Introduction
Chess is a fascinating game of the mind played between two players. Chess is a strategy board game that has been played for hundreds of years. Chess is generally believed to be created in India during the Gupta Empire around the 6th century. The pieces used in the game represented the four divisions of their military which were the infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry. Today those same for divisions have evolved into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook. The game of chess is so intense and competitive, that it is recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee. I know from my experience playing chess that it is fairly easy to learn but it take years to master. I have a chess tutorial that I use when I want to brush up on my skills.
The basics of chess
Chess is not as bad to learn as many make it out to be but can be somewhat complicated because each piece can be moved differently. Chess is played on a square board of eight rows and eight columns. The eight rows are rows called ranks and are referred to with numbers 1 to 8. The eight columns are called files and are referred to with letters a to h. The players are referred to as "White" and "Black" and they each begin the game with 16 pieces. Each player starts the game with 2 bishops, 1 king, 2 knights, 8 pawn, 1 queen, and 2 rooks. (Once the board is properly setup this is where things go wrong for me and I pull out my chess tutorial).
To begin play, pieces are moved to an unoccupied square, or one occupied by an opponent's piece. If you move you piece on your opponents occupied piece you have captured it is removed from the board. When a king is under direct attack by one or two of the opponent's pieces, it is said to be in check and the game can end. A game of chess is usually divided into three parts: the opening which is around the first 10 to 25 moves, (this is when players move their pieces into positions for the upcoming battle); the middle-game, which is said to be the most exciting part of the game; and the endgame, (at this point most of the pieces are gone) when kings usually take a more active part in the struggle.
Chess games do not always end when a king is in check because either player may resign at anytime if they feel they can not win. When it comes time to moving a chess piece, use this basic hint, count the total value of pieces of both sides. Then modify those moves by factors to accommodate for position of the piece (to explain, advanced pawns are usually more valuable than those on their initial squares), the coordination between the pieces (for example, a pair of bishops usually coordinates better than the pair of a bishop and knight), and the type of position (knights are usually better in closed positions with many pawns while bishops are more dominant in open positions).
Chess on the Internet
Internet chess has been popularized by many websites because it allows people to play against the computer, which really provides a challenge. Online chess also improves the game by making a world wide community of chess players accessible for play, despite their geographic location or time zone. People ask me all the time if they can get the chess tutorial I use so they can try and beat a relative in a different state. With so many websites hosting chess games, a person should have no problem finding an online chess game or tournament to participate in.
Conclusion
Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, and in tournaments. In some cases a chess game can go on for days or even weeks without end. Chess is a game that truly enables one to see and predict the consequences of their actions. A good chess strategy can be the difference in winning or losing the game. If one does not really know the mechanics of the game it would not be a bad thing to get purchase a chess tutorial. One of the funniest analogies I've heard refers to chess as a "beautiful mistress to whom we keep coming back, no matter how many times she rejects us."
