The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chess:

Chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

– two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in "check") and there is no way to remove or defend it from attack on the next move.

Nature of chess

Chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 can be described as all of the following:

• Game
  Game
  A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
  
   – structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports/games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).
  • Board game
    Board game
    A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
    
     – game in which counters or pieces are placed, removed, or moved on a premarked surface or "board" according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve.
  • Strategy game
    Strategy game
    A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
    
     – game (e.g. computer, video or board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decision tree
    Decision tree
    A decision tree is a decision support tool that uses a tree-like graph or model of decisions and their possible consequences, including chance event outcomes, resource costs, and utility. It is one way to display an algorithm. Decision trees are commonly used in operations research, specifically...
    
     style thinking, and typically very high situation awareness
    Situation awareness
    Situation awareness, situational awareness, or SA, is the perception of environmental elements with respect to time and/or space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as time...
    
    .
  • Two-player game
    Two-player game
    A two-player game is a game played by just two players. This is distinct from a solitaire game which is played by only one player, or a multiplayer game played by more than two players. Two unofficial but logical ways of grouping and categorizing games could be by Type and by what it is Based In,...
    
     – a game played by just two players, usually against each other.
• Sport
  Sport
  A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
  
   – an organized, competitive, entertaining, and skillful activity requiring commitment, strategy, and fair play, in which a winner can be defined by objective means. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. Chess is recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee
  International Olympic Committee
  The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
  
  .
  • Mind sport
    Game of skill
    A game of skill is a game where the outcome is determined mainly by mental and/or physical skill, rather than by pure chance.One benefit of games of skill is that they are a means of exploring one's own capabilities. Games encourage the player to look at, understand, and experience things...
    
     – a game where the outcome is determined mainly by mental skill, rather than by pure chance.

Essential equipment

• Chess board – type of checkerboard with of 64 squares (eight rows and eight columns) arranged in two alternating colors (light and dark). The colors are called "black" and "white" although the actual colors are usually dark green and buff for boards used in competition, and often natural shades of light and dark woods for home boards.
  • Rank – A horizontal row of squares on the chessboard.
  • File – A vertical column of squares on the chessboard.

• Chess set – all the pieces required to play a game of chess. Chess sets come in various materials and styles, and some are considered collectors' items and works of art.
  • Chess piece
    Chess piece
    Chess pieces or chessmen are the pieces deployed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. The pieces vary in abilities, giving them different values in the game...
    
    s – two armies of 16 chess pieces, one army white, the other black. Each player controls one of the armies for the entire game. The pieces in each army include:
    • 1 king
      King (chess)
      In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
      
       – the most important piece, and one of the weakest (until the endgame). The object of the game is checkmate, by placing the enemy king in check in a way that it cannot escape capture in the next move. On the top of the piece is a cross.
    • 1 queen
      Queen (chess)
      The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
      
       – most powerful piece in the game, with a relative value of 9 points. The top of the piece is crown-like.
    • 2 rook
      Rook (chess)
      A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...
      
      s – look like castle towers and have a relative value of 5 points each.
    • 2 bishop
      Bishop (chess)
      A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
      
      s – stylized after bishop hats, and have a relative value of 3 points each.
    • 2 knight
      Knight (chess)
      The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
      
      s – usually look like horse heads and have a relative value of 3 points each.
    • 8 pawn
      Pawn (chess)
      The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
      
      s – smallest pieces in the game, each topped by a ball. Pawns have a relative value of 1 point each.
  • Staunton chess set
    Staunton chess set
    The Staunton chess set is composed of a particular type of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. According to the rules of chess, this style is to be used for competitions. Nathaniel Cook is credited with the design, and they are named after Howard Staunton. The first 500 sets were hand...
    
     – The standard style of chess pieces.

Specialized equipment

• Game clock
  Game clock
  A game clock consists of two adjacent clocks and buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, such that the two component clocks never run simultaneously. Game clocks are used in two-player games where the players move in turn...
  
   – a dual timer used to monitor each player's thinking time. Only the timer of the player who is to move is active. Used for speed chess, and to regulate time in tournament games.

Rules of chess

Rules of chess

Rules of chess

The rules of chess are rules governing the play of the game of chess. While the exact origins of chess are unclear, modern rules first took form during the Middle Ages. The rules continued to be slightly modified until the early 19th century, when they reached essentially their current form. The...

 – rules governing the play of the game of chess.

• White and Black in chess
  White and Black in chess
  In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
  
   – One set of pieces are designated "white" and the other is designated "black". White moves first.
• Chess notation
  Chess notation
  Chess notation is the term for several systems that have developed to record either the moves made during a game of chess or the position of the pieces on a chess board. The earliest systems of notation used lengthy narratives to describe each move; these gradually evolved into terser systems of...
  
   – a system of recording chess moves.
  • Algebraic chess notation
    Algebraic chess notation
    Algebraic notation is a method for recording and describing the moves in a game of chess. It is now standard among all chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers...
    
     – The most common method of recording moves.
  • Descriptive chess notation
    Descriptive chess notation
    Descriptive notation is a notation for recording chess games, and at one time was the most popular notation in English-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries , . It was used in Europe until it was superseded by abbreviated algebraic notation, which was introduced by Philipp Stamma in 1737...
    
     – An obsolete method of recording moves.
  • Punctuation
    Punctuation (chess)
    When annotating chess games, commentators frequently use question marks and exclamation points to denote a move as bad or good. The symbols normally used are "??", "?", "?!", "!?", "!", and "!!". The corresponding symbol is juxtaposed in the text immediately after the move When annotating chess...
    
     – Symbols used after chess moves to indicate good or bad moves, the reason for the move, etc.
• Cheating in chess
  Cheating in chess
  Cheating in chess refers to a deliberate violation of the rules of chess or other unethical behaviour that is intended to give an unfair advantage to a player or team. Cheating can occur in many forms and can take place before, during, or possibly even after a game...
  
   – Methods that have been used to gain an unfair advantage by breaking the rules.

Initial set up

• Initial set up – The initial placement of the pieces on the chessboard before any moves are made.

Moves

• Capture – A move of a piece to a square occupied by an opposing piece, which is removed from the board and from play.
• Check – A situation in which the king would be subject to capture (but the king is never actually captured).

How each piece moves

• Moving a pawn – pawns move straight forward one space at a time, but capture diagonally (within a one-square range). On its first move, a pawn may move two squares forward instead (with no capturing allowed in a two-square move). Also, pawns are subject to the en passant
  En passant
  En passant is a move in the board game of chess . It is a special pawn capture which can occur immediately after a player moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and an enemy pawn could have captured it had it moved only one square forward...
  
   and promotion
  Promotion (chess)
  Promotion is a chess rule describing the transformation of a pawn that reaches its eighth rank into the player's choice of a queen, knight, rook, or bishop of the same color . The new piece replaces the pawn on the same square and is part of the move. Promotion is not limited to pieces that have...
  
   movement rules (see below).
  • En passant
    En passant
    En passant is a move in the board game of chess . It is a special pawn capture which can occur immediately after a player moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and an enemy pawn could have captured it had it moved only one square forward...
    
     – on the very next move after a player moves a pawn
    Pawn (chess)
    The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
    
     two squares forward from its starting position, an opposing pawn that is guarding the skipped square may capture the pawn (taking it "as it passes"), by moving to the passed square as if the pawn had stopped there.
  • Pawn promotion
    Promotion (chess)
    Promotion is a chess rule describing the transformation of a pawn that reaches its eighth rank into the player's choice of a queen, knight, rook, or bishop of the same color . The new piece replaces the pawn on the same square and is part of the move. Promotion is not limited to pieces that have...
    
     – When a pawn reaches its eighth rank it is exchanged for the player's choice of a queen, rook, bishop or knight (usually a queen, since it is the most powerful piece).
• Moving a knight – knights move two squares horizontally and one square vertically, or two squares vertically and one square horizontally, jumping directly to the destination while ignoring intervening spaces.
• Moving a bishop – bishops move any distance in a straight line in either direction along squares connected diagonally. One bishop in each army moves diagonally on white squares only, and the other bishop is restricted to moving along black squares.
• Moving a rook – a rook may move any distance along ranks and files (forward, backward, left, or right), and can also be used for castling
  Castling
  Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
  
   (see below).
  • Castling
    Castling
    Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
    
     – A special move available to each player once in the game (with restrictions) where the king is moved two squares to the left or right and the rook on that side is moved to the other side of the king.
• Moving the queen – a queen moves like both a rook and a bishop (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), but no castling.
• Moving the king – a king may move one square in any direction, but may not move into check. It may also make a special move called "castling" (see below).
  • Castling
    Castling
    Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
    
     – A special move available to each player once in the game (with restrictions) where the king is moved two squares to the left or right and the rook on that side is moved to the other side of the king.

End of the game

• Resigning – A player may resign and end the game, giving victory to his opponent.
• Checkmate
  Checkmate
  Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
  
   – The object of the game - a king is in check and has no move to get out of check, losing the game.
• Draw
  Draw (chess)
  In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
  
   – neither side wins or loses. In competition this usually counts as a half-win for each player.
  • Draw by agreement
    Draw by agreement
    In chess, a draw by agreement is the outcome of a game due to the agreement of both players to a draw. A player may offer a draw to his opponent at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. The relevant portion of the FIDE laws of chess is article 9.1...
    
      – The players may agree that the game is a draw.
  • Stalemate
    Stalemate
    Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....
    
     – if the player whose turn it is to move has no legal move and his king is not in check, the game is a draw by stalemate.
  • Fifty-move rule – If within the last fifty moves by both sides, no pawn has moved and there have been no captures, a player may claim a draw.
  • Threefold repetition
    Threefold repetition
    In chess and some other abstract strategy games, the threefold repetition rule states that a player can claim a draw if the same position occurs three times, or will occur after their next move, with the same player to move. The repeated positions need not occur in succession...
    
     – If the same position has occurred three times with the same player to move, a player may claim a draw.
    • Perpetual check
      Perpetual check
      In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can force a draw by an unending series of checks. Such a situation typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate; while failing to continue the series of checks gives the opponent at least a chance...
      
       – A situation in which one king cannot escape an endless series of checks but cannot be checkmated. This was formerly a rule of chess to result in a draw, and still used informally, but superseded by the threefold repetition rule and fifty-move rule.

Competition rules

• Adjournment
  Adjournment (games)
  Some boardgames, such as chess or Go, use an adjournment mechanism to suspend the game in progress so it can be continued at another time, typically the following day. The rationale is that games often extend in duration beyond what is reasonable for a single session of play...
  
   – play of a game ceases to be resumed later. This has become rare, since the advent of computer analysis of chess games.
• Chess notation
  Chess notation
  Chess notation is the term for several systems that have developed to record either the moves made during a game of chess or the position of the pieces on a chess board. The earliest systems of notation used lengthy narratives to describe each move; these gradually evolved into terser systems of...
  
   – a system of recording chess moves.
  • Algebraic chess notation
    Algebraic chess notation
    Algebraic notation is a method for recording and describing the moves in a game of chess. It is now standard among all chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers...
    
     – The most common method of recording moves.
  • Descriptive chess notation
    Descriptive chess notation
    Descriptive notation is a notation for recording chess games, and at one time was the most popular notation in English-speaking and Spanish-speaking countries , . It was used in Europe until it was superseded by abbreviated algebraic notation, which was introduced by Philipp Stamma in 1737...
    
     – An obsolete method of recording moves, it was used in some English- and Spanish-speaking countries.
• Draw by agreement
  Draw by agreement
  In chess, a draw by agreement is the outcome of a game due to the agreement of both players to a draw. A player may offer a draw to his opponent at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. The relevant portion of the FIDE laws of chess is article 9.1...
  
   – The two players agree to call the game a draw.
• Time control
  Time control
  A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game clock...
  
   – Each player must complete either a specified number of moves or all of his moves before a certain time elapses on his game clock
  Game clock
  A game clock consists of two adjacent clocks and buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, such that the two component clocks never run simultaneously. Game clocks are used in two-player games where the players move in turn...
  
  .
• Touch-move rule – If a player touches his own piece, he must move it if it has a legal move. If he touches an opponent's piece, he must capture it if he can legally.

Minor variants

• Blindfold chess
  Blindfold chess
  Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
  
   – One or both players play without seeing the board and pieces.
• Chess handicap
  Chess handicap
  A handicap in chess is a way to enable a weaker player to have a chance of winning against a stronger one. There are many kinds of such handicaps, such as material odds, extra moves A handicap (or "odds") in chess is a way to enable a weaker player to have a chance of winning against a stronger...
  
   – One of the players gives a handicap to the other player, usually starting the game without a certain piece.
• Fast chess – Chess played with a time control limiting the players to a specified time of 60 minutes or less (as low as 1 minute).

Game play

• Blunder
  Blunder (chess)
  In chess, a blunder is a very bad move. It is usually caused by some tactical oversight, whether from time trouble, overconfidence or carelessness. While a blunder may seem like a stroke of luck for the opposing player, some chess players give their opponent plenty of opportunities to blunder.What...
  
   – a very bad move.
• Candidate move
  Candidate move
  In abstract strategy board games, candidate moves are moves which, upon initial observation of the position, seem to warrant further analysis. Although in theory the idea of candidate moves can be applied to games such as Checkers, Go, and Xiangqi, it is most often used in the context of chess.-...
  
   – move that upon initial observation of the position, warrants further analysis. Spotting these moves is the key to higher-level play.
• Compensation
  Compensation (chess)
  In chess, compensation refers to various advantages a player has in exchange for a disadvantage. The term normally refers to medium to long-term advantages as opposed to short-term advantages...
  
   – having positional advantages in spite of material disadvantages.
• Chess piece relative value – The relative value of chess pieces, as far as their power.
• Exchange
  Exchange (chess)
  In the tactics and strategy in the board game of chess, an exchange or trade of chess pieces is series of closely related moves, typically sequential, in which the two players capture each others pieces. Any types of pieces except the kings may possibly be exchanged, i. e. captured in an...
  
   – capturing a piece in return for allowing another piece to be captured.
  • The exchange
    The exchange (chess)
    The exchange in chess refers to a situation in which one player loses a minor piece but captures the opponent's rook. The side which wins the rook is said to have won the exchange, while the other player has lost the exchange, since the rook is usually more valuable...
    
     – the exchange of a bishop or knight for a rook. The rook is generally the stronger piece unless a player obtains other advantages for allowing the exchange.
• Initiative
  Initiative (chess)
  Initiative in a chess position belongs to the player who can make threats that cannot be ignored. He thus puts his opponent in the position of having to use his turns responding to threats rather than making his own. A player with the initiative will often seek to maneuver his pieces into more and...
  
   – situational advantage in which a player can make threats that cannot be ignored, forcing the opponent to use his turns to respond to threats rather than make his own.
• Premove
  Premove
  Premove, in internet chess, refers to the act of a player making a move before it is their turn to move. This option is available on chess websites such as the Internet Chess Club and the Free Internet Chess Server.-Description:...
  
   – Used in fast online games, it refers to a player making his next move while his opponent is thinking about his move. After the opponent's move, the premove will be made, if legal, taking only 0.1 seconds on the game clock.
• Priyome
  Priyome
  Priyome , also spelled "priem", is a Russian noun that is used directly and generically in English to represent some sort of typical maneuver or technique in chess. For example, a typical defensive technique in rook endings is to use the king to attack the opponent's pawns...
  
   – a typical maneuver or technique in chess.
• Ply
  Ply (game theory)
  In two-player sequential games, a ply refers to one turn taken by one of the players. The word is used to clarify what is meant when one might otherwise say "turn"....
  
   – half-turn, that is, one player's portion of a turn.
• Tempo
  Tempo (chess)
  In chess, tempo refers to a "turn" or single move. When a player achieves a desired result in one fewer move, he "gains a tempo" and conversely when he takes one more move than necessary he "loses a tempo"...
  
   – Basically having a move to make, but a player may want to lose a tempo.
• Time trouble
  Time trouble
  In chess played with a time control, time trouble, time pressure, or its German translation Zeitnot, is the situation where a player has little time to complete the required moves. When forced to play quickly, the probability of making blunders is increased, so handling the clock is an important...
  
   – having little thinking time in a timed game, thereby increasing the likelihood of making weak or losing moves or overlooking strong or winning moves.
• Transposition
  Transposition (chess)
  A transposition in chess is a sequence of moves that results in a position which may also be reached by another, more common sequence of moves. Transpositions are particularly common in opening, where a given position may be reached by different sequences of moves...
  
   – sequence of moves resulting in a position which may also be reached by another common sequence of moves. Transpositions are particularly common in opening
  Chess opening
  A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
  
  s, where a given position may be reached by different sequences of moves. Players sometimes use transpositions deliberately in order to avoid variations they dislike, lure opponents into unfamiliar or uncomfortable territory or simply to worry opponents.
• Zugzwang
  Zugzwang
  Zugzwang is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move...
  
   – a situation in which a player would prefer to pass and make no move, because he has no move that does not worsen his position.

Pawn structure

Pawn structure

Pawn structure

In chess, the pawn structure is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Since pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus largely determines the strategic nature of the position.-General observations:Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such...

