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easy19 26-Apr-10, 23:49	- - Basic Chess Training - - Hello all, I made this thread to show you, how i have learnt chess myself and how i teach chess to others. 1 Fact is clear to me and that is that understanding the basic and knowing the basics is the basis of good chess.. It is like riding a bike once you learnt how to ride, it stays with you in all the years after and you do not even have to think how it works you just know. So how will this work ? well that is the easy part you just have to answer questions that are very simple, and once the answers come to you whiteout thinking then the basics are part of you. The best way to learn that is to repeat it over and over again, but only before you start playing a game and set up a board. ( it is even better to ask the questions to your opponent.) Ok time to start. ( and consider this if you do not know the answers whit in 1 second then the you do not know the basic like riding that bike. ( i will consider you a beginner)) diagram 1 ( the board) - How many squares has a chess board. ? diagram 2 ( the board) - The right corner and the left top corner are what color. ? -- The answer on this is important wen you have a chessboard whiteout coordinates. I have no time left to go further so i add more during the coming week.
taufiq 27-Apr-10, 13:22	Nice exercises, Freddy !
easy19 04-May-10, 00:26	Deleted by easy19 on 04-May-10, 00:27.
easy19 04-May-10, 00:27	Deleted by easy19 on 04-May-10, 00:29.
easy19 04-May-10, 00:29	Deleted by easy19 on 04-May-10, 00:29.
easy19 04-May-10, 00:30	-- Basics -- The Bishop Ok time to go on with this basics. The questions are simple again, and the answers even simpler. But you have to know those answers in a split second. So keep practicing. * The bishop moves only over diagonal lines * The Bishop never changes his color a bishop on a black square always moves over the black squares. >> Remember that because over a real board it happens sometimes that the bishop end up on a different color by mistake. ( see that mistake) * the Bishop basic value is 3 points but sometimes it will be less and sometimes it will be Worth more. ( this depends on the situation on the board and the place it is standing ) * That means that you have to give your own bishop a value, and that value is most important wen you want to exchange or trying to improve your position. diagram 1 ( the Bishop) - How many squares is the bishop covering. ? diagram 2 ( the Bishop) - How many squares is the bishop covering. ? diagram 3 ( the Bishop) - How many squares is the bishop covering. ? diagram 4 ( the Bishop) - How many squares is the bishop covering. ? diagram 5 ( the Bishop) - How many squares is the bishop covering. ? diagram 6 ( the Bishop) - How many squares is the bishop covering. ? diagram 7 ( Value ) - Black has forked 2 pieces with the same basic value, witch one is best to take.? diagram 8 ( Value ) - Black has the opportunity to capture a white bishop! Considering the value witch one is best to take Bishop A or D? * So what have you learnt from this about the Bishop ? * What have you learnt about the value ? * Dit you know the answers for every diagram in less then 2 seconds ? ** If not exercises this until you do, even better wen you teach it to someone else.. (Tip: a teacher learns quicker and better then a student. So even if you are a beginner teach it to other beginners) (Extra Tip: it also works with homework teach your own homework to your class mate and you will have a better score then the one you teach it to.)
caknight 04-May-10, 12:41	Basic Chess Training Wouldn't the lessons be more realistic if the kings were 1 square apart as in a real game since the kings could never be next to each other?
easy19 05-May-10, 10:26	Ave caknight On a real board the kings would not even be there during the exercises. I tried that here also but gameknot places the kings on there original spot anyway. The kings should be ignored... i forgot to mention that in the postings above.. thank you caknight .
tennesseehiker 07-May-10, 17:29	Deleted by tennesseehiker on 07-May-10, 17:39.
