Chess Definitions & Analysis Icons
Ok, there's a lot of things to take in when you first start to play chess, but what is all of this? Why is this here? That's what I will explain today, so let's jump right in!
What does tempo mean? Well, in my last post when I talked about the Queen's Gambit, I said tempo a lot, so what if you don't know what it means? Tempo in chess is when you lose or gain lead in development in your pieces. Pretty straight forward! You always want to stay ahead in tempo in chess so you can attack before they have the chance to defend. Here's an example:
What you saw was black gaining tempo on white because they attacked whites queen while developing a piece simultaneously.
Chances are that you have pressed the "game review" after one of the games you played and saw these colorful icons that tell you how good your moves were. Most of them are straight forward, but what are "book moves" or "blunders"? That's what I will talk about now!
What's a blunder? A blunder is when you give away a free piece, or throw away the game in one move. You don't want to make blunders in your games. Here's an example of a blunder:
In that position, white gave away their queen for no reason, so that move was a blunder.
What's a brilliant move? A brilliant move can be a piece sacrifice for a checkmate, or just a move that's hard to find but improves your position or leads to a forced checkmate.
What's a good move? A good move is not the best move in the position, but not the worst.
What's inaccuracy? A inaccuracy is pretty straight forward, it means your move was inaccurate.
What's a miss? A miss is a bad move because you maybe missed something else you should have done. Here's a chart from brilliant being the best to blunder being the worst:
And now, the beginning of chess terms! Here's another chess term that is kind of confusing: stalemate. What is a stalemate you might ask? Stalemate is when you have no more legal moves to make. Here's an example:
In that diagram, black has no more legal moves they can make. You probably noticed they were not in check either. This game would end in a draw.
What does activate mean? It means to basically develop, or move your pieces and get them in the game as fast as possible.
What is material? This is used to describe the pieces you have.
What's an open file? This is a file with no pieces in it. In endgames, it's great to take control of these open files with your rooks in the endgame!
What is development? This is just moving your pieces to more active squares.
What is an opening? You probably know this already, but if you don't, it is the specific moves you make for a specific opening.
What's a fork? No, not a fork you use to eat with, the chess version! This means you are attacking two or more pieces at the same time, and guaranteed to win more material.
Last but not least, what's a rank? Well, here's an example where the arrows are highlighting the 4th and 7th ranks:
Well, that's it! If you have questions or concerns, comment down below!
