Basic Chess Strategy

Question: What are some common chess strategies?

Answer: Below is a list of chess strategies known as Reuben Fine’s “Thirty Rules of Chess”. Chess is a complicated game and there will always be exceptions to any rule. However, it is a good exercise to understand why each item below is generally recognized as good chess strategy and to employ these rules in your own games.

TEN OPENING RULES

1. OPEN with a CENTER PAWN.
2. DEVELOP with threats.
3. KNIGHTS before BISHOPS.
4. DON’T move the same piece twice.
5. Make as FEW PAWN MOVES as possible in the opening.
6. DON’T bring out your QUEEN too early.
7. CASTLE as soon as possible, preferably on the KING SIDE.
8. ALWAYS PLAY TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE CENTER.
9. Try to maintain at least ONE PAWN in the center.
10. DON’T SACRIFICE without a clear and adequate reason.

For a sacrificed pawn you must:
a) GAIN THREE TEMPI,
b) DEFLECT the enemy QUEEN,
c) PREVENT CASTLING,
d) BUILD UP a strong attack.

TEN MIDDLEGAME RULES

1. Have all your moves fit into definite plans.
   Rules of Planing:

a) A plan MUST be suggested by SOME FEATURE IN THE POSITION.
b) A plan MUST be based on SOUND STRATEGIC PRINCIPLES.
c) A plan MUST be FLEXIBLE,
d) CONCRETE, and
e) SHORT.

Evaluating a Position:

1) MATERIAL,
2) PAWN STRUCTURE,
3) PIECE MOBILITY,
4) KING SAFETY,
5) ENEMY THREATS

1. When you are material AHEAD, EXCHANGEas many pieces as possible, especially QUEENS.
2. AVOID serious pawn WEAKNESSES.
3. In CRAMPED POSITIONS free yourself by EXCHANGING.
4. DON’T bring your KING out with your OPPONENT’S QUEEN on the board.
5. All COMBINATIONS are based on DOUBLE ATTACK.
6. If your opponent has ONE or MOREpieces EXPOSED, look for a COMBINATION.
7. IN SUPERIOR POSITIONS, to ATTACKthe ENEMY KING, you must OPEN a file (or less often a diagonal) for your HEAVY PIECES (QUEEN and ROOKS).
8. IN EVEN POSITIONS, CENTRALIZE the action of ALL your PIECES.
9. IN INFERIOR POSITIONS, the best DEFENSE is COUNTER-ATTACK, if possible.

TEN ENDGAMES RULES

1. To win WITHOUT PAWNS, you must be at least a ROOK or TWO MINOR PIECESahead (two knight excepted).
2. The KING must be ACTIVE in the ENDING.
3. PASSED PAWNS must be PUSHED (PPMBP).
4. The EASIEST endings to win are PURE PAWNendings.
5. If you are ONLY ONE PAWN ahead, EXCHANGE PIECES, not pawns.
6. DON’T place your PAWNS on the SAME COLOR SQUARES as your BISHOP.
7. BISHOPS are BETTER than KNIGHTS in all but BLOCKED pawn positions.
8. It is usually worth GIVING UP A PAWN to get a ROOK ON THE SEVENTH RANK.
9. ROOKS belong BEHIND PASSED PAWNS (RBBPP).
10. BLOCKADE PASSED PAWNS with the KING.

Source: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-common-chess-strategies/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=a594e89b&srid=i4Sz

Luck in Chess

Question: What do you think of the saying “There in no luck in chess”?

Answer: It depends on how we define luck and whether we separate the game of chess from its human combatants. If you characterizes luck simply as pure chance then there is no luck in the game of chess, for deep analysis can for each situation in the long run discover a reason why a specific move is superior to another. One may state there is luck among chess players… https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-think-of-the-saying-There-is-no-luck-in-chess/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=48517f56&srid=i4Sz

My Quora Answer to: Which chess player’s games have you found the most instructive?