tennesseehiker 07-May-10, 17:58	Thanks for the clarification. In answer to your questions: Diagram 1 - The bishop is covering 8 squares, but it also covers an entire diagonal. Diagram 2 - The bishop is covering 10 squares as it moves toward the center. Diagram 3 - The bishop is covering 12 squares as it moves a square closer toward the center. Diagram 4 - The bishop is covering its maximum of 13 squares as it now lies in a center square. Diagram 5 - The bishop is covering just 7 squares as it is positioned against a file's wall. Diagram 6 - The bishop is covering just 7 squares as it is also positioned against a file's wall. Diagram 7 - The bishop has the greatest value in this instance because it has the black king in check. Diagram 8 - The black rook should capture the d bishop as lies in center square thereby covering more squares.
easy19 08-May-10, 05:03	Ah Jim you have to practice more answer for Diagram 1 2 and 3 are wrong answer for diagram 3 5 6 and 8 are correct answer for diagram 7 the king is not there so the check is not the reason for the higher value the board coverage of the bishop is.
archduke_piccolo 09-May-10, 12:59	A small slip by ... ... tennesseehiker - forgetting that the bishop does not cover the square upon which it stands. Easy to make! When setting up skeleton positions, though, it is worth the compiler to note carefully where the kings are. Given that in the diagram the Black King was in check, and tennesseehiker observed this, his answer was correct - the capture of the knight was not legal. However, given that as placed, in general the bishop iwould be the more active piece - longer ranging, and closer to the centre. But on an open board, one would probably take the bishop anyway, even in this situation: w The knight is the more centralised and is pretty active; the bishop off to the side. But the latter can centralise itself in one move, so is still the preferable capture. (By the way, more advanced readers with some ideas on retrograde analysis might be wondering why the rook the previous didn't take whichever of the enemy pieces was at that time 'en prise'...) Reverse the pieces in easy19's diagram: b Now which piece ought Black to take? For mine, I would still take the bishop, but I'd probably take more than 2 seconds to decide! Why? You always have to take into account what's happening on the rest of the board. This is why tennesseehiker was correct in his answer to Diagram 7. Consider this: b Which piece ought Black to take? What considerations influenced your decision? I hope, Freddy, that you don't take this posting as too much of an interference... Cheers, Ion
easy19 09-May-10, 13:21	No Problems here Ion You can explain things so well Ion so i see it as a great extra to this thread. The thing is that i din,t wanted the kings to be on the board at all.. and because i have not learnt to teach this with the kings on the board in this beginning stage of my teaching it is harder for me to get things explained as i want it to be.. But the main idea of this is as you all could guess is that the importance of pieces by placement and board coverage can be valued in just a second(s) this should become a how should i call it (a sixths sense) or just as common as riding a bike you just can ride it just because you learnt it once.. -- next post will be about the Knight
baddeeds 20-Apr-14, 18:34	Deleted by baddeeds on 20-Apr-14, 18:46.
baddeeds 20-Apr-14, 18:45	@easy19 Overall, you're a very good teacher, but unfortunately, as noted in the WTWLR club, I have to disagree with your assessment. BTW, I tried to send you a challenge, earlier today, but do to your automatic decline challenge rules, it wasn't feasible. Now, for me, I go by what I've learned from a different club. That is, by understanding theories and concepts. That's what's important to note. By following this, I've already noticed dramatic improvements in my games. One is still ongoing, so I won't post it, until it's over, as per GK rules. The other was an OTB game against Jack Stockel. This was the first time that I defeated him by remembering the important things covered in that club, in addition to what I mentioned, it was also about strategies, tactics, and positional aspects. Yes, I have remembered stuff what you taught for, but aside from, "Be a spectator of your game", our styles are just a little different. In other words, it's because my style of learning is actually different from your style of teaching, believe it or not. How, I learn best is from Jack Stockel's, archduke_piccolo's, and wrecking_ball's style of teachings. That's because, for the most part, their style of teaching is either very similar or blends right in with my style of learning. Note: It's also about how one learns best, and the way in which you learn.
baddeeds 20-Apr-14, 19:09	Deleted by baddeeds on 20-Apr-14, 19:11.
