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.

Article / Updated 08-03-2022

Bridge scoring revolves around the final contract (as determined by the bidding) and the number of tricks actually taken by the side buying the contract. If your final contract is 3, your goal is to win at least nine tricks and clubs are trump, the “wild” suit. If you take exactly nine tricks, you make your contract. If you take ten tricks, you have made your contract plus an extra trick, called an overtrick. In bridge, as the side buying the contract, you score points only if you make your contract or if you make your contract with overtrick(s). Overtricks score points for your side but don’t contribute toward completing a game contract of 100 or more points. To calculate the number of tricks you need to take to fulfill your final contract, add six to the number, or level, of the bid. For example, if your final contract is 5♠, you need to take 11 tricks to make your contract (5 + 6 = 11). If you don’t make your contract, the bad guys (the opponents) rack up penalty points and your side gets nada for your efforts. For example, if you take eight tricks in your contract of 3, you would be one trick short of making your contract (and concede one undertrick); your opponents would get to add points to their score. Your goal on every hand is to make your contract; overtricks are icing on the cake, and undertricks, though inevitable, are something you try to avoid. Understanding the importance of bidding in bridge In bridge, the pressure is on the partnership that gets (or buys) the final contract — that side has to win the number of tricks it contracts for. If the partnership fails to win that number of tricks, penalty points are scored by the opponents. If the partnership takes at least the number of tricks it has contracted for, it then scores points. In addition to determining how many tricks a partnership needs to fulfill the contract, the bidding also determines the following: The declarer and the dummy for the hand: For the partnership that buys the final contract, the bidding determines who plays the hand for the partnership (the declarer) and who gets to watch (the dummy). The number of tricks the partnership needs to make the final contract: Each bid is like a stepping stone to the number of tricks that a partnership thinks it can take. The goal of the partnership that buys the final contract is to take at least the number of tricks contracted for. The trump suit (if the hand has one): Depending on the cards held by the partnership that winds up playing the hand, there may be a trump suit (or the bidding may end in a notrump contract). Proper bidding also allows the partners to exchange information about the strength (the number of high-card points) and distribution of their cards. Through bidding, you and your partner can tell each other which long suits you have and perhaps in which suits you have honor cards (aces, kings, queens, jacks, and 10s). Based on the information exchanged during the bidding, the partnership has to decide how many tricks it thinks it can take. The partnership with the greater combined high-card strength usually winds up playing the hand. The declarer (the one who plays the hand) tries to take the number of tricks (or more) that his side has contracted for. The opponents, on the other hand, do their darndest to prevent the declarer from winning those tricks. Partnerships exchange vital information about the makeup of their hands through a bidding system. Because you can’t tell your partner what you have in plain English, you have to use a legal bridge bidding system. Think of it as a foreign language in which every bid you make carries some message. Although you can’t say to your partner, “Hey, partner, I have seven strong hearts but only one ace and one king,” an accurate bidding system can come close to describing such a hand. The bidding (or auction) consists of only the permitted bids; you don’t get to describe your hand by using facial expressions, kicking your partner under the table, or punching him in the nose. Your partner must also understand the conventional significance of your bids to make sense of what you’re trying to communicate about your hand and to know how to respond properly. If not, it’s the Tower of Babel all over again! Of course, everyone at the table hears your bid and everyone else’s bid at the table. No secrets are allowed. Your opponents are privy to the same information your bid tells your partner. Similarly, by listening to your opponents’ bidding, you get a feel for the cards that your opponents have (their strength and distribution). You can then use this information to your advantage when the play of the hand begins. Bridge authorities agree that bidding is the most important aspect of the game. Using a simple system and making clear bids is the key to getting to the proper contract and racking up the points. Bidding incorrectly (giving your partner a bum steer) leads to lousy contracts, which, in turn, lets your opponents rack up the points when you fail to make your contract. Of course, you have to know how to take the tricks you contracted for, or else even the most beautiful contracts in the world lead nowhere. Not to worry; the play-of-the-hand techniques can help pull you through.

