One Move at a Time. Orrin Checkmate Hudson

Fifty Moves Rule – If fifty moves have gone by since the last capture, or since the last time a pawn moved, the game is a draw.

      3 Perpetual Check – If one side can keep checking the other player’s King, forcing him to move back and forth, the game is a draw that will end because of threefold repetition. This is called perpetual check. Often a player will try to force a draw by perpetual check when he or she is in trouble, or knows that winning is impossible.

       Figure 2-24: All White has to do is move his Queen one square to the left to get a checkmate and win. But White’s King is checked by Black’s Knight! The rules say he must get his King out of check, even if he could checkmate Black on the next move.

       Figure 2-25: White gets out of check by moving his King one square to the left. But Black responds by moving her Knight (one, two, turn) to check again!

       Figure 2-26: Look familiar? White moves his King one square to the right to escape check, and Black’s Knight leaps right back to check him again! Once this position repeats three times, the game will end in a draw. This is some crafty playing by Black. She saw that she was only one move away from being checkmated, so she forced a perpetual check!

      4. Agreed Draw – Last but not least is the agreed draw. If both players agree, for whatever reason, to stop playing, the game is a draw. There are many reasons to agree to a draw. There may not be enough pieces left to force a checkmate. Maybe it’s just a boring game. Whatever the reason, the game stops without a winner.

      Ready to Roll

      Congratulations! Now you know the rules of chess. Don’t worry about remembering all of them. And expect to make some mistakes at first. It’s a lot to keep straight. The important thing is to remember just enough so that you can play, and to keep this book nearby if you forget something or become confused. Eventually, when you’ve played enough games, it will all become habit.

      You’ve learned everything you need in order to play casual games against your friends and family. But you’re not going to play very well unless you keep reading! So don’t close the book yet, especially if you’re confused. If you want to play like a pro, there’s a whole lot more to learn.

       Chapter 3

      Put it on Paper

      Many people say that Bobby Fischer is the greatest chess player of the last century. If you want to see how he plays, you don’t need a video, pictures or even diagrams of any kind.

      Just open any of the books that discuss his games and you’ll see his every move right there in front of you.

      That’s because somebody wrote them down.

      A game of chess isn’t like a game of football or basketball, where fans only remember the final score and maybe a few good plays.

      With chess, every single move can be recorded on paper, read and played again later with a simple notation system.

      Records of the Battle

      So how do you “write” or “read” a game of chess?

      Don’t worry. It’s easier than learning the alphabet or memorizing multiplication tables; in fact, it’s no harder than simply learning how the pieces move.

      Think of this: If you want to build a house, you first imagine it in your mind. Then you put it on paper, as a blueprint, and work from that.

      After all, if you build a home based only from a mental image, you might forget something important – like the bathroom! Paper doesn’t forget.

      So take the thoughts, memories and events out of your brain and write them down.

      In the case of chess, this means recording your games so that they will be the blueprint for your future learning and improvement.

      Why Chess Notation is Important

      A Common Language – Whenever a chess game is discussed in writing – whether in books, newspapers or on the Internet – chess notation is used as a simple, universal way of telling the reader which moves the chess pieces are making.

      This is very important, as the author must be able to communicate in a way that’s quick, easy to read and exact.

      The rest of this book is full of chess strategies and tips, written in chess notation. So if you want to understand my words, you’re going to have to learn the language!