 – Describes features of the positions of the pawns

• Backward pawn
  Backward pawn
  In chess, a backward pawn is a pawn that is behind the pawns of the same color on the adjacent files and that cannot be advanced without loss of material, usually the backward pawn itself....
  
   – A pawn that is not supported by other pawns and cannot advance.
• Connected pawns
  Connected pawns
  In chess, connected pawns are two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent files, as distinct from isolated pawns. These pawns are instrumental in creating pawn structure because, when diagonally adjacent, like the two rightmost white pawns, they form a pawn chain, a chain where the one behind...
  
   – Pawns of the same color on adjacent files so that they can protect each other.
• Doubled pawns
  Doubled pawns
  In chess, doubled pawns are two pawns of the same color residing on the same file. Pawns can become doubled only when one pawn captures onto a file on which another friendly pawn resides. In the diagram, the pawns on the b-file and e-file are doubled...
  
   – Pawns of the same color on the same file.
• Half-open file
  Half-open file
  In chess, a half-open file, or semi-open file, is a file with only pawns of one color. The half-open file can provide a line of attack for a player's rook or queen. A half-open file can only be used by the player with no pawns on it....
  
   – A file that has pawns of one color only.
• Isolated pawn
  Isolated pawn
  In chess, an isolated pawn is a pawn which has no friendly pawn on an adjacent file. An isolated queen's pawn is often called an isolani. Isolated pawns are usually a weakness because they cannot be protected by other pawns...
  
   – A pawn with no pawns of the same color on adjacent files.
• Maróczy Bind
  Maróczy Bind
  The Maróczy Bind is a pawn formation in chess, named after the Hungarian grandmaster Géza Maróczy and primarily, but not exclusively, played against the Sicilian Defence. It is characterized by white pawns on c4 and e4, with White's d-pawn having been exchanged for Black's c-pawn...
  
   – A formation with white pawns on c4 and e4, after the exchange of White's d-pawn for Black's c-pawn.
• Open file
  Open file
  An open file in chess is a file with no pawns of either color on it. In the diagram, the e-file is an open file. An open file can provide a line of attack for a rook or queen...
  
   – A file with void of pawns.
• Passed pawn
  Passed pawn
  In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth rank, i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on the same file nor on an adjacent file. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a passer...
  
   – A pawn that can advance to its eighth rank without being blocked by an opposing pawn and without the possibility of being captured by a pawn on an adjacent file.

Chess tactics

Chess tactics – a chess tactic is a sequence of moves which limits the opponent's options and may result in tangible gain. Tactics are usually contrasted with strategy, in which advantages take longer to be realized, and the opponent is less constrained in responding.

• Anti-computer tactics - tactics used by humans in games against computers that the program cannot handle very well
• Combination
  Combination (chess)
  In chess, a combination is a sequence of moves, often initiated by a sacrifice, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain. At most points in a chess game, each player has several reasonable options from which to choose, which makes it difficult to plan ahead except in...
  
   – A series of moves, often with an exchange or sacrifice, to achieve some advantage.
• Flight square
  Flight square
  In chess, a flight square or escape square is a safe place or a square to which a King or other piece can move if it is threatened. A bishop sometimes begins to get hemmed in after Morphy's defense is used, and thus pawn to c3 may be used to create an extra escape square.One way to get a king out...
  
   – A square that the king can retreat to, if attacked.

Fundamental tactics

Fundamental tactics include:

• Battery
  Battery (chess)
  A battery in chess is a formation that consists of two or more pieces on the same rank, file, or diagonal. It is a tactic involved in planning a series of captures to remove the protection of the opponent's king, or to simply gain in the exchanges...
  
   – two or more pieces that can move and attack along a shared path, situated on the same rank, file, or diagonal. E.g., the queen and a bishop, or the queen and a rook, or both rooks, or the queen and both rooks.
• Deflection
  Deflection (chess)
  Deflection in chess is a tactic that forces an opposing piece to leave the square, rank or file it occupies, thus exposing the king or a valuable piece. It is typically used in the context of a combination or attack, where the deflected piece is critical to the defence...
  
   –
• Discovered attack
  Discovered attack
  In chess, a discovered attack is an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess tactics, they succeed because the opponent is unable to meet...
  
   – moving a piece uncovers an attack by another piece along a straight line
• Fork
  Fork (chess)
  In chess, a fork is a tactic that uses a single piece to attack multiple pieces at the same time. The attacker usually hopes to gain material by capturing one of the opponent's pieces. The defender often finds himself in a difficult position in which he cannot counter all threats. The attacking...
  
   – an attack on two or more pieces by one piece
• Interference
  Interference (chess)
  Interference occurs when the line between an attacked piece and its defender is interrupted by sacrificially interposing a piece. It is a chess tactic which seldom arises, and is therefore often overlooked...
  
   –
• Overloading
  Overloading (chess)
  Overloading is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is given an additional defensive assignment which it cannot complete without abandoning its original defensive assignment.-Example:...
  
   – giving a defensive piece an additional defensive assignment which it cannot complete without abandoning its original defensive assignment.
• Pin
  Pin (chess)
  In chess, a pin is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece on its other side to capture by the attacking piece...
  
   – a piece is under attack and either cannot legally move because it would put its king in check or should not move because it will allow an attack on a more valuable piece.
• Skewer
  Skewer (chess)
  In chess, a skewer is an attack upon two pieces in a line and is similar to a pin. In fact, a skewer is sometimes described as a "reverse pin"; the difference is that in a skewer, the more valuable piece is in front of the piece of lesser or equal value...
  
   – if a piece under attack moves it will allow an attack on another piece
• Undermining
  Undermining (chess)
  Undermining is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is captured, leaving one of the opponent's pieces undefended or underdefended. The opponent has the unpalatable choice between recapturing or saving the underdefended piece...
  
   – capturing a defensive piece, leaving one of the opponent's pieces undefended or underdefended. Also known as "removal of the guard".

Offensive tactics

• Battery
  Battery (chess)
  A battery in chess is a formation that consists of two or more pieces on the same rank, file, or diagonal. It is a tactic involved in planning a series of captures to remove the protection of the opponent's king, or to simply gain in the exchanges...
  
   – two or more pieces that can move and attack along a shared path, situated on the same rank, file, or diagonal. E.g., the queen and a bishop, or the queen and a rook, or both rooks, or the queen and both rooks.
  • Alekhine's gun
    Alekhine's gun
    Alekhine's gun is a formation in chess named after the former World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine. This formation was named after a game he played against another illustrious Grandmaster, Aaron Nimzowitsch in San Remo 1930, ending with Alekhine’s victory. The idea consists of placing the two...
    
     – formation named after the former World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine, which consists of placing the two rooks stacked one behind another and the queen at the rear.
• Cross-check
  Cross-check
  This article is about a type of move in chess. Cross checking is also a penalty in ice hockey.In chess, a cross-check is a tactic in which a check played in response to a check, especially when the original check is blocked by a piece that itself either delivers check or reveals a discovered check...
  
   – tactic in which a check played in response to a check, especially when the original check is blocked by a piece that itself either delivers check or reveals a discovered check from another piece.
• Decoy
  Decoy (chess)
  In chess, decoying is the tactic of ensnaring a piece, usually the king or queen, by forcing it to move to a poisoned square with a sacrifice on that square....
  
   – ensnaring a piece, usually the king or queen, by forcing it to move to a poisoned square with a sacrifice on that square.
• Deflection
  Deflection (chess)
  Deflection in chess is a tactic that forces an opposing piece to leave the square, rank or file it occupies, thus exposing the king or a valuable piece. It is typically used in the context of a combination or attack, where the deflected piece is critical to the defence...
  
   – forces an opposing piece to leave the square, rank or file it occupies, thus exposing the king or a valuable piece.
• Discovered attack
  Discovered attack
  In chess, a discovered attack is an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess tactics, they succeed because the opponent is unable to meet...
  
   – attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another.
  • Discovered check – a discovered attack that is also a check
• Domination
  Domination (chess)
  In chess, and particularly in endgame studies, domination occurs when a piece has a relatively wide choice of destination squares, but nevertheless cannot avoid being captured....
  
   – occurs when a piece has a relatively wide choice of destination squares, but nevertheless cannot avoid being captured.
• Double attack –
  • Double check
    Double check
    In chess, a double check is a check delivered by two pieces at the same time. In chess notation, it is often symbolized by "++".-Discussion:...
    
     – a check delivered by two pieces at the same time. In chess notation, it is often symbolized by "++".
• Fork
  Fork (chess)
  In chess, a fork is a tactic that uses a single piece to attack multiple pieces at the same time. The attacker usually hopes to gain material by capturing one of the opponent's pieces. The defender often finds himself in a difficult position in which he cannot counter all threats. The attacking...
  
   – When a piece attacks two or more enemy pieces at the same time
• Interference
  Interference (chess)
  Interference occurs when the line between an attacked piece and its defender is interrupted by sacrificially interposing a piece. It is a chess tactic which seldom arises, and is therefore often overlooked...
  
   – interrupting the line between an attacked piece and its defender by sacrificially interposing a piece. Opportunities for interference are rare because the defended object must be more valuable than the sacrificed piece, and the interposition must itself represent a threat.
• King walk
  King walk
  In chess, a king walk, also known as a steel king or fighting king, refers to occasions where the king travels up the board, often in the context of its active involvement in the mating attack against the opposing king...
  
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• Outpost
  Outpost (chess)
  An outpost is a square which is protected by a pawn and which cannot be attacked by an opponent's pawn. In the figure to the right, c4 is an outpost, occupied by White's knight...
  
   –
• Overloading
  Overloading (chess)
  Overloading is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is given an additional defensive assignment which it cannot complete without abandoning its original defensive assignment.-Example:...
  
   – giving a defensive piece an additional defensive assignment which it cannot complete without abandoning its original defensive assignment.
• Pin
  Pin (chess)
  In chess, a pin is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece on its other side to capture by the attacking piece...
  
   – a piece is under attack and either cannot legally move because it would put its king in check or should not move because it will allow an attack on a more valuable piece.
• Sacrifice
  Sacrifice (chess)
  In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....
  
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  • Queen sacrifice
    Queen sacrifice
    In chess, a queen sacrifice is a move giving up a queen in return for tactical or positional compensation.-Queen sacrifice: real versus sham:...
    
     –
• Swindle
  Swindle (chess)
  In chess, a swindle is a ruse by which a player in a losing position tricks his opponent, and thereby achieves a win or draw instead of the expected loss. It may also refer more generally to obtaining a win or draw from a clearly losing position. I. A. Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld distinguish among...
  
   – a ruse
  Deception
  Deception, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, bad faith, and subterfuge are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true, or not the whole truth . Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand. It can employ distraction, camouflage or concealment...
  
   by which a player in a losing position tricks his opponent, and thereby achieves a win or draw
  Draw (chess)
  In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
  
   instead of the expected loss. It may also refer more generally to obtaining a win or draw from a clearly losing position.
• Triangulation
  Triangulation (chess)
  Triangulation is a tactic used in chess to put one's opponent in zugzwang. That is, it gets to the same position with the other player to move, when it is a disadvantage for that player to move, e.g. he has to give up a blockade and let the other player penetrate his position...
  
   – A technique of making three moves to wind up in the same position while the opponent has to make two moves to wind up in the same position. The reason is to lose a tempo and put the opponent in zugzwang.
• Undermining
  Undermining (chess)
  Undermining is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is captured, leaving one of the opponent's pieces undefended or underdefended. The opponent has the unpalatable choice between recapturing or saving the underdefended piece...
  
   – capturing a defensive piece, leaving one of the opponent's pieces undefended or underdefended. Also known as "removal of the guard".
• Windmill
  Windmill (chess)
  In chess, a windmill is a tactic in which a combination of discovered checks and regular checks, usually by a rook and a bishop, can win massive amounts of material. This tactic is also sometimes referred to as a see-saw...
  
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• X-ray attack
  X-ray (chess)
  In chess, the term X-ray or X-ray attack is sometimes used as a synonym for skewer. The term is also sometimes used to refer to a tactic where a piece either indirectly attacks an enemy piece through another piece or pieces or defends a friendly piece through an enemy piece.The second usage is...
  
   –
• Zwischenzug
  Zwischenzug
  The zwischenzug is a chess tactic in which a player, instead of playing the expected move first interpolates another move, posing an immediate threat that the opponent must answer, then plays the expected move...
  
   ("Intermediate move") – To make an intermediate move before the expected move to gain an advantage.

Checkmate patterns

Checkmate pattern –

• Back-rank checkmate – A checkmate accomplished by a rook or queen on the opponent's first rank, because the king is blocked in by its own pieces.
• Bishop and knight checkmate
  Bishop and knight checkmate
  The bishop and knight checkmate in chess is the checkmate of a lone king which can be forced by a bishop, knight, and king. With the stronger side to move and with perfect play, checkmate can be forced in at most thirty-three moves from any starting position where the defender cannot quickly win...
  
   – A fundamental checkmate with a minimum amount of material.
• Boden's Mate
  Boden's Mate
  Boden's Mate is a checkmating pattern in chess characterized by bishops on two criss-crossing diagonals , with possible flight squares for the king being occupied by friendly pieces. Most often the checkmated king has castled queenside, and is mated on c8 or c1...
  
   – A checkmate pattern characterized by a king being mated by two bishops on criss-crossing diagonals, with possible flight squares blocked by friendly pieces.
• Fool's mate
  Fool's mate
  Fool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. A prime example consists of the moves:leading to the position shown...
  
   – The shortest possible checkmate, on Black's second move. It is rare in practice.
• Scholar's mate
  Scholar's mate
  In chess, Scholar's Mate is the checkmate achieved by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6? 4. Qxf7#. The moves might be played in a different order or in slight variation, but the basic idea is the same—the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack on f7 .Sometimes Scholar's Mate is...
  
   – A checkmate in as few as four moves by a player accomplished by a queen supported by a bishop (usually) in an attack on the f7 or f2 square. It is fairly common at the novice level.
• Smothered mate
  Smothered mate
  In chess, a smothered mate is a checkmate delivered by a knight in which the mated king is unable to move because he is surrounded by his own pieces....
  
   – A checkmate accomplished by only a knight because the king's own pieces occupy squares to which it would be able to escape.

Defensive tactics

• Artificial castling
  Artificial castling
  In chess, artificial castling refers to a maneuver in which a king which has lost the right to castle, achieves a castled position in several normal moves, instead of the one special move.-Examples:...
  
   – Taking several moves to get the king to the position it would be in if castling could have been done.
• Blockade – To block a passed pawn with a piece.
• Luft
  Luft
  Luft, the German word for "air" , is used by some chess writers and commentators to denote a space left by a pawn move into which a castled king may move, especially such a space made with the intention of avoiding a back rank checkmate. A move leaving such a space is often said to "give the king...
  
   – German for "air", meaning squares available for the king to escape an attack, typically through a fortress.

Possible responses to an attack

• Capture the attacking piece
• Move the attacked piece
• Interpose another piece in between the two
• Guard the attacked piece and permit an exchange
  Exchange (chess)
  In the tactics and strategy in the board game of chess, an exchange or trade of chess pieces is series of closely related moves, typically sequential, in which the two players capture each others pieces. Any types of pieces except the kings may possibly be exchanged, i. e. captured in an...
  
  
• Pin the attacking piece so the capture becomes illegal or unprofitable
• Use a zwischenzug
• Create a counter-threat

Chess strategy

Chess strategy –

• Corresponding squares
  Corresponding squares
  Corresponding squares in chess occur in some chess endgames, usually ones that are mostly blocked. If squares x and y are corresponding squares, it means that if one player moves to x then the other player must move to y in order to hold his position...
  
   – Usually used as a tool in king and pawn endgames, a pair of corresponding squares are such that if one king is on one of them, the opposing king needs to be on the other.
• Fianchetto
  Fianchetto
  In chess the fianchetto is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent knight file, the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward....
  
   – Moving the pawn in front of the knight and placing the bishop on that square.
• Permanent brain
  Permanent brain
  In turn-based games, permanent brain is the act of thinking during the opponent's turn.Turn-based games such as chess have a weakness: one of the players can spend too much time thinking. Time control solves this problem: each player receives certain amount of time for thinking...
  
   – Thinking when it is the opponent's turn to move.
• Prophylaxis
  Prophylaxis (chess)
  In the game of chess, prophylaxis or a prophylactic move is a move that stops the opponent from taking action in a certain area for fear of some type of reprisal. Prophylactic moves are aimed at not just improving one's position, but preventing the opponent from improving their own...
  
   – A move that prevents some tactical moves by the opponent.
• First-move advantage in chess
  First-move advantage in chess
  The first-move advantage in chess is the inherent advantage of the player who makes the first move in chess. Chess players and theorists generally agree that White begins the game with some advantage. Statistics compiled since 1851 support this view, showing that White consistently wins slightly...
  
   – The theory that White's having the first move gives him an advantage.

Schools of chess

School of chess

School of chess

A school of chess means a chess player or group of players that share common ideas about the strategy of the game. There have been several schools in the history of modern chess. Today there is less dependence on schools – players draw on many sources and play according to their personal...

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• Modenese Masters
  Modenese Masters
  The Modenese Masters are three 18th-century chess masters and writers:* Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani * Ercole del Rio and* Giambattista Lolli ....
  
