Articles

Weak squares are squares that are not attacked or defended by pawns. While pieces are busy doing other things, pawns are left to control the squares around them. Since pawns attack and defend diagonally, they control squares that are the same color as their own square. If most of your pawns are on dark squares, […]

Here are a couple of funny “don’t do’s” of tournament chess shared by the chess.com user linlaoda. This is a purely comedic and not serious post that is a spinoff of “don’t be that guy at the gym” theme. Are you committing any “chess crimes?” Let’s find out 🙂

Dynamic tactics occur when an attack involves more than one of the opponent’s pieces. They are the most common tactics in chess. They happen all the time, if you know what to look for. 1) Fork A fork tactic happens when one piece attacks two pieces at the same time. While the opponent is busy […]

Direct tactics occur when an attack involves only one of the opponent’s pieces. They are the easiest tactics to learn and use. 1) Single Threat A single threat happens when one piece attacks one of the opponent’s pieces, or gives check, or makes a threat. It may be a checkmate threat or a threat to […]

Board strategy means making your overall position better. A better position leads to better moves, and better moves leads to a better game. You should always try to make your position better, and try to make the opponent’s position worse. There are three parts to the chess strategy to make your overall position better. The […]

Piece strategy means making your pieces better. Better pieces lead to better moves, and better moves lead to a better game. What is a better piece? A better piece is a piece that is well placed on the board, or a piece that works well with other pieces.

Pawns are the least valuable pieces on the chess board. So, are pawns important? Yes! Every pawn could turn into a queen. When you capture one of the opponent’s pawns, you never have to worry about that pawn becoming a queen. When the opponent captures one of your pawns, you have one less chance of […]

Today we will talk a little bit more about chess statistics. The last time we covered Top 10 Best Openings for White and Black and today you will see exactly what types of endgames are the most common in the game of chess. Take a guess what types of endgames are the most common in […]

Grandmaster and world chess champion Bobby Fischer is famously quoted as saying, “Chess is life.”But can this two-player game, consisting of a square checkered board and playing pieces that are moved in different ways depending on their royal or military designation, benefit your mental and physical health? Absolutely! Check out these seven surprising health benefits […]

This endgame might seem simple, but it is not. There is a lot of strategy. If you have the pawn and you can promote it to a queen, then you will win. If the opponent has the pawn and you can stop it from promoting to a queen, then you will draw. Often, the deciding […]