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Connected Pawns
In chess, connected pawns are two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent , as distinct from isolated pawns. These pawns are instrumental in creating pawn structure because, when diagonally adjacent, like the two rightmost white pawns, they form a , where the pawn behind protects the one in front. When attacking these chains, the weak spot is the backmost pawn because it is not protected by any other pawn. Discussion Connected pawns that are both passed, i.e., without any enemy pawns in front of them on the same file or adjacent files, are referred to as connected passed pawns. Such pawns can be very strong in the endgame, especially if supported by other pieces. Often the opponent must sacrifice to prevent one of the pawns from promoting. Connected passed pawns are usually superior to other passed pawns. An exception is in an opposite-colored bishops endgame with a bishop and two pawns versus a bishop on the opposite color. If the pawns are connected and not beyond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to as White and Black in chess, "White" and "Black", each control sixteen Chess piece, pieces: one king (chess), king, one queen (chess), queen, two rook (chess), rooks, two bishop (chess), bishops, two knight (chess), knights, and eight pawn (chess), pawns, with each type of piece having a different pattern of movement. An enemy piece may be captured (removed from the board) by moving one's own piece onto the square it occupies. The object of the game is to "checkmate" (threaten with inescapable capture) the enemy king. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw (chess), draw. The recorded history of chess goes back to at least the emergence of chaturanga—also thought to be an ancesto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isolated Pawn
In chess, an isolated pawn is a pawn that has no friendly pawn on an adjacent . Isolated pawns are usually a weakness because they cannot be protected by other pawns. The square in front of the pawn may become a good outpost for the opponent to anchor pieces. Isolated pawns most often become weaker in the endgame, as there are fewer pieces available to protect the pawn. Isolated pawns can, however, provide improved and associated opportunities for that offset or even outweigh their weaknesses. The files adjacent to the isolated pawn are either open or half-open, providing two lanes of attack for the rooks and the queen. The absence of adjacent pawns may also aid mobilization of the player's knights and bishops. An isolated pawn on the d-file is called an isolated queen pawn or simply an isolani. In addition to the open or half-open c- and e-files, the isolated queen pawn can provide good outposts on the c- and e-file squares diagonally forward of the pawn, which are espec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passed Pawn
In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth ; i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on either the same or adjacent files. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer. Passed pawns are advantageous because only the opponent's pieces can stop them from promoting. In the diagram, the white pawns on b5, c4, and e5 are passed pawns, and Black's pawn on d4 is a passed pawn. If Black plays ...fxg4, then the black pawn on g4 will be passed, as well as White's pawn on f4. Protected passed pawn A passed pawn that is protected by its own pawns is called a protected passed pawn. In the first diagram in this article, the pawns on the b- and e-files are protected passed pawns. Two or more passed pawns on adjacent files are called connected passed pawns (see connected pawns), and they are very strong. In the diagram at the top, White's b- and c-pawns are connected passed pawns. A pair of connected passed p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Endgame
The endgame (or ending) is the final stage of a chess game which occurs after the middlegame. It begins when few pieces are left on the board. The line between the middlegame and the endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with a quick exchange of pieces. The endgame, however, tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawns become more important as endgames often revolve around attempts to promote a pawn by advancing it to the eighth . The king, which normally is kept safe during the game, becomes active in the endgame, as it can help escort pawns to promotion, attack enemy pawns, protect other pieces, and restrict the movement of the enemy king. Not all chess games reach an endgame; some of them end earlier. All chess positions with up to seven pieces on the board have been solved by endgame tablebases, so the outcome (win, loss, or draw) of best play by bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacrifice (chess)
In chess, a sacrifice is a move that gives up a piece with the objective of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value. Any chess piece except the king may be sacrificed. Because players usually try to hold on to their own pieces, offering a sacrifice can come as an unpleasant surprise to one's opponent, putting them off balance and causing them to waste precious time trying to calculate whether the sacrifice is sound or not, and whether to accept it. Sacrificing one's queen (the most valuable piece), or a string of pieces, adds to the surprise, and such games can be awarded . Types of sacrifice Real versus sham Rudolf Spielmann proposed a division between sham and real sacrifices: * In a ''real sacrifice'', the sacrificing player will often have to play on with less than their opponent for quite some time. * In a ''sham sacrifice'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Promotion (chess)
In chess, promotion is the replacement of a pawn with a new piece when the pawn is moved to its . The player replaces the pawn immediately with a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same . The new piece does not have to be a previously captured piece. Promotion is mandatory when moving to the last rank; the pawn cannot remain as a pawn. Promotion to a queen is known as ''queening''; promotion to any other piece is known as '' underpromotion''. Promotion is almost always to a queen, as it is the most powerful piece. Underpromotion might be done for various reasons, such as to avoid stalemate or for tactical reasons related to the knight's unique movement pattern. Promotion or the threat of it often decides the result in an endgame. Rules When a pawn is promoted, it is removed from the board, and the new piece is placed on the square the pawn moved to. Any piece may be promoted to regardless of whether it has been captured. Consequently, a player might have two or more quee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opposite-colored Bishops Endgame