   – A school of chess thought based on teachings of 18th century Italian masters, it emphasized an attack on the opposing king.
• Hypermodernism
  Hypermodernism (chess)
  Hypermodernism is a school of chess that emerged after World War I. It featured challenges on the chess ideologies presented by central European masters, such as on Wilhelm Steinitz’ approach to the centre. It also challenged in particular the dogmatic rules set down by Siegbert Tarrasch...
  
   – A school of thought based on ideas of some early 20th century masters. Rather than occupying the center of the board with pawns in the opening, control the center by attacking it with knights and bishops from the side.

Game phases

1. Chess opening
   Chess opening
   A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
   
    – The first phase of the game, where pieces are developed before the main battle begins.
2. Chess middlegame – The second phase of the game, usually where the main battle is. Many games end in the middlegame.
3. Chess endgame – The third and final phase of the game, where there are only a few pieces left.

Chess openings

Chess opening

Chess opening

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...

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• Checkmates in the opening
  Checkmates in the opening
  In chess, checkmates in the opening are examples of a player being checkmated during the first few moves of the game . Some common or notable mating patterns have names of their own...
  
   –
  • Fool's mate
    Fool's mate
    Fool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. A prime example consists of the moves:leading to the position shown...
    
     –
  • Scholar's mate
    Scholar's mate
    In chess, Scholar's Mate is the checkmate achieved by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6? 4. Qxf7#. The moves might be played in a different order or in slight variation, but the basic idea is the same—the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack on f7 .Sometimes Scholar's Mate is...
    
     –
  • Smothered mate
    Smothered mate
    In chess, a smothered mate is a checkmate delivered by a knight in which the mated king is unable to move because he is surrounded by his own pieces....
    
     –
  • Back rank checkmate
    Back rank checkmate
    In chess, a back-rank checkmate is a checkmate delivered by a rook or queen along a back rank in which the mated king is unable to move up the board because the king is blocked by friendly pieces on the second rank . A typical position is shown to the right...
    
     –
  • Boden's mate
    Boden's Mate
    Boden's Mate is a checkmating pattern in chess characterized by bishops on two criss-crossing diagonals , with possible flight squares for the king being occupied by friendly pieces. Most often the checkmated king has castled queenside, and is mated on c8 or c1...
    
     –
  • Epaulette mate –
  • Légal's mate –
• Chess Informant
  Chess Informant
  Chess Informant is a publishing company from Belgrade that periodically produces a book of the same name, as well as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings, Opening Monographs, other print publications, and software Chess Informant (Šahovski Informator) is a...
  
  
• Chess opening theory table
  Chess opening theory table
  A chess opening theory table or ECO table presents lines of moves, typically from the starting position. Notated chess moves are presented in the table from left to right...
  
  
• Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
  Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
  The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
  
  
• Gambit
  Gambit
  A gambit is a chess opening in which a player, most often White, sacrifices material, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. Some well-known examples are the King's Gambit , Queen's Gambit , and Evans Gambit...
  
   – A sacrifice of material (usually a pawn) to gain a positional advantage (usually faster development of pieces)
• List of chess openings
  • List of chess openings named after animals
  • List of chess openings named after people
  • List of chess openings named after places

e4 Openings

• King's Pawn Game
  King's Pawn Game
  The King's Pawn Game is any chess opening starting with the move:White opens with the most popular of the twenty possible opening moves. Though effective in winning for White , it is not as successful as the four next most common openings for White: 1.d4 , 1.Nf3 , 1.c4 , and 1.g3...
  
   – Games that start with White moving 1.e4.
  • Open Game – Games that start with 1.e4 followed by 1...e5 by Black.
  • Semi-Open Game
    Semi-Open Game
    A Semi-Open Game is a chess opening in which White plays 1.e4 and Black breaks symmetry immediately by replying with a move other than 1...e5.The Semi-Open Games are also called Single King Pawn Games, and are the complement of the Open Games or Double King Pawn Games which begin 1.e4 e5.-Popular...
    
     – Games that start with 1.e4 followed by a move other than 1...e5 by Black.

King's Knight Openings

King's Knight Opening

King's Knight Opening

The King's Knight Opening is a chess opening consisting of the moves:The opening is likely to continue into one of a number of other named openings, depending mainly on Black's second move.-Popular continuations:...

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• Damiano Defence
  Damiano Defence
  The Damiano Defence is a chess opening characterized by the opening moves#e4 e5#Nf3 f6?The ECO code for the Damiano Defence is C40 .-Details:...
  
  
• Elephant Gambit
  Elephant Gambit
  The Elephant Gambit is a rarely played chess opening beginning with the moves:...
  
  
• Evans Gambit
  Evans Gambit
  The Evans Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves:The gambit is named after the Welsh sea Captain William Davies Evans, the first player known to have employed it. The first game with the opening is considered to be Evans - McDonnell, London 1827, although in that game a slightly...
  
  
• Four Knights Game
  Four Knights Game
  The Four Knights Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The opening is fairly popular with beginners who strictly adhere to the opening principle: "Develop knights before bishops." It was one of the workhorses in the family of the Open Game, at even the highest levels, until World War...
  
  
• Giuoco Piano
  Giuoco Piano
  The Giuoco Piano is a chess opening beginning with the moves:Common alternatives to 3...Bc5 include 3...Nf6 , 3...Be7 , or 3...d6 .-History:...
  
  
• Greco Defence
  Greco Defence
  The Greco Defence , named after Gioachino Greco , is a chess opening beginning with the moves:The opening is categorized as ECO code C40.-Discussion:...
  
  
• Gunderam Defense
• Halloween Gambit
• Hungarian Defense
• Inverted Hungarian Opening
  Inverted Hungarian Opening
  The Inverted Hungarian Opening or Tayler Opening is an uncommon chess opening that starts with the movesThe Inverted Hungarian is even more rare than the already very uncommon Hungarian Defense, although it is perfectly playable for White....
  
  
• Irish Gambit
  Irish Gambit
  The Irish Gambit, Chicago Gambit, or Razzle Dazzle Gambit, is a weak chess opening that begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nxe5?, intending 3...Nxe5 4.d4. White's pawns occupy the center, but the sacrifice of a knight for a pawn is a very high price to pay. The gambit is accordingly considered unsound, and...
  
  
• Italian Gambit
  Italian Gambit
  The Italian Gambit is a chess opening characterized by the movesAfter 4...Bxd4 5.Nxd4 Nxd4, George Koltanowski favoured 6.0-0, which transposes to the related gambit line 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d4 following 6...Nf6, when 7.f4 and 7.Bg5 are the main possibilities for White. However, 6...d6!? is an independent...
  
  
• Italian Game
  Italian Game
  The Italian Game is a family of chess openings beginning with the moves:The game's defining move is the White king's bishop's move to c4 in preparation for an early attack on Black's vulnerable f7-square. As such the game is typified by aggressive play, where Black's best chances are often...
  
  
  • Italian Game, Blackburne Shilling Gambit
• Jerome Gambit
  Jerome Gambit
  The Jerome Gambit is a weak chess opening that is an offshoot of the Giuoco Piano. It is characterized by the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+? Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5. White sacrifices two pieces in hopes of exposing Black's king and obtaining a mating attack...
  
  
• Konstantinopolsky Opening
  Konstantinopolsky Opening
  The Konstantinopolsky Opening is a rarely played chess opening that begins with the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3.It was introduced in the game Konstantinopolsky–Ragozin, Moscow 1956....
  
  
• Latvian Gambit
  Latvian Gambit
  The Latvian Gambit is an aggressive but dubious chess opening, which often leads to wild and tricky positions. This opening is uncommon at the top level of over-the-board play, but some correspondence chess players are devoted to it...
  
  
• Petrov's Defence
  Petrov's Defence
  Petrov's Defence is a chess opening characterised by the following moves:Though this symmetrical response has a long history, it was first popularised by Alexander Petrov, a Russian chess player of the mid-19th century...
  
  
• Philidor Defence
  Philidor Defence
  The Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:It is named after the famous 18th-century player François-André Danican Philidor, who advocated it as an alternative to the common 2...Nc6...
  
  
• Ponziani Opening
  Ponziani Opening
  The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The opening is now considered inferior to 3.Bb5, the Ruy Lopez, and 3.Bc4, the Italian Game, and is accordingly rarely seen today at any level of play. Black's main responses are 3...Nf6, leading to quiet play, and 3...d5, leading...
  
  
• Rousseau Gambit
  Rousseau Gambit
  The Rousseau Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves:Key themes for White are to attack Black's kingside and to avoid attempts by Black to simplify the position...
  
  
• Ruy Lopez
  Ruy Lopez
  The Ruy Lopez, also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The opening is named after the 16th century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, who made a systematic study of this and other openings in the 150-page book on chess Libro del...
  
  
  • Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation
    Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation
    The Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation is a variation of the Ruy Lopez chess opening that begins with the moves:-ECO codes:There are two ECO classifications for the Exchange Variation. ECO code C68 covers 4...dxc6, with White's response of 5.d4 or 5.Nc3 to either capture...
    
    
• Scotch Game
  Scotch Game
  The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the movesWhite aims to dominate the centre by exchanging his d-pawn for Black's e-pawn. Black usually plays 3...exd4, as he has no good way to maintain his pawn on e5...
  
  
• Three Knights Opening
  Three Knights Opening
  The Three Knights Game is a chess opening which most commonly begins with the moves:-Black's third move:After tries such as 3...d6 or 3...Be7, White can play 4.d4, leaving Black with a cramped position resembling Philidor's Defense. If Black plays 3...Bc5 instead, White can eliminate Black's...
  
  
• Two Knights Defense
  Two Knights Defense
  The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensively developed in the 19th century....
  
  
  • Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack

Sicilian Defense

Sicilian Defence

Sicilian Defence

The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...

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• Chekhover Sicilian
  Chekhover Sicilian
  The Sicilian Chekhover Variation is a chess opening named after Vitaly Chekhover, from Chekhover–Lisitsin, Leningrad 1938. It is also sometimes called the Szily or Hungarian Variation. Although the Chekhover Variation is rarely played in grandmaster games, it is actually not uncommon among amateurs...
  
  
• Sicilian Defence, Accelerated Dragon
• Sicilian Defence, Alapin Variation
• Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation
  Sicilian Defence, Dragon Variation
  In chess, the Dragon Variation is one of the main lines of the Sicilian Defence and begins with the moves:The name "Dragon" was first coined by Russian chess master and amateur astronomer Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky who noted the resemblance of Black's kingside pawn structure to the constellation...
  
  
• Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation
  Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation
  The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of the most respected and deeply studied of all chess openings. Modern Chess Openings calls it the Cadillac or Rolls Royce of chess openings. The opening is named after the Polish-Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf...
  
  
• Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation
  Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation
  In the opening of a game of chess, the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of Black's most ambitious lines in the Open Sicilian...
  
  
• Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav attack, 9.Bc4
  Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav attack, 9.Bc4
  In chess, B77 is the ECO code for the Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 9.Bc4 chess opening. Also known as the Rauzer System or the St George Attack, the Yugoslav Attack begins with the following moves:...
  
  
• Smith-Morra Gambit
  Smith-Morra Gambit
  In chess, the Smith–Morra Gambit is an opening gambit against the Sicilian Defence distinguished by the moves:The Smith–Morra is not common in grandmaster games, but at club level chess it can be an excellent weapon.-History:...
  
  
• Wing Gambit
  Wing Gambit
  In chess, Wing Gambit is a generic name given to openings in which White plays an early b4, deflecting an enemy pawn or bishop from c5 so as to regain control of d4, an important central square...
  
  

Other e4 opening variations

• Alapin's Opening
  Alapin's Opening
  Alapin's Opening is an unusual chess opening that starts with the moves:Although this opening is rarely used, Ljubojević played against it at Groningen in 1970.Alapin's Opening is offbeat, but perfectly playable for White....
  
  
• Alekhine's Defence
  Alekhine's Defence
  Alekhine's Defence is a hypermodern chess opening that begins with the moves:Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad pawn centre, with plans to undermine and attack the White structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's imposing mass of pawns in the centre often includes...
  
  
• Bishop's Opening
  Bishop's Opening
  The Bishop's Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:White attacks Black's f7-square and prevents Black from advancing his d-pawn to d5....
  
  
• Balogh Defense
  Balogh Defense
  The Balogh Defense is an unusual chess opening beginning 1.e4 d6 2.d4 f5. It may also arise by transposition from the Staunton Gambit against the Dutch Defense, 1.d4 f5 2.e4!?, if Black declines the gambit with 2...d6.The defense is named for János Balogh , who was a Hungarian International Master...
  
  
• Caro-Kann Defence
  Caro-Kann Defence
  The Caro-Kann Defence is a chess opening —a common defense against the King's Pawn Opening characterised by the moves:The usual continuation isfollowed by 3.Nc3 , 3.Nd2 , 3.exd5 , or 3.e5 . The classical variation has gained much popularity...
  
  
• Center Game
  Center Game
  The Center Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The game usually continues 3.Qxd4 Nc6, developing with a gain of tempo due to the attack on the white queen....
  
  
• Danish Gambit
  Danish Gambit
  The Danish Gambit, known as the in German, and the in Dutch, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:...
  
  
• Falkbeer Countergambit
  Falkbeer Countergambit
  The Falkbeer Countergambit is a chess opening that begins:In this aggressive countergambit, Black disdains the pawn offered as a sacrifice, instead opening the centre to exploit White's kingside weakness. After the standard capture, 3. exd5, Black may reply with 3.....
  
  
• Fischer Defense
  Fischer Defense
  The Fischer Defense to the King's Gambit is a chess opening variation that begins with the moves:-History:After Bobby Fischer lost a 1960 game at Mar del Plata to Boris Spassky, in which Spassky played the Kieseritzky Gambit, Fischer left in tears and promptly went to work at devising a new defense...
  
  
• Frankenstein-Dracula Variation
  Frankenstein-Dracula Variation
  The Frankenstein–Dracula Variation is a chess opening, usually considered a branch of the Vienna Game, but can also be reached from the Bishop's Opening...
  
  
• French Defence
  French Defence
  The French Defence is a chess opening. It is characterised by the moves:The French has a reputation for solidity and resilience, though it can result in a somewhat cramped game for Black in the early stages...
  
  
• King's Gambit
  King's Gambit
  The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves:White offers a pawn to divert the Black e-pawn so as to build a strong centre with d2–d4...
  
  
• Kingston Defence
  Kingston Defence
  The Kingston Defence or Franco-Dutch Defence is an uncommon chess opening. It is characterised by the opening moves:giving the position at right. . Its ECO classification is C01.The first record of the defence being played is Schiffers-Chigorin, 1880...
  
  
• Lopez Opening
  Lopez Opening
  The Lopez Opening or MacLeod Attack is a chess opening characterized by the movesWhite's second move prepares to push a pawn to d4, establishing a strong center. Play can potentially transpose to other openings, most likely the Ponziani Opening or the Göring Gambit in the Scotch Game...
  
  
• Modern Defense
  Modern Defense
  The Modern Defense is a hypermodern chess opening in which Black allows White to occupy the center with pawns on d4 and e4, then proceeds to attack and undermine this "ideal" center without attempting to occupy it himself...
  
  
• Monkey's Bum
  Monkey's Bum
  The Monkey's Bum is a variation of the Modern Defense, a chess opening. Although it may also be loosely defined as any approach against the Modern Defense involving an early Bc4 and Qf3, threatening "scholar's mate", it is strictly defined by the sequence of moves:The Monkey's Bum Deferred is a...
  
  
• Napoleon Opening
  Napoleon Opening
  The Napoleon Opening is an irregular chess opening starting withIt is a weak opening because it develops the queen too early and subjects it to attack, and deprives the knight of its best square....
  
  
• Nimzowitsch Defence
  Nimzowitsch Defence
  The Nimzowitsch Defence is a somewhat unusual chess opening, in which Black moves 1... Nc6 in reply to White's 1.e4. It is an example of a hypermodern opening where Black invites White to occupy the centre of the board at an early stage with pawns...
  
  
• Owen's Defence
• Parham Attack
  Parham Attack
  The Parham Attack is an irregular chess opening beginning with the moves:The opening is named after American chess master Bernard Parham, the first master-level player known to have advocated it...
  
  
• Pirc Defence
  Pirc Defence
  The Pirc Defence |grandmasters]]), sometimes known as the Ufimtsev Defence or Yugoslav Defence, is a chess opening characterised by Black responding to 1.e4 with 1...d6 and 2...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish an impressive-looking centre with pawns on d4 and e4...
  
  
  • Pirc Defence, Austrian Attack
    Pirc Defence, Austrian Attack
    - References :*...
    
    
• Portuguese Opening
  Portuguese Opening
  The Portuguese Opening is a chess opening that begins with the movesThe Portuguese is an uncommon opening.In contrast to the Ruy Lopez , by delaying Nf3 White leaves the f-pawn free to move and retains the possibility of playing f4...
  
  
• Rice Gambit
  Rice Gambit
  The Rice Gambit is a chess opening that arises from the King's Gambit Accepted. An offshoot of the Kieseritzky Gambit, it is characterized by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Bc4 d5 7. exd5 Bd6 8. O-O...
  
