In order to record your own chess games or to replay the moves from other recorded games and lessons you have to understand the algebraic chess notation.
The squares of the chess board
First we have to identify each square of the chessboard with a unique coordinate. The files are labelled with the lowercase letters a through [...]
This lesson describes a rather easy method to perform a checkmate with a single Rook.
The black King is in the centre of the board and White must force him to the side of the board. This will be done by cutting off some of the King’s escape squares with the Rook. Since the black King [...]
It is essential for chess players to know the relative value of the chess pieces in order to judge a trade of pieces.
The most commonly used values are:
1 : Pawn
3 : Knight
3 : Bishop
5 : Rook
9 : Queen
These values are based on their strength in endgames and should be handled with care. Before [...]
The Queen is a very powerful piece, but even this powerful white piece is not able to checkmate the black king by itself. The white king is needed to support the queen. This kind of endgame is very common when a player has managed to promote a pawn. Attention has to be paid to avoid [...]
The best way to improve your chess game is to start improving your tactical skills and to learn the principles of endgame and opening play. Despite of the fact that most beginners start by studying opening moves this hardly contributes to a better understanding of the game.
Understanding a chess opening means that you are able [...]
