Algebraic Notation

In chess one can record moves using symbols. There are symbols for different things in chess.

For example : square names, pieces, analyzing symbols, etc.

Square names- The horizontal rows are called ranks and the vertical ones are called files.

The ranks are given the numbers from 1-8 and the files are given the alphabets a-h. So to note down a name of a square Note down the rank no. and file name.
For example : Rank number = 6, File name = f
Then the square name is f6. Note that the letter in the name of the square is written in lower caps. This rule must be followed.
The symbol for the pieces is written in capitals.
King-K
Queen-Q
Rook-R
Knight-N
Bishop-B
Pawn-(the square should alone be given).

Special Moves :Castling

Castling as I said before consists of rook and king. In this the rook and the king more or less swap places. The king moves 2 squares away from its initial position and the rook moves next to it (king) on the other side. However there are some requirements for this special move to be played.

Castling is permissible only if all of the following conditions hold:

1. The king has not moved (prior to castling);
2. The chosen rook has not moved (prior to castling);
3. There must be no pieces between the king and the chosen rook;
4. The king is not in check.
5. The king must not pass through a square that is under attack by enemy pieces.
6. The king must not end up in check (true of any legal move).
7. The king and the chosen rook must be on the same rank.

Special Moves :Pawn Promotion

Pawn promotion is a simple and important part in chess. As the name suggests, a player can promote the pawn into any other piece (queen, bishop, knight or rook) upon the condition that the promoting pawn reaches the last rank or the last row. A player may already have one queen but, he can have more than one queen.The same applies for all the other pieces other than the king. A pawn cannot be promoted into a king.

Special Moves : En Passant

There are three special moves. They are pawn promotion, en passant, castling.

Pawn promotion and en passant are special moves of pawns whereas castling consists of the king and the rook.

En passant : This is a capturing move. In this if a pawn moves two squares forward the hostile pawn which is just next to pawn (after it is moved) can capture it. The pawn should be kept on the square in front of the initial position. You will understand better with the picture.

Anand - Topalov

The following results are of the World Chess Championship at Sofia in Bulgaria between Anand and Topalov:

• First game : Topalov wins after a 30 moves
• Second game :Anand wins after 43 moves
• Third game : DRAW
• Fourth game : Anand wins after 32 moves
• Fifth game : DRAW
• Sixth game : DRAW
• Seventh game : DRAW
• Eighth game : Topalov wins
• Ninth game : DRAW
• Tenth game : DRAW
• Eleventh game : DRAW
• Twelfth game : Anand wins in 56 moves and retains his title as World Chess Champion

The following series can be watched live on http://anand-topalov.com/.

Check and Checkmate

Check: When a hostile piece(queen, knight, rook, bishop) or pawn attacks the king. There are 3 ways of defending the checks i.e by capturing(killing) the hostile piece, by moving the king away or by bringing a piece in between the hostile piece and the game.

Checkmate: When the king cannot escape from check in any of the ways. This is the end of the game.

Chess game

Each chess set consists of a board with 64 squares (32 white 32 black), 32 chessmen (16 white(8 Pawns, 2 Rooks, 1 King, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, 1 Queen) 16 black(8 Pawns, 2 Rooks, 1 King, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, 1 Queen)).

The aim of the game is to move your chessmen (white or black) across the board to checkmate the opponent king.

Introduction

Hey Guys !! We are Rohit and Ashrit and we love to play chess, here are some of our experiences. We created this blog to encourage people to play chess. We are from Bengaluru (Bangalore) ,India. Actually, chess originated in India. It is called Chaturanga in the southern parts of India and Shatranj in norhthern parts. If you people have any doubts, questions or suggestions , you are welcome to send it to us at chessfundas@gmail.com .