  
• Scandinavian Defense
  Scandinavian Defense
  The Scandinavian Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The Center Counter Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as being played between Francesco di Castellvi and Narciso Vinyoles in Valencia in 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess,...
  
  
• St. George Defence
• Vienna Game
  Vienna Game
  The Vienna Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves:White's second move is less common than 2.Nf3, and is also of more recent vintage; a book reviewer wrote in the New York Times in 1888 that "since Morphy only one new opening has been introduced, the 'Vienna.The original idea behind...
  
  

Queen's Gambit Openings

• Queen's Gambit
  Queen's Gambit
  The Queen's Gambit is a chess opening that starts with the moves:The Queen's Gambit is one of the oldest known chess openings. It was mentioned in the Göttingen manuscript of 1490 and was later analysed by masters such as Gioachino Greco in the seventeenth century...
  
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• Queen's Gambit Accepted
  Queen's Gambit Accepted
  The Queen's Gambit Accepted is a chess opening characterised by the moves:The Queen's Gambit is not considered a true gambit, in contradistinction to the King's Gambit, because the pawn is either regained, or can only be held unprofitably by Black...
  
  
• Queen's Gambit Declined
  Queen's Gambit Declined
  The Queen's Gambit Declined is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit:This is known as the Orthodox Line of the Queen's Gambit Declined...
  
  
• Albin Countergambit
  Albin Countergambit
  The Albin Countergambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves:and the usual continuation is:The opening is an uncommon defense to the Queen's Gambit. In exchange for the gambit pawn, Black has a central wedge at d4 and gets some chances for an attack...
  
  
• Baltic Defense
  Baltic Defense
  The Baltic Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The Baltic is an unusual variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. In most defenses to the QGD, Black has difficulties developing his queen bishop...
  
  
• Cambridge Springs Defense
  Cambridge Springs Defense
  In chess, the Cambridge Springs Defense is a variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined and begins with the moves:-Background:...
  
  
• Chigorin Defense
  Chigorin Defense
  The Chigorin Defense is a chess opening named for 19th century Russian grandmaster Mikhail Chigorin. An uncommonly played defense to the Queen's Gambit, it begins with the moves:The Chigorin Defense is a chess opening named for 19th century Russian grandmaster Mikhail Chigorin. An uncommonly...
  
  
• Marshall Defense
  Marshall Defense
  The Marshall Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Marshall Defense is a dubious variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined.It was played by Frank Marshall in the 1920s, but he gave it up after losing with it to Alekhine at Baden-Baden in 1925...
  
  
• Semi-Slav Defense
  Semi-Slav Defense
  The Semi-Slav Defense is a variation of the Queen's Gambit chess opening, defined by the position reached after the moves:For the Semi-Slav the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings designates codes D43 through D49.-Main variations:...
  
  
• Slav Defense
  Slav Defense
  The Slav Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Slav is one of the primary defenses to the Queen's Gambit. Although it was analyzed as early as 1590, it was not until the 1920s that it started to be explored extensively...
  
  
• Symmetrical Defense
  Symmetrical Defense
  The Symmetrical Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves:First described in print by Alessandro Salvio in 1604, the opening is often called the Austrian Defense because it was studied by Austrian chess players including Hans Haberditz , Hans Müller , and GM Ernst Grünfeld.The...
  
  
• Tarrasch Defense
  Tarrasch Defense
  The Tarrasch Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:With his third move, Black makes an aggressive bid for central space. After White plays cxd5 and dxc5, Black will be left with an isolated pawn on d5...
  
  

Indian Defense

Indian Defence –

• Black Knights' Tango
  Black Knights' Tango
  This ambitious move is playable but rarely seen. Black normally responds with 3...Ne5. Then after 4.e4 , Black struck back in the center with 4...Ng6 5.f4 e5 in the seminal game Sämisch-Torre, Moscow 1925. However, Orlov considers both Torre's fourth and fifth moves inferior...
  
  
• Bogo-Indian Defence
  Bogo-Indian Defence
  The Bogo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-Variations:White has three viable moves to meet the check. 4.Nc3 is a transposition to the Kasparov Variation of the Nimzo-Indian, therefore the main independent variations are 4.Bd2 and 4.Nbd2.-4...
  
  
• Budapest Gambit
• East Indian Defence
  East Indian Defence
  In chess, the East Indian Defence is an opening characterised by the move orderIf White plays an early c4, the opening will transpose into a King's Indian. It is also possible for White to support an early e4 advance, transposing into the Pirc Defence...
  
  
• Grünfeld Defence
  Grünfeld Defence
  The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The first instance of this opening is in an 1855 game by Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from Indian chess rules, playing black against John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4...
  
  
  • Grünfeld Defence, Nadanian Variation
    Grünfeld Defence, Nadanian Variation
    The Nadanian Variation of the Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:The variation is named after the Armenian International Master Ashot Nadanian, who first employed it in 1996...
    
    
• King's Indian Defence
  King's Indian Defence
  The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6.The Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening...
  
  
  • King's Indian Defence, Four Pawns Attack
• Neo-Indian Attack
  Neo-Indian Attack
  The Neo-Indian Attack is a chess opening defined by the opening moves1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Bg5.This opening is also known as the Seirawan attack, after top 1980s player Yasser Seirawan....
  
  
• Nimzo-Indian Defence
  Nimzo-Indian Defence
  The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:This hypermodern opening was developed by Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch who introduced it to master-level chess in the early 20th century. Unlike most Indian openings the Nimzo-Indian does not involve an immediate fianchetto,...
  
  
• Old Indian Defense
  Old Indian Defense
  The Old Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the moves:This opening is distinguished from the King's Indian Defense by Black developing his king's bishop on e7 rather than fianchettoing it at g7...
  
  
• Queen's Indian Defense
  Queen's Indian Defense
  The Queen's Indian Defense is a chess opening defined by the movesBy playing 3.Nf3, White sidesteps the Nimzo-Indian Defense that arises after 3.Nc3 Bb4. The Queen's Indian is regarded as the sister opening of the Nimzo-Indian, since both openings aim to impede White's efforts to gain full control...
  
  
• Torre Attack
  Torre Attack
  The Torre Attack is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The opening is named after the Mexican grandmaster Carlos Torre Repetto. The variation was also employed by Savielly Tartakower, and the young Tigran Petrosian on occasion...
  
  
• Trompowsky Attack

Other d4 opening variations

• Alapin-Diemer Gambit
  Alapin-Diemer Gambit
  The Alapin-Diemer Gambit is a variation of the Diemer-Duhm Gambit declined and is characterized by the moves The Alapin-Diemer Gambit is a variation of the Diemer-Duhm Gambit declined and is characterized by the moves...
  
  
• Benko Gambit
  Benko Gambit
  The Benko Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defense arising after:- Origin and predecessors :The idea of sacrificing a pawn with ...b5 and ...a6 is quite old. Karel Opočenský applied the idea against, among others, Gideon Ståhlberg at Poděbrady 1936, Paul...
  
  
• Benoni Defense
  Benoni Defense
  The Benoni Defense is a group of chess openings generally characterized by the opening moves 1. d4 c5 2. d5, although Black's ...c5 and White's answer d5 are often delayed. The most usual opening sequence for the Benoni is 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5...
  
  
• Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
  Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
  The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit is a chess opening characterized by the moves:- History :The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit arose as a development of the earlier Blackmar Gambit, named after Armand Blackmar, a relatively little-known New Orleans player of the late 19th century who popularized its...
  
  
• Blumenfeld Gambit
  Blumenfeld Gambit
  The Blumenfeld Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves 3...e6 4.Nf3 b5 in the Benoni Defence arising after-Origin:The opening is named after the Russian master Benjamin Blumenfeld, and was later played by World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine....
  
  
• Catalan Opening
  Catalan Opening
  The Catalan is a chess opening which can be considered to be White adopting a mixture of the Queen's Gambit and Réti Opening: White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2, though the opening can arise from a large number...
  
  
• Diemer-Duhm Gambit
  Diemer-Duhm Gambit
  The Diemer-Duhm Gambit is a variation of the French Defense and is characterized by the movesThe opening is named after the German master Emil Josef Diemer and the German-Swiss master Andreas Duhm....
  
  
• Dutch Defence
  Dutch Defence
  The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:Elias Stein , an Alsatian who settled in The Hague, recommended the defence as the best reply to 1.d4 in his 1789 book Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs, avec des réflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu.-Theory:Black's 1.....
  
  
• English Defence
  English Defence
  The English Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6. White often gains a broad pawn centre with 3.e4, which Black puts pressure on with moves like ...Bb7, ...Bb4, and sometimes even ...Qh4 and/or ...f5. It was developed by the Leicester player P.N...
  
  
• Englund Gambit
  Englund Gambit
  The Englund Gambit is a rarely played chess opening that starts with the moves:Black's idea is to avoid the traditional closed queen's pawn games and create an open game with tactical chances, but at the cost of a pawn. The gambit is considered weak; Boris Avrukh writes that 1...e5 "seems to me...
  
  
• Keres Defence
• London System
  London System
  The London System is a complex of related chess openings that begin with 1.d4 followed by an early Bf4. The London System requires very little knowledge of opening theory and normally results in a very closed game...
  
  
• Queen's Knight Defense
  Queen's Knight Defense
  The Queen's Knight Defense is a chess opening defined by the moves:...
  
  
• Polish Defense
  Polish Defense
  The Polish Defense is the name commonly given to one of several sequences of chess opening moves characterized by an early ...b5 by Black. The name "Polish Defense" is given by analogy to the so-called Polish Opening , 1.b4. The original line wasas played by Alexander Wagner, a Polish player and...
  
  
• Richter-Veresov Attack
  Richter-Veresov Attack
  The Richter–Veresov Attack is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The opening was named after the German International Master Kurt Richter and later the Soviet master Gavriil Veresov, who played it frequently for over a quarter of a century.Along with the Trompowsky Attack, Colle System,...
  
  
• Staunton Gambit
  Staunton Gambit
  The Staunton Gambit is a chess opening characterized by the moves:Black can decline the gambit with 2...d6, transposing to the Balogh Defence; or 2...e6, transposing to the Kingston Defence...
  
  
• Wade Defence

Flank openings

• Benko's Opening
  Benko's Opening
  Benko's Opening , is a chess opening characterized by the moveIt is named after Pal Benko, who used 1.g3 to defeat Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal in rounds one and three of the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao, part of the 1963 World Championship...
  
  
• Bird's Opening
  Bird's Opening
  Bird's Opening is a chess opening characterised by the move:Bird's is a standard but never popular flank opening. White's strategic ideas involve control of the e5-square without occupying it, but his first move is also non-developing and slightly weakens his kingside...
  
  
• English Opening
  English Opening
  In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the...
  
  
• Flank opening
  Flank opening
  A flank opening is a chess opening played by White and typified by play on one or both flanks ....
  
  
• Larsen's Opening
  Larsen's Opening
  Larsen's Opening is a chess opening starting with the move:It is named after the Danish Grandmaster Bent Larsen...
  
  
• Réti Opening
  Réti Opening
  The Réti Opening is a hypermodern chess opening whose traditional or classic method begins with the moves:White plans to bring the d5-pawn under attack from the flank, or entice it to advance to d4 and undermine it later...
  
  
• Zukertort Opening

Irregular Openings

• Amar Opening
  Amar Opening
  The Amar Opening, Paris Opening, Drunken Knight Opening, or Ammonia Opening is a chess opening defined by the moveThis opening is sometimes known as the Ammonia Opening, since NH3 is the chemical formula for ammonia. The Parisian amateur Charles Amar played it in the 1930s...
  
  
• Anderssen's Opening
  Anderssen's Opening
  Anderssen's Opening is a chess opening defined by the opening moveIt is named after unofficial World Chess Champion Adolf Anderssen, who played it three times in his 1858 match against Paul Morphy...
  
  
• Barnes Opening
  Barnes Opening
  Barnes Opening or Gedult's Opening is a chess opening where White opens withIt is considered an irregular opening, so it is classified under the A00 code in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings....
  
  
• Clemenz Opening
  Clemenz Opening
  The Clemenz Opening is a chess opening described in algebraic chess notation asIt is named after Hermann Clemenz , an Estonian player...
  
  
• Desprez Opening
  Desprez Opening
  The Desprez Opening is a chess opening characterized by the opening moveThe opening is named after the French player Marcel Desprez. Like a number of other rare openings, 1.h4 has some alternate names such as "Kadas Opening", "Anti-Borg Opening", "Samurai Opening", and "Reagan's Attack". Gabor...
  
  
• Dunst Opening
  Dunst Opening
  The Dunst Opening is a chess opening where White opens with the move:This fairly uncommon opening may have more names than any other: it is also called the Heinrichsen Opening, Baltic Opening, van Geet's Opening, Sleipnir Opening, Kotrč's Opening, Meštrović Opening, Romanian Opening, Queen's...
  
  
• Durkin Opening
  Durkin Opening
  The Durkin Opening, also known as Durkin's Attack, or the Sodium Attack, is a very rarely played chess opening beginning with the move:...
  
  
• Grob's Attack
  Grob's Attack
  Grob's Attack is an unconventional chess opening where White immediately moves the king knight's pawn two squares ahead:-Discussion:The opening takes its name from Swiss International Master Henri Grob who analyzed it extensively and played hundreds of correspondence games with it...
  
  
• Irregular chess opening
• Mieses Opening
  Mieses Opening
  The Mieses Opening is a chess opening:It is named after the German-British grandmaster Jacques Mieses.White's 1.d3 releases his c1 bishop and makes a modest claim for the center, but since it does not stake out as large a share of the centre as 1.d4 does, it is not a popular opening move. Of the...
  
  
• Saragossa Opening
  Saragossa Opening
  The Saragossa Opening or Hempel's Opening is a chess opening defined by the opening moveThe name Saragossa Opening is derived from the Spanish city of Zaragoza...
  
  
• Sokolsky Opening
  Sokolsky Opening
  The Sokolsky Opening is an uncommon chess opening:According to various databases, out of the twenty possible first moves from White, 1.b4 ranks ninth in popularity...
  
  
• Van 't Kruijs Opening
  Van 't Kruijs Opening
  The Van 't Kruijs Opening is a chess opening defined by the moveIt is named after the Amsterdam player Maarten van 't Kruijs who won the sixth Dutch championship in 1878. As this opening move is rarely played, it is considered an irregular opening, and thus it is classified under the A00 code in...
  
  
• Ware Opening
  Ware Opening
  The Ware Opening or Meadow Hay Opening, is an uncommon chess opening in which White opens withIt is named after U.S. chess player Preston Ware, who often played uncommon openings...
  
  

Openings including a trap

• Fool's mate
  Fool's mate
  Fool's Mate, also known as the Two-Move Checkmate, is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess. A prime example consists of the moves:leading to the position shown...
  
  
• Scholar's mate
  Scholar's mate
  In chess, Scholar's Mate is the checkmate achieved by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6? 4. Qxf7#. The moves might be played in a different order or in slight variation, but the basic idea is the same—the queen and bishop combine in a simple mating attack on f7 .Sometimes Scholar's Mate is...
  
  
• Elephant Trap
  Elephant Trap
  In chess, the Elephant Trap is a faulty attempt by White to win a pawn in a popular variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. This simple trap has snared thousands of players, generally amateurs....
  
  
• Halosar Trap
  Halosar Trap
  The Halosar Trap is a chess opening trap in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit.The trap begins with the movesThe Halosar Trap is a chess opening trap in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit....
  
  
• Kieninger Trap
  Kieninger Trap
  The Kieninger Trap is a chess opening trap in the Budapest Gambit named after the German International Master Georg Kieninger, who used it in an offhand game against Godai at Vienna in 1925...
  
  
• Lasker Trap
  Lasker Trap
  The Lasker Trap is a chess opening trap in the Albin Countergambit, named after Emanuel Lasker, although it was first noted by Serafino Dubois . It is unusual in that it features an underpromotion as early as the seventh move....
  
  
• Légal Trap
  Légal Trap
  The Legal Trap, Blackburne Trap, also known as Legal Pseudo-Sacrifice and Legal Mate is a chess opening trap, characterized by a queen sacrifice followed by checkmate with minor pieces if Black accepts the sacrifice. The trap is named after Sire de Légal , a French player...
  
  
• Magnus Smith Trap
  Magnus Smith Trap
  The Magnus Smith Trap is a chess opening trap in the Sicilian Defence, named after three-time Canadian chess champion Magnus Smith ....
  
  
• Marshall Trap
  Marshall Trap
  The Marshall Trap is a chess opening trap in Petrov's Defence named after Frank Marshall.The trap begins with the movesThe Marshall Trap is a chess opening trap in Petrov's Defence named after Frank Marshall.The trap begins with the moves...
  
  
• Monticelli Trap
  Monticelli Trap
  The Monticelli Trap is a chess opening trap in the Bogo-Indian Defence, named for Italian champion Mario Monticelli from the game Monticelli versus Prokeš, Budapest 1926.The trap begins with the moves...
  
  
• Mortimer Trap
  Mortimer Trap
  The Mortimer Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez named after James Mortimer. The Mortimer Trap is a true trap in the sense that Black deliberately plays an inferior move hoping to trick White into making a mistake....
  