Article / Updated 05-23-2022

When you get hooked on the game, you may want to reach out for bridge information. Here’s some help! Keep reading for ten great references and resources that you may find handy. The American Contract Bridge League Joining the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a must-do. The ACBL is an excellent source of information about current events in the bridge community. The league can help you find bridge clubs throughout the country as well as locate local and national tournaments all over America. At times it even offers sanctioned bridge cruises at sea. The ACBL also maintains a fabulous website with a wealth of information for new players. Bridge Bulletin is the official publication of the ACBL and is worth many times more than the yearly dues. The magazine includes a special “New Players Section” as well as sections for intermediate and advanced players with monthly articles by various bridge writers, including yours truly. Membership is $29 for the first year. After that, membership runs $39 per year or $111 for three years. If you are 26 years old or younger, membership costs only $15 per year. (The ACBL encourages younger players as much as it can.) You can contact the ACBL by phone at 662-253-3100. Your local bridge club The local bridge club is a great place to go when you’re starting out with bridge. Clubs offer all kinds of enticements, including beginning and intermediate lessons, but best of all you can get together and play with people who are at approximately your skill level. Nothing can supplant actual play for gaining experience. Suddenly the books you read make more sense because you actually experience what you read about. Visit the ACBL website for more information about how to contact bridge clubs in your area. Adult education classes Some adult schools offer bridge classes at modest prices and give you an opportunity to meet newer bridge players like yourself. Check your local high school or parks and recreation department for adult education classes in your area. You may get lucky. Your local library and bookstore Most libraries have a reasonable selection of bridge books, and borrowing a book is cheaper than buying one, especially if you’re just starting out with the game. Of course, your local bookstore also may have the latest bridge books if you want one of your own. The Daily bridge column in your newspaper Some people who don’t even play bridge read the bridge columns because they’re amusing. A good column is informative, instructive, and entertaining. The major bridge columnists usually come through on all three counts. Here are four good bets, in no particular order (they’re all winners): “Bridge” by Frank Stewart “Goren on Bridge” by Tannah Hirsch “The Aces on Bridge” by Bobby Wolff “Bridge” by Steve Becker Shop around in other major newspapers if you can’t find the column you want to read in your regular newspaper. Bridge magazines Some of the information in the following magazines may go a tad over your head until you have played a little bridge, but all of them offer articles for beginners. Bridge Bulletin This fabulous magazine comes from the ACBL. The Bridge World The Bridge World is the granddaddy of all bridge publications and is the most respected bridge publication in the world. Unfortunately, the magazine is aimed primarily at advanced players. However, don’t despair; The Bridge World offers information for players of all levels, including beginners, at its website. You can contact The Bridge World at the website or email [email protected] for current subscription information. Better Bridge by Audrey Grant Audrey Grant, a top international instructor, offers a bi-monthly 24-page magazine. Each issue is full of useful information brought to you by the world’s best players and writers. Many up-to-date tips will have you playing better bridge. The price is $29. Check out BaronBarclay.com or phone 800-274-2221 for more information. Bridge software programs Many excellent teaching programs are available for the computer. The internet You can surf the Net to find all kinds of bridge information and to play bridge online. By the way, kantarbridge.com, is loaded with tips, quizzes, books, travel plans, and even a section on bridge humor. Check it out. Bridge supply sites Want a bridge book, bridge software, or a bridge-related gift? Here are a couple of proven suggestions for obtaining these items. Baron Barclay Bridge Supplies 3600 Chamberlain Ln., #206 Louisville, KY 40241 Phone: 800-274-2221 You can ask for a free catalog before you make any command decisions. Amazon.com also offers many bridge-related items, including books, cards, special bidding boxes, and other useful paraphernalia to enhance your game. Bridge travel Would you like to go on a bridge cruise? Would you like to spend a week at a beautiful five-star hotel and be surrounded with bridge activities? Read on. Bridge instruction on cruise ships Cruise ships offer an unequaled opportunity to immerse yourself in bridge activities. Many major cruise ships set sail with a bridge teacher on board. When the ship is at sea, you get a lesson in the morning and the chance to enter a friendly tournament in the afternoon. However, you can simply play bridge in the card room, if you prefer. Check with the cruise line you’re interested in to verify whether it offers a bridge program. Bridge tours Bridge tours offer great opportunities to play bridge to your heart’s content at some really great places. There are several travel agencies that deal specifically with bridge groups, but you can type “contract bridge tours” into your favorite search engine for more options. Liz Nixon’s World of Cruise and Travel Phone: 800-548-2789 Email: [email protected] Bridge Holidays with Roberta and Arnold Salob Phone 800-807-7009 Alice Travel Phone: 800-229-2542 Finesse West Tours Phone: 800-548-8062

