Board Games Articles

Article / Updated 08-04-2022

The Queen’s Gambit is more than the name of the latest Netflix mega-hit. It’s one of the oldest and best openings in the game of chess and the one Beth, the main character in The Queen's Gambit, uses (spoiler alert!) to defeat Russian grandmaster Vasily Borgov to become the world’s top chess player. In the Queen’s Gambit, whether Black accepts or declines the gambit, White has good chances to secure an advantage in the center. This chess opening appeals to players who like games that require long-term strategic planning. If you enjoy applying subtle pressure until your opponent finally cracks, this opening may be right for you. And as Beth demonstrated, this is one of the best chess openings! A quick look at the Queen’s Gambit The Queen’s Gambit occurs after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 (Check out our article for a quick refresher on chess notation). It isn’t entirely correct to characterize White’s second move as a gambit because Black really can’t hang on to the pawn. If Black does capture the pawn on c4, it’s usually with the intention of allowing White to recapture it later. White tries to gain an advantage in the center by attacking Black’s pawn on d5. If the pawn is removed, the advance e2-e4 is facilitated, giving White a potentially powerful pawn center. Black can decline the gambit in a variety of ways, or simply capture the pawn. If Black captures the pawn, the opening is referred to as the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. If Black doesn’t take the offered pawn and protects the d-pawn with e7-e6, the opening is called the Queen’s Gambit Declined. The Queen’s Gambit Declined can lead to a rich variety of strategically complex variations. Many chess openings can be arrived at via different move orders, which is referred to as transposition. The most likely move order for the Queen’s Gambit is 1.d4 d5 2.c4, for example, but 1.c4 d5 2.d4 amounts to the same thing. The Queen’s Gambit Accepted The Queen’s Gambit Accepted arises following the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4. It isn’t normally recommended for Black to try to hold on to this pawn. The basic idea is to develop rapidly and try to saddle White with an isolated d-pawn by playing …c5 and …cxd4. The isolated d-pawn is an intriguing structure in chess. If it can be blockaded (prevented from advancing), it may turn into a weakness and have to be defended by pieces. Pieces don’t like performing guard duty for pawns! However, if it can advance, it can often break down Black’s defenses and pave the way for a winning attack. Grandmaster games over the years have featured many a delicate dance with an isolated d-pawn. When things go White’s way in the Queen's Gambit White can advance the d-pawn from d4 to d5 and disrupt the coordination of Black’s pieces. It’s surprising to see how rapidly Black’s position can crumble. In a 1995 game in Sweden between Ulf Andersson (as White) and Anatoly Karpov, Black gave White an isolated d-pawn and then tried to prevent its advance. It must’ve been a shock to Karpov when Andersson advanced the pawn anyway. 