  
• Noah's Ark Trap
  Noah's Ark Trap
  The Noah's Ark Trap is a chess opening trap in the Ruy Lopez.The name is actually used to describe a family of traps in the Ruy Lopez in which a white bishop is trapped on the b3-square by black pawns.The origin of the name is uncertain....
  
  
• Rubinstein Trap
  Rubinstein Trap
  The Rubinstein Trap is a chess opening trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense.Black loses a pawn after Nxd5 due to the threat of his queen being trapped on the back rank by Bc7. The Rubinstein Trap is a chess opening trap in the Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense.Black loses a...
  
  
• Siberian Trap
  Siberian Trap
  The Siberian Trap is a chess opening trap. After a series of natural moves in the Smith-Morra Gambit of the Sicilian Defence, White can lose a queen...
  
  
• Tarrasch Trap
  Tarrasch Trap
  Tarrasch Trap refers to two different chess opening traps in the Ruy Lopez that are named for Siegbert Tarrasch.Unlike many variations that appear only in analysis, Tarrasch actually sprung his traps against masters in tournament games....
  
  
• Würzburger Trap
  Würzburger Trap
  The Würzburger Trap is a chess opening trap in the Vienna Gambit.It was named around 1930 for German banker Max Würzburger.The trap begins with the movesThe Würzburger Trap is a chess opening trap in the Vienna Gambit....
  
  

Endgame topics

Chess endgame – the phase of the game after the middlegame when there are few pieces left on the board

• Bare king
  Bare king
  In chess and related games, a bare king is a situation in which one player has only the king left on the board, while that player's fifteen other pieces have been captured....
  
   – situation in which one player has only the king left on the board.
• Checkmate patterns
  Checkmate patterns
  A checkmate pattern is a pattern of checkmate that occurs fairly frequently in chess. The diagrams that follow show the checkmates with White checkmating Black.-Anastasia's mate:...
  
   – Patterns of checkmate that occur reasonably often.
• Chess endgame literature
  Chess endgame literature
  Chess endgame literature refers to books and magazines about chess endgames. A bibliography of endgame books is below.Many chess writers have contributed to the theory of endgames over the centuries, including Ruy López de Segura, François-André Philidor, Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz, Johann...
  
   – Literature on chess endgames.
• Endgame study
  Endgame study
  An endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position—that is, one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find a way for one side to win or draw, as stipulated, against any moves the other side...
  
   – A composed position with a goal of either winning or drawing
• Endgame tablebase
  Endgame tablebase
  An endgame tablebase is a computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of a chess endgame position. It is typically used by a computer chess engine during play, or by a human or computer that is retrospectively analysing a game that has already been played.The tablebase...
  
   – A computer database of endgame positions giving optimal moves for both sides and the result of optimal moves (a win for one player or a draw).
• Fortress
  Fortress (chess)
  In chess, the fortress is an endgame drawing technique in which the side behind in material sets up a zone of protection around their king that cannot be penetrated by the opponent. This only works when the opponent does not have a passed pawn or cannot create one, unless that pawn can be stopped...
  
   – A position in which a player with weaker material is able to keep the stronger side at bay and draw the game instead of lose it.
• King and pawn versus king endgame – A fundamental endgame with a king and pawn versus a king.
  • Key square
    Key square
    In chess, particularly in endgames, a key square is a square such that if a player's king can occupy it, he can force some gain such as the promotion of a pawn or the capture of an opponent's pawn. Key squares are useful mostly in endgames involving only kings and pawns...
    
     – A square that a player needs to occupy (usually by the king in a king and pawn endgame) to achieve some goal.
• Lucena position
  Lucena position
  The Lucena position is one of the most famous and important positions in chess endgame theory, where one side has a rook and a pawn and the defender has a rook. It is fundamental in the rook and pawn versus rook endgame. If the side with the pawn can reach this type of position, he can forcibly...
  
   – A fundamental position with a king, rook, and pawn versus a king and rook, where the stronger side is able to force a win.
• Opposite-colored bishops endgame – Endgames in which each side has one bishop and the bishops are on opposite colors of the board.
• Opposition
  Opposition (chess)
  In chess, opposition is the situation occurring when two kings face each other on a rank or file, with only one square in between them. In such a situation, the player not having to move is said to "have the opposition" . It is a special type of zugzwang and most often occurs in endgames with...
  
   – When two kings face each other with one square in between (with generalizations).
• Pawnless chess endgame – Endgames without pawns.
• Philidor position
  Philidor position
  The Philidor position usually refers to an important chess endgame which illustrates a drawing technique when the defender has a king and rook versus a king, rook, and a pawn. It is also known as the third rank defense, because of the importance of the rook on the third rank cutting off the...
  
   – A fundamental position with a king and rook versus a king, rook, and pawn where the weaker side is able to force a draw.
• Prokeš maneuver
  Prokeš maneuver
  The Prokeš maneuver is a tactic in chess that enables a rook to draw against two advanced pawns in a chess endgame. Ladislav Prokeš composed an endgame study in 1939 which illustrated the Prokeš maneuver for the first time. The solution begins...
  
   – A maneuver from an endgame study that sometimes occurs in games.
• Queen and pawn versus queen endgame
  Queen and pawn versus queen endgame
  The queen and pawn versus queen endgame is a chess endgame in which both sides have a queen and one side has a pawn, which he is trying to promote. It is very complicated and difficult to play. Cross-checks are often used as a device to win the game by forcing the exchange of queens...
  
   – A difficult endgame with a queen and pawn versus a queen.
• Queen versus pawn endgame – A fundamental endgame with a queen versus an advanced pawn protected by its king.
• Réti endgame study
  Réti endgame study
  The Réti endgame study is a chess endgame study by Richard Réti. It was published in 1921 in Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten. It demonstrates how a king can make multiple threats and how it can take more than one path to a given location, using the same number of moves...
  
   – An endgame study illustrate how a king can pursue two goals at the same time.
• Rook and bishop versus rook endgame – A well-studied endgame with a rook and bishop versus a rook.
• Rook and pawn versus rook endgame – A fundamental and well-studied endgame with a rook and pawn versus a rook.
• Saavedra position
  Saavedra position
  The Saavedra position is one of the best known chess endgame studies. It is named after the Spanish priest Rev. Fernando Saavedra , who, while living in Glasgow in the late 19th century, spotted a win in a position previously thought to have been a draw...
  
   – An endgame study in which a surprising underpromotion leads to a win.
• Tarrasch rule
  Tarrasch rule
  The Tarrasch rule is a general principle that applies in the majority of chess middlegames and endgames. Siegbert Tarrasch stated the "rule" that rooks should be placed behind passed pawns – either yours or your opponent's...
  
   – A guideline that rooks should usually be placed behind passed pawns – both its own pawns and the opponent's.
• Two knights endgame – An endgame with two knights versus a lone king cannot force checkmate, but they may be able to force a win if the defender has a pawn.
• Wrong bishop
  Wrong bishop
  The wrong bishop is a situation in chess endgame when a bishop on the other color of square of the chessboard would either win a game instead of draw or salvage a draw from an inferior position...
  
   – A situation in some endgames where a player's bishop is on the wrong color of square to accomplish something, i.e. the result would be different if the bishop was on the other color.
• Wrong rook pawn
  Wrong rook pawn
  In chess endgames with a bishop, a pawn that is a rook pawn may be the wrong rook pawn. With a single bishop, the result of a position may depend on whether or not the bishop controls the square on the chessboard on which the pawn would promote. Since a side's rook pawns promote on...
  
   – And endgame situation very closely related to the wrong bishop, where having the other rook pawn would have a different result.

Correspondence chess

• Correspondence chess
  Correspondence chess
  Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
  
   –
  • Correspondence chess server
    Correspondence chess server
    A correspondence chess server is arguably the most convenient form of correspondence chess. Instead of players directly emailing moves to each other, the game is played on a clickable board on a web page, which keeps track of all the moves. The web server emails each player when it is his or her turn...
    
     – arguably the most convenient form of correspondence chess.

Competitive chess

• Chess around the world
  Chess around the world
  Chess is played all over the world and is organised in different chess federations. These are organised on a national, supranational and international level...
  
   –
• Chess rating system – A dynamic rating system based on a player's performance, with a higher number indicating a better player.
• Chess tournament
  Chess tournament
  A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition among serious players.Today, the most recognized chess...
  
   – A chess competition among several to many players.
  • Swiss-system tournament – A tournament format designed to handle a relatively large number of players playing a small number of rounds in a relatively short time.
  • Round-robin tournament
    Round-robin tournament
    A round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...
    
     – A tournament format for a small to moderate number of players in which each player plays each other table. It may be lengthy, depending on the number of rounds played.
  • Knockout tournament – A tournament format of several stages in which players are paired off and half are eliminated in each stage.
  • Internet Computer Chess Tournament
    Internet Computer Chess Tournament
    The Internet Computer Chess Tournament has been held annually since 2000 on the Internet Chess Club. Unlike other computer chess competitions, there are no travel requirements so there is usually broad participation...
    
     – A tournament for chess engines held over the Internet.
• FIDE World Rankings
  FIDÉ World Rankings
  The Fédération Internationale des Échecs is the organization that governs international chess competition. At two-month intervals, FIDEpublishes ratings of the best international chess players, as wellas a ranking of the top 100 active players...
  
   – A list of the highest-rated players in the world.
• Simultaneous exhibition
  Simultaneous exhibition
  A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...
  
   – A demonstration in which one player plays against a large number of opponents simultaneously.

Titles

Chess title –

• Grandmaster – the highest title other than World Champion
• International Master – lower title than Grandmaster
• FIDE Master – lower title than International Master
• Candidate Master – Lower title than FIDE Master
• Chess expert
  Chess expert
  Chess expert is a title given by the United States Chess Federation . It is awarded to chess players rated from 2000 to 2199. Players rated above that are masters while players below that are class players. Approximately 400,000 chess players have USCF ratings, of which approximately 4000 are rated...
  
   –
• Woman Grandmaster – Available to women only, lower requirements than Grandmaster
• Woman International Master – Available to women only, lower requirements than International Master
• Woman FIDE Master – Available to women only, lower requirements than FIDE Master
• Woman Candidate Master – Available to women only, lower requirements than Candidate Master
• International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster
  International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster
  International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a title created by the FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Now awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation.-American ICCGMs:* Hans Jack Berliner, GM 1968...
  
   –
• FIDE titles
  FIDE titles
  The World Chess Federation, FIDE , awards several performance-based titles to chess players. Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and norms . Once awarded, FIDE titles are held for life...
  
   – lifetime titles awarded by FIDE

History of chess

• Shatranj
  Shatranj
  Shatranj is an old form of chess, which came to the Western world from India. Modern chess has gradually developed from this game.-Etymology and origins:...
  
   – old form of chess, from which modern chess gradually developed, that came to the Western world from India via Sassanid Persia.
• Romantic chess
  Romantic chess
  Romantic chess was the style of chess prevalent in the 19th century. It was characterized by brash sacrifices and open, tactical games. Winning was secondary to winning with style, so much, in fact, that it was considered unsportsmanly to decline a gambit...
  
   –
• Café de la Régence
  Café de la Régence
  The Café de la Régence in Paris was an important European centre of chess in the 18th and 19th centuries. All important chess masters of the time played there.The Café' masters include, but are not limited to:*   Paul Morphy...
  
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• Human-computer chess matches
  Human-computer chess matches
  This article documents the progress of significant human-computer chess matches.Chess computers were first able to beat strong chess players in the late 1980s...
  
   –
  • Deep Blue (chess computer) –
    • Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov
      Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov
      Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov was a pair of famous six-game human-computer chess matches played between the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue and the World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. The first match was played in February 1996 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kasparov won the match 4–2, losing one...
      
      
      • Deep Blue – Kasparov, 1996, Game 1
      • Deep Blue – Kasparov, 1997, Game 6
• The Game of the Century
  The Game of the Century (chess)
  The Game of the Century usually refers to a chess game played between Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956. It was nicknamed "The Game of the Century" by Hans Kmoch in Chess Review...
  
  

Famous games

• Immortal Game
  Immortal game
  The Immortal Game was a chess game played by Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky on 21 June 1851 in London, during a break of the first international tournament. The very bold sacrifices made by Anderssen to finally secure victory have made it one of the most famous chess games of all time...
  
  
• Immortal losing game
  Immortal losing game
  The "Immortal Losing Game" is a chess game between the Soviet grandmaster David Bronstein and the Polish International Master Bogdan Śliwa played in 1957 in Gotha. The name is an allusion to the more famous Immortal Game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky...
  
  
• Immortal Zugzwang Game
  Immortal Zugzwang game
  The Immortal Zugzwang Game is a chess game between Friedrich Saemisch and Aron Nimzowitsch, played in Copenhagen 1923. It gained its name because the final position is sometimes considered a rare instance of zugzwang occurring in the middlegame...
  
  
• Evergreen game
  Evergreen game
  The Evergreen game is a famous chess game played in Berlin in 1852 between Adolf Anderssen and Jean Dufresne.Adolf Anderssen was one of the strongest players of his time, and was considered by many to be the world champion after winning the London 1851 tournament. Jean Dufresne, a popular author of...
  
  
• Polish Immortal
  Polish Immortal
  Polish Immortal is the name given to a chess game between Glinksberg and Miguel Najdorf played in Warsaw. The game is celebrated because of Black's sacrifice of all four of his minor pieces....
  
  
• Peruvian Immortal
  Peruvian Immortal
  The Peruvian Immortal is the name given to a spectacular chess game played by the Peruvian master Esteban Canal against an unknown amateur in a simultaneous exhibition he gave at Budapest in 1934...
  
  
• The Game of the Century
  The Game of the Century (chess)
  The Game of the Century usually refers to a chess game played between Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956. It was nicknamed "The Game of the Century" by Hans Kmoch in Chess Review...
  
  
• Lasker – Bauer, Amsterdam, 1889
• Morphy versus the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard (the Opera Game)
• Kasparov versus the World
  Kasparov versus The World
  Kasparov versus the World was a game of chess played in 1999 over the Internet. Conducting the white pieces, Garry Kasparov faced the rest of the world in consultation, with the World Team moves to be decided by plurality vote. Over 50,000 individuals from more than 75 countries participated in the...
  
  
• Poole versus HAL 9000

Years in chess

• 1914 in chess
  1914 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament - the tournament celebrated the 10th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Chess Society. President of the organizing committee was Peter Petrovich Saburov...
  
  
• 1915 in chess
  1915 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* Marshall Chess Divan started by Frank James Marshall. Forerunner to Marshall Chess Club.-Tournaments:* Triberg chess tournament won by Efim Bogoljubow ahead of Ilya Rabinovich and Peter Romanovsky, 1914/15...
  
  
• 1916 in chess
  1916 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* The 1st Isaac Rice Memorial Tournament – fourteen participants played in New York, from January 18 to February 4, 1916. Wealthy German–American inventor Isaac Leopold Rice was a lover of chess and a patron of chess competitions. The event included two stages . The...
  
  
• 1917 in chess
  1917 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* Seventh Triberg chess tournament - last tournament played by the "Russian" internees, held in Triberg im Schwarzwald, Germany, during World War I. The event was won jointly by Ilya Rabinovich and Alexey Selezniev ahead of Efim Bogoljubow and Samuil Weinstein...
  
  
• 1918 in chess
  1918 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* Ossip Bernstein was arrested and imprisoned by the Cheka in Odessa, during the Russian Civil War in 1918. Bernstein’s crime was his role as a legal advisor to bankers. There was no court trial. A minor official had a firing squad line up Bernstein and a number of other...
  
  
• 1932 in chess
  1932 in chess
  Events in chess in 1932:*Canadian Chess Federation replaces the Canadian Chess Association, and for the first time all major cities in Canada are represented....
  
  
• 1933 in chess
  1933 in chess
  Events in chess in 1933:*The 5th Chess Olympiad is held in Folkestone. The United States wins the gold medal, Czechoslovakia silver, and Sweden bronze....
  
  
• 1939 in chess
  1939 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* Last edition of Howard Staunton's The Chess-Player's Handbook is published.* 21 August-19 September 1939 - the 8th Chess Olympiad is held in Buenos Aires...
  
  
• 1940 in chess
  1940 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* 17 January 1940 - Dawid Przepiórka, Stanisław Kohn, Moishe Lowtzky, Achilles Frydman, Abkin, Młynek, Zahorski and many others were arrested at the Kwieciński Chess Café in Warsaw, and imprisoned at Daniłowiczowska Str....
  
  
• 1941 in chess
  1941 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* Basic Chess Endings by Reuben Fine was published.* 29 August 1941 - Gideon Ståhlberg played a 400 game simultaneous exhibition in Buenos Aires; 364 wins, 14 draws, 22 losses....
  
  
• 1942 in chess
  1942 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* 9–18 June 1942 - Salzburg 1942 chess tournament, Six Grandmasters' Tournament in the rooms of Mirabell Palace, organised by Ehrhardt Post, the Chief Executive of Nazi Grossdeutscher Schachbund, was won by Alexander Alekhine, followed by Paul Keres, Paul Felix Schmidt, Klaus...
  
