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In a way, Kortchnoi may count himself lucky that he never became World Champion; even now, at the age of 80, he is still playing with the greatest possible enjoyment. It seems that to me that in order to stay active your primary motive should be enjoyment. - Jan Timman

1. The Turk – A Chess Machine The Turk was an 18th century chess machine, or so people thought. Victimizing a number of people such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin, it was actually not a machine. Including an elaborate construction that included a method to hide its operator, a human chess player was inside of the Turk. When it was lost in the fire the secret was out, and the Turk remains another interesting chess story of all time. 2. Chess and Your Brain Chess is often cited by psychologists as an effective way to improve memory function. Also allowing the mind to solve complex problems and work through ideas, it is no wonder that chess is recommended in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Some contend that it can increase one’s intelligence, though that is a more complex topic. The effects of chess on young individuals had led to chess being introduced in school districts and various countries. It has been shown to improve children’s grades and other positive effects as well. 3. Chess Computers – Deep Blue and Others Chess computers are now a very important part of chess. Most famously Garry Kasparov, world champion and known as one of the strongest players in the history of chess, was defeated by IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997 in a six-game match. Aside from claims of cheating, this was a major shock to the chess world. In 2006 world champion Vladimir Kramnik was defeated by Deep Fritz, furthering the statement of the strength of chess computers. Today chess programs are easily available to chess players that are essential in analyzing games and improving. They commonly rate within the same strength of Grandmasters. 4. The Onset of Chess Variants…And Boxing? To no surprise the market of chess variants is wide and varied (sorry, pun intended). There are a number of variants that alter the pieces, the board, and anything from putting three chess boards on top of each other. You can even put two chess boards side-by-side and play Bughouse – where you capture a piece and hand it to your opponent for placement. Chess boxing has emerged in recent years, mixing in a round of boxing for a pre-defined time on a chess board. You fall on one front and you lose. It brings another interesting aspect to the world of chess and its variants, which certainly appeal to some people looking for a new twist. 5. Care for Opening Theory? Opening theory goes nicely along with the “endless” possibilities regarding chess. An opening is defined as a series of moves to start out a game, which can include many different sub variations. There are well over 1,000 different openings, including variations within larger openings/defenses that one can learn. Openings are a unique aspect of chess as well. It also allows chess players a way to “prepare” for an opponent or play to their chess style. For instance, there are many different types of defenses that one can learn to suit an aggressive or positional style of play; i.e. the King’s Indian or the Queen’s Indian defenses respectfully against 1. d4. 6. Endless Possibilities After three moves – that is three moves by each side (each “move” in chess takes into consideration a move by White and Black) – there are over nine million possible positions. Similar calculations have been made; if you’re mathematically-inclined, look up Shannon number for estimates on the complexity of chess. The possibilities in chess add to its beauty. You surely don’t have to worry of the same position when you play, which lends to the importance of pattern recognition and position-specific strategies. In other words, you have to think when at the board – it’s definitely not all the same. 7. Can You Play Chess Blindfolded? Blindfold chess is real and documented in world records. It is as it sounds: a player makes all of his or her moves without looking at a board. Usually there is a “middle man” of sorts to give and receive moves for the game. Blindfold chess is an impressive skill that many stronger chess players possess. It certainly requires a keen ability to see the board clearly, which can get difficult after many moves. The record was set in 1960 in Budapest by Hungarian Janos Flesch, who played 52 opponents simultaneously while blindfolded – he won 31 of those games. 8. The Dynamic Queen There could be a top 10 list just on the queen, which has undergone a number of changes over history. Starting out as being able to move only one square diagonally, it was later able to move two squares – and further along the road, able to move like a knight. Of course now, thankfully, the queen is able to move diagonally, horizontally, and vertically to the scope of another piece. Originally the queen was the “fers,” a counselor or prime minister, the king’s advisor. The Europeans later changed it in the 1400s to become the strongest piece in chess. 9. Short and Long Games In chess it is amazing to consider how short or long a game may be. To the former the quickest mate is as follows: 1. f3 e5 2. g4 Qh4++ This is known as Fool’s mate (there are other variations of this mate). And yes, a draw or resignation may occur before a move is played, which can occur in the case of a tournament standings scenario or a player that fails to show up for his or her game, respectively. The longest tournament game of chess lasted for 269 moves (20 hours, 15 minutes), which ended in a draw. Theoretical estimates for a longest game are varied and extreme (5,000+ moves), which are complicated by special rules (and bad play!); i.e. the 50-move rule and 3-move repetition. 10. The History Of Chess Chess has a very long and distinguished history. It is believed to originate out of India during the Gupta empire, and subsequently made its way to the West in the 9th century. Of course there have been many different advancements between the time periods of then and now, which has made chess what it is today. For instance, allowing pawns to advance two squares only from its original position was introduced in 1280 in Spain. Pawn promotion rules were limited for quite some time, such as in the 18th and 19th century when it was limited to a previously-capture piece. Of course, now a pawn may be promoted to a knight, bishop, rook, or queen (there may be more than one queen now, as opposed to earlier times). REGARDS : SHAHZEB ABBASI

