It sounds a little bit obvious, but the lack of a plan is the main reason for a lot of losses in chess. Planning is essential in chess. After you have learned the general ideas for the opening, the middle game and the endgame, you have to create plans in order to win the game.
We can distinguish several kind of plans. Jeremy Silman starts by looking for the imbalances in the position and then the plan is to use and enlarge (one of) the positive imbalances. Other plans are more related to finding the right squares for your pieces and then the plan is to find a way to get your pieces on these squares.

The most important thing is that you have a plan. Without a plan your moves will be incoherent and you will be just moving your pieces. Having a plan will result in more wins.

When playing chess you should always have a plan, but don’t stick to rigid to it. Your opponent also has a plan and you have to take his moves into account. Some players tend to play their moves but neglect the moves of their opponent and when the threat becomes visible it is often too late to do something about it.

More chess lessons (in the right order to study) can be found by means of the top navigation and an example of looking ahead can be found in the game Kasparov – Topalov (1999).

Original 4 Responses on CTL to “Make a plan”

1. 
   Sandor (Chessbumbus)
   October 6th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
   Hi Chessfriend!
   You have a nice chessblog here! Congratulations!
   My chessblog, Chessgambiter, has listed this site on my blog as:
   Chess sites I read…
   Keep on the good work.
   Thanks and regards,
   Chessgambiter
2. 
   harcee sarmiento
   January 9th, 2009 at 5:47 am
   always prepare new surprises for the enemy by making your own novelty.
3. 
   Chess Teacher
   January 9th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
   @harcee sarmiento
   as long as you make sure that it is not a blunder
   If a move is rarely played, there may be a reason!!
4. 
   IM Arjun Vishnuvardhan
   May 6th, 2009 at 10:50 am
   Strategy/Strategical planning is just as important as tactics or studying a chess opening.
   This becomes more and more clear as you progress in chess. This is what that makes the difference between a master and an amateur.

Zugzwang is a position in which every move would make the position worse, and the player that has to move would be better off if he could pass and not move at all. But in chess no such thing as skipping a move is allowed. You are forced to move.




In the picture above whoever has to make a move loses.

We have seen some examples of zugzwang before:

• The Trébuchet was in fact a lesson about the mutual zugzwang.
• The game Fischer – Taimanov (1971) contains some zugzwangs.
• Opposition can be seen as an example of Zugzwang.
• And in fact most of the endgames that we have discussed before, like the mating with the rook, make use of this zugzwang concept. 

Next lesson: Make a plan.

One of the most famous games showing the Bishop versus Knight endgame is game number four in the quarterfinals of the candidates match between Robert James Fischer and Mark Taimanov.




The next lesson in this series is about Zugzwang.

A lot of information about the Rook and pawn versus rook endgame can be found in Wikipedia. This article gives a nice overview of the most important positions and methods to win or to hold the position.

It describes the following winning methods:

• Pawn on the sixth or seventh rank
• The king without the pawn cut off along a rank is an easy win
• The king without the pawn is cut off from the pawn’s file is a far more complicated endgame (like we have described in the two previous lessons) and it gives the rule of five.

The rule of five is for positions in which the pawn is protected and the opposing king is cut off by files: Add the number of rank of the pawn to the number of files the defender’s king is cut off. If the sum is more than five, it is usually a win. Otherwise it is normally a draw.

The article also refers to the Lucena position and describes an alternate method to win for bishop pawns and central pawns.




The next lesson will show another famous game: Fischer – Taimanov 1971.

The game of this lesson between Paul Morphy and Carl Isouard that has been played in Paris 1858 is one of the most famous chess games.

It’s a very interesting short game and it contains at least five important chess lessons:

1. Develop you chess pieces quickly
2. Castling into safety
3. The strategic outpost at d5
4. Attacking a pinned piece
5. The use of an open file

Liked this game?
You will probably also like Bird – Steinitz (1866) or you can have a look at the complete overview of chess lessons.