  
• 1943 in chess
  1943 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* 9 March 1943 - Robert James Fischer born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, USA. His mother, Regina Wender, was a naturalized American citizen of Polish Jewish descent, born in Switzerland but raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Fischer's birth certificate listed...
  
  
• 1944 in chess
  1944 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* 27 June 1944 - Vera Manchik-Stevenson, first official Women's World Chess Champion , represented Russia , Czechoslovakia , and England , who was widowed the previous year, still holding the title, her younger sister, Olga Menchik-Rubery, and their mother were killed in a...
  
  
• 1945 in chess
  1945 in chess
  -Chess events in brief:* After 8 May 1945 – a lot of chess masters from Baltic republics and Ukraine fled to the West...
  
  
• 1962 in chess
  1962 in chess
  -Events:*March 8 – 5th Interzonal Tournament at Stockholm won by Bobby Fischer with 17.5/22. Tigran Petrosian and Efim Geller tied for 2nd–3rd with 15 points, Victor Korchnoi and Miroslav Filip tied for 4th–5th with 14 points...
  
  

• 1969 in chess
  1969 in chess
  -Top players:Provisional FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - 1969# Bobby Fischer 2720# Boris Spassky 2690# Viktor Korchnoi 2680# Mikhail Botvinnik 2660# Tigran Petrosian 2650# Bent Larsen 2630# Efim Geller 2620# Lajos Portisch 2620# Paul Keres 2610...
  
  
• 1970 in chess
  1970 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - 1970# Bobby Fischer 2720# Boris Spassky 2670# Viktor Korchnoi 2670# Efim Geller 2660# Bent Larsen 2650# Tigran Petrosian 2650# Mikhail Botvinnik 2640# Lev Polugaevsky 2640# Lajos Portisch 2630...
  
  
• 1971 in chess
  1971 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1971# Bobby Fischer 2740# Boris Spassky 2690# Viktor Korchnoi 2660# Bent Larsen 2660# Tigran Petrosian 2640# Lajos Portisch 2630# Mikhail Botvinnik 2630# Efim Geller 2630# Lev Polugaevsky 2630...
  
  
• 1972 in chess
  1972 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - July 1972# Bobby Fischer 2785# Boris Spassky 2660# Tigran Petrosian 2645# Lev Polugaevsky 2645# Viktor Korchnoi 2640# Lajos Portisch 2640# Anatoly Karpov 2630# Mikhail Botvinnik 2630# Mikhail Tal 2625...
  
  
• 1973 in chess
  1973 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1973# Bobby Fischer 2780# Mikhail Tal 2660# Anatoly Karpov 2660# Boris Spassky 2655# Viktor Korchnoi 2650# Lajos Portisch 2650# Tigran Petrosian 2640# Mikhail Botvinnik 2630# Lev Polugaevsky 2625...
  
  
• 1974 in chess
  1974 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1974# Bobby Fischer 2780# Anatoly Karpov 2660# Mikhail Tal 2660# Boris Spassky 2655# Viktor Korchnoi 2650# Lajos Portisch 2650# Tigran Petrosian 2640# Mikhail Botvinnik 2630# Lev Polugaevsky 2625...
  
  
• 1975 in chess
  1975 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1975# Bobby Fischer 2780# Anatoly Karpov 2705# Viktor Korchnoi 2665# Tigran Petrosian 2645# Lev Polugaevsky 2645# Mikhail Tal 2645# Lajos Portisch 2635# Bent Larsen 2625# Boris Spassky 2625...
  
  
• 1976 in chess
  1976 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1976# Anatoly Karpov 2695# Viktor Korchnoi 2670# Tigran Petrosian 2635# Lev Polugaevsky 2635# Boris Spassky 2630# Bent Larsen 2625# Lajos Portisch 2625# Efim Geller 2620# Ljubomir Ljubojevic 2620...
  
  
• 1988 in chess
  1988 in chess
  -Top players:Kasparov and Karpov remained the top two players in the world, positions that they had held since July 1982. Over the year, Dutch player Jan Timman and Alexander Beliavsky of the USSR moved up the list, whilst Andrei Sokolov from the USSR and Ljubomir Ljubojevic of Yugoslavia moved...
  
  
• 1989 in chess
  1989 in chess
  -Top players:Kasparov and Karpov remained the top two players in the world, positions that they had held since July 1982. Over the year, English players Nigel Short and Jonathan Speelman moved up the list, whilst Dutch player Jan Timman fell out of the top 10, having stood third in the January...
  
  
• 1990 in chess
  1990 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1990# Garry Kasparov 2800# Anatoly Karpov 2730# Jan Timman 2680# Vassily Ivanchuk 2665# Mikhail Gurevich 2645# Valery Salov 2645# Alexander Beliavsky 2640# Nigel Short 2635# Ulf Andersson 2630...
  
  
• 1991 in chess
  1991 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1991# Garry Kasparov 2800# Anatoly Karpov 2725# Boris Gelfand 2700# Vassily Ivanchuk 2695# Evgeny Bareev 2650# Mikhail Gurevich 2650# Jan Ehlvest 2650# Leonid Yudasin 2645# Valery Salov 2645...
  
  
• 1992 in chess
  1992 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1992# Garry Kasparov 2780# Anatoly Karpov 2725# Vassily Ivanchuk 2720# Nigel Short 2685# Viswanathan Anand 2670# Boris Gelfand 2665# Alexei Shirov 2655# Gata Kamsky 2655# Artur Yusupov 2655...
  
  
• 1993 in chess
  1993 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1993# Garry Kasparov 2805# Anatoly Karpov 2725# Vassily Ivanchuk 2710# Viswanathan Anand 2710# Boris Gelfand 2690# Vladimir Kramnik 2685# Alexei Shirov 2670# Evgeny Bareev 2670# Kiril Georgiev 2660...
  
  
• 1994 in chess
  1994 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1994# Garry Kasparov 2815# Anatoly Karpov 2740# Alexei Shirov 2715# Viswanathan Anand 2715# Vassily Ivanchuk 2710# Vladimir Kramnik 2710# Gata Kamsky 2695# Valery Salov 2685# Evgeny Bareev 2685...
  
  

• 1995 in chess
  1995 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1995#Garry Kasparov 2805#Anatoly Karpov 2765#Valery Salov 2715#Viswanathan Anand 2715#Vladimir Kramnik 2715#Alexei Shirov 2710#Gata Kamsky 2710#Boris Gelfand 2700#Vassily Ivanchuk 2700...
  
  
• 1996 in chess
  1996 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 by Elo rating - January 1996#Vladimir Kramnik 2775#Garry Kasparov 2775#Anatoly Karpov 2770#Vassily Ivanchuk 2735#Gata Kamsky 2735#Viswanathan Anand 2725#Veselin Topalov 2700#Boris Gelfand 2700#Alexei Shirov 2690...
  
  
• 1997 in chess
  1997 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 players by Elo rating - January 1997#Garry Kasparov 2795#Viswanathan Anand 2765#Anatoly Karpov 2760#Vladimir Kramnik 2740#Vassily Ivanchuk 2740#Veselin Topalov 2725#Gata Kamsky 2720#Boris Gelfand 2700#Alexei Shirov 2690...
  
  
• 1998 in chess
  1998 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 players by Elo rating - July 1998#Garry Kasparov 2815#Viswanathan Anand 2795#Vladimir Kramnik 2780#Vassily Ivanchuk 2730#Anatoly Karpov 2725#Alexei Shirov 2720#Gata Kamsky 2720#Michael Adams 2715#Peter Svidler 2710...
  
  
• 1999 in chess
  1999 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 players by Elo rating - January 1999;#Garry Kasparov 2812#Viswanathan Anand 2781#Vladimir Kramnik 2751#Alexei Shirov 2726#Alexander Morozevich 2723#Michael Adams 2716#Vasily Ivanchuk 2714#Peter Svidler 2713...
  
  
• 2000 in chess
  2000 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 players by Elo rating - July 2000;#Garry Kasparov 2849#Vladimir Kramnik 2770#Viswanathan Anand 2762#Alexander Morozevich 2756#Michael Adams 2755#Alexei Shirov 2746#Peter Leko 2743#Vassily Ivanchuk 2719#Veselin Topalov 2707...
  
  
• 2001 in chess
  2001 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 players by Elo rating - October 2001;#Garry Kasparov 2838#Vladimir Kramnik 2809#Viswanathan Anand 2770#Alexander Morozevich 2742#Peter Leko 2739#Veselin Topalov 2733#Michael Adams 2731#Vassily Ivanchuk 2731...
  
  
• 2002 in chess
  2002 in chess
  -Top players:FIDE top 10 players by Elo rating - October 2002;#Garry Kasparov 2836#Vladimir Kramnik 2809#Viswanathan Anand 2755#Michael Adams 2745#Veselin Topalov 2743#Peter Leko 2743#Ruslan Ponomariov 2743#Evgeny Bareev 2737...
  
  
• 2003 in chess
  2003 in chess
  -Deaths:*February 4 – Jaroslav Šajtar , 81, Czech Grandmaster and FIDE vice chairman.*May 10 – Milan Vukcevich , 66, Yugoslav/American International Master, Grandmaster of Chess Composition, and scientist....
  
  
• 2004 in chess
  2004 in chess
  -Deaths:*April 30 – Kazimierz Plater , 89, Polish International Master and several time Polish champion.*August 3 – Bryon Nickoloff , 48, Canadian International Master....
  
  
• 2005 in chess
  2005 in chess
  -Deaths:*January 2 – Arnold Denker , 90, American Grandmaster.*January 3 - Laszlo Vadasz , 56, Hungarian Grandmaster.*March 14 – Simon Webb , 55, British International Master, International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster, and chess writer.*April 9 – Dragoljub Minić , 68, Yugoslavian/Croation...
  
  
• 2006 in chess
  2006 in chess
  -May:*May 5 – The world's oldest living Grandmaster, Andor Lilienthal, celebrates his 95th birthday. In his career Lilienthal played World Champions Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, and Mikhail Botvinnik.- October :...
  
  
• 2007 in chess
  2007 in chess
  -January:*January 1 – Veselin Topalov lost 30 rating points but still tops the FIDE rating list at 2783. Viswanathan Anand is second at 2779 and Vladimir Kramnik is third at 2766. There is only one change in the players in the top eleven: Peter Svidler dropped from number 4 to number 12 with...
  
  
• 2008 in chess
  2008 in chess
  -January:* January 1 – Vladimir Kramnik gains 14 rating points to move from number three to head the FIDE top 100 players lists at 2799. Viswanathan Anand also at 2799 drops from first to second as he played fewer rated games in the previous reporting period. Veselin Topalov is third at 2780...
  
  
• 2009 in chess
  2009 in chess
  -January:* January 1 – Veselin Topalov gains 5 rating points to remain at the head the FIDE top 100 players list at 2796. Viswanathan Anand is second at 2791.-Grandmaster:In 2009 FIDE awarded the title Grandmaster to the following players:...
  
  

Chess players

• Chess prodigy
  Chess prodigy
  Chess prodigies are children who play chess so well that they are able to beat Masters and even Grandmasters, often at a very young age. Chess is one of the few sports where children can compete with adults on equal ground; it is thus one of the few skills in which true child prodigies exist...
  
   – child who plays chess so well as to be able to beat Masters and even Grandmasters, often at a very young age.
• List of chess families –
• List of chess grandmasters –
• List of chess players –
• Methods for comparing top chess players throughout history –
• World chess championship
  World Chess Championship
  The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
  
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World Championships

• Women's World Chess Championship
  Women's World Chess Championship
  The Women's World Chess Championship is played to determine the women's world champion in chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE....
  
  
• Development of the World Chess Championship
  Development of the World Chess Championship
  The concept of a world chess champion started to emerge in the first half of the 19th century, and the phrase "world champion" appeared in 1845. From this time onwards various players were acclaimed as world champions, but the first contest that was defined in advance as being for the world...
  
  
• List of chess world championship matches
• World Amateur Chess Championship
  World Amateur Chess Championship
  The World Amateur Chess Championship was a tournament organized by the World Chess Federation, FIDE.FIDE intended to promote amateur chess play by holding championship tournaments linked to the Olympic Games, but only two events were held....
  
  
• Candidates Tournament
  Candidates Tournament
  The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
  
  
• World Championship of Chess Composition
• World Computer Chess Championship
  World Computer Chess Championship
  World Computer Chess Championship is an annual event where computer chess engines compete against each other. The event is organized by the International Computer Games Association...
  
  
• World Computer Speed Chess Championship
  World Computer Speed Chess Championship
  World Computer Speed Chess Championship is an annual event where computer chess engines compete against each other at blitz chess time controls. It is held in conjunction with the World Computer Chess Championship...
  
  
• Interregnum of World Chess Champions
  Interregnum of World Chess Champions
  The Interregnum of World Chess Champions was the period between March 24, 1946 and May 17, 1948 ....
  
  
• Interzonal
  Interzonal
  Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
  
  
• World Junior Chess Championship
  World Junior Chess Championship
  The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
  
  
• World Senior Chess Championship
  World Senior Chess Championship
  The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.Participants must have reached 60 years old on 1 January of the year of the event...
  
  
• World Chess Solving Championship
  World Chess Solving Championship
  The World Chess Solving Championship is an annual competition in the solving of chess problems organised by FIDE via the Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess Compositions ....
  
  
• World Team Chess Championship
  World Team Chess Championship
  The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent.-Men's team medals:-Women's team medals:-References:*...
  
  
• World Youth Chess Championship
  World Youth Chess Championship
  The World Youth Chess Championship is a chess competition for girls and boys under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.The first predecessor of the youth championship was the Cadet Championship. It started off unofficially in 1974 in France for players under 18. The 1975 and 1976 editions were also...
  
  
• World Chess Championship
  World Chess Championship
  The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
  
  
  • World Chess Championship 1886
    World Chess Championship 1886
    The World Chess Championship 1886 was the first official World Chess Championship match contested by Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. The match took place in the USA, the first five games being played in New York, the next four being played in St.Louis and the final eleven in New Orleans....
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1889
    World Chess Championship 1889
    The World Chess Championship 1889 was the second official World Chess Championship, and was between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin. It took place in Havana, Cuba. Steinitz successfully defended his world title, by being the first of the two players to reach 10½...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1891
    World Chess Championship 1891
    The third World Chess Championship was held in New York in late 1890 and early 1891. Holder William Steinitz narrowly defeated challenger Isidor Gunsberg.-Results:-Games:* Round 01: Steinitz – Gunsberg ...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1892
    World Chess Championship 1892
    The fourth World Chess Championship was held in Havana between January 1 and February 28, 1892. Holder William Steinitz narrowly defeated challenger Mikhail Chigorin.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1894
    World Chess Championship 1894
    The fifth World Chess Championship was held in New York , Philadelphia and Montreal between March 15 and May 26, 1894. Holder William Steinitz lost his title to challenger Emanuel Lasker, who was 32 years his junior.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1897
    World Chess Championship 1897
    Emanuel Lasker defended the World Chess Championship for the first time in Moscow between November 6, 1896, and January 14, 1897. He faced William Steinitz, former World Champion whose title Lasker had taken three years prior. Lasker won easily.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1907
    World Chess Championship 1907
    Emanuel Lasker had virtually retired after retaining the Chess World Championship in 1897, but defended against Frank J. Marshall from January 26 to April 6, 1907, in the USA, games being played in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago and Memphis...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1908
    World Chess Championship 1908
    Emanuel Lasker faced Siegbert Tarrasch in the 1908 World Chess Championship. It was played from August 17 to September 30, 1908 in Düsseldorf and Munich, Lasker successfully defending his title.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker–Janowski)
  • World Chess Championship 1910 (Lasker–Schlechter)
  • World Chess Championship 1921
    World Chess Championship 1921
    The 1921 World Chess Championship was played between José Raúl Capablanca and Emanuel Lasker. It was played in Capablanca's native Havana from March 18 to April 28...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1927
    World Chess Championship 1927
    The 1927 World Chess Championship was played between José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine. It was played in Buenos Aires from September 16 to November 29, 1927...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1929
    World Chess Championship 1929
    The 1929 World Chess Championship was played between Efim Bogoljubow and Alexander Alekhine. It was played in Germany and the Netherlands from September 6 to November 12, 1929...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1934
    World Chess Championship 1934
    The 1934 World Chess Championship was played between Efim Bogoljubow and Alexander Alekhine. It was played in Germany from April 1 to June 14, 1934. Alekhine retained his title.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1935
    World Chess Championship 1935
    The 1935 World Chess Championship was played between Max Euwe and Alexander Alekhine. It was played in the Netherlands from October 3 to December 16, 1935. Euwe was the winner.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1937
    World Chess Championship 1937
    The 1937 World Chess Championship was played between Max Euwe and Alexander Alekhine in the Netherlands from October 5 to December 4, 1937. Alekhine regained his title....
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1948
    World Chess Championship 1948
    The 1948 World Chess Championship was a tournament played to determine a new World Chess Champion following the death of the previous champion Alexander Alekhine in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation which had...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1951
    World Chess Championship 1951
    The 1951 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and David Bronstein in Moscow from March 15 to May 11, 1951. Botvinnik retained his title.-Results:The match was played as best of 24 games...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1954
    World Chess Championship 1954
    The 1954 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow from March 16 to May 13, 1954. Botvinnik retained his title.-Qualifying:Smyslov qualified as challenger by winning the 1953 Candidates' Tournament.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1957
    World Chess Championship 1957
    The 1957 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow from March 5 to April 27, 1957. Smyslov won.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1958
    World Chess Championship 1958
    The 1958 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov in Moscow from March 4 to May 9, 1958. Botvinnik won. Smyslov had unseated Botvinnik in the 1957 match, so he was entitled to this rematch a year later.-Results:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1960
    World Chess Championship 1960
    The 1960 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and Mikhail Tal in Moscow from March 15 to May 7, 1960. Tal won.- 1958 Interzonal Tournament:An interzonal chess tournament was held in Portorož in 1958.-1959 Candidates Tournament:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1961
    World Chess Championship 1961
    The 1961 World Chess Championship was played between former champion Mikhail Botvinnik and champion Mikhail Tal in Moscow from March 15 to May 13, 1961. Tal had unseated Botvinnik in the 1960 match, thus Botvinnik was entitled to this rematch the next year. Botvinnik, a Russian, defeated Latvian...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1963
    World Chess Championship 1963
    At the World Chess Championship 1963 Tigran Petrosian narrowly qualified to challenge Mikhail Botvinnik for the World Chess Championship, and then won the match to become the ninth World Chess Champion...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1966
    World Chess Championship 1966
    The 1966 World Chess Championship was played between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky in Moscow from April 9 to June 9, 1966. Petrosian won.-Qualification:-The World Championship match:The match was played as best of 24 games...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1969
    World Chess Championship 1969
    The 1969 World Chess Championship was played between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky in Moscow from April 14 to June 17, 1969. Spassky won.-Qualification:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1972
  • World Chess Championship 1975
    World Chess Championship 1975
    The 1975 World Chess Championship was never played due a dispute over the match format. Champion Bobby Fischer was to play Anatoly Karpov in Manila, commencing June 1, 1975....
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1978
    World Chess Championship 1978
    The 1978 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio City, Philippines from July 18 to October 18, 1978. Karpov won.- Qualification :...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1981
    World Chess Championship 1981
    The 1981 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Meran, Italy from October 1 to November 19, 1981. Karpov won.-Interzonals:Two Interzonal tournaments were held, one in Riga and the other in Rio de Janeiro...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1984
    World Chess Championship 1984
    The World Chess Championship 1984 was a match between challenger Garry Kasparov and defending champion Anatoly Karpov for the World Chess Championship title...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1985
    World Chess Championship 1985
    The 1985 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Moscow from September 3 to November 9, 1985. Kasparov won, to become the thirteenth and youngest world champion at the age of 22.-Background:...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1986
    World Chess Championship 1986
    The 1986 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in London and Leningrad from July 28 to October 8, 1986. Kasparov won. Anatoly Karpov was already assured of this rematch during his previous year's match which was won by Garry Kasparov.-Results:The match was...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1987
    World Chess Championship 1987
    The 1987 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Seville from October 12 to December 19, 1987. Before the 24th game, Kasparov was down 12-11, but in the 24th game, Kasparov made a comeback by using the English Opening to win the final game to retain his...
    
