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Isolani
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 or otherwise a good square 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 development 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 pawns adjacent to the isolated pawn may also mobilize 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 a good outpost on the c- and e-file squares di ... [...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 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, doubled, or 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'' and the ''d5 Chain'') may appear similar, but they te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Terminology
This glossary of chess explains commonly used terms in chess, in alphabetical order. Some of these terms have their own pages, like '' fork'' and '' pin''. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see Glossary of chess problems; for a list of named opening lines, see List of chess openings; for a list of chess-related games, see List of chess variants. A B , "lightning"] A #fast chess, fast form of chess with a very short time limit, usually three or five minutes per player for the entire game. With the advent of electronic chess clocks A chess clock consists of two adjacent clocks with buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, so that the two clocks never run simultaneously. Chess clocks are used in chess and other two-player games w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knight (chess)
The knight (♘, ♞) is a piece in the game of chess, represented by a horse's head and neck. It moves two squares vertically and one square horizontally, or two squares horizontally and one square vertically, jumping over other pieces. Each player starts the game with two knights on the b- and g-, each located between a rook and a bishop. Movement Compared to other chess pieces, the knight's movement is unique: it moves two squares vertically and one square horizontally, or two squares horizontally and one square vertically (with both forming the shape of a capital L). When moving, the knight can jump over pieces to reach its destination. Knights capture in the same way, replacing the enemy piece on the square and removing it from the board. A knight can have up to eight available moves at once. Knights and pawns are the only pieces that can be moved in the chess starting position. Value Knights and bishops, also known as , have a value of about three pawns. Bishops u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambit Publications
Gambit Publications is a major publisher of chess books. The company's headquarters is in London. It has published more than 200 chess books. The company was founded by three chess players. Grandmaster (GM) John Nunn is the chess director, GM Murray Chandler is the managing director, and FIDE Master Graham Burgess is the editorial director. Some of the major books published by Gambit are ''Mastering the Chess Openings'' (four volumes) by John Watson, ''Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy'' also by Watson, ''Fundamental Chess Endings'' by Karsten Müller Karsten Müller (born November 23, 1970 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a German chess Grandmaster and author. He earned the Grandmaster title in 1998 and a PhD in mathematics in 2002 at the University of Hamburg. He had placed third in the 1996 Ger ... and Frank Lamprecht, ''Understanding the Chess Openings'' by Sam Collins, and the new ''Chess Explained'' series by various authors. See also * List of chess books Referen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My System
''My System'' (german: Mein System) is a book on chess theory written by Aron Nimzowitsch. Originally over a series of five brochures from 1925 to 1927, the book—one of the early works on hypermodernism—introduced many new concepts to followers of the modern school of thought. It is generally considered to be one of the most important books in the history of chess. Contents The book is divided into three parts: "The Elements", "Positional Play", and "Illustrative Games". The Elements In "The Elements" (german: Die Elemente), Nimzowitsch writes about the basics of his "system". He regards the following as the elements of chess strategy: # The center # Play on the open files # Play on the seventh and eighth ranks # The passed pawns # The pin # Discovered checks # Exchanging # The pawn-chain Positional Play The next part, "Positional Play" (german: Das Positionsspiel), is based largely on the elements taught in the first part. In it, Nimzowitsch tells how to play for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Everyman Chess
Everyman Chess, formerly known as Cadogan Chess, is a major publisher of books and CDs about chess. "Everyman" is a registered trademark of Random House and the company headquarters is in London. Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov is their chief advisor and John Emms is the general editor, assisted by Richard Palliser. The company is now known as "Gloucester Publishers". In addition to individual books, the company publishes some series of books. Some of their most famous series of books are: * ''Winning Chess'' series by Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan * ''Starting Out'' series by various writers, including John Emms, Chris Ward, Glenn Flear, Joe Gallagher, Richard Palliser, and John Shaw * ''Move by Move'' series by various writers, including John Emms, Steve Giddins, Adam Hunt, Colin Crouch, and Cyrus Lakdawala * '' My Great Predecessors'' series of five volumes by Garry Kasparov * ''Modern Chess Modern chess is a chess variant played on a 9×9 board. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batsford
Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh. There is a falconry centre close to the village and Batsford Arboretum is nearby, situated on the Cotswold escarpment. Moreton-in-Marsh and Batsford War Memorial, on the High Street in Moreton-in-Marsh, commemorates the village's dead of two World Wars. Civil parish The civil parish of Batsford extends 2 miles east from the village, and includes the hamlets of Dorn and Lower Lemington. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 99. Batsford was an ancient parish, which became a civil parish in 1866. In 1935 the civil parish more than doubled in size, when Dorn was transferred from the parish of Blockley and the civil parish of Lower Lemington was abolished and merged into Batsford. Religious sites The Church of St Leonard at Lower Lemington was built in the 12th century. It is a grade I ... [...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 is una ... [...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 c-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 deliber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knight (chess)
The knight (♘, ♞) is a piece in the game of chess, represented by a horse's head and neck. It moves two squares vertically and one square horizontally, or two squares horizontally and one square vertically, jumping over other pieces. Each player starts the game with two knights on the b- and g-, each located between a rook and a bishop. Movement Compared to other chess pieces, the knight's movement is unique: it moves two squares vertically and one square horizontally, or two squares horizontally and one square vertically (with both forming the shape of a capital L). When moving, the knight can jump over pieces to reach its destination. Knights capture in the same way, replacing the enemy piece on the square and removing it from the board. A knight can have up to eight available moves at once. Knights and pawns are the only pieces that can be moved in the chess starting position. Value Knights and bishops, also known as , have a value of about three pawns. Bishops u ... [...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] |
Chess Middlegame
The middlegame is the portion of a chess game between the opening and the endgame. It is generally considered to begin when each player has completed the development of all or most of their pieces and brought their king to relative safety, and it is generally considered to end when only a few pieces remain on the board. However, there is no clear line between the opening and middlegame or between the middlegame and endgame. At master level, the opening analysis may go well into the middlegame; likewise, the middlegame blends into the endgame. Theory on the middlegame is less developed than the opening or endgames. Since middlegame positions are unique from game to game, memorization of theoretical variations is not possible as it is in the opening. Likewise, there are usually too many pieces on the board for theoretical positions to be completely analyzed as can be done in the simpler endgames. Defining the middlegame Views vary on when the opening ends and the middlegame begin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
