxc3 or losing a pawn with 8.Qxc3 Nxe4. However, if White plays the simple 7.Bd2 . the game is about even although Black is ready to castle while White still must develop his knights. However, White plays the inaccurate 7.c3

might have been better to retreat the queen to its starting square. White did not want to admit making such a mistake so placed the queen where both bishops still could move.

4 .•• Nf6 S.Bc4 NeS Not only is Black attacking White's bishop, White is placing both knights in places where they can make enormous threats.

6.Bb3 Bb4+ (See the diagram below.)

exposing the king to a devastating attack. Can you find the series offork attacks that will win the game?

7 ..• BeS Where is the fork that prevents White from playing 8.Qxc5? (Ans. 8 ... Nxd3) 8.Qg3 Where is Black's next fork attack? (Not only knights can create forks. 8 •.• Bxf2+ forks the king and queen.) If Black moves the king to get out of check but does not capture the bishop, Black's bishop will capture the queen. If White plays 9.Qxf2 what does

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Black play? (Ans. 9 ... Ne3+ with another royal fork.) If White plays 9.Kxt2 what does Black play? (Ans. 9 ... Nxe4, with the final royal fork of this chapter.)

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