GAPA Rebecca has decided to avail herself of Robert’s chess lessons. She’s not a super-confident chessplayer,* so any MBer is welcome to help her by suggesting moves and strategies.
*More precisely: complete neophyte. ~L.B.
[Event "MuseBlog Chess Lessons"]
[Site "MuseBlog, NET"]
[Date "2009.10.15"]
[Round ""]
[White "Rebecca"]
[Black "Robert"]
[CBBWhiteId "heron"]
[CBBBlackId "admin"]
[Result "*"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.O-O O-O 9.c3 Bd7 10.d4 exd4 11.cxd4 h6
[Event "Chess Lesson, Variations"]
[Site "MuseBlog, NET"]
[Date "2009.10.22"]
[Round ""]
[White ""]
[Black ""]
[CBBWhiteId "admin"]
[CBBBlackId "admin"]
[Result "*"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bf7+ Kxf7 6. Ng5+ Nxg5
[Event "Practice Board, for “Sketching Out” Moves"]
[Site "MuseBlog, NET"]
[Date "2009.10.22"]
[Round ""]
[White ""]
[Black ""]
[CBBWhiteId "*"]
[CBBBlackId "*"]
[Result "*"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5
6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bd6 8.O-O O-O 9.c3 Bd7 10.d4 exd4 11.cxd4 h6 12.Bxc6 Bxc6 13.Ne5 Bxe5 14.dxe5 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 e6 16.f4 fxe6 17.f5 exf5 18.Qxd8 Rfxd8 19.Bxh6 gxh6 20.Rxf5 a5 21.Rxa5 Rxa5 22.b4 Rxa2+ 23.Rxa2 Rd1 24.Rd2 Rxd2+ 25.Kg3 Rxh2 26.Kxh2 h5 27.Kh3 Kg7 28.Kh4 Kg6 29.Kg3 Kg5
That description of my confidence level is actually an understatement. I’m not sure if I’ve ever played a complete game in my life. If I did, it was against my dad when I was the age of our younger MuseBloggers. But I’ve enjoyed watching the games here and listening to Robert’s explanations, so I’m willing to give it a go. As a complete neophyte, I welcome suggestions and advice from the blog. This is a lesson, so please help me out and include a reason with any recommendations you make.
Okay, then, on to the first move. I’ve been paying attention to Robert’s advice about controlling the center of the board, and I’ve noticed most of the more experienced players start with e4, so that’s where I’ll start.
Q: is there an advantage to moving the e pawn first, as opposed to the d pawn?
A: No, either pawn is fine. Each gives the opening a different “flavor,” but both are sound.
Controlling a part of the board means two things: occupying squares with your pieces, and using them to keep your opponent from occupying other squares. Because of the way pawns capture, your pawn on e4 puts pressure on d5 and f5. (Pawns have “sharp corners,” if you want to think of it that way.) If I put another piece there (knight, bishop, queen, etc.), you can capture it. In effect, you’re denying me those squares.
When pros play chess, the most popular response to 1. e4 is 1. … c5, the Sicilian Defense. 1. … e5 is an older move, still popular and perfectly solid. So that’s what I’ll play. Now my pawn denies you d4 and f4.
As we’ve said before, spectators are welcome to join in the discussion at any time.
I’m curious, for good players, are the first several moves pretty much scripted?
Yes, openings have been well analyzed, and serious chessplayers spend a lot of time studying them. That never appealed to me, which is one reason I decided not to become a serious chessplayer.
White’s second move (2. Nc3) makes this a Vienna Opening. You can find it on Wikipedia.
Right now we’re both mainly concerned with getting our pieces out and our kings castled. My second move, 2. … Nc6, takes another step in that direction.
Well, I can say I made that move in honor of bookgirl_me. Even if I didn’t know it at the time.
*goes off to read Wikipedia*
Referring to comment 3 again, I wouldn’t say “scripted.” Players aren’t just going through some arbitrary agreed-upon motions. Every move has its own logic and brings different forces into play. It’s possible to get in trouble very early in the game if you ignore that and let things slide.
I’m not going to read Wikipedia. I’d rather just wing it.
You have a lot more to wing with, my friend. I am basically clueless. Besides most of that article won’t mean much to me. It’s just a means of feeling a little more texture. Right now I’m just waving around in the mist.
