rich strategy, tactics, imagination and human struggle.
Chess is a culture – People react to chess as they do to sports, TV shows and movies. Chess fans follow their favorite teams, discuss players’ personalities, argue rules, recite statistics and compare the ratings and rankings of players.
Chess lets you be creative – You will do all sorts of creative things as you seek solutions to chess problems.
Chess is a great way to socialize – It’s a friendly, competitive activity, where no one gets hurt. Instead of two bodies slamming into each other (like football), a meeting of two minds takes place. Chess helps develop great social skills. You’ll meet a lot of people and make new friends. It gives players and spectators a sense of belonging.
You can play anywhere, anytime – You can play against your family, your friends or in a chess club. You can even play over the Internet or against a computer. You don’t need expensive equipment. You don’t need to travel to a special place. You don’t even need a coach or team.
All you need is a board, chess pieces and an opponent.
Chess Will Help You Succeed in School
The benefits of chess have been scientifically tested and documented. Chess is connected academically, socially and intellectually to a person’s development.
In my 25 years of experience with the game, I have witnessed something amazing: Many students who learn to play chess perform better in class.
I have been stunned to see children who had trouble concentrating on a task for more than 20 minutes pick up the game quickly. They were later able to perform a task that lasted up to an hour and a half.
Studies show that there definitely is a connection between playing the game and increased studying skills.
Not only will chess strengthen your character by bestowing you with all sorts of useful life skills, you’ll become smarter and more attentive as you learn and improve!
Don’t be surprised if your test scores soar as you become a better chess player. In fact, you can expect it.
And even if you already are a strong student, know that every brain needs exercise. Chess is an all-around mental workout!
Chess Opens Your Mind
Chess uses many different parts of your brain to awaken sleeping mental powers.
You could find yourself demonstrating new skills, thinking in different ways and finding better ways to approach problems.
Chess can open the floodgates in your mind and allow power to pour from the well of untapped potential inside you.
I want to take you – a young person of our future, a young person who wants to be someone – and help you discover the scope of your abilities.
What’s in This Book?
I will teach you:
How chess is set up and played
How to read and record chess games
Basic strategies and tactics
How to play through a winning game, step by step, from start to finish.
And in the second part of this book, I will demonstrate 20 different lessons you can learn from playing chess, and how to apply them to your life.
Ready, Set, GO!
Chess has been played all over the world for hundreds of years. It is the most popular board game of all time, with no sign of a slowdown.
Chess is a language all its own. Millions of players worldwide might speak different languages, but they understand each other through the universal language of chess.
You’re about to find out why this game is so widespread and why it has lasted so long. Chess is mysterious, deep, calming, exhilarating – even beautiful! And it’s a game that anyone can learn. All you need is the desire to learn.
So read on and discover the rewards, benefits and many doors that will open as you learn to play chess... one move at a time!
All the Right Moves
Nobody knows for sure if the story I told you at the beginning of this book is actually true.
Chess is so old, and is played in so many places in the world, that it’s difficult to trace its roots. There are many theories, but very few definite answers.
Where and when chess was invented is a mystery.
But most scholars agree that the game was invented to entertain the ruling class and to help them think about how to strategize in battle.
The Object of the Game
Two players compete in chess; one uses 16 light pieces, the other 16 dark pieces.
No matter what their actual color, the player with the light pieces is always called “White,” while the one with the dark pieces is always “Black.”
The object of the game is for one player to trap the other player’s King.
How, you ask? That’s what this chapter is all about.
Know the Territory
The chessboard is the battlefield where it all takes place. Think of it as your territory, the home that you need to defend!
It’s a big square made up of 64 smaller squares – 32 light, 32 dark.
There are eight rows lined side-by-side, horizontally. These are called ranks.
And there are eight rows stacked up-and-down, vertically. These are called files.
Figure 2-1: A rank
Figure 2-2: A file
When you set up the board, check and make sure that the lower right corner for both players is a white square.
Remember this with a simple rhyme:
White on the right.
If you have a chess board and chess pieces, get them out now and set up the board in front of you. Follow along with your hands and you’ll learn twice as fast.
Your Army
The chess pieces are the army you command. They protect