José Raúl Capablanca‘s chess delivered and still creates an irresistable masterful impact. In his games an inclination towards straightforwardness prevailed, and in his seemingly effortlessness brilliance there was a one of a kind delight of veritable simplicity. Indeed, his style, one of the most perfect, most completely clear in the whole history of chess, still dumbfounds chess engines with his rationale. Perhaps the greatest natural talent in chess history, I find Capablanca’s recorded games, even a century later, nearly sufficient for building a modern curriculum on chess.

https://www.quora.com/Which-chess-players-games-have-you-found-the-most-instructive/answer/Chris-Torres-13?ch=10&share=749cd9dc&srid=i4Sz

Chess teaches inmates a different way of thinking

Chess teaches inmates a different way of thinking
— Read on www.google.com/amp/s/www.inquirer.com/life/jail-inmates-chess-tournament-upside-20191103.html?outputType=amp

“They always compare chess to the game of life,” he said. “If you make good decisions, it’s ultimately going to lead to a good outcome. You make bad decisions, it’s going to lead to bad position, and you’re going to lose the game.”

UCLA football hopes chess will help to checkmate opponents – Los Angeles Times

UCLA football hopes chess will help to checkmate opponents – Los Angeles Times

“Everyone is super physically gifted,” Makowsky told the news service, “but what begins to separate the elite top performers is how they process things, their mind-set, their mentality, how they can recognize patterns, how they can almost see five moves ahead.”

Makowsky, who has worked with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and several Olympians, said what’s important is not the chess but how it applies to the principles of whatever sport the athletes play.

— Read on www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2019-08-19/ucla-football-fondness-chess-against-ncaa-competition?_amp=true

Fremont Summer Chess Camp: Week 3

The Torres Chess and Music Academy is constantly at work making sure the events we offer your children are the very best in California. Below are some images from week 3 of the 2014 Fremont Summer Chess Camp. There is still one more week left in our chess camp at Mission San Jose Elementary School which will feature instruction from International Master Emory Tate and Grandmaster Susan Polgar.

 

Click here to register for week 4!

 

Our camp is filled with a diverse group of students who all love chess.

 

 

Joe Lonsdale is a legendary chess coach who brings decades of teaching experience to our camp daily.

 

 

International Master Emory Tate enjoys teaching as much as his students enjoy learning.

 

 

The Fremont Summer Chess Camp features a USCF rated chess tournament with prizes so that our star students have an opportunity to shine.

 

 

When the kids finish their rated games they are treated to personalized analysis from the best minds in the business.

 

 

Famed chess author Eric Schiller stopped by on Thursday and presented seven of his best chess games to our students.

 

 

After his brilliant performance, Eric graciously handed out our weekly awards and signed autographs.

 

 

Our Fremont Summer Chess camp even had its own book fair.

 

Take a moment to check out my report on weeks 1 and 2.

Fremont Summer Chess Camp: Week 1

 

Fremont Summer Chess Camp: Week 2

Fremont Summer Chess Camp: Week 1

The first week of the Torres Chess and Music Academy’s Fremont Summer Camp was a smashing success. One parent even asked me why our camp was so much better than the other chess classes in the Bay Area. I answered, “The real secret is in enthusiasm. It is the magic we use to transform challenges into accomplishments.”

 

Students learn more when they are having fun.

 

 

 

TCAMA Director of Instruction, James Paquette, teaches his students the secrets to Paul Morphy’s success.

 

 

 

Tans Hylkema taught our youngest campers how to play chess and notate their moves.

 

 

 

Students at the Fremont Summer Chess Camp were constantly challenged.

 

 

 

Joe Lonsdale has been overlooking chess games at MSJE for nearly thirty years!

 

 

 

Francisco Anchondo teaches his students how to turn chess advantages into stunning combinations.

 

 

 

Our campers learn first hand why International Master Emory Tate is a chess teacher of the highest quality.

 

 

 

After just one week, our youngest players understand the most important endgame positions.

 

 

 

Every game played at our camp is turned into a custom lesson for the children who played it.

 

 

 

All of our hard work pays off during the next school year.

 

 

How important are chess ratings for children?

A chess rating is just a number used in chess to estimate the strength of a player based on his/her past performance. For years, I have been advising chess coaches, parents and kids to avoid becoming preoccupied with ratings as doing so creates unnecessary problems for children. Some common problems I see regularly from over emphasizing chess ratings are: 

1) Avoidance of tournaments for fear of losing rating points

2) Avoidance of tournaments out of embarrassment from having a low rating

3) Being overly confident because his/her rating is higher than his/her opponent’s

4) Playing in a self-defeating mindset because his/her rating is much lower than his/her opponent’s

5) Dropping out of chess because of too much pressure to maintain a high rating.

