*This article is part of the DAT Chess lesson series; all content covered here was featured in an hour-long chess lesson, for all levels of chessplayers.
(Note: if you are confused about chess notation, please see this webpage:. This webpage does an excellent job of explaining everything about chess notation, and should make this article easier to follow.)
We are going to review some miscellaneous chess rules, rules about personal conduct during tournaments, and some critical advice to use when playing games in matches and tournaments; we will then look at some of the basic endgames, to make sure that everyone knows how to convert an advantage into a win.
En Passant: (See this website for some helpful diagrams)
In chess lingo, you call the rows on the board ranks, when you look at it from your perspective. In the starting chessboard position, your 1st rank would include all of your pieces, and your 2nd rank all of your pawns. It doesn’t matter if you are white or black: from your perspective, your pawns are on your 2nd rank.
Now visualize if your opponent has a pawn on your 4th rank. If you have a pawn on the 2nd rank, you can move it 2 squares up. However, if you move it next to your opponent’s pawn on your 4th rank, they can take it. If you move up two squares next to the pawn, they can take it as if you just moved one square forward. They can only take it immediately after you move your pawn up; they can’t wait a few moves, and then capture en passant.
In reality, in higher-level play you don’t see en passant too much, because people know about it and avoid playing it. For instance, if I know that you can just take my pawn with en passant, I won’t make that move because I don’t want you to win a pawn. However, in beginner and intermediate play, your opponent will sometimes not know about it or overlook it, so in that level of play you will see it be played more often.
Some important points about en passant:
Just because you can play it doesn’t mean that it is a good idea to; if it’s not a good move, don’t play it! Don’t be shy if your opponent thinks you are from the planet Mars. If they don’t know about en passant, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t allowed to play it. If they ask about the move, just stop the clock, raise your hand, and wait for the Tournament Director or anyone else who might be directing your match to come over. The word “en passant” comes from the French of “in passing”. Always assume that your opponent knows en passant; don’t move up your pawn, hoping that they won’t notice that they can take you en passant.
Our Club:
We are playing with tournament rules, in order to get you guys accustomed to playing in tournaments. This is very important, so that you get into the habits of moving slower, touching the clock, and playing touch move (and by extension, thinking before you move). Also, we will use chess notation in tournaments, so that after the tournament we can go over our games and see what we can do better next time. By taking chess notation, we have the additional benefits of being required to think longer for each move, and for learning how to read chess books.
We are excellent chess players. We play chess to the highest standard possible, and take chess seriously; at the same time, we have a lot of fun playing the game. We aren’t impolite. We take ourselves seriously. We don’t hope our opponent won’t see a move, or won’t see en passant; we can beat them easily without playing “hope chess”.
I went undefeated or close to being undefeated during most of my seasons at the chess club. If you want to be perfect, you need to follow these rules; otherwise, you will never reach the next level.
Benefits of Chess Notation:
· You are required to think slightly longer for each move. You should write your move down before you make it, and see how it looks on paper. · You will learn how to read chess books. · You can go over your old games, and see where you can improve. · And the most important: If any dispute arises during a game, such as an illegal move or three-move repetition, it is up to you to take the notation to prove it. No one’s notation can be used against them; thus, if you want to draw by three-move repetition, you must have the notation to prove it. If your opponent cheated, you can prove it by showing notation.
Touch Move:
I just want to start out by saying this: we’ll deal with not moving too quickly in a little while; however, touch move should never be an issue in your own play. You should never be forced to make a move you don’t want to make just because you touched the piece. You should never Touch move means this: if you touch your piece, you must make a legal move with that piece. If you touch your opponent’s piece, you must take it if possible. If you want to touch a piece but not move it, you must say “adjust” before you touch the piece. You should always think and decide your move in your mind before you play the move. Never let your hand hover over your pieces, unless you are extremely pressed for time. Think of what is a good move, and then play it; make sure it is a good move before you touch the piece. If your opponent puts you in check, or attacks you, you shouldn’t immediately react by touching the piece being attacked; there might be a better way out than moving the piece. For instance, in the Danish Gambit example seen last week, one variation includes Black playing 5…Bb4+. Instead of touching your king and losing castling rights, you should instead interpose with 6. Nd2.