shamash 20-Apr-14, 20:00	is it really about what you know? -no. whether you learn by the style of Freddy -- and I have; or, you learn by the style of Joe -- and I have, it's Not about what you know. it's about what you do with what you know.
archduke_piccolo 25-Apr-14, 15:37	That's the trick, of course... ... and I guess the main teacher there is the experience you get from play. To revisit the 'pawn fork' motif of the last postings from - good heavens - four years ago, even! In the following diagrams, assume we are looking at actual positions: the kings are on the board. In this case, it doesn't really matter which piece Black takes. White will be left with a single minor piece, and, after the pawn is rounded up, the game will be drawn through lack of winning material. Now, which piece you take is critical. If Black were to take the Knight, White will be left with Bishop and Knight vs lone King - just enough to win, though with difficulty. But suppose Black took the Bishop? then White will have two knights, and, as White can not force mate with a King and two knights only, again, the game would be drawn. But let us bring the Q-side complex one square closer to the White side of the board: This is the motif at the close of my last posting 4 years ago. It changes things. I'll answer the question here: Black wins by taking the Knight. White can not prevent the pawn's promotion. In sum, when faced this kind of decision, you would lean towards taking the most active - most mobile piece, and, in general, that will be the bishop. But there will be instances - special cases, if you like - even on an open board, even in the end game, in which taking the knight will have to take precedence. I believe that is in essence what shamash is implying. You 'know' that taking the more mobile bishop is generally preferable, but you must also 'know' that the decision is contingent upon what is happening elsewhere on the board, or even where the captures are taking place. Let us close with this: Which piece does Black take now? What are the considerations that lead to your decision?
baddeeds 25-Apr-14, 15:43	I'd say here, that in this position, taking the N is better. The idea being is that the N's worth more then the B, because black played 1...bxa2 the pawn cannot promote because of the c N. Whereas, if he played 1...bxc2, not only is the N not there to stop the promotion. But, black will promote and white cannot stop it. The reason being is also that c8 is on a dark square, so even if we took, and let's imagine that white were then to attack with something like 2.Bb3, once black plays 2...c1=Q+ it's over black has successfully promoted his pawn, and there's nothing that white can do about it.
archduke_piccolo 25-Apr-14, 16:39	Broadly speaking, Joe... You would be right. But bear in mind, I did say the Kings were on the board at their present locations. But in any case, the location of the g1-Knight is also significant in this position. If 1...bxc2, White can stop the pawn's promotion at once by 2.Kd2. But even were the King too far off, at f1, say, the King's Knight is there to take up the slack: 2.Ne2. Either way, the pawn's advance is arrested, the bishop or King will round it up, and White will vin the K+B+N vs K end game. If 1...bxa2, White will once again be left with K+N+N vs K once the pawn falls, and hence no chance of a win. So in this instance, Black does best to take the bishop. By the way. Though it is irrelevant in these examples, you should also be open to the idea that maybe advancing the pawn between the pieces, or ignoring the situation altogether and moving something else might be preferable. These are unlikely scenarios, sure, but there will be special cases...