Noah’s Ark Trap is not just an opening trap. The name is used for a lot of openings in which the white bishop is trapped on b3 by black pawns. Most of the games that contain this trap can be found in the Ruy Lopez.
More chess lessons? The next lesson in this series is about the game Morphy – Isouard (1958).

Original 3 responses on CTL to “Noah’s Ark Trap”

1. 
   GMNightmare
   December 18th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
   I’m sorry, but your analysis as “1…c5 2.Bb5 Not a very good move.” is incorrect. Just because you believe it’s not, or that many play the game wrong from that point, does not make it a bad move. In fact, even 5.d4 was not a bad move. The bad move was move 8, Qxd4, and that is it. Nothing dictates that white must take back right away, playing a5 would be a valid line of play eventually leading to a resume in equal material, with white leading on development for your greed of trying to take an easy win, playing a trap, and white not falling for it.
2. 
   Chess Teacher
   December 19th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
   @ GMNightmare
   I agree with most of your comment, but I still shouldn’t play 2.Bb5, because I think that White has better moves. I don’t consider this move as a blunder after which the game will be lost. A blunder will be indicated by two question marks as you can find after the 8.Qxd4 move. I even don’t consider it as a bad move (indicated by a ?) or as a dubious move (?!), but I still advice to play other moves.
   The main purpose of this article was to show some examples of Noah’s Ark Trap in different openings.
3. 
   chimeric bliss
   March 17th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
   i completely agree, its not a matter of bad moves, its the strategy. QxD4 is enabling black to trap that pawn. the best move for white there would be Bd5. it takes away blacks ability to trap and puts pressure on blacks rook and eventually his queen.

As a kind of followup on the lesson about the minor promotion I have added this lesson on the Lasker Trap in the Albin Countergambit. The underpromotion plays an important role in this trap and probably contributes to the success of it.

The Albin Countergambit starts with the moves 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 after which we can find the following position on the board.

The best option is to accept the gambit 3.dxe5 after which black probably continues with 3…d4. If White continues with 4.e3? he’ll find himself in deep trouble.

You may also want to read the lesson about the underpromotion or about the Elephant Trap or continue with the lesson about Noah’s Ark Trap.
A complete overview of the chess lessons at this site can be found in the chess lessons index.

Chess on the High Line
By Ed Yourdon (Some rights reserved)

As I have mentioned in the lesson about taking free pieces almost all chess games are won by first obtaining a material advantage.

I have added some capture exercises to this site. They are intended for the beginning chess player, but it is assumed that this chess player knows how the pieces move and also knows about the value of these pieces.
Refresh the page to get the next random exercise.

The exercises can be seen as a follow-up on this last one and the lesson about taking free pieces.

Knowing all the rules, moves and starting position isn’t enough to become a good chess player. More chess lessons will follow, but this may be a good moment to emphasize that you also have to move this theory into practice. Nobody can learn to play chess without playing chess games.

Here are some tips especially targeted at junior players.
Most of these tips are based on the fact that in almost all beginner’s games one of the players is able to win pieces because they weren’t protected.

Think before you move and make sure that you don’t leave a piece unprotected, because
- you place the piece on an unprotected attacked square
- or because the piece was protecting another piece that becomes unprotected

Furthermore if a piece is touched you have to move this piece, but you may decide to place it on another square (than originally intended) as long as the piece has not been released.

Think before moving: Is this realy the best move or is it possible to capture an unprotected piece of the opponent? If you are about to capture a piece: realize that chess isn’t about capturing pieces. Is it possible to capture a more valuable piece or is it possible to checkmate?

You have to be aware of the value of the pieces in order to be able to determine if an exchange is profitable. If you manage to reach a simple endgame that is known as won, you have to be able to finish it off. You have to be able to win a game with a King and Rook against a bare King, and certainly with a King and Queen against this bare King. Practice this with a friend or with a computer.

In order to make it easier to understand the concepts of chess it is advised to learn the Algebraic chess notation.

This post gives an overview of all the Chess Lessons currently on this site related to the rules of the game.