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 Reaching the Queen’s Gambit Accepted through a transposition of moves. The same position occurs more often by the move order 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6. 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0–0 a6 7.Qe2 cxd4 8.exd4 Now, White has an isolated d-pawn. 8.…Be7 9.Nc3 b5 10.Bb3 0–0 11.Bg5 Bb7 12.Rad1 Nc6 13.Rfe1 Nb4? Black’s move is a serious mistake. Obviously, Black figured he was preventing White from playing 14.d5. 14.d5! This is the thematic break in isolated d-pawn type of formations. When it can be safely played, things usually go White’s way. 14....Nfxd5 15.Nxd5 Bxg5 16.Nxb4 Qe7 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.Bxd5 1–0 White wins a piece, and Black has no compensation for it. It’s amazing that a player of Karpov’s status can lose so quickly. When things go Black’s way in the Queen's Gambit Black can saddle White with an isolated d-pawn and prevent it from advancing from d4 to d5. The pawn becomes weak and gets in the way of White’s pieces. As the endgame approaches, the d-pawn’s weakness grows more and more pronounced. In a game from 1997 played in San Francisco between Guillermo Rey (White) and Alexander Baburin, Black was able to isolate White’s d-pawn and prevent it from advancing. Baburin then attacked it repeatedly, causing White’s pieces to become passive in defense. Eventually, White couldn’t meet Black’s threats, and the d-pawn fell. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Qa4+ Nc6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Nc3 Bxf3 6.exf3 e6 7.Be3 Nf6 8.Bxc4 a6 9.Qd1 Nb4 10.0–0 Be7 11.Rc1 0–0 12.Qe2 c6 13.Rfd1 Nbd5 Black occupies the d5 square with his knight, and White has no way to dislodge it. If White captures on d5, it’s important for Black to recapture with a piece rather than a pawn to maintain the blockade. 14.a3 Nxc3 15.Rxc3 Nd5 The Black knight takes up the blockade by moving in front of the isolated pawn. 16.Rcd3 Bf6 17.g3 Qd7 18.Ba2 Rad8 19.Qc2 Qc7 20.Kg2 Rd7 Black intends to eventually move the rook on f8 to d8. When two rooks are placed on the same file, it’s called doubling them. 21.h4 h5 22.Bb1 When the bishop is placed behind the queen along a diagonal like White did in the preceding move, the two pieces are referred to as a battery. 22.…g6 23.Qd2 Rfd8 Black doubles his rooks on the d-file. 24.Bg5 Bxg5 Although the exchange of bishops leaves Black with some dark-square weaknesses around his king, White has no way to exploit them. 25.Qxg5 Ne7 26.R3d2 Rd5 27.Qe3 Nf5 28.Bxf5 Rxf5 Black captures with the rook to preserve his pawn structure. The rook will head back to the d-file soon enough. 29.b4 Rfd5 30.Qc3 R8d6 31.f4 a5 32.Rb1 Qb6 33.Rbd1 axb4 Black is creating a second weakness in White’s position (the pawn on b4), which he will then attack. White won’t be able to guard both weak pawns. 34.axb4 Rd8 35.Qa3 Rb5 36.Rb1 Rxd4 Finally, the d-pawn falls, and it’s a simple win — at least for a grandmaster! 37.Qa8+ Kg7 38.Rbd1 Rbxb4 39.Qb8 c5 40.Rxd4 Rxd4 41.Ra1 Rd8 42.Qe5+ Kg8 43.Qf6 c4 44.f5 Qd4 0–1 Want to learn more? Check out our Chess Openings Cheat Sheet.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-20-2022

