The Q's and R's of chess
Chess is more than a game; it is a process. This process of learning goes on throughout the career of chess players. From learning the rules to understanding the dynamics of different strategies, professional chess players continue to explore the depths
that the game has to offer. However, even the grandmasters have to start at the beginning. To establish a sound understanding of the various chess concepts, it is integral to lay a sound foundation first. We have taken it upon ourselves to lay down this foundation
for you by explaining the most commonly used chess terminologies.
We will be dealing with chess terms that begin with the letters Q and R in this article.
The first Q term that you should know about is a Q. The alphabet is used denote the queen in chess. Whenever chess moves are recorded in English, the symbol Q is used for the queen. There are various Q abbreviations related with the queen as well. QGA stands
for Queen’s Gambit Accepted chess opening. When this opening is not accepted by the opponent, it is called the Queen’s Gambit Declined chess opening. The abbreviation for this is QGD. There is another opening which is known as the QID. QID stands for the Queen’s
Indian Defence.
Moving on from the openings, we will now describe the pieces, but these too are related with the queen. The Queen Bishop is the one that is placed on the queen’s left side at the start of the game. The Queen Knight and Queen Rook are also placed on the same
side. The pawn that is placed right in front of the queen is called the Queen Pawn. The side on the left of where the queen is placed at the start of the game is called the Queenside. The last queen related term that we will be throwing your way is called
the Queening. This happens when a pawn has advanced to the eighth rank and is promoted to become a queen. When the player chooses to transform the pawn into a piece other than the queen, it is called underpromotion.
These are all the Q’s that you should know about as a beginner. We will now introduce you to the R’s of chess, the first of which is Romantic chess. This is the name given to the type of chess that was played in the 19th century. Taking character
from its name, this style of chess involved daring attacks and sacrifices. Another form of chess is called Rapid chess. As the name suggests, this type of chess involves fast play from both the players. Usually, each player only has 30 minutes for the entire
match.
Chess offers players an option to accept defeat in the game, if the situation is inevitably leading to checkmate. When a chess player chooses to accept defeat, they resign from the game. A move made by the opponent, which can cause the other player to consider
resigning, is the Royal fork. A fork is created when the knight is targeting two of the enemy pieces. It becomes royal when these two pieces are the king and the queen.
Another R move is known as the Relative Pin. A piece is pinned to a square, when moving it would result in the loss of another piece, which the pinned piece is shielding. If the piece being shielded is not the king, then it is called the Relative pin, because
in this case the pinned piece can be legally moved.
With that, we come to the end of our article. By now you should be able to have a better understanding of what chess is all about.
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