Learning the moves and the rules

1. The starting position
2. The Rook
3. The Bishop
4. The Queen
5. The King
6. The Knight
7. The Pawn
8. En passant
9. Castling
10. The end of the game
11. Think before you Touch

Giant chess set on beach



Chess pieces are about 2.5 feet tall.

Picture taken at Sandals Montego Bay, Jamaica by Loren Sztajer

Minor promotion or underpromotion is the promotion of a pawn to a knight, bishop or rook. The player that has moved the pawn to the promotion square has to decide which piece to select: a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight. It can not remain a pawn and according to the FIDE rules of chess the choice becomes final as soon as the selected piece touches the promotion square.
In almost all games a pawn is promoted to a queen. Sometimes another piece is used, but most of the time this is done without a real need. The player just likes to win with a rook instead of a queen.
But in some cases a minor promotion is needed in order to win the game, most of the time to avoid a stalemate.

The following two diagrams show some easy examples. In the diagram on the left promotion of the pawn to a queen will result in a stalemate, but White can win the game by promoting to a rook (or by playing Kd6). In the diagram on the right promotion to a queen or a rook will result in a draw (stalemate), but promoting to a bishop will result in an easy win. In this case White may also win by playing Ke7.


Another interesting example is shown in the next diagram. Now White is forced to promote. He has to capture the rook. Promoting to a queen or a rook will result in stalemate, so the pawn has to be promoted to a bishop or a knight.

I should go for the bishop, but promotion to a knight will be ok. 49. bxc8=B will probably be followed by something like 49… Kb8 50. Bh3 Kc7 51. Kb5 Kd6 52. a7 Ke5 53. a8=Q Kf6 54. Qf8+ Kg5 55. Be6 Kg6 56. Qe7 Kh6 57. Qf6+ Kh5 58. Qg7 Kh4 59. Qg4#

A rather complicated example can be found in the next diagram taken from the game Sokolsky – Ravinsky. This example has been discussed by Tim Krabbé in his article about Practical Underpromotion.

In this article he describes 47 examples of underpromotion in actual games. In the diagram on the left 66.a8=B is winning and it is White’s only winning move. The alternative moves are discussed in Tim Krabbé’s article

Another interesting position that can be found in a number of actual games is the position given in the following diagram.

49.Rc8+ Rxc8 50.b7+ Ka7 will result in a position that should be familiar by now. In this case 49.a7 is also winning 49…Kb7 50.Rc7+ Ka8 51.Ka6 1-0

The Lasker Trap is the next lesson in this series of chess lessons.

The Elephant Trap is a famous trap in the Queen’s Gambit Declined. I am not sure why it is called the Elephant Trap, but the name reminds me to an oil painting of Eddie William Powell. The picture above shows a part of this painting. More information about this and other paintings of this artist can be found at this website.


Another interesting trap is the Lasker Trap, but for now we continue with explaining some of the more difficult Chess Notation Symbols.

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In general connected pawns are stronger than separated pawns, but there are some exceptions. An opposing King cannot stop the promotion of two pawns when they are separated by one or more files once they have reached the 6th rank, while he is able to stop the connected pawns.

In the next diagram White will be unable to prevent the promotion of one of the pawns and Black will win the game.

 

A King is also unable to stop the promotion of two pawns when they are separated by two or more squares once they have reached the fifth rank. And the same is true when they are separated by three or more files once they have reached the fourth rank (unless one of them is captured on the next move).

 

This is in fact the square rule for two pawns which follows the square rule of the pawn. We’ll continue with eight tactical exercises.