Etiquette during matches:
It is okay to get up and look at the position from the other side of board. You can get up and walk to their side of the board. Only do this if you think it will help; don’t do this just for the sake of doing this. Don’t talk or initiate conversation with your opponent during the game. If they talk to you, try to be polite, but don’t talk during the game. You can talk before and after, but make sure to be quiet. Be courteous. Don’t say “come on, move!!!” a bunch, or something like that. Don’t be obnoxious. If you are being obnoxious, you can receive any range of penalties, from a warning to a time penalty to a forfeiting of the match. By the same token, if you feel your opponent is being disrespectful, obnoxious, or making it difficult for you to think (for instance, playing audible music from headphones), just raise your hand and wait for the Tournament Director to appear. If you have a question at all, stop the clock and raise your hand. It once happened to me, a long time ago, that my opponent “cheated” by taking back a move. By the time I called a tournament director, we had already played on for several moves, so the tournament director couldn’t do anything about something that had happened several moves previously. I was so upset that I blundered a rook and lost the game. Never play on; it is your right to stop the clock.
Other mental tips while playing games:
Don’t feel bad for your opponent. This can be hard to do, but don’t try to make them feel better by playing a bad move. If you are better than them, take care of business, and feel sorry for them afterwards. You put in a lot of hard work to become the great chessplayer that you are today; you earned your victory, and you don’t need to feel bad for anyone. Don’t sacrifice a piece to “test” your opponent, to see if they will notice it or not! Never play “hope chess”. Don’t hope that your opponent won’t see a move, or that they will miss a threat, or that they won’t see how to check mate you in three moves. Even if you think, based on some of their other moves, that they aren’t great chess players and won’t see the move, think again! It is okay to privately “hope” that your opponent will make a bad move allowing you to win the game, but don’t bank your plan on that hope.
Time Considerations:
Move slowly!! This is the most important thing that you can do; if you want to get better at chess, this is the #1 principle that you need to learn to succeed at chess. Don’t get in the habit of playing rushed games; instead, practice playing 40 and 50 minute chess games. You will learn to think, and you will put more thought into each of your moves. In the beginning of the game, depending on how much time you have, you should mentally apportion how much time each move deserves. Some moves take longer than others. The first 3-7 moves of a game, depending on how well you know the opening, might take only 5 seconds on each side to play; developing a long-term strategy, or working out the details of a tactic you are about to play, might take 5-10 minutes. That is okay; you just need to be smart as for which moves you spend a bunch of time on. If your opponent moves extremely quickly, still move slowly; there isn’t anything “honorable” about moving quickly. I’ve played opponents who have only used 15 seconds by move 15; I almost always win those games. If I have 30 minutes on the clock, I’m not going to waste any of it; I get 30 minutes, and I am going to use each one of them. Let’s say a game, in your level of play, takes 50 moves: if you have 30 minutes on each side, you get roughly 36 seconds per move, not counting the time that you get while opponent thinks.
Tournament/Other Gameplaying Logistics:
Black picks which side he wants the clock to be on. The h1 square (or the bottom right square) must be white for the board to be set up correctly. If during a game it is found that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, the game shall be cancelled and a new game played. If someone makes an illegal move (e.g. you put your king in check), you reverse the position to the last move before the illegal move was made. This should be easy if you are keeping notation. If you are about to run out of time, you can stop the clock, raise your hand, and tell the TD that your opponent has insufficient mating material, or you have no practical losing chances. Thus, you secure a draw instead of a loss. According to FIDE rules, you are penalized 2 minutes if you make an illegal move; you forfeit the game if you make a third (unless your opponent has insufficient mating material).
Homework:
Learn about the Sicilian opening, one of the most common openings played by Black, and one of the most successful. Look it up on Wikipedia, or another website. Each week, you will be asked to familiarize yourself with a new opening.