Unless you have amazing powers of visualization (à la Beth Harmon from The Queen's Gambit), chess requires a chess set and a board for you to play on. The chessboard is divided up into sections called ranks and files, and the set is composed of different chessmen with different movements and powers. After you understand all of these topics, you can start playing the great game of chess, with checkmate as your goal.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-01-2022

Backgammon is an exciting, tactical game. This Cheat Sheet gives you some of the essential info you’ll need on your way to becoming a master backgammon player.

Article / Updated 12-10-2021

Alexander Alekhine was single-minded in his pursuit of the world championship, and his drive eventually, in 1927, overcame José Raúl Capablanca's skill. Alekhine's results were never as dominating as those of the players higher on this list, but he still managed an impressive run. From 1921 through 1927, he competed in 15 major tournaments and won eight of them. From 1930 to 1934, he won five strong tournaments but let his weakness for drink get the best of him. He lost the title to Max Euwe in 1935, primarily because of his poor physical condition. Alekhine cleaned up his act and won the return match in 1937 to regain the title, which he kept until his death. However, his last years were sad ones. His play was unrecognizable, and his physical condition continued to deteriorate. Nevertheless, Alekhine belongs among the champions by virtue of his many tournament and match victories. In one of the great tournaments of his youth (he wasn't yet 20), in Carlsbad, Germany, in 1911, Alekhine flashed the kind of inspired combinational play with which he would continue to shock and disorient his opponents. After 14 moves against the Polish-American master Oscar Chajes, Alekhine is white in the position shown here. (Check out Understanding Chess Notation if you need help with reading the moves.) Alekhine's white bishop on c4 is under attack by Chajes's black pawn on b5, a position that would cause most players to look for a retreat square. But most players aren't Alekine! He knows that black's uncastled king can be vulnerable, especially because much of his army is undeveloped. 15. Bxb5Rxb5 Black must capture, or the game is simply lost. So Chajes grabs the bishop and holds on for the ride. 17. Rb1 White pins black's knight to his queen. Now black threatens 18… . Qxf1+!, after which he would come out on top. 18. Qd6f6 Black could have tried 18… . Ne7, with the idea of castling to get the king out of the center. But after 19. Rfd1 Nc8 20.Qxb4 Qxb4 21. Rxb4, Alekhine would have been an Exchange up with a remote passed pawn, winning easily. After Chajes's 18… . f6, 19. Qxb4 would not have been a threat because black would simply have played 19… . Qxb4, and after 20. Rxb4 Bxf1, Chajes would have had the better game. That's not what the fierce Alekhine has in mind! 19. Rfc1Qd3 Black is trying to trade queens, which would ease his defensive burden, but Alekhine is not about to oblige him (see the following figure). 20. Rxb4 White has a better move than capturing black's queen. If white had played 20. Qxd3 and black had responded with … Nxd3, black would have had a tough but defensible game. 20. … g5 21. Rd4Qb5 Black's queen is defending the pawn on d7, but Alekhine has something up his sleeve. 22. a4! Watch how Alekhine chases the black queen away from its protection of d7. 22. … Qb7 23. Rc7Qb1+ 24. Rd1 Black calls it quits. If he had saved his queen, he would have been mated quickly after 25. Qxd7+. 1–0.

Article / Updated 12-07-2021

In 1971, Robert James Fischer (nicknamed Bobby) shocked the chess world by winning 19 consecutive games against an extremely high level of competition. This feat has been compared to throwing back-to-back no-hitters in major league baseball. During his peak playing period, from the mid 1960s into the early '70s, players spoke of "Fischer Fever," where they felt ill just having to play against him. Just as with José Raúl Capablanca, Fischer had an aura of invincibility — which wasn't far from the truth. Fischer was head and shoulders above the best players of his day. His abrupt withdrawal from chess was tragic. Rumors of Fischer sightings were rampant, and the public was often tantalized by stories of his impending reemergence. Unfortunately, Fischer waited more than 20 years before playing in public again. His behavior, always intense, became increasingly odd over the years and prevented him from ever again competing at the highest levels. The position in part a of the following figure occurred in the game Fischer-Bent Larsen at the Portoroz Interzonal Chess Tournament, in Slovenia in 1958. It's white's (Fischer) turn to move. How does white crack black's defense? White plays 22. Rxh5. (Check out Understanding Chess Notation if you need help with reading the moves.) The white rook captures the black knight on h5, which was unusual because of the material sacrifice involved. In the old pre-internet days, good study material from the games of the masters was hard to come by. This game, however, became famous, and to claim that by the 1970s all serious U.S. students of the game were familiar with this type of sacrifice is no exaggeration. The game continues: 22. … gxh5 23. g6e5 24. gxf7+Kf8 25. Be3d5 This is the best try, but it fails to save the game. 26. exd5 White avoids 26. Bxd5 to steer clear of the response 26… Rxc2. 26. … Rxf7 27. d6Rf6 28. Bg5Qb7 29. Bxf6Bxf6 30. d7Rd8 31. Qd6+1-0 If 31… . Be7, 32. Qh6#. If 31… . Kg7, then 32. Rg1+ wins the bishop and will mate. Sacrificing the exchange, as Fischer did in this game, in order to open lines of attack against the enemy king, is now part of every serious player's arsenal of weapons.