Original 2 Responses to “A square rule for separated pawns”

1. 
   jawad
   July 1st, 2010 at 3:35 pm
   Thank you for putting up this beautiful website. This particular lesson frustrated me a bit. The title is confusing since things are not explained in terms of square rules.
   It should probably be stated that the white king in this example must be inside the overlapping promotion squares of the two pawns.
   There are other hidden assumptions too. The pawns must be level. The king is on the 8th rank in all examples. Does it need to be for these examples to work?
   Another hidden assumption is that black wins only if it is white’s move, or that white is forced to move the king but black is not forced to move its pawns. The hardest part for me is imagining how the white king can prevent any separated pawns from promoting regardless of what rank they are on. It seems if white captures on pawn, the other has already escaped towards promotion.
2. 
   Chess Teacher
   July 1st, 2010 at 6:46 pm
   Regarding your last “question”
   If White captures a pawn he can still capture the other pawn if he is able to place his King inside the square as you have seen in the lesson about the square rule.
   During a normal (non internet) lesson it is rather easy to indicate the squares, but I think that you are right that it is not so easy to see them in the lesson above.

Picture taken by Thomas Helbig (teliko82) on Flickr
Some rights reserved.

In a smothered mate the mated king is unable to move because he is surrounded (or smothered) by his own pieces. Therefor a smothered mate can only be delivered by a knight. We have seen an example of a smothered mate before in the lesson about the Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

This lesson deals with the most common form of smothered mate as shown by the diagram on the left side. The knight delivers mate to the king which is prevented from escaping the check by the rook and the pawns. As an illustrative example the game Jan Timman – Nigel Short at the 1990 Tilburg tournament is given.

Try to learn these last moves very well.

Next lesson a square rule for separated pawns will be presented.

In the previous lessons we have discussed some pawn endgames and have introduced chess concepts like the King on the sixt rank and key squares. Another very useful concept is the opposition.
We can distinguish the vertical and the horizontal opposition.
The vertical opposition occurs when two kings face each other on a file with only one square in between. This is the normal opposition and we have seen something from this opposition in the lesson about the King on the sixth rank.
The horizonal opposition occurs when two kings are on the same rank with only one square in between. This is something we have seen before in the lesson about the rook pawn.

In addition to this vertical and horizontal oppsition we also have a diagonal opposition, a distant opposition and a virtual opposition. Concepts like key squares and opposition are strongly related. Having the opposition enables you to occupy a key square.

		Distant opposition In the distant opposition both kings are on the same file, rank or diagonal, but there is an odd number of squares (3 or 5) in between. The diagram on the left gives an overview of the vertical distant opposition. Kings in distant opposition will often maneuver to a more simple position of direct opposition.
		Virtual opposition In the virtual opposition both Kings are on the same coloured square which are two of the corners of a rectangle with corners of the same colour. The diagram on the left gives an example. The two corners of the rectangle that are not occupied by the kings are indicated by an x. White has the (virtual) opposition. The virtual opposition is in fact the most generic concept. If the rectangle becomes a square it is called the diagonal opposition. If the rectangle transforms into a line we have the vertical or horizontal distant opposition and if there is only one square between the two kings we have the normal opposition.

In the next lesson we will use the knowledge of the different forms of opposition in a discussion about the endgame in one of the Staunton-Williams games (London 1851).

Maybe you want to have a look at the Mate in One puzzles?

It will be impossible to win all games and sometimes you will be pleased to get a draw out of a game. In chess a draw can sometimes be forced from seemingly hopeless positions.
A rather easy example is given in the following diagram.

It is White’s turn to move. I won’t give the right move here, but you are invited to add the solution to the comments.

We have seen other examples in our lessons in our example game about the opposition and in the lesson about the end of the game.

In the diagram below Black threatens checkmate by both 1…Qxf2# as well as 1…Re1#, but White can still get a draw.

First try to solve this exercise by yourself. The solution can be made visible by selecting the hidden text between the square brackets. [ 1.Rxb6+ axb6 2.Qxb6+ Ka8 and now White gets a draw by the infinite check 3.Qa6+ Kb8 4.Qb6+ Ka8 5.Qa6+ Kb8 ]

The next example is rather difficult and the hidden text between the square brackets only contains some clues. Are you able to solve this one? Please note that it is Black’s turn to move.

Clue 1: [ The first clue is Stalemate ] Clue 2: [ The second clue is that two black-squared Bishops are insufficient for White to win the game. ]

Next lesson will be used to present mate in three exercises.

