Exeter Chess Club: An ABC of Chess
Here's a mental toolkit for the improving chess player.I think that for each of these elements there are different levels of understanding e.g. bad Bishop
1) I've heard of it!
2) I know what it is and could explain it to a junior.
3) I understand enough to make use of the idea in a game.
4) I never fail to notice the feature in a game, and rarely (if ever) make a bad choice of plan based on it.
I suspect we're all OK at (1) but aren't all at (4) yet. (3) is a fair goal.
Please see also: Opening guidelines, Middle game guidelines, and Endgame guidelines.
Contents
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KLM of chess tactics
- K - knight forks
- L - last rank
- M - mating pattern
- N - network nobbled (Nterference)
- O - overloading
- P - pins
- Q - queening
- R - retreat
- S - sacrifice at castle gates
- T - two for the price of one
- U - undermining (removing the guard)
- U2 - unmasking (discovery)
- V - vulnerable f7
- W - weakening King's-side
- X - X-ray (skewer)
- Y - your move! (defensive play)
- Z - Zwischenzug
- ABC of chess strategy
KLM of chess tactics
K - knight forks
"He jumps so terribly" - Dick van Geet's tiny sonL - last rank
"Feet of clay..."M - mating pattern
"The game is won by the player who has checkmated his opponent's king." - FIDE rulesN - network nobbled (Nterference)
"Parting is such sweet sorrow" - ShakespeareO - overloading
"The straw that broke the camel's back" - ProverbialP - pins
"The pin is mightier than the sword" - ReinfeldQ - queening
"Every Pawn is a potential Queen" - MasonR - retreat
"What is immobile must suffer violence" - LaskerS - sacrifice at castle gates
"Examine moves that smite!" - Purdy1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Nf3 exf4 ? 5.d4 Bb4 6.Bxf4 d5 7.e5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3
Be6 9.Bd3 h6 10.0-0 Nge7 11.Rb1 b6 12.Qd2 0-0 DIAGRAM13.Bxh6! gxh6 14.Qxh6 Ng6 15.Ng5 Re8 16.Rxf7 Bxf7 17.Qh7+ Kf8 18.Qxf7# 1-0T - two for the price of one
"All combinations are based on a double attack" - FineU - undermining (removing the guard)
"For the want of a horse a rider was lost..." - Franklin.U2 - unmasking (discovery)
"Behind you!"V - vulnerable f7
"The Achilles' Heel of a chess position..."W - weakening King's-side
"Castles built of sand..."X - X-ray (skewer)
"Stap me vitals..."Y - your move! (defensive play)
"A man does not die of threats" - ProverbZ - Zwischenzug
"When you see a good move, stop - there may be a better one" - Lasker
ABC of chess strategy
A - activity
"The most important feature of the position" - SteanB - better pieces - bad bishop bishop vs knight, offside piece, coordination
"Quality, not quantity"White's great Knight and Black's dismal Bishop are the key to this position. 38.g5 h5 39.Rcf1 Kg8 40.g6 f6 41.Re2 Bc6 42.Rfe1 Rd8 43.Kf4 fxe5+ 44.Rxe5 Kf8 45.Nf7 Re8 46.Ng5 Rce7 47.Nh7+ 1-0
C - centre and space
"I'm the King of the castle..."D - development
"The early bird catches the King!"E - exchanges
"Fair exchange is no robbery"F - files, ranks, diagonals (lines)
"Let a Lord once own the happy lines, How the wit brightens!" - Pope
G - good and bad pawns
"Pawns are the soul of chess" - PhilidorH - holes and weak complexes
"Perils of both wind and limb" - ButlerI - initiative, tempo
""Thou shalt not shilly-shally!" - NimzoJ - jumping-off points (outposts)
"Give me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth" - Archimedes
This is a list long enough to get you started comfortably. There are a few other ideas, like "coordination", which you may come to later, and through Nimzovitch we learn about themes like "overprotection" and "prophylaxis".