archduke_piccolo 25-Apr-14, 18:21	Mobility... I've been thinking about the implicatuions of the last few posts. Why is it that general guidelines don't always help? In the skeleton position easy19 postulated, the general answer is 'take the Bishop'. But there were times when the proper answer was 'take the knight.' The latter course was indicated by certain tactical, or possibly strategic, features in the position, features that didn't 'fit' the general case. Is there a guideline that might answer all cases? I can think of one, but I'm not sure that it would be very meaningful. It is this: play the move that will result in for you a net gain in mobility over your opponent. Generally speaking, and especially on an open board, a bishop is a deal more mobile that a knight. So generally speaking, you will reduce your opponent's mobility by taking the bishop instead of the knight. But in the special case I showed above, a queen is a whole deal more mobile than any minor piece - or any two, for that matter. So if taking the knight is what gets me the Queen, then that's what I'll play. [But suppose either capture led to promotion. Then I'd still take the knight. I would rather play K+Q vs K+B than K+Q vs K+N. The fact is the knight can be a tricky customer. Although the stronger side should win, the knight's peculiar characteristics doesn't make it simple. I guess it's a case that although the Bishop is the more mobile, the knight interferes more with the mobility of king and queen.] Here's something that goes to the topic of mobility, from a Gameknot game I played a few years ago. I had the White pieces. In this position, material is only slightly in Black's favour, but White is in serious trouble. Black has much the more mobile position. 54. Kg5 Qf2 55. Rge3 Qg2+ 56. Kh4 Kg7 Now look: White's mobility has been so reduced that only the rooks can move. But this is the situation I had been steering for over that last few moves. I was deliberately aiming to reduce my mobility. Why? To what end? The sequel will tell you. 57. Re7+ Kh6 58. Rh7+! Kxh7 Black has no option but to take. Now White has a minus-6 material deficit, and only one piece that can move. But can you see how Black's mobility is also being affected? Black is being given no option but to play with his King. In effect, White has hit upon a dynamic means of constraining Black. 59. Re7+ Kh8 60. Re8+ Kg7 61. Re7+ Kf6 62. Re6+ Kf7 He can wriggle and wroggle; it makes no difference. All Black's pieces stand in suspended animation whilst the king gets harried upon the shelterless desert that is the King side. 63. Re7+ Kf8 64. Re8+ Kg7 65. Re7+ Kf6 66. Re6+ Kf5 It was either this or sooner or later repeat the moves. Black rather sportingly (I thought) brought the game to an immediate finish. 67. Rf6+! Kxf6 = Stalemate! has given up all his mobile units to leave himself with zero mobility. But because Black has to wait upon White to move, he, too is locked in place. In the process of reducing my own mobility to nothing, I reduced the margin between mine and my opponent's mobility also to nothing: obviously a net gain to me. And, of course, the draw is a whole deal better result than the loss I would almost certainly have incurred otherwise! Having said all that, as a guideline - aim for a net gain in your mobility relative to your opponent's - it seems probably too broad and amorphous to be really helpful. What do you think?
baddeeds 25-Apr-14, 18:31	I absolutely agree with you. And, as you saw in a couple of annotations, which you added comments to, "Mobility is the most important chess aspect." I agree because in my game against xenophon98 we played against each other. I really played well, and best play would've led to a draw. But, I made one mistake that actually ended it all. The reason being is that it destroyed the mobility of my pieces, and the same thing with Jack when I compromised the mobility of my R. The idea is that your pieces have to be mobile, and in general, if your pieces are mobile, you have the advantage.
baddeeds 04-May-14, 17:43	The annotation, which, btw, archduke_piccolo commented on is shown below. gameknot.com
baddeeds 23-May-14, 09:39	Let's revisit this topic. At first, this was one of the few things that I disagreed with Fred, for a while. And, that's because everytime I just tried to remember, I felt that it caused me to panick and hyperventilate. So, I made mistakes that were far south of my rating, and at one point, my rating took a sharp tumble. Therefore, I decided that this was something that didn't matter. Well, know it does matter and ties right into what amina123 and I are saying about chess, that it takes math and skill. Part of applying it is knowing how much a B covers. Why? I decided to investigate, been meaning to for a while, but finally wound up asking my coach, towards the end of the chess club. This is what I found out, you B covers the amount of squares, but you have to multiply it by two since it can move in between. So, for example, if we fianchettoed a B on it's long diagnol, it looks like 8 squares, right? But, you have to double, so the most one covers is 16 squares. Another example, We will look at it from white's perspective, and this time, doesn't matter who's winning or not, as you just want to cover the fundamental. Having said that, in this particular, white's B actually covers 14 squares. It extends from h2 to b1 which is 7, but then you have to double, so 7*2=14 And, black's B extends from a6-f1 So, that's 6 squares, and then we multiply by 2, to determine that it covers 12 squares, in total.
