Piece Value

We were just introduced to the pawn which serves as a basis for measuring piece value. Piece value is simple a way to assign a numerical value to each member of your army. As I walk around the classroom observing my students games, beginners will often exclaim “I’m winning, I have 23 points of material and my opponent only has 20 points of material.” While this serves as an indicator as to who is ahead in material, it by no means establishes a winner. The object of the game is to checkmate your opponent which we’ll discuss later on. Simply put, checkmate occurs when your opponent’s King is under attack and cannot escape. Piece value is used to classify pieces according to their power.

Here’s a breakdown of each piece’s value, using the pawn as the basis for measurement. Make sure to memorize these values because they’ll help you when you have to make decisions regarding exchanging or trading material.

Pawn = 1 pawn

Knight = 3 pawns

Bishop = 3 pawns

Rook = 5 pawns

Queen = 9 pawns

King = Priceless. Why? Because if you lose your King you lose the game!

The Mighty Pawn

The great chess player Philador said that “pawns were the soul of chess! How true those words are! The beginner often assumes that since there are eight pawns at the start of the game the pawn is expendable. This is simply not true. While the pawn’s movement is limited, it has special powers. A pawn can be used in combination with the pieces to deliver checkmate. The pawn can also promote, as we’ll see later, into a Knight, Bishop, Rook and even a Queen. The loss of a pawn can lead to the loss of the game, especially at higher levels of play. Therefore, it is important to go into this lesson remembering that the pawn plays an important role in chess. We’ll start our exploration of the pawn by looking at its starting position on the board:

When a game of chess starts, each player has eight pawns. The pawns reside in front of the pieces at the start of the game. The White pawns all are lined up across the second rank and the Black pawns along the seventh rank.

The starting position of the pawns is the same at the start of every game. Because the pawns stand in front of the other pieces, we have to bring our pawns out onto the board in order to allow the pieces behind them to move. Speaking of movement, let’s look at how a pawn moves:

Pawns move in one direction only. That direction is forward. Pawns cannot move backwards, sideways or along diagonals (except when capturing). The fearless pawn marches along its starting file in a single direction. White pawns move up the board towards the eighth rank and Black pawns move down the board towards the first rank. While this unidirectional movement doesn’t give the pawn many options, the pawn can still partake in some deadly action on the chessboard.

Pawns are also limited as to how many squares forward they can move on each turn. Here’s where it gets a little confusing to the beginner. On the first move, a pawn may advance one or two squares forward, but only on the first move. After that initial thrust, the pawn can only move forward one square at a time. This means it will take a while for the pawn to cross the board. Remember, on the first move the pawn can move one or two squares forward. After that, it moves one square at a time.

Pawns are the only piece that captures differently than it moves. While the pawn moves in a straight line along its starting file, it captures diagonally. If your suddenly feeling a little unsure of what I’ve just said, don’t worry because you’ll understand it soon enough. Take a look at the diagram below:

Pawns capture diagonally. That means that the White pawn can capture the Black pawn if its White’s turn and the Black pawn can capture the White pawn if its Blacks turn. If it was White’s turn and there was a Queen instead of a Black pawn in the diagram above, that Queen could be captured by White’s pawn. So far, we know the pawn moves up (for White) or down (for Black) its starting file. Pawns capture diagonally. When the pawn captures diagonally, the captured pawn or piece is taken off the board and the pawn doing the capturing takes its place. In the above diagram, if it was White’s turn and the Black pawn was captured, the Black pawn would be taken off the board and the White pawn would take the Black pawn’s place.

If our brave pawn can make it to the opposite end of the board, the eighth rank for White and the first rank for Black, it promotes. Think of promotion in terms of moving up in the world. When you do well at work you are often promoted to a better job. When the pawn does well and makes it to its promotion square, the square on its last rank, it becomes a Knight, Bishop, Rook or Queen. Promotion is mandatory. The pawn can never remain a pawn and it cannot become a King. Most people promote their pawns to Queens since she is the most powerful piece on the board. However, there are times when a pawn is better off promoting to another piece, especially when doing so will lead to checkmate. We’ll discuss checkmate later on in the rules section.

