The Everything Chess Basics Book (52 page)

Others aim for types of positions that suit their personality. Do you like to attack? Then learn which positions will give you the chance to launch a successful attack. Do you prefer defense? Then learn how to set up a successful defensive structure and how to beat back the attacks your opponents will throw at you. Just remember that good defenders are rare. Or maybe you prefer to counterattack or prevent strong attacks altogether.

Whatever types of positions or style of play you prefer, you will have to find a way to learn to understand what the pieces and pawns should be doing in many different positions. That may involve memorizing many different opening variations, combination themes, and endgame positions. And you could get them all wrong. That’s why a good chess teacher is probably the most important learning tool you can invest in.

Fun with Chess

Most people who play chess do so for fun, without any aspirations of mastering the game. For you, none of the above is too relevant. Find what competition you can handle, and play. Or follow whatever chess news and/or games that interest you. If that’s enough, you have a whole world of chess waiting for you.

Simultaneous Exhibitions

Picture a number of tables arranged in a rectangle or semicircle. There are chessboards on all the tables and people sitting in chairs along the outside at each board. They are all playing chess. But where is their opponent?

He or she is walking along the inner side of the tables, going from board to board, making moves. This is the chess master, and he or she is playing everybody else at the same time.

It’s quite a spectacle. Usually the master will win many if not most of the games, and will lose very few, if any. Sometimes the master does this with a blindfold on. The players call out their moves to the master, and he/she calls out the response.

The number of opponents one master can handle in this way depends on the space available and the amount of players he or she can attract. Anywhere from two or three to hundreds of boards have been accommodated. More usual is between ten and fifty.

Numbers

Statistics are sometimes kept on simultaneous exhibitions, particularly if the master plays blind. World records have even been claimed for simultaneous games. But such exhibitions take a lot of time to complete, and some opponents leave before their games have gone very far. Those unfinished games are scored as another number for the master, and are usually claimed as a win as well.

Karl Podzielny played 575 games simultaneously in 1978. In 30½ hours he won 533, drew 27, and lost 15. Vlastimil Hort played 550 opponents, 201 simultaneously, and lost only 10 games in 1977. The late George Koltanowski played 56 consecutive (not simultaneous) blindfold games and won 50, drew 6 in San Francisco in 1960.

Tandem Simuls

Sometimes more than one master may be in the middle of a simultaneous exhibition. In such a case (a “tandem simul”), each one only plays every second or third move. This can provide a nice chance for the amateur opponents, since the masters may have different styles and thus trip each other up.

Another type of tandem simul is when there are multiple simultaneous exhibitions going on at the same time. This is a common occurrence in chess camps, and happens each year on the East Coast with the famous annual “Chessathon,” where scores of masters volunteer to play hundreds of schoolchildren.

Composed Problems

A segment of the chess world has nothing to do with playing games. These are the people interested in composing or solving chess studies or problems.

Instead of beginning with the starting position, where the object of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king or at least prevent your own king from getting checkmated, such studies begin with whatever pieces and pawns the composer wants. There is a stipulation accompanying such studies such as White to play and checkmate Black in two moves (or six moves or any number of moves).

The appeal of such exercises is an aesthetic one. Solvers are testing themselves against the position, not against an opponent. And composers are trying to express something beautiful in the way the pieces cooperate with each other.

Here is an example of a mate in two:

White to move and mate in two moves.

This composition features the pin and the unpin. It is composed by V. Chepizhny and won first prize in the Nikolaev-200 competition in 1989. It appeared in the May 2000
Chess Life
, submitted by columnist Robert Lincoln. Solution:
1. Qg1.

And not 1. Rd1, when 1. ... Ka2 escapes the pin and the mate, though 1. ... e4, with an unpin, succumbs to 2. Qa6 mate.

1.
... e4 (with an unpin) 2. Ra3 mate.

The chess problem world has specialized terms, such as
self block
,
interference
,
battery
(two pieces or more on the same line, with at least one of them a long-range piece), and
excelsior
(a pawn starts out on its original square and takes either five or six moves to promote. The promotion, whether to a queen or an under-promotion, will produce checkmate).

Endgame Studies

These are a bit different than composed problems, in that there is no forced checkmate in so many moves. Also, there are usually fewer pieces on the board. The stipulation is usually White to move and win or draw.

Here is an example of an endgame study:

White to play and draw.

This one was composed by Grigoriev in 1935 and appeared in Pal Benko’s column in the April 2002
Chess Life
.

Solution:
1. Kf2 Ka4 2. Ke3 b5 3. Ke4!! Kb4 4. Kd4 Kb3 5. Kd5! b4 6.
Kc5 b6+ 7. Kb5
and the position is drawn.

Other moves by White lead to the same position. For instance, 2. ... Kb3 3. Kd4 or 2. ... Kb4 3. Kd3.

Helpmates

These compositions are completely strange to any chess competitor. Both sides, White and Black, cooperate in checkmating Black. And Black moves first.

Here is an example:

Helpmate in two; two solutions.

This one was composed by J. Boggio and appeared in
Europe-Échecs
in 1962 and in
Chess Life
in September 2002.

In the solutions you will note that Black’s move is given first. It looks strange for a Black move to be recorded first, but Helpmates are strange to begin with.

Solution 1: 1. cxb1=R Ka4 2. Rb2 Nc3 mate.

Solution 2: 1. cxd1=N Kb4 2. Nb2 Nc3 mate.

The themes of underpromotion, self-block, and interference predominate.

Serious Competition

If casual play or simuls or problems are not to your liking, or if they are not enough, there’s always serious competition to be had, either in some rated tournament or match.

Structured competition in the United States outside the club became quite big in the latter half of the twentieth century. This came with the introduction of the Swiss-system tournament, which allows every competitor to play five or six games in a weekend. In a Swiss-system tournament, you play somebody with the same or a similar score throughout the event.

Matches

This was always and still is the essence of chess. You and me: Let’s find out who plays better chess.

A match between two strong players that is rated and sanctioned and followed by fans can be exhilarating. But you don’t have to be a champion or even a very strong player to get a similar exhilaration. All you need is a willing opponent somewhere close to your own strength.

If you want an audience, set up your match for a mall or an outdoor festival. If you’d rather just slug it out in private, somebody’s home or at the library are good enough. All you really need is an appropriate opponent who is willing to engage you in the match.