Article / Updated 12-07-2021

Mikhail Botvinnik won seven consecutive major tournaments from 1941 to 1948, including the tournament held to determine the champion upon Alexander Alekhine's death. There's little doubt that he would have defeated Alekhine, and it seems certain that he was the best player of the 1940s. Remarkably, Botvinnik was an engineer by profession and didn't dedicate himself to chess the way most of the champions did. He lost his title to Vasily Smyslov in 1957 but won it back in the return match the next year. He then lost to Mikhail Tal in 1960 but again recaptured the title in the return match. The return match clause, stating that the champion has a right to a rematch if defeated, was stricken in 1963 when he lost to Tigran Petrosian, and no one will ever know whether he would have managed to score the hat trick. Despite a fairly tarnished record in championship match play, Botvinnik was clearly the best player in the world for many years. None of his challengers could make that claim. In 1945 a famous radio match took place between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Botvinnik, as black, was paired on the top board against Arnold Denker. The position shown here is reached after white's 22nd move. (Check out Understanding Chess Notation if you need help with reading the moves.) White is hoping to exchange queens and steer the game into an endgame, but Botvinnik has other plans. He plays 22… Rxh2+. (See part b.) The game concludes with these moves: 23. Kxh2 Rh8+ 24. Qh4 The alternatives were also grim. 24. Bh6 would have lost the queen to 24… Qxf4. Notice that the bishop would have been pinned and unable to capture black's queen. Also, the attempted move 24. Nh5 would have failed to 24… . Rxh5+ 25. Kg3 Rxg5+, when it would have been the white queen's turn to be pinned. 24. … Rxh4+ 25. Bxh4 Qf4 0-1 The queen is now attacking both of white's bishops. Because white can only save one of them, Denker resigns.

Article / Updated 12-07-2021

Many commercial chess-playing computer programs (chess players call them engines) are available. Most of them can beat just about anyone. One of the most powerful engines, Stockfish, is free to download. Another championship program, Komodo, offers its latest versions for sale, and its outdated versions (which are still incredibly strong) for free. Keep in mind that chess engines don't work by themselves. They're programs that need to be installed into a a graphical user interface (GUI). ChessBase offers the most popular one for sale. Arena is a free GUI. You can even download Tarrasch Chess, which comes with Stockfish already installed. The chess world is mostly Windows based, but Mac users can have their fun, too. Most engines have a number after their name. This is the version number, with the higher number being the most current version. Don't be discouraged. These programs beat nearly everyone most of the time. Nevertheless, having a program that's stronger than you are has its advantages. These programs share their evaluations with you so you can see where they think you made a mistake. They also suggest improvements in your play, which can be a very useful tool. By studying where you went wrong and considering a program's suggestions, you may learn some valuable lessons that can elevate your future play. Here's a summary of some of the most popular chess engines out there: Fritz is not the world's strongest chess engine, but it is plenty strong enough. Produced by ChessBase, the program should be well maintained for the foreseeable future. It is relatively easy to learn and fairly intuitive to use. Houdini is a state-of-the-art chess engine for Windows. Many of the world's best players have adopted it as their engine of choice. Its name was chosen for its ability to escape seemingly impossible positions. Crafty is a Windows-based chess program written by Robert Hyatt — a retired University of Alabama at Birmingham computer science professor — with continual development and assistance from Michael Byrne, Tracy Riegle, and Peter Skinner. Tord Romstad, the author of Stockfish, has described Crafty as "arguably the most important and influential chess program ever." Crafty has been available free for years on the ICC. Stockfish has been an open source engine available on various desktop and mobile platforms. It was developed by Tord Romstad, Marco Costalba, Joona Kiiski, and Gary Linscott, with many contributions from a community of open-source developers. Stockfish is consistently ranked first or near the top of most chess engine rating lists and has been the strongest open source chess engine in the world. Komodo is a Windows-based engine developed by Don Dailey and Mark Lefler, and supported by chess author, evaluation expert and grandmaster Larry Kaufman. Komodo is a commercial chess engine, but older versions (7 and older) are free for non-commercial use. For Mac: Stockfish (See above.) Shredder is a chess program by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen. It is one of the most powerful engines available to Mac users. Hiarcs is another powerful engine available on multiple platforms, including the Mac. It has been around for a number of years and can be expected to continue to well supported for a number of years to come. As for smartphone and tablet apps, Stockfish, Shredder, and Hiarcs are all available as smartphone apps as well. Chess Base is an amazing, simple-to-use, state-of-the-art resource available from both the Android Play Store and Apple App Store that can give you the frequency and winning percentages of any opening line of play. It also gives you access to millions of master games. It provides an available online computer to analyze in any of these modes.

