Forks

A fork in chess is a type of tactic in which the player attacks two pieces simultaneously.  In addition to just attacking pieces, forks can also be used to check the king and force the it into a checkmate. Examples of Forks In the example to the right, the F7 knight is forking the black…

Rooks

In this lesson we will focus primarily on the Rook.  You’ll learn where the rook is positioned, how it moves/captures other pieces, and basic rook strategy. Each player starts the game with 2 rooks, one on each corner of their side, as shown below: Rook Movement: The rook can move in two different ways: Vertically…

Castling

Castling is a chess move that involves the king and rook. In this lesson I’ll teach you when you can castle, how to castle, and some of the benefits of castling.  Lets get started! How to Castle: Before we go over any of the rules behind castling, let me show you what castling is and to to do…

The Pawn

This lesson will be primarily about learning the basics of Pawn movement/strategy. Although you have more pawns than any other piece,they are generally regarded as the weakest piece on the board. Each player starts the game with 8 pawns, all located in front of the other pieces as shown below: Pawn Movement: There are 4…

Suicide Chess

Suicide chess, like monster chess, is a chess variant(and a personal favorite of mine). In suicide chess, the object of the game is to lose all your pieces; the first player to get rid of all their pieces wins. Now just like any other chess variant, there are a few new rules. Rules of Suicide Chess…

En Passant

En passant is a special pawn attack that was invented to prevent players from advancing their pawns without facing the risk of capture. It allows a pawn to take an opponent pawn that had previously moved two squares to evade capture.Although it sounds a little complicated, it’s actually a fairly simple move. Here’s a visual of what…

Monster Chess

Monster chess is what is known as a “chess variant” – a game that is similar to standard but with a few differences. Nonetheless, chess variants are helpful and incredibly fun to play. In monster chess, black plays with a full set of pieces while white only plays with four pawns and a king. Here’s…

Checkmate with a Queen and Rook

A checkmate with a queen and rook is exactly like a checkmate with two rooks, so if you haven’t yet, you may want to take a look at the Rook-Rook Checkmate lesson.  Just like the two rook checkmate, you want to use range to back your opponents king into a corner in this mate.  …

Checkmate with Two Rooks

One of the most common, and easy I might add, checkmates to execute is the two rook checkmate. In this mate, the player uses the concept of range to back their opponents king into the corner and ultimately, checkmate. In order to understand how this checkmate works, it is important to first understand the concept…

Pins

A pin is a type of chess tactic  in which your opponent cannot move a certain piece because doing so would expose a more important piece. As you will be see in many games, it can used within the first five or ten moves to gain a positional advantage so it is a nice tactic to be…

Kings Indian Attack

Before I begin explaining the actual opening, something that is important to understand is that there are several different ways to get your pieces in the final position. With many openings a player must learn a certain order of moves in order to successfully preform the opening but with this particular opening that isn’t required; instead…

Chess Notation

This lesson will be focused on chess notation. Chess notation is a way of keeping track of moves during a game; with this notation a player can replay their game and find their mistakes or areas of improvement.  As a chess player I think it’s really important skill to have so I’ll be explaining it!…