There is another special pawn rule that involves the way in which a pawn can capture under certain circumstances. However, we’ll look at this later on. For now, let’s sum up what we know about the pawn. It moves in a straight line along its starting file. It remains on that file until it reaches its last rank unless it captures another pawn or piece. When it does capture, it does so diagonally. When it captures diagonally it moves to an adjacent file and continues its journey up or down the chessboard. It can move one or two squares forward on the first move and one square at a time after that. Since it can only move one square at a time after the first move, it can only capture other pawns or pieces that are one square away. Pawns promote when they reach their journey’s end on the last rank, the eighth rank for White and the first rank for Black. 

This should be enough to get you started. Set up the pawns in their starting position on the chessboard. Practice moving your pawns. White goes first, then Black. Once both White and Black have made a move, the first complete game turn has been made. At some point, the White and Black pawns are going to be within capturing range of one another. Practice capturing. See if you can prevent one side from getting a pawn to the other side and promoting by capturing the pawns moving toward promotion. You’ll find that it is not as easy as it looks.

The Chessboard

I mentioned that you should acquire a tournament board which has algebraic notation symbols printed along the board's edges. We're going to look at what those letters and numbers means in this lesson. Before we explore algebraic notation, we need to look at the chessboard in detail.

The chessboard consists of 64 alternating light and dark squares. There are 32 light squares and 32 dark squares. On the bottom and top of the tournament board or mat, there are a series of letters, a through h. These represent the eight files that run like columns up and down the board. The first file is the “a” file and the eight file is the “h” file. Files run vertically. Running from the bottom to the top of the board, horizontally, are the ranks. The ranks are numbered 1 through 8. The first rank runs along the bottom of the board and the eighth rank runs along the top of the board. These letters and numbers allow every square on the board to have its own unique address. For example, the square in the lower left hand corner is the “a1” square. The square in the upper right-hand corner is the “h8” square. The center of the board consists of the d4, d5, e4 and e5 squares. Take a moment and see if you can find these four central squares.

We now have a way to identify each square on the board. This is the basis of algebraic notation, the written language of chess. It is important to become familiar with algebraic notation because all chess books use this system to present games to the reader. Knowledge of each squares address allows us to record our games for future analysis.

When the game starts, the White pawns and pieces will be set up along the first and second rank. Black will set up the pawns and pieces along the seventh and eighth ranks. We’ll look at the exact positions of the pawns and pieces later on. If you have a wooden chessboard that lacks algebraic notation, don’t fret. Set the board on a table. Make sure there is a white square in the lower right-hand corner. Take a strip of masking tape and apply it to the bottom row of squares running horizontally along the chessboard. The tape should cover the length of the board. Starting at the leftmost square, label each square a through h. Now, place a small piece of masking tape along the left hand side of the board from top to bottom. Starting at the bottom square (the square you labeled “a”) number the squares 1 through 8 with the “8” being the upper left hand square. You now have a board set up with algebraic notation markers.

We’ve talked about the squares that run up and down as well as left and right. However, there are squares that run at an angle across the board. These are called diagonals and are always made up of squares of the same color. Diagonals are either made up of dark or light colored squares.

Here are a few exercises the test your skills at finding the addresses of a few squares. Do them all because you’ll want to be familiar with this system of square identification:

1.      What are the names of the four corner squares?

2.      What are the names of the four central Squares?

3.      What squares make up the diagonal that starts on a1 and ends on h8?

4.      What are the names of the squares that run across the forth rank?

5.      What are the names of the squares the run along the e file?

Answers:

1.      a1, a8, h1 and h8

2.      d4, d5, e4 and e5

3.      a1, b2, c3, d4, e5, f6, g7 and h8

4.      a4, b4, c4, d4, e4, f4, g4 and h4

5.      e1, e2, e3, e4, e5, e6, e7 and e8

In the next few sections, we’ll look at the pawns and pieces. We see how each of them moves and captures. After that we’ll look at the special rules of chess. This will be followed by taking what we’ve just learned about algebraic notation and learn how to record a game of chess.

