Chess problems starting with the letter M onward
Chess is an adventure of the mind. If you have just begun this adventure, you are going to have the thrill of a lifetime. The many twists and turns in this black and white jungle might scare you at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will smile at
every bump in the road.
However, to develop this confidence, you need to grasp the underlying concepts in chess. Once a player has mastered the basics, they would effectively be able to handle chess problems in practical situations.
As Garry Kasparov put it, “Ultimately, what separates a winner from a loser at the grandmaster level is the willingness to do the unthinkable. A brilliant strategy is certainly a matter of intelligence, but intelligence without audaciousness is not enough.
Given the opportunity, I must have the guts to explode the game, to upend my opponent's thinking and, in so doing, unnerve him.”
In order to take your game to the grandmaster level, you need to get accustomed to some of the basic chess problems and learn how to deal with them effectively. In this article, we have outlined for you those chess related problems that you will generally
come across.
We will be starting with problems that begin with the letter M.
In chess problems that involve the mate, there is one known as the Model mate. This type of mate involves an attack on the black king by all the white pieces. Usually, the white king and pawns are not involved in this mating attack. Similarly, another mate
related problem is termed as the More-mover. In this situation, the mating of the black king is inevitable in a certain number of moves, as long they are not less than three. This sort of checkmate is also known as directmate.
The letter N brings us to an interesting problem term in chess. The term Novotny is used to describe a situation where white has offered its piece for a sacrifice. In turn, two different black pieces can make the capture. However, any black piece making
the capture of the white piece being sacrificed will consequently come in the way of the other black piece, and thus cause interference. Another name given to this problem is known as Plachutta.
Pickaninny is a chess problem whose solution involves the pawn standing at its initial position to move in any four possible ways allowed to it. These are to move one square ahead, two squares ahead, make a capture on its left or make a capture on its right.
A self explanatory term is a Round trip. This involves a piece leaving its square and then coming back to it later on through a series of moves that make a circle. In contrast to a Round trip solution, we have a Switchback as well. In this scenario, instead
of taking a circular path, the piece moves directly back to its original square.
An interesting Latin terminology used to describe a chess problem is called the Solus rex. The English translation for this term is the ‘lone king’. Therefore, when either the white player or the black players have only their kings left, it is called Solus
rex.
As Edmar Mednis put it, “Your practical results will improve when you play what you know, like and have confidence in.” This is exactly what we aim to make you achieve through this article. Now having understood the terms, play some chess to see how you
fare practically.
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