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-26-2022

When you’re creating a character for your Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition game, you want to choose the best powers, feats, skills, and gear for your character’s race and class. This Cheat Sheet provides tips for making wise power, feat, skill, and gear choices when you’re creating a new Dungeons & Dragons character. Once you get started, use the printable battle grids for roleplaying encounters.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-25-2022

Discover how solving crossword puzzles can benefit your senior brain by strengthening memory, mind function, and more. Next, dive into crossword-puzzle tips for seniors that can enhance your efficiency and enjoyment and hone your puzzle-solving skills.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-23-2022

People have been betting on horse races since horses have been running. Betting on the outcome of formal horse races can be fun and profitable if you know what you’re doing and can beat the odds. Betting on Horse Racing For Dummies offers lots of info to help better your odds including advice on what to pay attention to and what tools can help you at the track as well as the mechanics of placing a bet, the types of bets you can place, and your odds of winning.

Article / Updated 03-15-2022

Rummy is a card game in which you try to improve the hand that you’re originally dealt. You can do this whenever it’s your turn to play, either by drawing cards from a pile (or stock) or by picking up the card thrown away by your opponent and then discarding a card from your hand. You can play rummy with two or more players (for six or more players, you need a second deck of cards). You'll also need a paper and pencil for scoring. Learn how to play rummy and other basics including rules, scoring, and how to win! The objective of rummy Your aim is to put (or meld) your cards into two types of combinations: Runs: Consecutive sequences of three or more cards of the same suit Sets (or books): Three or four cards of the same rank. If you are using two decks, a set may include two identical cards of the same rank and suit. This figure shows some legitimate rummy combinations. This figure shows an unacceptable combination. This run is illegal because all cards in a run must be of the same suit. In most rummy games, unlike the majority of other card games, aces can be high or low, but not both. So, runs involving the ace must take the form A-2-3 or A-K-Q but not K-A-2. The first person who manages to make their whole hand into combinations one way or another, with one card remaining to discard, wins the game. How to play rummy Follow the rules and instructions below to understand how to play rummy from start to finish: Each player is dealt a certain number of cards from the deck. When playing rummy with two, three, or four players, each player gets ten cards; when playing with five players, each player gets six cards. With more than five players, you must use two decks of cards and a hand of seven cards. The two-player game can also be played with seven cards each. Designate a scorer and a dealer at the start of the game. Then, the dealer deals out the hands and puts the undealt cards face-down on the center of the table as the stock, placing the top card, turned upward, beside the stock as the first card of the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer plays first. They can either pick up the card on the discard pile or the top card from the stock. If they can put some or all of their hand into combinations, they may do so. If not, they discard one card from their hand, face-up onto the discard pile, and the turn of play moves to the next player. The next player can either pick up the last card the previous player discarded or the top card from the stock. They can then meld some or all of their cards down in combinations. The play continues clockwise around the table. When the stock runs out, shuffle the discard pile and set it up again. Other rummy rules and tips Now that you know the objective of the game and the basic instructions to play, here is a small list of additional rummy rules and common tips to abide by: You cannot pick up the top discard and then throw the card back onto the pile. If you pick up two cards from the stock by accident and see either of them, you must put the bottom card back, which gives the next player an additional option. They can look at the returned card and take it if they want it. If they don't want it, they put it back into the middle of the stock and continue with their turn by taking the next card from the stock. When you pick up a card from the stock that you don’t want, don’t throw it away immediately. Put the card into your hand and then extract it. No player, regardless of skill level, needs to give gratuitous information away. Rummying with wild cards You can play rummy with wild cards by adding jokers to the deck, or you can make the 2s or some other number wild. You can substitute the card represented by a wild card when it is your turn to play. So, if a combination including a joker, standing in for the king of clubs is put on the table, the next player can put in the king of clubs and pick up the joker for use elsewhere. If you put down two 8s and a joker, you do not have to announce which 8 the joker represents, but with a run, such as 5-6-joker, the assumption is that the joker represents the 7. When playing with wild cards, you may not want to put combinations containing wild cards down immediately; you don’t want to give another player the use of a wild card by way of the substitution. Of course, if you feel obliged to put down the set or run, try to ensure that the card your wild card replaces has already been played in some other set or run. Once you've mastered the game of rummy, you might want to try the slightly more interesting and challenging gin rummy.

