ARIZONA SCHOLASTIC CHESS with COACH SEAN TOBIN

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

CHESS QUOTE and CHESS BOOK - both by IRVING CHERNEV!

FAMOUS CHESS QUOTE - for OUR PLAYERS!

“Every Chess master was once a beginner” - Irving Chernev

Now for a chess book recommendation - a classic work is Irving Chernev's "LOGICAL CHESS: Move by Move". If you can pick up the algebraic edition as this will be the easiest one to read. This book is tops in my list of all time greats!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

CHECKMATE WITH TWO ROOKS (Monkey Bars introduction.)

Here is a checkmate that every one of our young players should know!

BLACK TO PLAY AND WIN!

ONE MOVE WINS THE GAME!

In the position given up above White has just moved his King from c1 to the square b1 and now it is Black's turn to play a move. Notice how the White King cannot step up to the second rank?

Notice how the Rook on the second rank controls (or looks at) all of the squares on the second rank? It looks at the squares a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, and at the square h2. All because this Rook sits on the g2 square.

Rooks move along Ranks and Files so our Rook from up above also looks at all of the squares going up along the g-file. That is from the bottom of the board up to the top of the board. If a piece looks at a square then it is attacking that square and any opponent's piece moving onto that square can be captured.

Remember the number one rule of chess - A King can never step onto a square that is attacked. We can never leave our King in check nor can we step onto a square where we - that is our King - will receive a check.

If our King is in check we have a list of possible options that we need to check in order to make sure that we are not in checkmate. This is the list and you should always check it in this order:

1.) Can our King (or another one of our Pieces) capture the piece looking at our King - the piece giving check.

2.) Can we use one of our other pieces to block the check? That is can someone else take the check for the King.*

3.) Can our King run away to a square around him to escape from the check?

*Remember that a Knight giving a King check is the one kind of check that the King cannot block. So when a Knight gives our King a check he must either have some other piece capture the Knight or our King must run away.

If we cannot capture, block or run away - then we have been checkmated.

The move King from g1 to h2 is the winning move for Black in the above diagram! Congratulations to all of our players who found this move.

Kh2 won the game because once the Black King got out of the way of the Black Rook he allowed the Rook on h1 to stare at the White King on b1. Because the Black King went to h2 - as opposed to the square f2 - he did not block the view of the other Rook along the 2nd Rank.

The reason why this is a CHECKMATE is because:

1.) The player of the White pieces is unable to capture the Rook on h1. He only has a King left in the game and the King can only move one square at a time.*

*Unless we use the special moves "CASTLES".

2.) No other piece can land on any of the squares between the White King and the Black Rook on h1 to BLOCK the check.

3.) The White King cannot step up onto the 2nd rank as the other Rook, the one on g2, looks at all of the squares on the second rank.

So this is a checkmate! Game over - we can set up all of the pieces to the start position now and start a new game!

- Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

3 VERY SPECIAL WORDS: CHECK, CHECKMATE & STALEMATE!

AFTER A TOUGH and HARD FOUGHT GAME THE POSITION BELOW WAS REACHED...

... WITH WHITE TO PLAY.

An easy win for White - if we remember our three special words, which are:

CHECK - When a piece looks at the Square the King is on.
CHECKMATE - When an enemy piece or pieces not only looks at the square that the King is on but it/they also control the squares around the King. If the player of the King who is attacked is unable to CAPTURE the checking piece (That is to say the piece looking at our King.), BLOCK it or to RUN AWAY then we have a checkmate.
STALEMATE - When the enemy pieces or an enemy piece controls the squares around the King but not the square that the King actually stands upon. That is to say they do not look at the enemy King. This can only happen as long as the King who cannot move does not have any "friends" upon the board who can move. In other words we either need only pawns on the board who cannot move at all or no pawns and no other pieces remaining upon the board other than the King. There could be pieces upon the board - as long as they are pinned to the King - thus they are unable to move.

BLUE BUBBLES SHOW THE SQUARES THE WHITE KING "LOOKS" AT... or RATHER THE SQUARES THAT HE ATTACKS/CONTROLS!

Each King can only move one square at a time - unless of course it uses the special move castling. See a previous posting for coverage of this special move. Not only can the King step onto any of the one squares around him - as long as an enemy piece does not look at them that is - but he can protect his friends that are in this one square bubble that floats around him.

Notice that the White King looks at or attacks all of the squares around him - going in all directions. Each King has a force field that keeps out the enemy King. Because we can never put our own King in check we are unable to use our King - under any circumstance - to give a check to another King. This would break the number one rule of chess! Because for our King to give a check to an enemy King he must step within the other King's "field" and would thus receive a check as well. The two Kings can never ever stand next to each other!

