Month: September 2017

Voted Best Christmas Toys & Festive Fun Board Games 2009

chessThe first moves of a chess game are collectively known as the opening. Chess openings vary widely in character, from quiet positional play to wild tactical play.

King: Moves only one square at a time, but in any direction. It’s the most important piece on a chess board. If/when captured, the game is over. The king’s special move is called castling; it is the only time two pieces can move at once (king and rook).

So the opening and middle games are important to ensure you get at least some fighting chance in the end game, if you are able to get there. Anand, world champion since 2007, won the junior title in 1989 and became India’s first Grand Master at the age of 16. A few players still prefer descriptive notation, but it is no longer recognized by FIDE.

If you have played even only 1 game of chess … Read More

A Boon For Chess Players

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Add variety to your homeschool by buying both cooperative and competitive games. Cooperative games, like puzzles, encourage family members to work as a team to meet a specific goal. Competitive games have a winner and losers. These games help children learn to persevere when they are behind and have fun even if they don’t get the outcome they desire.

Carlsen might contemplate abandoning the Reti / English systems he has tried twice and go for Plan B in Game 5 when he gets his next white. Anand is obviously comfortable with this complex opening and the middle-games that arise from it. Had I seen this in someone’s home, I’d expect they paid at least $50-$100 for peices are a bit small, but the style is very elegant and the case is good quality. Devangshu … Read More

Chess Notes By Edward Winter

Barbie doll has a new boyfriend called Fred, yet another waxed model to replace Ken who she dumped. Good one and I gotta give it to these toy companies, but you can’t fool me, its Ken with his hair dyed. And it wouldn’t surprise me in the coming weeks leading up to Christmas if retirement is on the cards for Thomas the tank engine. Tommy ain’t going anywhere he’ll be under a new name and with a different color engine. What I’m getting at is what you believe to be new, is just old hat.

Today players of every age compete in tournaments held by small local chess clubs, as well as in nationally and internationally sponsored events. The World Chess Federation (FIDE), founded in Paris in 1924, presides over the prestigious world champion awards that generate global media attention. But human players need to watch their moves because the … Read More

Chess Pieces

Linear Planning is the last of our important strategy skills that can be learned playing games. We may have dreams that seem unattainable, such as strong family relationships or financial security. Linear Planning can help by reducing a complex goal into a series of much smaller and more manageable steps. Tower of Hanoi Card Game is a two player game based on the puzzle of the same name, where nine cards are randomly dealt into three piles. The cards must be rearranged into order according to some simple rules. At first view it seems impossible to work out the game, until you use logic to consider the consequences of a move and break it down into smaller pieces. Instead of tackling the entire set of cards, try working with only two cards and get them into the right order. Using this approach my eleven year old son can now solve … Read More

Chess Pieces And Their Roles In The Game

There are a number of different ways to claim a checkmate for yourself in the game of Chess. Depending on the strength of your opponent, these checkmates may be easier to come by than with others. Usually, when playing against someone of your comparable strength, the game will usually last for a period of time, as you think on the same wavelengths and will counterbalance each other out well. However, sometimes you will get paired with someone either stronger or weaker than you and the weaker player can often be taught a lesson in the mechanics of good tactics and overall game play.

Any man (other than the king) can be captured by being sandwiched between two opponents (ie when two of the opponent’s men occupy adjacent squares in a straight line with it). Some variants of the game allow pieces to move into squares between opposing men without being … Read More