 

So it was a real pleasure when I read a recent blog post by Susan Polgar where she offered her wisdom on chess ratings for scholastic players:

Q: How important are chess ratings for children?

A: My answer may be unpopular but ratings are not very relevant at an early age. The problem is that many parents are so concerned about the ratings their children become too timid to play “proper” chess in order to improve. They are so afraid of losing that they play not to lose instead of playing to win and this can seriously hinder the development of their children.

While in the short term ratings can satisfy one’s ego, it is better to look at the long term outcome.

Source: http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2014/05/some-important-questions-about-chess.html

 

I will be teaching with Susan this summer at the MSJE Fremont Summer Chess Camp.

 

Sign up today!

 

The Tenth Rank

The Top Ten Chess (CC) Players in the United States for May 2014.

Source: United States Chess Federation

1	Menke, John R	IL	USA	2489
2	Buss, Michael	IN	USA	2430
3	Brandhorst, Wesley	FL	USA	2416
4	Ingersol, Harry Walter	IA	USA	2415
5	Tracz, James G	OH	USA	2405
6	Tseng, Wilbur	IL	USA	2403
7	Kain, Anthony James	SC	USA	2398
8	Mcgregor, Stephen Dean	TX	USA	2391
9	Sogin, David Warren	KY	USA	2386
10	Torres, Chris	CA	USA	2375

 

Of course it was never about rank or rating but rather the happiness and enjoyment that I derive from playing chess at a high level. Still, it is nice to be ranked in the top 10… Although, I still have work to do as there is no tenth rank in chess.

 

 

Oops She Did It Again!

Susan Polgar continues to shatter the glass ceiling by coaching her fourth straight Division I Men’s Team to a National Chess Championship!

 

To most fans of college athletics, a coach fails unless he/she wins it all every time. To Susan Polgar, the head coach of Webster University’s Chess Team, success and failure are connected like cause and effect. Still, her unique philosophy on coaching chess has allowed her to set a record that even the harshest college sports fans couldn’t diminish. After her team from Webster University took first place at this year’s Final Four of Chess, Susan has coached four consecutive National Championship teams in a streak that spans two different universities.

Susan’s chess career began at an early age under her father, Laszlo’s guidance.

 

Susan’s chess career began at an early age under her father, Laszlo’s guidance. At age 4, Susan Polgar won her first chess tournament, the Budapest Girls’ Under-11 Championship, with a 10–0 score. Despite restrictions placed on her international tournament play by a communist regime, Susan became the top rated female chess player in world by the age of 15. Later, in 1991, Susan became the first woman ever to be awarded the GrandMaster(non-gender biased) title by FIDE. An eventual world champion in blitz, rapid and classical chess, Susan single handedly forced FIDE(World Chess Organization) to allow women to achieve the same titles and play in the same competitions as men. Susan’s role as an empowering female leader did not stop when she retired from playing competitive chess.

As a coach, Susan has shattered the glass ceiling as well. Her college chess coaching career began in 2007 as the head coach of Texas Tech University’s chess team. By 2010 she had raised their team to division I status and a third place finish in the Final Four. The following year, Susan’s team, despite being the lowest rated, finished in First Place. This victory made Susan Polgar the first woman in NCAA history to coach a men’s division I team to a national championship. After winning this year’s NCAA Final Four for Chess with her team from Webster University, Susan Polgar has now coached four consecutive National Championship teams at the division I college level.

Susan Polgar incredible talent and drive have made her one of the most sited examples of chess success and women’s achievements in intellectual pursuits during the last 100 years. I am excited to have Susan Polgar join the Torres Chess and Music Academy for our Fremont Summer Chess Camp and look forward to allowing my own daughters to gain from her inspirational character.  Your daughters and sons can too!

 

To book your child for our Summer Chess Camp featuring Susan Polgar please visit: http://chessandmusic.com/onlineregistration/

 

 

For more information on Susan Polgar please visit these fine sites:

http://www.susanpolgar.com/

 

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/

 

http://www.webster.edu/spice/

 

 

“Win with grace, lose with dignity.”-Susan Polgar