Article / Updated 12-07-2021

Latvian Mikhail Tal's (1936–1992) health troubles kept him from performing at peak efficiency after 1960. Mikhail Botvinnik once said, "If Tal would learn to program himself properly, he would be impossible to play." Tal won the world championship title from Botvinnik in 1960 but lost the return match. Before this return match, Tal became unwell with kidney trouble but refused to postpone play. He eventually lost one of his kidneys and was never really well afterward. Nevertheless, from 1949 to 1990, Tal played in 55 strong tournaments, winning or sharing 19 first and seven second prizes. He won six Soviet championships, which were some of the strongest tournaments of that time. He also compiled a record of 59 wins, 31 draws, and only two losses in seven Olympiads. Famous for his intimidating stare, Tal joins José Raúl Capablanca and Bobby Fischer as the most feared opponents in history. When playing Tal, players were always afraid of winding up on the losing side of a soon-to-be-famous game. In the position shown here, Tal is white against Hungarian Lajos Portisch in 1965. Portisch, at the time, was one of the world's elite grandmasters and a frequent candidate for the world championship. Sitting in Tal's chair, most masters would have rescued the attacked light-squared bishop by counterattacking at move 16 with c5 and then playing move 17 with Bc4. But the Wizard of Riga has some magic in mind! 16. Rxe6+fxe6 Of course, every other possible move would have been catastrophic. 17. Qxe6+Kf8 You can't blame Portisch for not being fond of his position after 17… . Be7 18. Bg6+ Kd8 (if 18… . hxg6?, 19. Bg5 Qc7 20. Re1) 19. Bf5 Qxd4 20. Bf4 Re8, but it would have kept him in the game. 18. Bf4 Tal threatens 19. Bd6, checkmate. 18. … Rd8 19. c5!Nxd3 If black had saved his queen with 19… . Qa5, then 20. Re1! would have sealed his fate; for example, 20… . Nxd3 21. Bd6+ Rxd6 22. Qe8 mate. 20. cxb6Nxf4 Although black has, in terms of the material point-count, more than enough pieces for the queen, Tal proves that Portisch is lost! 21. Qg4Nd5 22. bxa7Ke7 Although this move looks anti-intuitive, it is one of black's best in a bad position. He connects his rooks and heads for the queenside with his king. 23. b4!Ra8 After 23… . Nxb4 24. Rb1 Rxd4 25. Qg3, Portisch's position would have been pitiful. 24. Re1+Kd6 25. b5!Rxa7 Black is understandably eager to eliminate white's potential queen, but this permits Tal to deliver the coup de grace! 26. Re6+!Kc7 White has one final sacrifice to make in order destroy Black's position (see the figure below). 27. Rxf6!gxf6 The moves 27… . Nxf6 28. Qxg7+ would also have cost black a rook and the game. 28. Qg7+ 1–0 Besides Tal, here are some other honorable mentions: Adolf Anderssen (1818–1879), Germany: Although the title of World Champion wasn't established during his day, Anderssen was arguably the best player of his time and deserves consideration as an honorable mention. Max Euwe (1901–1981), Netherlands: World Champion in 1935. Vasily Smyslov (1921–2010), Russia: World Champion in 1956. Tigran Petrosian (1929–1984), Russia: World Champion from 1963–1969. Boris Spassky (1937–), Russia: World Champion from 1969–1972. Vishwanathan Anand (1969–), India: Undisputed World Champion since 2007. Vladimir Kramnik (1975–), Russia: World Champion from 2000–2007.