Things You'll Need

In order to to study and play chess, you'll need a few things. Thankfully, unlike video games that require hundreds of dollars for the gaming system, not to mention the games, chess is relatively expensive. Let's start with the board and pieces:

I recommend that you purchase a plastic tournament set and a vinyl playing mat. Tournament sets have a King that is roughly 3 3/4 inches in height. Typically they are of the Staunton Design which is the standard at all chess tournaments. They can be purchased from any game or chess shop and a full set will run you about $10.00. The vinyl board has 2 1/4 inch squares and, most importantly alphanumeric markers on the outer edges of the board. Why use a tournament set? Because its the standard at chess tournaments and getting used to it now makes life easier later on (like when you play your first tournament). The pieces are also large enough to easily distinguish one piece from another. Those tiny travel sets can be difficult to use because the beginner will have a hard time telling a Bishop from a pawn! The vinyl mat is great because it's washable (in case you spill your coffee or teas on it which happens when chess players become exciting) and it rolls up for convinient storage. The vinyl board will cost you roughly the same price as the pieces.

Next you'll need a notebook and plenty of sharpened pencils. I'm going to teach you a form of shorthand for chess players called algebraic notation. This shorthand allows the chess player to record their games with a minimum of writing. I'll give you an entire lesson on algebraic notation shortly so don't panic if you've never heard of this form of symbolic writing! The notebook allows you to take notes on each lesson and record the games you've played. It is absolutely critical to record every game you play. In chess, as in life, we often learn more from our losses than our wins. If you have an accurate record of a lost game, you can go back and study that game and determine why you lost. Use pencils rather than pens because of the eraser. It goes without saying that you'll be added to and subtracting from your notes. A pencil with a good eraser makes this job easier. At the start, you don't need a chess clock, just a tournament board and pieces.

Study and play in a well lit area while seating in a comfortable chair. I suggest the kitchen table with the kitchen chair padded with a good pillow. With that said, brew a good cup of coffee or tea and let's get started!

How to Learn the Game of Chess

"As a chess teacher, my new students ask me how they can get great at chess with a minimum amount of effort? My answer consists of two words, "hard work!" During the first few months of my beginner's classes, I had been asked this question with alarming frequency. So I decided to research the idea of "rapid chess improvement." After all, I was new to the realm of chess instruction (at the time) and thought it prudent to explore the idea of rapid improvement. Some of what I found horrified me.

As a professional musician, having played in number of bands including KGB, No Alternative, The Swinging Possums and The Watchmen (to name a few), I knew that you could only get better through dedication and practice. While there were plenty of books for budding guitarists promising lightening fast results, there is no substitute for hard work and determination. You cannot simply pick up a guitar and play like Jimmy Page with a single strum of the strings. The same holds true for chess.

As I did my research on "rapid chess improvement," I was startled by the number of websites promising that their improvement system would increase your ratings points quickly. If you're unfamiliar with ratings points fret not (no musical pun intended), we'll discuss that later on. I found a world of software and books that all but guaranteed that the user/reader would see a dramatic increase in their playing skills in the shortest amount of time. The old saying, "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is" comes to mind! I took my research one step further and decided to put these programs and books to the test. Interestingly enough, I discovered a few program and book titles that aided one's ability to improve their game, but not as rapidly as promised. However, the rapid road to chess mastery was filled with potholes not advertised in the sales literature. Here are a few examples:

One book stated that a reader had improved their game by 200 ratings points in six months by simply putting an hour a day into it's study program. Again, for those not familiar with ratings points, we'll examine the topic in detail later on. For now, you can think of ratings points as a measure of one's skills. Making a 200 point jump in your rating is akin to cut a piece of cheese in half one day and being able to do minor surgical procedures two weeks later. It just isn't realistic. On the flip side of this argument, intermediate players could benefit from the material and exercises in the book and definitely improve their game. But these are players who already have an understanding of basic tactics and planning, aka Strategy. However, for the beginner it would take longer than six months, even if you put six hours a day into your studies. Compounding this problem is the simple fact that the book was written for more experienced chess players (even though it was marketed as a "great" choice for the novice player).

