Board Games Articles

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

Article / Updated 08-10-2021

The number of kids playing chess seems to increase every year. Chess camps and chess-in-the-schools programs have sprung up all across the country. This is in large part because adults know that the kids are learning, while the kids think they are playing. Lots of kids learn chess in school Chess programs have spread all across the country. Parents perceive that chess provides their children with competitive advantages. Chess excellence leads to prestige, advancement opportunities, and special recognition. It didn't take long for administrators to get on board. Chess programs, both in school and after school, began to sprout up almost everywhere. Although chess has been important to elite programs everywhere, it may be even more vital to underprivileged schools across the country. One of the things society has maintained, whether or not it's true, is that being able to play chess means that you must be smart. Increased self-esteem transfers directly back into classrooms. Chess teaches patience Some children walk earlier than others, some begin reading at different ages. Some kids take to something like swimming at a very young age. Others may require more time before they're comfortable. In any case, succeeding at chess cultivates the ability to sit still and think. Kids with high kinetic energy can even be disruptive at tournaments. Chess competition shows kids how to win — and lose Some kids gravitate toward individual competitions, whereas others prefer tournaments. Competition can prove stressful, so be sure your child can handle it. Even a well-prepared child has to learn to face disappointment. Some have trouble coping with defeat. Crying is the most obvious sign of distress. Some parents think that crying is a sign that their child isn't ready for competition. But it is a natural response to loss. Even adults have been known to shed tears after an especially excruciating defeat. Chess is a good way to help children deal with these issues. They learn that they cannot always win, but that giving their best effort is worthwhile in its own right. Kids begin competing at all ages. When a child is ready for individual or team competition depends upon many factors. These factors are best weighed and evaluated by attentive parents. Chess education can begin early Most children are ready for chess instruction toward the latter half of elementary school. Younger kids who show both talent and enthusiasm for chess can benefit from individual instruction. If they demonstrate sufficient talent, they might consider participating in the United States Chess Federation's National Elementary Championships. They could also look forward to the National Junior and High School Championships. This is not to mention the Barbara Junior High Championships and the Denker tournament of High School Champions. These are both held in conjunction with the U.S. Open, the venue of which changes from year to year. Kids can safely learn chess online If, for some reason, you can't find chess instruction locally, you can still access training via online chess sites. Here's one kid-friendly site. As they get older, they might try Chess.com, which provides more advanced chess training, including exercises and the opportunity to compete against players from all across the world. Chess can lead to international travel and friendships If a student continues to excel, they may qualify for one of the U.S. Chess Federation's World Team Championships. This competition offers the opportunity to compete in countries all over the world. Kids meet students around their own age and are assured of at least one shared interest. Sometimes these new friendships live long after chess-playing careers are over. Having friends in other parts of the world is almost always a good thing. The Boy Scouts and Ben Franklin would approve Today, there is a Boy Scout chess merit badge. The earliest American writer to espouse the value of playing chess was Benjamin Franklin. He wrote that playing chess strengthened "Foresight, Circumspection, Caution and Perseverance." Science finds benefits in playing chess It wasn't until many, many years after Ben Franklin that academic research began to take an interest in the benefits of playing chess. Perhaps the most famous study involves the chess research performed by De Groot of the Netherlands. He helped lay the groundwork for the cognitive science revolution of the 1960s. De Groot asked his subjects to verbalize their thoughts about their prospective next move in an unfamiliar position. Based on these interviews, he concluded that thought processes are similar among all chess players. Dr. Alexey Root of the University of Texas at Dallas introduced me to chess researchers who write about the benefits of competition in general. One of these researches writes about the concept of flow. Flow concerns the optimal and enjoyable experiences in which there is a deep concentration on the activity at hand. Csikszsentmilhali writes: Flow is what enables people to be satisfied with, and have a sense of exercising control in, their lives. Thus the flow experience is as typically described as involving a sense of control — or more precisely, as lacking the sense of worry about losing control that is typical in many situations in normal life. In a chess tournament, players whose attention has been riveted for hours, to the logical battle on the board, claim that they feel as if they have been merged into a powerful "field of force" clashing with other forces in some nonmaterial dimension of existence. One of the most successful coaches in scholastic chess is Sunil Weeramantry. Sunil is very opinionated and has his own way of teaching chess. Not everyone should try to be like Sunil, but certain standards need to be met. Interestingly a number of states have adopted such standards. Other benefits of chess There is great enthusiasm for chess among schoolchildren of many nations. Chess represents an important international cultural institution. Chess has inspired literature, the study of cognitive processes, and the development of artificial intelligence models. Chess helps us recognize and deal with differences among individuals — and with losing. Chess can be a wonderful educational tool for the young, a pleasant pastime for adults, and solace in advanced age. When you give a child the gift of chess, you may be giving a gift that lasts a lifetime.