    
  • World Chess Championship 1990
    World Chess Championship 1990
    The 1990 World Chess Championship was played between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. It was the fifth and final Kasparov-Karpov championship match, Kasparov winning by a single point.-Interzonals:...
    
    
• Classical World Chess Championship 1995
  Classical World Chess Championship 1995
  The Classical World Chess Championship 1995, known at the time as the PCA World Chess Championship 1995, was held from September 10, 1995, to October 16, 1995, on the 107th floor of the former World Trade Center in New York City. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Viswanathan Anand, the...
  
  
• Classical World Chess Championship 2000
  Classical World Chess Championship 2000
  The Classical World Chess Championship 2000, known at the time as the Braingames World Chess Championships, was held from October 8, 2000 – November 4, 2000 in London, United Kingdom. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Vladimir Kramnik...
  
  
• Classical World Chess Championship 2004
  Classical World Chess Championship 2004
  The Classical World Chess Championship 2004 was held from September 25, 2004 - October 18, 2004 in Brissago, Switzerland. Vladimir Kramnik, the defending champion, played Peter Leko, the challenger, in a fourteen game match....
  
  
• FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
  FIDE World Chess Championship 1996
  The FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 was a chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the World Chess Champion.-Background:At the time the World Chess Champion title was split....
  
  
• FIDE World Chess Championship 1998
  FIDE World Chess Championship 1998
  The FIDE World Chess Championship 1998 was contested in a match between the FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov and the challenger Vishwanathan Anand. The match took place between 2 January and 9 January 1998 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The challenger was determined in a tournament held in Groningen,...
  
  
• FIDE World Chess Championships 1998–2004
• FIDE World Chess Championship 1999
  FIDE World Chess Championship 1999
  The FIDE World Chess Championship 1999 was held in Las Vegas, United States, between 31 July and 28 August 1999. The championship was won by Russian Alexander Khalifman, making him the FIDE World Chess Champion.-Format:...
  
  
• FIDE World Chess Championship 2000
  FIDE World Chess Championship 2000
  The FIDE World Chess Championship 2000 was held in New Delhi, India, and Tehran, Iran. The first six rounds were played in New Delhi between 27 November and 15 December 2000, and the final match in Tehran started on 20 December and ended on 24 December 2000...
  
  
• FIDE World Chess Championship 2002
  FIDE World Chess Championship 2002
  The FIDE World Chess Championship 2002 was held in Moscow, Russia. The first six rounds were played between 27 November and 14 December 2001, and the final match started on 16 January and ended on 23 January 2002...
  
  
• FIDE World Chess Championship 2004
  FIDE World Chess Championship 2004
  The FIDE World Chess Championship, 2004 was held at the Almahary Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, from June 18 to July 13.It was won by Rustam Kasimdzhanov, who beat Michael Adams in the final by a score of 4½-3½...
  
  
• FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
  FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
  The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
  
  
• World Chess Championship 2006
• World Chess Championship 2007
  World Chess Championship 2007
  The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from September 12, 2007 to September 30, 2007 to decide the world champion in the board game chess. It was an eight-player, double round robin tournament....
  
  
• World Chess Championship 2008
  World Chess Championship 2008
  The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik...
  
  
• World Chess Championship 2010
• World Chess Championship 2012
• World Chess Championship 2013
  World Chess Championship 2013
  The World Chess Championship 2013 will be a match between the winner of the World Chess Championship 2012 and a challenger, to determine the 2013 World Chess Champion...
  
  

Psychology and chess

• Chess blindness
  Chess blindness
  Amaurosis scacchistica is the failure of a chess player, during a chess game, to make a normally obvious good move or see a normally obvious danger. The term was coined by Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch. Similar to chess blindness is the Kotov syndrome, in which a player, after a long period of...
  
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• Chess as mental training
  Chess as mental training
  There are efforts to use the game of chess as a tool to aid the intellectual development of young people. Chess is considered the "drosophila" of cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence studies, because it represents the domain in which expert performance has been most intensively studied...
  
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• Chess therapy
  Chess Therapy
  Chess therapy is a form of psychotherapy that attempts to use chess games between the therapist and client or clients to form stronger connections between them towards a goal of confirmatory or alternate diagnosis and consequently, better healing. Its founder can be considered to be the Persian...
  
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• Kotov syndrome –

Chess programming

• Board representation –
• Chess engine –
• Minimax
  Minimax
  Minimax is a decision rule used in decision theory, game theory, statistics and philosophy for minimizing the possible loss for a worst case scenario. Alternatively, it can be thought of as maximizing the minimum gain...
  
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• Null-move heuristic
  Null-move heuristic
  In computer chess programs, the null-move heuristic is a heuristic technique used to enhance the speed of the alpha-beta pruning algorithm.- Rationale :...
  
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• Portable Game Notation
  Portable Game Notation
  Portable Game Notation is a computer-processible format for recording chess games ; many chess programs recognize this extremely popular format due to its being stored in plain text.-History:...
  
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• Transposition table
  Transposition table
  In computer chess and other computer games, transposition tables are used to speed up the search of the game tree. Transposition tables are primarily useful in perfect information games, meaning the entire state of the game is known to all players at all times....
  
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• Endgame tablebase
  Endgame tablebase
  An endgame tablebase is a computerized database that contains precalculated exhaustive analysis of a chess endgame position. It is typically used by a computer chess engine during play, or by a human or computer that is retrospectively analysing a game that has already been played.The tablebase...
  
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Chess theory

Chess theory

Chess theory

The game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. As to each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame, there is a large body of theory as how the game should be played...

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• First-move advantage in chess
  First-move advantage in chess
  The first-move advantage in chess is the inherent advantage of the player who makes the first move in chess. Chess players and theorists generally agree that White begins the game with some advantage. Statistics compiled since 1851 support this view, showing that White consistently wins slightly...
  
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• Chess opening theory table
  Chess opening theory table
  A chess opening theory table or ECO table presents lines of moves, typically from the starting position. Notated chess moves are presented in the table from left to right...
  
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• Chess problem
  Chess problem
  A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by somebody using chess pieces on a chess board, that presents the solver with a particular task to be achieved. For instance, a position might be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two...
  
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  • Chess composer
    Chess composer
    A chess composer is a person who creates endgame studies or chess problems. He usually specializes in a particular genre, e.g. endgame studies, twomovers, threemovers, moremovers, helpmates, selfmates, fairy problems...
    
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  • Endgame study
    Endgame study
    An endgame study, or just study, is a composed chess position—that is, one that has been made up rather than one from an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find a way for one side to win or draw, as stipulated, against any moves the other side...
    
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  • Fairy chess
    Fairy chess
    Fairy chess comprises chess problems that differ from classical chess problems in that they are not direct mates. The term was introduced before the First World War. While selfmate dates from the Middle Age, helpmate was invented by Max Lange in the late 19th century. Thomas Dawson , pioneer of...
    
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  • Motif (chess composition)
    Motif (chess composition)
    In chess composition, a motif is basic element of a move in the consideration why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfillment of a stipulation. Any move may and often does contain multiple motifs...
    
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  • Rundlauf
    Rundlauf (chess)
    A Rundlauf in chess is a thematic motif which occurs rarely in over the board play and occasionally is the subject of a chess composition or chess problem...
    
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• Chess puzzle
  Chess puzzle
  A chess puzzle is a puzzle in which knowledge of the pieces and rules of chess is used to solve logically a chess-related problem. The longstanding popularity of chess has paved the way for a rich tradition of such chess-related puzzles and composed problems, which assume a familiarity with the...
  
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  • Joke chess problem
    Joke chess problem
    Joke chess problem are puzzles in chess which use humor as a primary or secondary element. Though most chess problems, like other creative forms, are appreciated for serious artistic themes , joke chess problems are enjoyed for some twist. In some cases the composer plays a trick to prevent a...
    
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• Combinatorial game theory
  Combinatorial game theory
  Combinatorial game theory is a branch of applied mathematics and theoretical computer science that studies sequential games with perfect information, that is, two-player games which have a position in which the players take turns changing in defined ways or moves to achieve a defined winning...
  
  
• Solving chess
  Solving chess
  Solving chess means finding an optimal strategy for playing chess, i.e. one by which one of the players can always force a victory, or both can force a draw....
  
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  • Retrograde analysis
    Retrograde analysis
    In chess, retrograde analysis is a computational method used to solve game positions for optimal play by working backward from known outcomes , such as the construction of endgame tablebases. In game theory at large, this method is called backward induction...
    
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Chess books

• A History of Chess
  A History of Chess
  A History of Chess is a chess history book by Harold James Ruthven Murray published in 1913.Murray's aim is threefold: to present as complete a record as is possible of the varieties of chess that exist or have existed in different parts of the world; to investigate the ultimate origin of these...
  
  
• Basic Chess Endings
  Basic Chess Endings
  Basic Chess Endings is a book on chess endgames which was written by Grandmaster Reuben Fine and originally published in 1941. It is considered the first systematic book in English on the endgame phase of the game of chess. It is the best-known endgame book in English and is a classic piece of...
  
  
• Chess endgame literature
  Chess endgame literature
  Chess endgame literature refers to books and magazines about chess endgames. A bibliography of endgame books is below.Many chess writers have contributed to the theory of endgames over the centuries, including Ruy López de Segura, François-André Philidor, Josef Kling and Bernhard Horwitz, Johann...
  
  
• Chess opening book
• Encyclopedia of Chess Openings
• Göttingen manuscript
  Göttingen manuscript
  The Göttingen manuscript is the earliest known work devoted entirely to modern chess. It is a Latin text of 33 leaves held at the University of Göttingen. A quarto parchment manuscript of 33 leaves, ff. 1–15a are a discussion of twelve chess openings, f. 16 is blank, and ff. 17–31b are a...
  
  
• Handbuch des Schachspiels
  Handbuch des Schachspiels
  Handbuch des Schachspiels is a chess book, first published in 1843 by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. It was one of the most important opening references for many decades...
  
  
• Lasker's Manual of Chess
  Lasker's Manual of Chess
  Lasker's Manual of Chess is a book on the game of chess written in 1925 by former World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker. The content of the book, as Lasker himself writes, is most influenced by the theories put forth by Steinitz, as well as Staunton's The Chess-Player's Handbook.-Contents:The book...
  
  
• Modern Chess Openings
  Modern Chess Openings
  Modern Chess Openings is an important reference book on the chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith and John Herbert White...
  
  
• My 60 Memorable Games
  My 60 Memorable Games
  My 60 Memorable Games is a chess book by Bobby Fischer, first published in 1969. It is a collection of his games dating from the 1957 New Jersey Open to the 1967 Sousse Interzonal. Unlike many players' anthologies, which are often titled My Best Games and include only victories, My 60 Memorable...
  
  
• My Great Predecessors
  My Great Predecessors
  My Great Predecessors is a series of chess books written by World Champion Garry Kasparov. The five volumes in the My Great Predecessors series are about the players who preceded Kasparov in being official World Champions. The series of books continued with the Modern Chess volumes that covers...
  
  
• My System
  My System
  My System is a book on chess theory written by Aron Nimzowitsch. Originally over a series of five brochures from 1925 to 1927, the book — one of the early works on hypermodernism — introduced many new concepts to followers of the modern school of thought...
  
  
• The Game and Playe of the Chesse
  The Game and Playe of the Chesse
  The Game and Playe of Chesse is a book by William Caxton, the first English printer. Published in the 1470s, it was for a time thought to be the first book published in England but that title now goes to Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, also by Caxton. It was based on a book by Jacobus de...
  
  
• The Game of Chess
  The Game of Chess
  The Game of Chess is a book about chess written by Siegbert Tarrasch. It was published in 1987 by Courier Dover Publications.It has 423 pages and its ISBN number is 048625447X....
  
  
• The Oxford Companion to Chess
  The Oxford Companion to Chess
  The Oxford Companion to Chess is a reference book on chess written by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld. The book is written in an encyclopedia format. The book belongs to the Oxford Companions series.-Details:...
  
  

Periodicals

• British Chess Magazine
  British Chess Magazine
  British Chess Magazine is the world's oldest chess magazine in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as BCM....
  
  
• Chess Informant
  Chess Informant
  Chess Informant is a publishing company from Belgrade that periodically produces a book of the same name, as well as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings, Opening Monographs, other print publications, and software Chess Informant (Šahovski Informator) is a...
  
  
• Chess Life
  Chess Life
  Chess Life is a monthly chess magazine published in the United States. The official publication of the United States Chess Federation , it reaches more than a quarter of a million readers every month. A subscription to Chess Life is one of the benefits of Full Adult, Youth, or Life membership in...
  
  
• CHESS magazine
  CHESS magazine
  CHESS magazine , also called CHESS and previously called CHESS Monthly, is a chess magazine published monthly in the UK by Chess and Bridge Limited. CHESS was founded by Baruch Harold Wood in 1935 in Sutton Coldfield. Wood edited it until 1988, when it was taken over by Pergamon Press and changed...
  
  
• EG
  EG (magazine)
  EG is a magazine that publishes endgame studies and discusses various aspects of the endgame in chess. The letters "EG" stand for "End Game."...
  
  
• New In Chess
  New In Chess
  New In Chess is a chess magazine that appears eight times a year with chief editors International Grandmaster Jan Timman and Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam. It contains notes by top players and chess prodigies on their own games...
  
  
• Shakhmatny Bulletin
  Shakhmatny Bulletin
  Shakhmatny Bulletin was a Russian chess magazine. It was published monthly from 1955–1990 and published about 2,500 complete games per year. Yuri Averbakh was an editor. The circulation was 20,000. Bobby Fischer called Shakhmatny Bulletin "the best chess magazine in the world."...
  
  
• Shakhmaty v SSSR
  Shakhmaty v SSSR
  Shakhmaty v SSSR was a Russian chess magazine published 1931-91. It was edited by Viacheslav Ragozin for several years. Yuri Averbakh was also an editor. From 1921 or 1925 through 1930 it was titled Shakhmatny Listok and edited by Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky. The circulation was 55,000....
  