---

Original 6 Responses to “Getting a draw”

1. 
   Paulinho
   September 3rd, 2007 at 3:04 am
   Rook -> c1-c6
2. 
   Chess Teacher
   September 3rd, 2007 at 3:41 pm
   @Paulinho
   Indeed, this is the right solution for the first diagram.
   Have you also found the solution for the rather difficult last diagram?
3. 
   Stroevey
   September 6th, 2007 at 9:25 am
   Diagram 2:
   1. Rxb3+ axb3 2. Qxb3 with perpetual check?
4. 
   Stroevey
   September 6th, 2007 at 9:26 am
   Oh sorry didn’t see there was a solution..apologies
5. 
   Stroevey
   September 6th, 2007 at 9:28 am e
   Diagram 3: Ka6
6. 
   Chess Teacher
   September 6th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
   @Stroevey
   1…Ka6 is indeed the right move for diagram 3, but what to do after 2.b8P+

Learning a chess opening has to include that you know what to do if someone isn’t playing the right moves. Opening traps and miniatures are very illustrative and help us to increase our knowledge about an opening.
As a follow-up on the lesson about the Scotch game this post will show a combination of some miniatures of this Scotch game. These games are often called traps, but a trap is in fact a game that is won as a result of playing a dubieus move. In the following miniatures Black makes a mistake and White knows how to deal with this.

The main game is a game between Magem and Fernandez in the Spain championship, but I have merged three other miniatures with this game.
Some nice miniatures worth replaying.

The next lesson is about getting a draw.

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Original 6 Responses to “Some very short Scotch games”

1. 
   Rook Van Winkle
   August 23rd, 2007 at 3:13 pm
   When I first started playing chess (at the age of 9 or 10) the Scotch Game was one of my favorite openings – not for any practical reason really, but be because of the name ‘Scotch’ – although a native born American I am of mostly Scottish decent. Not necessarily a great reason for picking a favorite opening – but, hey, you have to start somewhere. 
   It makes me wonder if Edwin "dutchdefence" Meyer, who is Dutch (and BTW has a superb blog at http://dutchdefence.wordpress.com) has picked the Dutch Defence as his favorite opening?
   Visit the Rook Van Winkle Chess Blog – “A chess blog of general interest for beginning and novice chess players on the benefits of playing and enjoying the game of chess, with a special focus on middle-aged (and older) players.”
2. 
   Tom Chivers
   August 28th, 2007 at 11:26 am
   Aren’t there some traps for white to fall into?!
   Having to face the Scotch was one of the reasons I gave up 1…e5.
3. 
   Chess Teacher
   August 28th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
   Of course there are traps for white to fall into.
   Take for example the game between Vasily Panasenko and Dmitry Shulzhenko (Kiev, 2005):
   1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.b3 Qf6 7.c3 Qxf2# 0-1
   OK, it is a kind of blunder, but the mate shows one of the possibilities for Black.
   Black can even better immediately play 5…Qf6 and if White defends by 6.Qd2 Black’s best move is 6…dxc6
   This is a position in which most threaths are targeted at the White side.
4. 
   mistermac
   September 22nd, 2007 at 6:22 am
   Very interesting article on the Scotch. Thank you.
5. 
   Scotch enprise
   September 22nd, 2007 at 8:50 pm
   I do not see why 6.Nd4 is 1-0 !?
   Please explain this-thanks
6. 
   Chess Teacher
   September 23rd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
   @ Scotch enprise
   After 5.Nxc6 Black plays the move 5…Qh4, probably because of 6…Qxf2#.
   But White’s response to this move is 6.Nd4 which deals with this mate threath and brings the Knight to a safe place. Now White is a piece ahead and Black has no compensation whatsoever. Depending on White’s playing strength this should be enough for White to win the game.

Based on some of the reactions on the three chess lessons about the mating with Bishop and Knight I decided to add an extra lesson about this mate.

The KBN-K endgame will take three steps:

• Driving the King to the edge
• Driving the King into the right corner
• The actual mating

I will try to make it somewhat easier to remember the moves by adding more diagrams in order to clarify a specific position. I will not use the on-line game viewer to replay the moves and only focus on the part about driving the King to the right corner.