Article / Updated 03-15-2022

One of the most commonly used construction commands in Minecraft is /fill. You can use this command to place lots of blocks in a certain area instantly. To use this command, follow these steps: Go to a corner of the area you want to fill. The Fill command affects blocks in a box-shaped region, up to 32,768 blocks in volume. Pick any of the 8 corners of the box you want to fill. Press F3. This step displays a bunch of information about the current game. Record your coordinates. Part of the information displayed in F3 mode is a line that says Block: followed by three numbers. These numbers tell you where exactly your character is. The X and Z coordinates of your character tell you where you are on the plane parallel to the ground, whereas your Y coordinate tells you your height. Make a note of these numbers because you’ll need to write them into the command. Move to the opposite corner of the area you want to fill. Record the coordinates there. Alternatively, use relative coordinates: A tilde (~) in a command indicates that a coordinate is relative to your own position. So ~ ~ ~ indicates your current position, and ~ ~-1 ~ indicates the block below you. Press the “T” key to open the Chat menu, and type /fill [your first coordinates] [your second coordinates]. For example, you might enter /fill 1123 20 16 1122 30 -16. Enter a space, and then type minecraft: (or press Tab as a shortcut). Every block in this game has a technical name, such as minecraft:stone, minecraft:planks, or minecraft:redstone_torch. The first part is necessary only for autocompletion purposes, as described in Step 8. If you already know the technical name of the block, don’t type only minecraft:; go ahead and type minecraft:stone or minecraft:planks or whatever the name is, and then skip to Step 10. If you don’t know the technical name of the block, stick with Step 7 as written and then go on to Step 8. Press Tab to see a list of block names. From here, you can find the block that you want to fill the area. If you know that its name starts with a certain couple of letters, type those letters, and then press Tab for a narrower search. After you see which block you want to use, type it after the minecraft:. Press the spacebar again, and enter the data value of the block. This is 0 by default — if you select another number, it chooses a variant of the block. For example, wooden planks have a different color based on the data value you give them. Steps 9 and 10 are optional — however, if you complete Step 10, you must complete this one as well. Press the spacebar again, and enter a keyword indicating how to handle blocks that are already inside the fill area. You can pick one of five different keywords: replace: With this keyword, when you fill the target area, any block already in that area is replaced. Alternatively, you can type replace followed by a space and then the name of another block (see Steps 7 and 8). This makes it so that the /fill command replaces every block of that type only in the target area rather than filling up the whole area. Note that replace is the default keyword. At this point the command should look like /fill 1123 20 16 1122 30 -16 minecraft:wool 1 replace. destroy: All existing blocks in the target area are destroyed, just as though a player mined them. keep: This command does not affect blocks already in the target area (except for air, of course). hollow: With this command, only the outer layer of the target area is filled with blocks — all blocks on the inside are replaced with air. outline: Only the outer layer of the target area is filled with blocks, but blocks on the inside remain as they were. Don’t be put off by the length of these instructions — the more you practice, the easier (and faster) it is. The process in the preceding step list works best when you don’t quite know the size of the area you want to fill. But if you want to fill an area that you know is 10x10x20, for example, there’s a faster way to do it: Go to a corner of the area you want to fill. This part is just like the other method, but it’s done for a different purpose. Press F3. In addition to pulling up a menu, the F3 button changes the crosshair in the center of the screen into a symbol composed of a red segment, a green segment, and a blue segment where green is the Y direction, red is the X direction, and blue is the Z direction. These segments point in the positive x-direction, y-direction, and z-direction, respectively. Use the crosshair to figure out the relative coordinates of the opposite corner. For example, if the crosshair numbers read ~100 ~-5 ~2, the opposite corner is 100 blocks in the X-direction, -5 blocks in the Y-direction, and 2 blocks in the Z-direction. Open the chat menu and type /fill ~ ~ ~ [relative coordinates]. For example, to create a platform 100 blocks long and 100 blocks wide, where one corner is where you are and the opposite corner is at 99 ~ ~99, type /fill ~ ~ ~ ~99 ~ ~99. Complete the process as usual. (See Steps 7–10 in the preceding step list.)

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-14-2022

Arguably, bridge is the greatest card game ever. Not only is it a lifelong friend, it also enables you to make lifelong friends because it's a partnership game. From the four phases of playing a bridge hand to some expert advice on bidding, get started with playing bridge and then refine your game to increase your chances of winning.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-24-2022

Working crossword puzzles is great exercise for your brain — and great fun as well. To maximize your enjoyment and your mental workout, take some time to learn basic tips for solving crossword clues. Then, create the right environment so you can focus, move at your own pace, and give the crossword your best effort. And when you’re ready for a different type of challenge, consider working other types of puzzles as well. Your synapses will thank you!