EVALUATE OPPONENT'S MOVE: The very first thing you should do after an opponent played a move is of course to look at the move and see what changes does that move made on the board. You should first focus your attention on threats that this move could have caused. You should ask yourself the following questions: -what is overall purpose of that move (attack, defend, relocate, control squares, etc.) -is there danger for my King? -which of my pieces are being attacked? If you find any immediate danger you should deal with it. For example if your piece is being attacked you should either move it away, or defend it if (and only if) you think the trade is beneficial for you or at least is equally good as for your opponent. If you did not find any immediate threats you should look at the board and see what weaknesses in opponent’s camp that move could have caused. Maybe that piece does not defend some other pieces or squares it was protecting previously or the opponent’s King position got weaker. This evaluation is helpful for coming up with a plan. PLAY WITH PLAN: That can sound simple but it’s what really separates stronger players from weaker ones. Having a plan is crucial for chess success. After seeing an opponent’s move and looking at the position of all the chess pieces on the board you should have a rough idea about how to proceed in the game. It’s not good enough to only know what you will do the next move. You should have a general idea how you plan to continue to develop and attack. It may not always be possible to have a plan that you can follow exactly step by step for 20 moves. The game of chess is full of surprises and opportunities. You never know what problems your opponent can set in front of you but if you have plan, even a simple one, you can always be sure that you not wasting your moves and working towards your goal. A simple plan can be a 3-4 move sequence about, for example relocating a knight into a better square, or launching a pawns attack towards the opponent’s king, or supporting a past pawn and helping it to promote, etc. It should be noted that having a plan also will give you a psychological advantage against your opponent; he will see that you trying to achieve something specific and not just moving pieces around the board just for sake of it. Especially, if your opponent does not have a plan of his own and if you do he will really feel uncomfortable in this game. Even if your opponent does have a plan too, he will maybe get a doubt in his mind and be more hesitant asking himself if he is “doing the right things” or if his attack is “quick enough”? Regardless, you will greatly benefit from having a chess plan. MAKE YOUR MOVE THE BEST: To win a game of chess you don’t actually need to make the absolutely best move available on the board. Making a move that is better than your opponent’s is usually sufficient enough for securing a good result. But how do we know if the move you’re about to make is a good move or if it is better than your opponent’s? Unless you’re a computer you cannot know for sure (even they make mistakes in some positions, believe it or not). Therefore, humans need a different algorithm for playing chess than machines do. After you have evaluated the opponent’s move, figured out its purpose, or absence of it (believe it or not it happens more than often), come up with a simple plan, you are ready to make a move. But wait, just one second, let’s discuss specific traits that good move usually has. A good move should: - Win some material, gain space, create threats for your opponent - Improve position of your pieces - Exchange pieces, but only if It is beneficial to you - NOT create weaknesses in your own position (there are exceptions however, if you have a mate in 3 you would not mind giving up the knight for it) -it should be multipurpose, the more things you can accomplish with one move the better (if you attack on piece it is easy to defend for your opponent, but if you attack two pieces at the same time and also threaten a mate he’ll has something to think about) EXCHANGE PIECES WISELY: We talked briefly about only exchanging pieces when it’s beneficial for you. But what does that really means? In some cases it’s simple. For example: - if you’re up in material you want to exchange pieces to win - if you have a passive piece you want to exchange that off, ideally for the active piece of your opponent - if the game is closed (not much open space on the board, closed pawn structure, closed files and diagonals) you may want to keep the knights and exchange off the bishops - if you have more pawns or a better endgame you should exchange pieces off - if you are down in space or under attack, you want to exchange pieces off - if you are playing against a stronger opponent, you don’t want to exchange too many pieces since that will lead to some sort of standard endgame in which stronger players are usually superior. There are exceptions, if you believe that endgame is the strongest element of your chess, you should aim for the endgame. Before any piece exchanges occur you should think first how that will change the game and only then decide exchange pieces or not. MANAGE YOUR TIME: Regardless of how good your position is chess wise you can still lose chess game if you run out of time. Therefore, clock management becomes an important part of competition. There are some people who almost never get into time trouble, while there are others that almost always do. The basic idea of efficient chess management lays in one simple rule: don’t spend too much time where it not needs to be spent. For example, majority of people who do get into time trouble would have a difficult time deciding what move to play when they have two equivalent alternatives. They are chess idealists and they will think for 20 minutes which rook needs to occupy the file, when in reality it does not really matter. They will try to find the ideal moves and spend all their time. Then they will drop a piece when they have 5 minutes for 20 moves to make a time control. Don’t be like them. Think rationally. Spend time wisely. REGARDS : SHAHZEB ABBASI