Anyone new to chess knows all too well that overwhelming feeling. Merely grasping the basics of this wondrous game is in itself intimidating. Well, if you’re a greenhorn and if you want to succeed, then you can – provided you prepare yourself mentally and emotionally. Learning a new skill is not necessarily easy, but it is possible.
The primary step is to set up your board. Afterwards, find out how you can position your pieces in the course of the game. Let me give you a brief overview in this article as to how to set about this. I’ll do my level best to make it as simple as possible. I’m going to name this crash course the ABCs of chess. There’s a saying that goes, “Simplicity is the essence of a genius.” I have no idea who authored that, but I totally agree! Anyway, these are the ABCs:
A) The Board: You will see that the board has been divided into interchanging black and white squares. Do a row count, and you’ll end up with a total of 8. The number of squares for each row is also 8. By convention, you can’t set up the pieces just anywhere you like. At the commencement of the game, they should occupy the 2 rows closest to the player.
B) The Pieces: Before, chess pieces come only in black and white, which is why they are conventionally named as such. Today however, the pieces flaunt a variety of colours. Every one of both players has 8 pawns, two rooks|castles, two knights|horses, two bishops, one queen and one king. Pawns are located in the front row and bishops, knights and rooks and king and queen at the back row.
C) The Moves:
The Pawns: They can move forward two squares for the initial move, and forward one square thereafter. To capture the opponent, you can advance your pawn 1 square diagonally to either left or right directions.
The Rooks: They are able to step forwards, backwards or sideways, but are prohibited from leaping over a piece.
The Knights: Allowing your knights to take action is a bit tricky. You see, you have to imagine drawing an L to position them. Advance 2 squares forward or backward, then move 1 step to the left or right.
The Bishops: This piece can move in a diagonal across the board but are not allowed to jump pieces.
Queen: The queen’s moves combine those of the bishop and the rook. She can advance or retreat vertically, horizontally and diagonally, but she can’t jump over other pieces.
The King: Your king can only budge one step per turn, but you have the freedom to position him transversely, sideways, forward or back.
In all chess matches, the goal is one and the same: Guard your king and capture the enemy king. You’ll also wish to sweep the board of all their other pieces too, or as much as possible. As you start, falteringly perhaps at the early stages of your training, and as you improve your skill (which with practice is inevitable), you’ll soon be able to and competent enough to play the more difficult rules and strategies of the great game of chess. Enjoy the game!