Article / Updated 12-07-2021

José Raúl Capablanca was world champion from 1921 to 1927. Many people considered him the strongest player in the world prior to 1921, but he was unable to arrange a match with the then-champion, Emanuel Lasker. When public sentiment became overwhelming in demand of a match, Lasker simply tried to resign his title to Capablanca. This behavior seems to add credence to the view that Capablanca was the better player years before the match finally took place. In fact, beginning in 1914, Capablanca lost only a single game over the next eight years. Capablanca's dominance was so great that he was nicknamed "the chess machine." Even great players felt that he was unbeatable. Capablanca eventually became somewhat bored with chess because it was too easy. For him, it may have been. In the game Capablanca-Benito Villegas from Buenos Aires in 1914, black (Villegas) has just played the move 17… cxd4 to arrive at the position shown here. (Check out Understanding Chess Notation if you need help with reading the moves.) Most players would play the seemingly routine move 18. Bxd4, but Capablanca has a better idea. He plays the following move: 18. Nxd7 If Villegas had played 18… dxe3, capturing white's queen, Capablanca would have continued with 19. Nxf6+ — see the following figure. White would have delivered checkmate after 19… gxf6 20. Rg4+ Kh8 21. Bxf6#, but 19… Kh8 would also have lost to 20. Rh4, with the threat of 21. Rh7#. If black had avoided this threat by playing 20… h6, white would have gained the upper hand by playing 21. Rxh6+ gxh6 22. Nd5+, winning black's queen. The truly great players could all see obvious moves, but they knew to look beyond them.

Article / Updated 12-07-2021

Although Garry Kasparov eventually eclipsed Anatoly Karpov, no one would dream of leaving Karpov off this list. Karpov won the championship by default when Bobby Fischer refused to defend his title. Many people considered this a black mark on Karpov's record because Karpov never actually won the title by playing a championship match, but that's silly. Perhaps this event is what spurred him on to incredible achievements in tournament chess in the 1970s and '80s. Only the great Viktor Korchnoi was able to test him in match play, but even he couldn't beat Karpov, and Karpov dominated the tournament scene. From 1978 to 1981, Karpov played in ten major tournaments and finished clear first or in a tie for first in nine of them. Karpov was clearly the dominant player after Fischer and before Kasparov. Karpov has moved up on this list because he battled so long and hard against Kasparov and competed on an almost equal level when they were both at their best. Elevating my estimation of Kasparov's greatness forced me to reconsider Karpov's. Karpov was renowned for his positional genius. His pieces and pawns nearly always seemed to sit confidently on exactly the right squares. His "quiet" moves seemed to suck the life out of his opponent's game. Playing him has been compared to being slowly suffocated by a boa constrictor. But Karpov could produce a flashy combination as well — if it was really the best move! In the position from 1977 in the figure, Karpov is black against the Italian champion Stefano Tatai, whose white pieces have been restricted to the back three rows of the board. Importantly, Tatai's king is not yet castled. Cover the moves following the figure with your hand and, before going on, try to find Karpov's next move. We're starting at move 23 of the game. (Check out Understanding Chess Notation if you need help with reading the moves.) 23. … Qd3! An unpleasant surprise! Queen sacrifices are often completely unanticipated. 24. exd3 Had Tatai recovered from the shock in time, he might have tried 24. Qd2, but then Karpov would have been able to show off just how deeply he saw into this position (24… . Qxd2+ 25. Kxd2 Rac8 26. axb4 Red8+, 27. Ke1 Rc2 28. f3 Rdd2 29. fxg4 Rxe2+) when white's position was hopeless. Alternatively, 24. Qxd3 exd3 would also have left white's king in the bullseye: 25. e4 d2+! 26. Kxd2 Red8+. 24. … exd3+ Discovered check! 25. Kd2Re2+ 26. Kxd3 What now? Obviously, 26… . Rxc2 27. Kxc2 would have left white ahead a whole rook. Ah, but wait, black can throw his other rook into the game with a check! 26. … Rd8+ 27. Kc4Rxc2+ 28. Kxb4Rcd2 Black attacks the white knight on d1 three times, and it's guarded only twice. So … 29. f3Bf8+ This move is much stronger than capturing the pawn on b7. 30. Ka5 30. Kb3 would have capitulated even more quickly after 30… . Be6+, and it would have been checkmate in no more than three more moves. 30. … Bd7 White resigns (see the figure). If Tatai had saved his bishop, he would have been mated in four moves: 31. Bf1 Bc5 32.Bc4+ Kh8, after which 33… . Ra8+ and checkmate could no longer be prevented. 0–1