I didn’t mean “scripted” to imply arbitrary. I meant something a bit closer to what you said, I just couldn’t come up with a better way of expressing it. It just seems there are only relatively few meaningful moves that can be made during these first few rounds. They’re all named, they’re understood to signal certain things, and the choice of expected responses appears to be very limited. Maybe it’s more a kind of dance?
It’s more like fencing: there are things you’re trying to do (touch your opponent with your foil), and things you’re trying to prevent (letting your opponent touch you). So I suppose the lesson should start with what you’re trying to do early on.
Right now, though, I have to dash off to a dinner engagement. Back later!
For my second move, I’ve again borrowed from watching other MBers. In the games thus far, the more experienced players have usually gone to their knights at this point, specifically the one opposite the first pawn they played (or however one should phrase that).
2. Nf3 is more common for White, because it attacks Black’s e5 pawn, forcing Black to defend the pawn or lose it. 2. Nc3 is quieter but perfectly playable.
Now, Black has made his second move, and White is contemplating her third move. Let’s see which moves are best on the basis of certain general principles.
At the start of the game, you’re trying to make moves that do the following:
(*Footnote: In chess jargon, pawns aren’t considered pieces; “pieces” refer only to those things on the back row. Bishops and knights are “minor pieces”; queens and rooks are “major pieces.”)
The first two goals are the most important here. White has no real weaknesses yet and needs to move some pieces out before she can castle. So what should she do? If you look at the possible moves, it’s easy to see that some are much better than others.
For example, White could move the pawn at a2 to a4 (3. a4). If you look at the checklist, though, you’ll see that 3. a4 doesn’t control the center, doesn’t get any pieces out, and doesn’t prevent any particular threatened moves by Black. It’s a weak move. Similarly, White could move the knight to b5 (3. Nb5). But moving a piece twice unnecessarily is inefficient, because it doesn’t bring any new pieces into play. So that’s a weak move, too.
Bringing out the other knight or the bishop, however, would develop new pieces. If you check Wikipedia, you’ll almost certainly find those moves in the section on the Vienna Game.
Questions?
Wikipedia also mentions 3. f4. I’m inclined toward the bishop, though I don’t really know why.
3. f4 is an attempt to get Black’s e5 pawn out of the center. But moving the f pawn opens up the h4-e1 diagonal, making White’s king side “drafty” and open to attack. (White would probably want to castle on the queen side in that case.) A good player could manage it, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a beginner.
Ahhh, I see. So many things to think about. In so many different directions.
You made essentially the same move as I did. Why not Nf6?
I could have done that, and might on the next move. It didn’t seem to matter much either way.
(7.1.1.1) It’s like a lot of things you learn: You start out knowing very little, with a feeling of absolute freedom because all the possibilities seem equal. Then you learn a little and become confused and paralyzed by all the different ways there are to go wrong. Then you learn more and realize how many of those wrong paths you can ignore, and you gain a new kind of freedom.
I’d experience the same thing if you gave me a piece of artist’s charcoal and a big, blank sheet of drawing paper. You would plunge on in and draw something; I’d stare at it and fumble around, aware that not all scribbles are equal but unable to filter out all the ways I shouldn’t draw.
Just for fun, I’ve created an auxiliary board for exploring alternatives and subsidiary lessons. Right now it shows a four-move game that demonstrates how far wrong one can go by making random moves just twice in a row. Black neglects the center, leaves his pieces on the back row, ignores threats, and BOOM! Checkmate. Note that it occurs on f7, the square in front of the king’s bishop. That’s the weak point in the king’s armor, as I’ve noted before, and you see it a lot in threats and attacks early in the game. (White’s corresponding weak point, of course, is f2.)
I think I skipped the “absolute freedom” phase and went straight to “confused and paralyzed.”
A better analogy between art and chess would be a full-color medium, such as watercolors or oils, or sophisticated graphics programs, simply because they’re operating on so many different levels at once. Working in charcoal is actually a way of restricting one’s concerns to line or to tonal values (i.e., greyscale) — perhaps something like playing chess with nothing but pawns: still challenging, but not totally disorienting.
3. Bc4 Nf6
4. Nf3 Nxe4
I could have played 4. … Bc5, but that would have made things too sedate and symmetric for my taste. Instead, I’ve decided to stir things up a little by taking the pawn with my knight. It might look as if I’ve just thrown away my knight, but I haven’t.