shamash 23-May-14, 11:40	the coverage that matters As Botvinnik pointed out, the only part of an attacking piece's coverage that matters, is control of its trajectory to its target.
archduke_piccolo 23-May-14, 14:56	@ jkarp... I'm not quite sure what you mean. The White bishop covers these squares: h2, f4,e5,d6,c7,b8; e1,f2, h4. That's 9 squares. Observe that I omitted g3 from both lists - the square upon which the bishop stands. Arguably that square could be included - bringing the bishop's coverage to 10 - on the ground that this very square is the only one will be included in the bishops's coverage WHATEVER the bishop's next move. That the bishop is blockading Black's g-pawn also argues in favour of including g3 in the list as a special case. I think it is useful if in your mind's eye you see the pieces in terms of their move: The bishop is an 'X', the Rook a '+' and the Queen a '*' (only with 8 points). Long ago this heightened vision of the pieces came to me, at which point I felt I was on the edge of a breakthrough into a higher level of play. Unfortunately, lack of opportunity to develop that sense led to its disappearance, and it has never fully returned. But what shamash seems to be pointing out is that this theoretical coverage is limited by what it can (usefully?) reach. The White Bishop's main points of interest are g3 (blockading the g-pawn) and d6-c7- and possibly b8. Potentially, friend bishop will also have an interest in h4, switching its attention to the h4-d8 diagonal. I infer from the orientation of the diagram it is Black to play. So Black has to find an answer to the threat - 1.c6ch Kc8 2.d6 ... followed by 3.d7ch Kd8 4.Bh4ch Kc7 5.d8=Q#. [So what should Black play here? Short of resignation - Black has, after all, a 'lost' game - I can see nothing better than to give up the bishop: 1...Bxd5 2.Nxd5 Kc6 But then comes 3.Nf6! Kxc5 4.Nxh7... The Bishop's relevance has been eclipsed, reduced to the blockade at g3. It might as well be the inanimate piece of shaped wood it really is. Attention has switched to Sir Galahad at h7 and the trusty man-at-arms behind him.] To crystallize out the issue, perhaps these two end games might help. In the first, the bishop's coverage is c1, and the a2-b8 diagonal. But, whoop-de-do, there are no targets anywhere along there. There is only on square of interest, and that allows the bishop to traverse it's attention leftwards 1.Bd5ch ... The target is not the King so much as the a8-square, the a-pawn's queening square. 1...Kb8 2.Kg6 Kc8 etc Having lost touch with a8, the BK can not prevent the pawn's promotion and the loss of the game. The second diagram is far more problematic for White's winning chances, despite the +4 material advantage. In fact White's winning chances are precisely zero. The reason? Despite there being no hindrance to the bishop's mobility - none in the slightest - the bishop's aim can not be directed anywhere that will advance White's pawn. Without the pawn promotes, White cannot win. 1.Be5 is Stalemate; 1.Bd4 Kb8 2.Ba7ch Ka8 3.Bd4 Kb8 4.Be5ch Ka8 5.Bd4 Kb8 6.Be3 Ka8 ... As the Black King just can not be dug out of the corner, the bishop simply controls a lot of squares, all except one of which are irrelevant, and that one exception, b8, being conditional upon the Black King being allowed to move.
baddeeds 07-Nov-17, 10:38	Time to revisit this thread, shall we? As we know, I disagreed with Fred about how many squares a bishop covered for a long while. In fact, not only did I forget about but I didn't even think about this for a long while, as it didn't blend in with what I learned. That was, especially after TA mentioned that it would, eventually, become second nature. Everything changed, after a lecture with GM Susan Polgar. And, she mentioned about how many squares a B covered which changed my mind. Therefore, Fred and I are on the same page.

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