The horror stories could continue but I think we should spend our time realistically improving your game! In short, chess requires hard work and practice. Having read through the lion's share of books designed to improve the beginners game, I have come up with a way to improve your game that is simple (if you're willing to put time into your study of this fascinating game). It's so simple:

What I've done is this: I've taken the best lessons and wisdom from the numerous beginner's books I've read and put them into my teaching program. There is no cutting edge method here but I can save you a great deal of time. Now you have to step up to the plate (as they say in baseball) and do the work. Your journey starts now!

The first thing to do is to decide how much time you can put into your studies. This is entirely up to you. However, the more time you put into your studies, the greater the rewards. Let's say, like most people, you go to work every day (or school) and can only put an hour a day into improving your game. No worries! I have a plan for you. Let's say you're an absolute beginner. Again, no worries.

The first thing to is to divide your hour into two parts, a half hour for theory and a half hour for practice. I use the word theory to describe the reading you'll have to do. I'm going to present you the text to read and suggestions for further reading. You'll use the first 30 minutes to study the material. During the next 30 minutes, you'll be taking what you just learned and applying it a game of chess . You can use a computer program (set at a low level) as an opponent or your can play with a friend or family member.

I suggest using your free time to read more and play more. If you're an absolute beginner, you'll start your journey by reading the the section on piece movement and rules. If you know how the pieces move and understand the rules, you can skip the beginner's section. I suggest playing against as many human opponents as possible. Why not just play the nifty chess program that came with your computer or the chess software you went out and purchased? Because humans and computers play chess very differently. It's better to get used to play OTB (Over The Board) or face to face since you'll want to dazzle your friends and family with you newly acquired chess skills.

They say the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. You just taken your first step. Now it's time to continue walking along the road to chess improvement.

An Introduction

Chess is the most fascinating board games ever created. The potential combination of moves is so vast one could never hope to explore them all in a lifetime. With each move comes positional changes, some so subtle they're hard to notice, others so stunning they stand out like a blinding light. You can think of chess as a mental martial art. Like a martial art, it requires many years of study and patience. While an individual can learn the game and go on to become a reasonably good player, that individual can never fully master all of its complexities. This alone makes it worthy of exploration.

Chess, like music, has its own rhythm which may help to explain why so many musicians are chess players and so many chess players are musicians. Like learning an instrument, such as a guitar, countless hours are required to improve one's chess abilities. The more time put into either of these two arts, the greater the reward. Yes, chess can be an art. The game's beginning is what a blank canvas is to a painter: It is the start of a journey into an endless realm of possibilities. The chess player is the painter with brush in hand, each move like a brush stroke creating a rich tapestry woven across the chess board's 64 squares.

The pawns and pieces represent opposing armies facing an uncertain future as the game starts. With each game, you are the King, rallying your forces into battle. Your pieces work with one another, attacking the opposing army, defending your King, creating outposts within the enemy's territory and eventually winning the game (if all goes well). The fate of your kingdom rests solely in your hands. You develop strategies and employ tactical devices to bring those strategies into fruition. You are the master of your realm, commander of your army and king of your nation! With each games comes a new and exciting drama that unfolds with each move.

This site was designed for those of you new to the game and those of you who know how to play but want to take your game to the next level. Be warned, this is no fast track to chess improvement. It requires hard work, discipline and patience to get better at chess. I cannot promise you that you'll become the next Bobby Fischer or Magnus Carlsen after going through the material presented here. However, I can make this promise: If you work hard and put a good effort into improving your game, the rewards will far outweigh the effort put into your studies. Grab a chessboard and pieces, a notebook and pencil and let's get started.

You'll want to set up your board and pieces on a table with a good lamp nearby. Also, find a chair that is comfortable since you'll be in it for long stretches at a time. Add a good cup of tea of coffee in  for good measure and you'll be ready to start. Chess is a sea of endless possibilities. All you have to do is step into it's beautiful waters and take a swim. Don't worry, you don't have jump in head first. Just stick your toes in and test the water. I think you'll find it inviting!