About this save corner: it is important to know that the King has to be check mated by the Bishop. Therefor you need to drive the opponent’s King into the corner that is the same coloured square as the Bishop.
If the King escapes to his safe corner then, moving the Knight like a “W” (c7-d5-e7-f5-g7) may be something to remember, the Bishop does not allow Black’s escape to the safe corner and the white King steps towards the winning corner on the 6th rank.

I’ll start with the same position as in the previous driving the King to the right corner lesson.

		It is rather easy to drive the King away from this wrong corner, but therefor we have to place the Bishop on a7 and then he is also almost able to escape to the center if he runs to c8, d8, e8, f7 and f6. 1.Nb5 Kc8 2.Kc6 Kb8 3.Nc7 Ka7 4.Be3+ Kb8 5.Bc5
		This is a very important placement of the white pieces. In addition to the previous lesson I have indicated some of the relevant squares that are taken away from the black King. You can see clearly that the King is captured in a kind of prison. 5…Kc8 6.Ba7 Kd8 7.Nd5 Ke8 8.Kd6 Kf7 9.Ne7
		The white King seems to escape. We’ll have to allow the King to come forward two squares. This seems to be the most tricky part of the mate. But let’s have a look at the diagram and we can probably predict both Black’s as well as White’s next move. 9…Kf6 10.Be3
		A new prison has been build. Now we will take away the sixt rank. 10…Kf7 11.Bg5
		Black will try to escape to the safe corner. From White’s point of view: The prison looks rather nice, but if the Knight was placed on h4 or f4, it would be even better. (The Knight only has to take care of g6.) 11…Ke8 12.Nf5
		By moving the Knight away the Bishop takes care of d8 and now the Knight has to take care of g6 again. 12…Kf7 13.Nh4
		This looks nice (for White). The King will be able to approach. 13…Ke8 14.Ke6 Kf8 15.Nf5 Ke8 16.Ng7+ Kf8 17.Kf6 Kg8 18.Ne6 Kh7 19.Kf7 Kh8 20.Bf4 Kh7 21.Nf8+ Kh8 22.Be5# 1-0

Now that you know how to look at the squares that are and have to be taken away, you may want to look at the original lessons again.

The next lesson will show some very short Scotch games.

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Original 5 Responses to “KBN-K revisited”

1. 
   Blue Devil Knight
   September 10th, 2007 at 5:22 am
   An excellent exposition I wish I had a year ago when I learned this mate!
   (Though I have to say I wish I had used that time differently. I know they say that this is useful for learning piece coordination even if it never comes up in practice, but I think there are equally good (for coordination) but more practical positions to focus on, such as mating with two bishops, or even a single rook).
2. 
   David K, Seattle
   September 10th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
   good to see you around. i am adding you to my toolbar now, and can thereby check in again along the way, to see how you are doing…
   thank you also for stopping by. the pictures, yes, i accumulate them or select them for indeterminate future use, as distinct from writing posts then having to go find them on the spot, if you will. when my writing is done, i go to my library and simply select or hunt through them for an image to suitable feeling.
   of course, im highly trained in a visual field from long ago in many modalities… which cannot hurt… but, without good readers such as yourself, there is diminished motivation to do so.
   warm regards, david in seattle
3. 
   Josh Specht
   September 23rd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
   Hello,
   I thought you might be interested in a video I made a while ago that explains how to checkmate with bishop and knight vs. the lone king.
   Here’s the video: http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/about802.html
4. 
   Chess Teacher
   September 28th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
   @ Josh Specht
   I like the video. The ability to talk while pointing at the squares makes it probably easier to communicate some of the main ideas of this mate.
   On the other hand I think that the diagrams in my own post make it easier to remember.
   Probably a combination of both lessons is best.
5. 
   Chess Teacher
   October 5th, 2008 at 9:31 am
   Another method is known as the method of Deletang or Deletang’s triangles and Majnu Michaud has made a nice chess video lesson about this method.