Game of Chess explained – Chess basics starting with letter ‘I’
The world of chess is a lot more than knowing how the pieces move. For those who want to explore it, it offers venues of knowledge and opens up the mind to strategic thinking and scientific thought.
Mikhail Botvinnik, the Russian grandmaster describes chess in the following words, “Chess, like any creative activity, can exist only through the combined efforts of those who have creative talent, and those who have the ability to organize their creative
work.”
But in order to enter this world, one needs to have the key to the door. And the key to the black and white jungle is a thorough understanding of what chess is all about. This understanding can only be achieved if one masters the terminologies of chess.
In this article, we offer you the ‘I’ key of chess by explaining to you all the important I terminologies.
Let’s start with the basics. As with any other games, there are illegal moves in chess to. An Illegal move is when any player makes a move that is against the rules of chess. Similarly, there is an Illegal position as well. A piece is at an illegal position
is a result of an illegal move. Talking about moves, there is one that is dubbed as the Initiative.
It is the advantage that lies with the player who is making all the attacking moves. Playing aggressively forces the opponent into a defensive position which gives the advantage of the initiative to the attacking player.
There is a position in the endgame that leads to a draw. This happens when both the players have Insufficient material on the chess board. This is characterised by one player having no pawns at all and just a king while the other player does not have enough
pieces to make a checkmate.
Sometimes in attacking situations, Interference happens. This is when a piece comes as a sacrifice between a piece that is being attacked and its defender. A move made to deflect an attack by the opponent’s piece is called Interpose. A piece interposes by
coming in between an opponent’s attacking piece and the piece it is attacking. The interposing piece is usually of less value than the piece it is saving. This is often done when a player wants to protect its king from a check.
A situation in which a pawn is unprotected is called the Isolated pawn. This pawn has no defender because it has advanced far off in its file or is left behind the other pawns. Therefore, it has no pawns on either side of its file. When the pawn of the queen
file is isolated, it is termed as the Isolated Queen Pawn or IQP.
Shifting from the pieces, let’s introduce you to an opening with an ‘I’. This is termed as an Irregular opening. It is an opening made by the white player that which is something out of the ordinary and therefore leads to an unexpected positional development
in the opening game.
Every player that starts playing chess professionally has a wish of becoming the International grand master. This is the highest title that any chess player can receive in the world of professional chess.
These were all the important I terminologies of chess. Hope this adds towards your development as a chess player. We will end this article by leaving you with a quote from an anonymous German expert, “No other master has such a terrific will to win. At the
board he radiates danger, and even the strongest opponents tend to freeze, like rabbits when they smell a panther. Even his weaknesses are dangerous. As white, his opening game is predictable - you can make plans against it - but so strong that your plans
almost never work. In the middle game his precision and invention are fabulous, and in the end game you simply cannot beat him.”
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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