Interestingly, this has turned into the same opening Purple Panda and I played during my chess lesson with her.
Ha! I actually guessed correctly which move you would make. Blind luck — or maybe I intuitively sensed that you would resist too much symmetry.
The two options that jump out are either castling or taking out black’s knight (Nxe4). Oh, there is also Bxf7, which looks interesting. But I don’t have time to think through it right now, as the rest of this afternoon I need to concentrate on preparing for tomorrow’s museum event.
I’m curious about Bxf7. That would force your King to move. Is there any advantage to White, or is it just throwing away a Bishop?
(13) Let’s check that variation on the Variations Board. 5. Bxf7 is an uneven exchange (a “sacrifice” in chess terminology). But it’s just a temporary one, because White can capture the black knight on the next move. So the game would probably continue like this:
5 Bxf7+ Kxf7
6 Nxe4 d5
How does the position look to you?
Sorry, very long day at the museum. I did do a bit of pondering early this morning but no time to write anything down. So I’ll have to regroup tomorrow.
No hurry! We have plenty of time.
Just didn’t want to see my name in one of those little reminder posts…
Wow… This is the first open thread that’s all GAPA posts I think.
Advice for opening:
Get your bishops and knights out soon, because they will be useful, but don’t send them too far into the enemy’s territory. Be careful with your pawns, because they can’t move backwards. Put your rooks at the ready, but don’t use them immediately. What you get by castling is a good position for them. Same with queens, but a little more protection for them.
Thanks Endy… My opening strategy needs a lot of help…
I can help you. The position you want for you pieces to be in at the beginning, to make them the most useful, would be the bull’s head, or the center pawns move two spaces forward, knights mirror each other at F3 and C3, bishops move across each other to D3 and E3, Castle King-side, and other rook moves to D1, while the Queen moves forward.
Bishops are generally more useful at c4 and f4 or sometimes b5 and g5. (We’re both talking about the white pieces, here.)
*smacks face* Duh! I meant c4 and f4. Sorry. I was sorta tired.
(14) Well, for one thing, looks like I lose a knight or else waste a move trying to move it out of harm’s way. Other than that, if dire consequences await, I haven’t spotted them.
I also think of another possibility: 5.d3, to put a little pressure on the knight at e4.
It’s not a wasted move to keep from losing a knight. The main features of the position are that (1) Black winds up with two strong pawns in the center (a plus for him) and (2) Black’s king is somewhat exposed and can no longer capture (a minus). Also, (3) Black ends up with two bishops, whereas White has a bishop and a knight. Bishops and knights are about equally useful, but a pair of bishops is usually stronger than a bishop and a knight. It’s not immediately obvious how the pluses and minuses add up, on balance.
As for 5. d3: After that move, Black can either move the knight back to where it was or capture White’s knight. Either way, he keeps the pawn the knight just took. In general, you shouldn’t let your opponent snatch your pawns without compensation. If White wants the Black knight out of the center, she can simply capture it with her knight.
I realized I’d reached a point where I was overthinking myself into paralysis, so I just went ahead and forced myself to choose.
I just wish I could understand a word that you were saying…chess is more my sister’s thing than mine, I can’t really understand it.
(22) soccer starr: I’ll be happy to explain anything you’re curious or confused about.
(21) Sometimes you just have to trust in the Force and move.
5. Nxe4 is straightforward and effective. White gets the Black knight out of the center. So far, Black has taken a white pawn; White has taken a black knight. Black is now weaker, but…
…he gets the piece back with 5. … d5.
Because pawns have “sharp corners” (remember them?), Black can advance the pawn and attack the knight and the bishop at the same time. Only one of them can be saved; the other one must fall. In chess, this kind of double attack is called a fork. (You can also do forks with bishops, knights, rooks, the queen, and even sometimes with the king.)
P.S. You might wonder how to know who is “ahead” as pieces come off the board. Chess isn’t like checkers; it’s possible to have tons more pieces than your opponent has, but they won’t do you any good if you’re in checkmate. Still, more pieces are usually better, so chessplayers have come up with a rule of thumb for deciding when to swap or not to swap:
A pawn is worth 1 point.
A bishop or knight is worth 3 points.
A rook is worth 4 or 5 points.
A queen is worth 9 points.
(The king, of course, is priceless; lose him, and the game is over.)