The opposite-colored bishops endgame is a chess endgame in which each side has a single bishop and those bishops operate on opposite-colored squares. Without other besides pawns and the kings, these endings are widely known for their tendency to result in a draw. These are the most difficult endings in which to convert a small advantage to a win. With additional pieces, the stronger side has more chances to win, but still not as many as when bishops are on the same color. Many players in a poor position have escaped a loss by trading down to such an endgame. These endgames are normally drawn when one side has a one-pawn advantage. Two or even three extra pawns may not suffice for a win either, since the weaker side can create a blockade on the squares on which their bishop operates. General principles Edmar Mednis gives two principles for endgames with bishops on opposite colors: # If a player is down he should look for drawing chances in an endgame with only the bishop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rook (chess)
The rook (; ♖, ♜) is a piece in the game of chess. It may move any number of squares horizontally or vertically without jumping, and it may an enemy piece on its path; it may participate in castling. Each player starts the game with two rooks, one in each corner on their side of the board. Formerly, the rook (from ) was alternatively called the ''tower'', ''marquess'', ''rector'', and ''comes'' (''count'' or ''earl''). The term "castle" is considered to be informal or old-fashioned. Placement and movement The white rooks start on the squares a1 and h1, while the black rooks start on a8 and h8. The rook moves horizontally or vertically, through any number of unoccupied squares. The rook cannot jump over pieces. The rook may capture an enemy piece by moving to the square on which the enemy piece stands, removing it from play. The rook also participates with the king in a special move called castling, wherein it is transferred to the square crossed by the king after th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backward Pawn
In chess, a backward pawn is a pawn that is behind all pawns of the same color on the adjacent and cannot be safely advanced. In the diagram, the black pawn on the c6-square is backward. Disadvantages Backward pawns are usually a positional disadvantage because they are unable to be defended by other pawns. Also, the opponent can place a piece, usually a knight, on the in front of the pawn without any risk of a pawn driving it away. The backward pawn also prevents its owner's rooks and queen on the same file from attacking the piece placed on the hole. If the backward pawn is on a half-open file, the disadvantage is even greater, as the pawn can be attacked more easily by an opponent's rook or queen on the file. Pieces can become weak when they are devoted to protecting a backward pawn, since their obligation to defend the pawn keeps them from being deployed for other uses. In practice Modern opening theory features several openings in which one of the players deliberat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doubled Pawns
In chess, doubled pawns are two pawns of the same color residing on the same file. Pawns can become doubled only when one pawn captures onto a file on which another friendly pawn resides. In the diagram, the white pawns on the b-file and e-file are doubled. The pawns on the are doubled and isolated. In most cases, doubled pawns are considered a weakness due to their inability to defend each other. This inability, in turn, makes it more difficult to achieve a breakthrough which could create a passed pawn (often a deciding factor in endgames). In the case of isolated doubled pawns, these problems are only further aggravated. Several chess strategies and openings are based on burdening the opponent with doubled pawns, a strategic weakness. There are, however, cases where accepting doubled pawns can be advantageous because doing so may open up a file for a rook, or because the doubled pawns perform a useful function, such as defending important squares. Also, if the opponent i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isolated Pawn
In chess, an isolated pawn is a pawn that has no friendly pawn on an adjacent . Isolated pawns are usually a weakness because they cannot be protected by other pawns. The square in front of the pawn may become a good outpost for the opponent to anchor pieces. Isolated pawns most often become weaker in the endgame, as there are fewer pieces available to protect the pawn. Isolated pawns can, however, provide improved and associated opportunities for that offset or even outweigh their weaknesses. The files adjacent to the isolated pawn are either open or half-open, providing two lanes of attack for the rooks and the queen. The absence of adjacent pawns may also aid mobilization of the player's knights and bishops. An isolated pawn on the d-file is called an isolated queen pawn or simply an isolani. In addition to the open or half-open c- and e-files, the isolated queen pawn can provide good outposts on the c- and e-file squares diagonally forward of the pawn, which are espec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pawn Structure
In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawn (chess), pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus plays a large role in determining the strategic character of the position. General observations Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such as Isolated pawn, isolated, Doubled pawns, doubled, or Backward pawn, backward pawns and , once created, are usually permanent. Care must therefore be taken to avoid them (but there are exceptions—for instance see ''Boleslavsky hole'' below). In the absence of these structural weaknesses, it is not possible to assess a pawn formation as good or bad—much depends on the position of the pieces. The pawn formation does determine the overall strategies of the players to a large extent, however, even if arising from unrelated openings. Pawn formations symmetrical about a vertical line (such as the #e5-chain, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