THE BLACK KING HAS A FORCE FIELD TOO!

THE QUEEN IS THE MOST POWERFUL PIECE ON THE CHESS BOARD!

The Queen is the strongest piece on the chess board as she combines the moves of the Rook and the Bishop. Here she can look along Files, Ranks and Diagonals - the three "lines" on a chess board.

As long as she stays inside the "FORCE FIELD" of the White King the White Queen is immune or safe from being captured by the Black King.

STALEMATE!

One careless or hurried move can ruin a win in a game of chess. Here the move Qc7 was played and now the Black King has no liberties or free squares upon which he can move to... but move he must as it is his turn. Because we can never, ever put our King in check the play is now stale. Hence "STALEMATE". This game has now ended in a draw - that is to say it is even Steven!

Stalemate is a kind of DRAW - one of the three possible results in a game of chess. Win, lose or Draw are the three possible results that we can have in a game. Here White played a careless move and gave a mate... but not a checkmate.

The Queen looks at all of the squares all around the Black King but alas the Black King is not attacked or rather being viewed/looked at by the White Queen. He stands on the one square that is not attacked - so he is not in check.

ANYONE HERE ORDER A CHECKMATE?

CHECKMATE - That is how you win chess games!

Let us say that in the diagram up above that instead of the move 1. Qc7 having been played that the move 1. Qb7 was played instead. This too is a mate as all of the squares around the Black King are controlled by the Queen.

Notice how the Queen ALSO attacks, or looks at, the square that the Black King stands upon. So this is a CHECK and MATE which means CHECKMATE! Game over - White won!

We would write that down on a score sheet as "1 - 0" to show that White had won this game.

ALWAYS CHECK ON THE CHECK!

IS IT REALLY A CHECKMATE OR IS IT ONLY A CHECK?

If instead of playing the move 1. Qb7, let us say that the player of the white pieces had instead played the move 1. Qa7 check!

This is only a check... and not a checkmate. Why?

After the move 1. ...Kxa7! The King has captured the White Queen! So this was only a check and not a checkmate because the Queen could be captured. Now this game is over because it is a draw by TWO KINGS! This is also known as a DRAW by INSUFFICIENT MATERIAL as well.

The reason why the Black King could capture the White Queen was because she was outside the force field of the White King!

So to get the checkmate as the player of the White pieces - in order for you to win the game - you need to keep the Queen inside of the White King's forcefield and she needs to land on the b7 square! There she is safe from capture by the Black King and she controls all the squares around the Black King - hence the "mate" - and she "checks" or attacks/looks at the square the Black King actually stands upon. Checkmate! Game over rover!! Do you have time for another game?

Enjoy the lessons! - Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME BACK AS YOUR CHESS COACH!

This Semester I am glad to be back in all three Schools - Mercury Mine and Sandpiper in the Paradise Valley School district and in Copper Creek in the Deer Valley Unified School District. It is really wonderful to see so many familiar and new faces at our chess clubs and we are going to have a lot of fun this Semester!

The first chess club updates will be going out by the end of this week and should you have any questions then please do feel free to contact me. Feel free to scan through the previous postings on this blog and if any of these lessons help you to understand the game of chess better - and or your young scholastic chess player - then this site will have served it's purpose. Remember it is very important for our players to practice chess at home a couple of times a week. Playing chess is a lot like picking up a musical instrument - we will not perform well, or at all, at our recitals if we do not practice. Perfect practice leads to perfect play - as long as we are always having a perfectily fun time while being engaged at the chess board.

Your ASCF Chess Coach
Chess Coach Sean Tobin.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

SUMMER CHESS FUN!

Are you looking for a fun and safe chess camp for our young Scholastic chess player or players this Summer? If so then look no further than Chess Coach Sean's Summer Chess Camps being held down at the Chess Emporium!

Coach Sean Tobin (1998 USCF) Sicilian Dragon Chess Camp (1-day) #1

Rated G/30 Tournament
Student Game Analysis
Sicilian Dragon!

Beginning:	June 26, 2010
Ending:	June 26, 2010
Times:	9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Cost:	$69.00
Description:	7 plus hours of Great chess fun, learning and games! Early drop off (8am) and late pickup (5pm) are available.

Coach Sean Tobin's (1998 USCF) Summer Chess Camp (5-day) #1

Chess Puzzles/ Game Analysis
Rated G/30 Tournament
Blitz and Bughouse

Beginning:	June 28, 2010
Ending:	July 2, 2010
Times:	9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Cost:	$239.00
Description:	In this Chess Camp Scholastic chess players will have the opportunity to improve their chess understanding by receiving lessons from chess coach Sean Tobin. We will work on calculation, pattern recognition and tournament etiquette. All the while with a special emphasis on having FUN!