4 simple steps to start playing chess without scandals

Chess can be sexy. Anya Taylor-Joy in the hit Netflix show Queen’s Gambit taught me this. Chess can also be evil and stupid. The viral (and unsubstantiated) claim that the 19-year-old chess champion beat the best chess player in the world, Norwegian pro Magnus Carlsen, using smart tech anal beads to help him cheat, as well as the recent controversy involving misogynist grandmasterOh, and a chess robot who broke the child’s bones, taught me this. Chess hasn’t had such a wild year since Marilyn Monroe’s legacy was desecrated just for the first time.

But instead of being carried away by the oddities, you may have been drawn to the chess whirlwind of dark intrigue and espresso. Not one to shy away from the weird, you thought it was time to dive into the game and start jotting things down in notepads the way sexual misogynists do. Oh sure. I can understand the attraction of the mysterious Norwegian. And I can teach you how to start playing chess without scandals.

1. Introduction to the board

In a match, the chessboard is laid out in such a way that both you and your opponent have a lighter square in the lower right corner. Regardless of the actual colors of your board, the player with the light pieces plays “white” and makes the first move. The other player is “black” and answers.

To set up the board, place eight pawns in the second row or “rank”. Then, as in a mirror, place one rook in each corner of the first rank, the knights next to them and the bishops next to the knights. Your queen sits next to the bishop on its corresponding color (the white queen is placed on a white square, the black queen is placed on a black one), and your king sits next to her.

2. Get moving – online or offline

Chess is a formal game of cat and mouse. Your ultimate goal is to capture the opponent’s king and checkmate. But before you kill the king, you need to understand and remember that each of the six types of chess pieces has a certain range and set of moves. A deep familiarity with these limitations will allow you to move with confidence and strategy.

Know this about your army:

• Pawns: can only move forward, but pawns can only be captured by pieces diagonally to and in front of them. Untouched pawns can move two squares forward, but if the moved pawn would land in an enemy pawn’s capture territory, if it only moved one square, it can be captured immediately. in passing, or in passing. Pawns can also be “promoted” if they reach the last square in a column or “file” and are exchanged for a rook, bishop, knight, or queen.
• Rooks: can move to any open space in front of, next to, or behind them. They can also be used to “castle”, a one-time move only applicable to a intact rook and intact king, which are not interfered with by enemy pieces. The king also cannot be attacked or in check. Once these requirements are met, you can castle by coaxing your king two squares to the left or right, towards the rook you will be moving, and then placing that rook next to the king on its opposite side. You will not move two pieces at once outside of this turn.
• Knights: move in the shape of an L, one square up and one square up, always on the square of a different color from which it started (a black knight moving from a white square returns to black, then to white, then back to black, etc.) .) . Only knights can jump over other pieces while moving.
• Bishops: move diagonally to any open square that matches the color of its starting square.
• Queen: the most formidable chess piece can go anywhere as long as it wants, as long as it doesn’t go through another piece.
• King: the shrimp king can move one square in any direction.

The best way to commit many chess rules to your muscle memory is to play them. Lichess, Chess.comas well as Chess24 offer free training matches against computers or matches for beginners depending on skills. If you prefer to train on a physical board, or just wish you had one, you don’t need anything fancy, but weighted sets and materials like vinyl or wood like boxwood and rosewood are durable, comfortable to move, and easy to use. transport. Chess doesn’t have to be expensive either, for example this $25 weighted vinyl board from Chess House tagged helpfully with algebraic notation.

3. Get to know the community

Besides the basic rules outlined here, chess is full of passionate people, innovative gameplay, and plenty of drama worthy of a buttery bag of microwave popcorn. very active r/chess as well as r/beginner chess is a low-stakes way to connect with enthusiasts and get to know chess better.

There are also probably several chess clubs or hangouts in your city. In New York, where I live, beginners can buy boards or play games in Chess Forum in Greenwich Village or sit at a stone chess table in parks like Washington Square, Union or Bryant. Hell, you might even have your own exciting Looking for Bobby Fischer an experience. An exciting orchestral score is not included.

But over time, play in tournaments, some of which take place online or weeklyyou need to purchase a US Chess Federation membership (one year for adults over 24 and under 65). costs 45 dollars). Membership also entitles you to the official US Chess rankings.

4. Maintain a Healthy Gastrointestinal Relationship

Don’t put anything chess-related up your ass. Or don’t tell any Norwegians about it. If you do, they will alert the media and your burgeoning chess career will be squashed like a bug.