By this rule, it would be worthwhile to exchange your queen for some combination of three bishops and knights, or for two rooks, or for a knight and a rook and a couple of pawns. Trading one of your rooks for your opponent’s bishop generally isn’t a good deal, but it would be if you could get a pawn or two along with it.
Again, these points aren’t part of the game. They’re just unofficial guidelines that players use to decide what to do. If you can checkmate your opponent by ignoring them, then of course you should ignore them.
That’s interesting, I’ve never heard of those points before. My sister and dad are both big into chess and often play games so I really only know what it is because I’ve watched them play a lot. I’m just not good at actually playing it! Thanks, I’ll let you know if I see any specific questions come up.
(22) Don’t worry, soccer star. Most of what little I know I’ve learned from watching games on the blog. If you play with the practice board (third from the top), you can pick up a lot. It doesn’t save moves, and clears everything when you refresh.
(23) Ah, I knew something was afoot; I missed seeing the queen.
(25) Yes, the queen gives the pawn a nice “push” from behind. If your bishop takes the pawn, the queen will take the bishop.
What about Ng5(+)? It buys you time, since Black has to move the King, and you can use that to maybe get the d pawn further forward so that you can use the other Bishop and the Queen… *gottago*
(27) I’ll put that position on the second (analysis) board. Why does Black have to move the king? Can’t he just take the bishop? Ng5 isn’t check.
Oh, carp. Somehow I must have looked at the wrong board- I could have sworn that there was a variation here somewhere where white sacrificed a Bishop on f7 (check), the king took it but then couldn’t castle…. Never mind.
Oh, you were commenting on the variation. I misunderstood. That board changes. I’ll change it back.
In that case, after Ng5 Black’s knight on e4 just takes the knight.
So…if the pawn is poised to take out the knight or the bishop, is my next question whether there is a compelling reason to save one over the other? If there isn’t, is it reasonable to let them be and look at what I might do elsewhere?
Usually, making the best choice for you is better than letting your opponent make the best choice for enself.
Also usually, if you have to choose between saving a bishop and saving a knight, it’s better to keep the bishop. Although the rule of thumb says that each is worth three pawns, bishops’ longer range usually makes them slightly stronger than knights. That’s especially true when two bishops can work as a team — one covering the white squares, the other the black squares.
In this position, you also want to be able to capture the pawn after it takes your piece. So I’d retreat the bishop, let Black take the knight, and then capture the pawn. Here, maintaining the balance of “material” (the number of pieces and pawns on the board) is more important than gaining a move’s worth of time.
(Purple Panda adopted the “let Black choose” tactic in my lesson game with her. It didn’t work out so well.)
7. Bxe4 Bd6
White recaptures. Black defends the pawn and clears the way for kingside castling.
Does it make sense for me to castle now? Or is there any reason not to? I’ve been thinking about it but obviously had more pressing business at hand.
It looks logical to me. Try it, and if it doesn’t work out, we can always backtrack and try something else.
I wasn’t quite sure where to go next, as my pieces that are already out can’t really go anywhere that I can see. So I figured it might be time to go to the pawns. My thinking was that c3 would keep your knight at bay.
9. c3 is a good move, but not mainly because it keeps the black knight from moving forward. (White could easily drive the knight back if it did.) Mainly, c3 paves the way for d4, opening up a path for the bishop on c1. It also gives White the possibility of Qc2, threatening Black’s pawn on h7 (see how?).
Black will now think a bit before making his ninth move.
I was definitely looking for openings and thought about most of the items you mentioned (except I missed that it would pave the way for d4). But it was looking at the black knight’s possible moves that caught my eye.
9. c3 Bd7
Black wants to prevent Bxc6, b7xc6 (White’s bishop takes Black’s knight, Black recaptures with the b pawn). After the recapture, Black would be left with pawns on c7 and c6, and no other pawns nearby to support them. That pawn formation — a pair of doubled, isolated pawns — has to be defended with pieces other than pawns and would give White a good target.
As compensation, Black would have two bishops versus White’s bishop and knight. That’s usually good for the side with the bishops, because bishops are very strong when they work together. Still, Black decides to preserve his pawn structure by placing the bishop where it defends the knight on c6.
For the next few moves, both sides will concentrate on bringing out new pieces, strengthening any weak points in their own positions, and probing weaknesses in the opponent’s position. Both positions are solid so far. White has a little more room, and her pieces are slightly more aggressively posted. (After the d pawn moves, she’ll have two bishops pointing in the general direction of Black’s king, a knight capable of moving to g5, and a queen that can swoop out to provide backup in an assault on the king.) Black will have to make sure he has resources to defend against possible attacks.
10 d4 exd4
White boldly forges ahead into the center, and opens a path for her bishop on c1. Black captures the pawn to keep it from advancing further.
White, er, Lady Bunniful finds it amusing to be described as “boldly” doing anything.
Is there any compelling reason that white shouldn’t take the d4 pawn (from c3, that is)?
Actually, White has shown quite a knack for chess so far.
White should recapture the pawn, but I’m not sure whether it’s better to use her pawn or her knight for that purpose. Both moves are worth looking at.
Maybe we should put it up for a vote. Any opinions?
Aww, thanks, but I’ve had a lot of help. You’re a good teacher, and I love to learn. Plus I’ve tried to pay attention to the comments on other games.
Hm, no votes. Well, I think I know which way is better. Shall we discuss it, Lady B.?
I’d be much obliged, Mr. Coontz. I sort of had other plans for the knight, but I don’t want to sacrifice the longer view for the short one, if that’s what’s at stake. On the practice board, I played through both options a bit without coming to any definitive conclusions. Of course, I was barely awake at the time….
Right you are. White has the basic ingredients for an attack: a lot of pieces pointed in the general direction of Black’s king. Removing one of them would ease the pressure — the opposite of what White wants to do. Capturing with the pawn is the right way, just as you suggested in 37.1.
(Rule of thumb: when you’re under attack, exchange pieces to calm things down. When you’re attacking or planning to attack, hold on to pieces to keep the heat on.)
Thanks, good to know. So the pawn it is. Done.
11 cxd4 h6
Black moves the h pawn to keep White’s knight and bishop off the g5 square. This sort of defensive move is very common and useful. It’s a bit like anti-aircraft fire.
White now has a choice of “developing” moves (activating her pieces).
Let’s take a quick inventory of the position after Black’s 11th move.
White
Pluses:
Minuses:
Black:
Pluses:
Minuses:
Those are the main features of the position, as I see them.
That’s very helpful. Guess I’m going to have to think through this a bit before making my next move. I don’t want to throw away any advantages, but I don’t want to be frozen by them either.
I’ve been thinking about moving the queen to d3 or c2, where it would be backing up other pieces, while opening some room to move for the neighboring bishop and rook. (Well, the bishop can already move, of course; I was actually thinking in terms of not blocking it.)
(40) After 12. … Nb4, you’d just have to move the queen again.
Aw, cupcakes. I could have sworn I looked at the knight’s moves before. I could move the c1 bishop first instead, possibly. Or should I be thinking in completely different terms?
Having to move your queen twice in a row isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it would let Black solve the problem of his weak b7 pawn (with 12. … Nb4, 13. … c6, and 14. … Nd5). Deploying the bishop or the rook would be more efficient.
Well, moving twice wouldn’t be very economical without good reason. And I certainly don’t want to solve Black’s problems for him if I can help it.
Speaking of rooks…a couple of general questions: (1) Should one try to keep the castled rook where it is (or at least maintain one rook or the other on that row)? (2) Is there a rule of thumb for moving rooks out into the world? For instance, is it better to leave the pawns where they are and let the rook out the side gate, as it were? Or is that even a sensible question? I don’t really understand rooks, I think.
It depends on the stage of the game. When there are lots of pieces and pawns on the board, rooks operate mostly along files (the “columns” of squares: a1-a8, b1-b8, etc.). They can support their own pawns from behind, attack opponents’ pieces and pawns, or open up an avenue into the opponent’s position. Later in the game, when most of the pieces are off the board, they have more freedom to bounce back and forth along the ranks (rows: a1-h1, a2-h2, etc.) and generally go wherever they want. Rooks can slide inside an opponent’s position and checkmate the king on the back rank, or double up on the next-to-last rank and demolish the opponent’s pawns. That’s why it’s important to keep your opponent’s rooks from penetrating your own position: you don’t want that to happen to you.
Rooks are usually most useful on an open or half-open file. There’s really not much point in leaving them in place in their post-castled position, unless your king is under attack and the c2 square needs to be reinforced. That’s not the case here.