  
• The Week in Chess
  The Week in Chess
  The Week in Chess is one of the first, if not the first, Internet-based chess news services.TWIC has been edited by Mark Crowther since its inception in 1994. It began as a weekly Usenet posting, with "TWIC 1" being posted to Usenet group rec.games.chess on 17 September 1994...
  
  
• 64
  64 (chess magazine)
  The magazine 64 is a Russian chess and draughts publication, published in Moscow. Its name refers to the number of squares on a chessboard. The magazine awards the Chess Oscar annually.-History:...
  
  

Chess variants

Chess variant

Chess variant

A chess variant is a game related to, derived from or inspired by chess. The difference from chess might include one or more of the following:...

 – Games similar to chess but with different rules or pieces.

• Fairy chess piece
  Fairy chess piece
  A fairy chess piece or unorthodox chess piece is a piece analogous to a chess piece. It is not used in conventional chess, but is used in certain chess variants and some chess problems...
  
   – Pieces used in chess variants other than the usual pieces.

Different starting position

• Displacement chess
  Displacement chess
  Displacement chess is a family of chess variants, in which a few pieces are transposed in the initial standard chess position. The main goal of these variants is to negate players' knowledge of standard chess openings.- Variations :...
  
  
• Chess960
  Chess960
  Chess960 is a chess variant invented and advocated by former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer, originally announced on June 19, 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It employs the same board and pieces as standard chess, but the starting position of the pieces is randomized along the players' home...
  
  
• Transcendental chess
  Transcendental chess
  Transcendental chess is a chess variant invented in 1978 by Maxwell Lawrence. It inspired Chess960 which is similar but has fewer starting positions. In transcendental chess the beginning positions of the pieces on the back row are randomly determined, with the one restriction that the bishops be...
  
  

Different board

• Minichess
  Minichess
  Minichess is a family of chess variants played with regular chess pieces and standard rules, but on a smaller board.The motivation for these variants is to make the game simpler and shorter than the standard chess. Martin Gardner recommended 5x5 chess variant to fill short breaks during the work...
  
  
• Los Alamos chess
  Los Alamos chess
  Los Alamos chess is a chess variant played on a 6×6 board without bishops. This was the first chess-like game played by a computer program. This program was written in Los Alamos laboratory by Paul Stein and Mark Wells for the MANIAC I computer in 1956...
  
  
• Grid chess
  Grid chess
  Grid chess is a chess variant invented by Walter Stead in 1953. It is played on a grid board. This is a normal 64-square board with a grid of lines further dividing the board into larger squares...
  
  
• Cylinder chess
  Cylinder chess
  Cylinder chess is a chess variant with an unusual board. The game is played as if the board were a cylinder, with the left side of the board joined to the right side...
  
  
• Circular chess
  Circular chess
  Circular chess is a chess variant played using the standard set of pieces on a circular board consisting of four rings, each of sixteen squares. This is topologically equivalent to playing on the surface of a cylinder.- History :...
  
  
• Alice chess
  Alice Chess
  Alice Chess is a chess variant invented in 1953 by V. R. Parton which employs two chessboards rather than one, and a slight alteration to the standard rules of chess...
  
  
• Hexagonal chess
• Three-dimensional chess
  Three-dimensional chess
  Three-dimensional chess is any of various chess variants played on three-dimensional boards. Three-dimensional variants have existed since the late 19th century, one of the oldest being Raumschach , invented in 1907 by Dr. Ferdinand Maack and considered the classic 3D game...
  
  
• Cubic chess
• Flying chess
  Flying chess
  Flying chess is a chess variant, based around a three dimensional board. It was invented by Dr David Eltis in 1984.- Rules :...
  
  
• Dragonchess

Unusual rules

• Antichess
  Antichess
  Antichess, also called losing chess, loser's chess, zero chess, giveaway chess, suicide chess, take-me chess or reverse chess is a chess variant in which the objective of the participants is to get all of their pieces captured. The most widely played variation, as described in the book Popular...
  
  
• Atomic chess
  Atomic chess
  Atomic chess is a chess variant. While the other rules of chess apply fully, all captures result in an atomic explosion. This means that the surrounding pieces — not including pawns — will be taken off the board as well.- The rules :...
  
  
• Three checks chess
  Three checks chess
  Three-check chess is a variation of chess, in which a player wins if he checks his opponent three times. Anatoly Karpov is said to excel in this chess variant ....
  
  
• Extinction chess
  Extinction chess
  Extinction chess is a variant of western Chess where the objective of the game has changed. Instead of the winning condition of the game being the checkmate of the opponent's king, the object of the game is to capture all of a particular kind of piece the opponent has...
  
  
• Crazyhouse
  Crazyhouse
  Crazyhouse is a chess variant similar to bughouse chess, but with only two players. It effectively incorporates a rule in shogi , in which a player can introduce a captured piece back to the board as his own....
  
  
• Knight relay chess
  Knight relay chess
  Knight relay chess is a chess variant invented by Mannis Charosh in 1972. In this game knights "relay" their power to friendly pieces.- Rules :...
  
  
• Andernach chess
  Andernach chess
  Andernach chess is a chess variant in which a piece making a capture changes colour. For instance, if a white bishop on a2 were to capture a black knight on g8, the end result would be a black bishop on g8. Non-capturing moves are played as in orthodox chess...
  
  
• Checkless chess
  Checkless chess
  Checkless Chess is a chess variant where neither player is allowed to give a check, with the exception of checkmate. All other rules are as in regular chess...
  
  
• Circe chess
  Circe chess
  Circe chess is a chess variant in which captured pieces are reborn on their starting positions as soon as they are captured, based on the following rules:#Pawns return to the start position on the same file they are captured on....
  
  
• Legan chess
  Legan chess
  Legan chess is a chess variant invented by L. Legan in 1913. It differs from standard chess by starting position as well as by pawn movements.- Rules :...
  
  
• Madrasi chess
  Madrasi chess
  Madrasi chess is a chess variant invented in 1979 by Abdul Jabbar Karwatkar which uses the conventional rules of chess with the addition that when a piece is attacked by a piece of the same type but opposite colour it is paralysed and becomes unable to move, capture or give check...
  
  
• Monochromatic chess
  Monochromatic chess
  Monochromatic chess is a chess variant created by Raymond Smullyan, in which the initial board position and all rules are the same as in regular chess, except that pieces which begin on a black square must always stay on a black square and pieces which begin on a white square must always stay on a...
  
  
• Patrol chess
  Patrol chess
  Patrol chess is a chess variant in which captures can be made and checks given only if the capturing or checking piece is guarded by a friendly unit...
  
  
• PlunderChess
  PlunderChess
  PlunderChess is a chess variant in which the capturing piece is allowed to temporarily take the moving abilities of the piece taken.- Rules :The so-called plundering occurs when a chess piece captures an opposing chess piece and "plunders" or "acquires" additional moving capabilities directly from...
  
  

Incomplete information and elements of chance

• Kriegspiel
  Kriegspiel (chess)
  Kriegspiel is a chess variant invented by Henry Michael Temple in 1899 and based upon the original Kriegsspiel developed by Georg von Rassewitz in 1812. In this game each player can see their own pieces, but not those of their opponent...
  
  
• Dark chess
  Dark chess
  Dark chess is a chess variant with incomplete information, similar to Kriegspiel. It was invented by Jens Bæk Nielsen and Torben Osted in 1989. A player does not see the entire board, only their own pieces , and squares where these pieces could move.- Rules :The goal of this chess variant is not to...
  
  
• Penultima
  Penultima
  Penultima is a game of inductive logic, played on a chess board. It was invented by Michael Greene and Adam Chalcraft in Cambridge in 1994. The game is derived from the chess variant Ultima , and played with a standard chess board and pieces, each piece having different movement and capture rules...
  
  
• Dice chess
  Dice chess
  Dice chess can refer to a number of chess variants in which dice are used to alter gameplay; specifically that the moves available to each player are determined by rolling a pair of ordinary six-sided dice. There are many different variations of this form of dice chess. One of them is described...
  
  
• Knightmare Chess
  Knightmare Chess
  Knightmare Chess is a fantasy chess variant published by Steve Jackson Games in 1996. It is a translation of a French game Tempête sur l'échiquier , designed by Pierre Cléquin and Bruno Faidutti....
  
  

Multimove variants

• Marseillais chess
  Marseillais chess
  Marseillais chess is a chess variant in which each player moves twice per turn. The rules of the game were first published in Marseillais local newspaper Le Soleil in 1925...
  
  
• Progressive chess
  Progressive chess
  Progressive chess is a chess variant in which players, rather than just making one move per turn, play progressively longer series of moves. The game starts with white making one move, then black makes two consecutive moves, white replies with three, black makes four and so on...
  
  
• Avalanche chess
  Avalanche chess
  Avalanche chess is a chess variant designed by Ralph Betza in 1977. After moving one of your own pieces, you must move one of your opponent's pawns forward one space.- Rules :...
  
  
• Monster chess
  Monster chess
  Monster chess - or Super King chess - is a chess variant in which the White has only a king and four pawns to fight against all the pieces of the Black side. All the rules of chess apply, except that White makes two successive moves per turn. The white king can move into check on the first move of...
  
  
• Kung-fu chess
  Kung-fu chess
  Kung-Fu Chess is a chess variant without turns. It is a real-time strategy game. Any player can move any of his pieces at any given moment. After a piece was moved it must "rest" a while before it is allowed to move again. If two pieces of opposite color try to capture each other exactly...
  
  

Multiplayer variants

• Bughouse chess
  Bughouse chess
  Bughouse chess is a popular chess variant played on two chessboards by four players in teams of two...
  
  
• Three-handed chess
  Three-handed chess
  Three player chess is a family of chess variants specially designed to be played by three people. There are many variations of three-handed chess...
  
  
• Four-handed chess
  Four-handed chess
  Four-handed chess is a chess variant, which is typically played with four people. It is played on a special board, which is made of standard 8x8 board with an additional 3 rows of 8 cells extending from each side. Four sets of different colored pieces are needed to play this game...
  
  
• Forchess
  Forchess
  Forchess is a four-person chess variant developed by an American engineer named T. K. Rogers. It uses one standard chess board and two sets of standard pieces.-History and motivation:...
  
  
• Djambi
  Djambi
  Djambi is a board game and a chess variant for four players, invented by Jean Anesto in 1975.-Material:...
  
  
• Bosworth
  Bosworth (game)
  Bosworth is a four-handed chess variant manufactured by Out of the Box Publishing company since 1998. It is played on 6x6 board and uses 4 sets of standard chess pieces....
  
  
• Enochian chess
  Enochian chess
  Enochian chess is a four-player chess variant, similar to Chaturaji, associated with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The name comes from the Enochian system of magic of Dr...
  
  

Unusual pieces

• Fairy chess piece
  Fairy chess piece
  A fairy chess piece or unorthodox chess piece is a piece analogous to a chess piece. It is not used in conventional chess, but is used in certain chess variants and some chess problems...
  
  
• Hippogonal
  Hippogonal
  A hippogonal chess move is one similar to a knight's move. That is, a leap m squares in one of the orthogonal directions, and n squares in the other, for integer values of m and n. It need not be a 2:1 ratio for m and n...
  
  
• Grasshopper
  Grasshopper (chess piece)
  The Grasshopper is a fairy chess piece that moves along ranks, files, and diagonals but only by hopping over another piece at any distance to the square immediately closest. If there is no piece to hop over, it cannot move. If the square beyond a piece is occupied by a piece of the opposite color,...
  
  
• Grasshopper chess
  Grasshopper chess
  Grasshopper chess is a chess variant, in which the pawns are allowed to promote to a fairy piece grasshopper. Grasshopper must hop over other pieces in order to move or capture....
  
  
• Berolina chess
  Berolina chess
  Berolina Chess is a chess variant using a popular fairy chess piece called the Berolina pawn...
  
  
• Maharajah and the Sepoys
  Maharajah and the Sepoys
  Maharajah and the Sepoys, originally called Shatranj Diwana Shah, is a popular chess variant with different armies for white and black. It was first played in the 19th century in India....
  
  
• Omega Chess
  Omega Chess
  Omega Chess is a commercial chess variant designed by Daniel MacDonald in Toronto. The game is played on a 10x10 board with an extra square in each of the extreme corners where the wizards are placed at the start of the game...
  
  
• Stealth Chess
• Pocket mutation chess
  Pocket mutation chess
  Pocket mutation chess is a chess variant invented by Mike Nelson in 2003.In this game a player can take a piece from the board and put it into a pocket. The piece in the pocket can be put back on the board later. When placing the piece into the pocket the player can mutate the piece, i.e...
  
  
• Baroque chess
  Baroque chess
  Baroque chess is a chess variant invented in 1962 by Robert Abbott. In 1963, at the suggestion of his publisher, he changed the name to Ultima, by which name it is also known...
  
  
• Chess with different armies
  Chess with different armies
  Chess with different armies is a chess variant in which two sides use different sets of fairy pieces. There are several armies of equal strength to choose from, including standard FIDE army...
  
  
• Duell
• Gess
  Gess
  Gess is a strategic board game for two players, involving a grid board and mutating pieces. The name was chosen as a conflation of "chess" and "go". It is pronounced with a hard "g" as in "go", and is thus homophonous with "guess"....
  
  
• Wildebeest Chess
  Wildebeest Chess
  Wildebeest Chess is a chess variant created by R. Wayne Schmittberger in 1987. The Wildebeest gameboard is 11×10 squares, and besides the standard chess pieces, each side has one wildebeest and two camels....
  
  

Variants with bishop+knight and rook+knight compounds

• Seirawan chess
  Seirawan chess
  Seirawan chess is a chess variant invented by grandmaster Yasser Seirawan in 2007. It is played on the standard 8x8 board and uses two new pieces, the hawk and the elephant . Yasser Seirawan has given simultaneous exhibitions for the game...
  
  
• Janus chess
  Janus chess
  Janus Chess is a chess variant played on a 10×8 board. It features a new piece, the Janus , with the combined moves of a bishop and a knight. This piece is named after the Roman god Janus because this god was usually depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions...
  
  
• Capablanca chess
  Capablanca chess
  Capablanca chess is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by former World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca proposed the variant while World Champion, and not as a "sour grapes" rationalization after losing his title as...
  
  
• Capablanca random chess
  Capablanca random chess
  Capablanca Random Chess is a chess variant invented by Reinhard Scharnagl in 2004. It combines the piece set and 10x8 board from Capablanca Chess with the permutation idea of Fischer Random Chess...
  
  
• Gothic Chess
  Gothic chess
  Gothic Chess is a chess variant derived from Capablanca Chess by Ed Trice. It was patented in 2002, but the patent expired in 2006.It is played on the same 10×8 board and additional pieces as in Capablanca Chess...
  
  
• Embassy Chess
  Embassy Chess
  Embassy chess is a chess variant created in 2005 by Kevin Hill. It borrows the opening setup from Grand chess by Christian Freeling and adapts it to the 10x8 board....
  
  
• Modern chess
  Modern chess
  Modern chess is a chess variant played on a 9x9 board. The game was invented by Gabriel Vicente Maura in 1968.Besides the usual set of chess pieces, each player has an additional piece with a corresponding pawn:...
  
  
• Grand chess
  Grand chess
  Grand chess is a popular large-board chess variant invented by Dutch games designer Christian Freeling in 1984. It is played on a 10×10 board, with each side having two additional pawns and two new pieces: the marshall and the cardinal....
  
  

Historical variants

• History of chess
  History of chess
  The history of chess spans some 1500 years. The earliest predecessors of the game originated in India, before the 6th century AD. From India, the game spread to Persia. When the Arabs conquered Persia, chess was taken up by the Muslim world and subsequently spread to Southern Europe. In Europe,...
  
  
• Cox-Forbes theory
  Cox-Forbes theory
  The Cox-Forbes theory is a long-debunked theory on the evolution of chess put forward by Captain Hiram Cox and extended by Professor Duncan Forbes ....
  
  
• Liubo
  Liubo
  Liubo is an ancient Chinese board game played by two players. For the rules, it is believed that each player had six game pieces that were moved around the points of a square game board that had a distinctive, symmetrical pattern...
  
  
• Chaturanga
  Chaturanga
  Chaturanga is an ancient Indian game that is presumed to be the common ancestor of the games of chess, shogi, and makruk, and related to xiangqi and janggi.Chaturanga developed in Gupta India around the 6th century...
  
  
• Sessa
  Sessa (Chaturanga)
  Sessa was a legendary vellalar and creator of the game of chess ancestor, chaturanga....
  
  
• Chaturaji
  Chaturaji
  Chaturaji is a four player chess-like game. It was first described in detail circa 1030 by Biruni in his India book. Originally, this was a game of chance: the pieces to be moved were decided by rolling two dice...
  
  
• Shatranj
  Shatranj
  Shatranj is an old form of chess, which came to the Western world from India. Modern chess has gradually developed from this game.-Etymology and origins:...
  
  
• Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli
• Tamerlane chess
  Tamerlane Chess
  Tamerlane chess is a strategic board game related to chess and derived from shatranj. It was developed in Persia during the reign of Timur, also called Tamerlane . Some sources attribute the game's invention to Timur, but this is by no means certain...
  
  
• Hiashatar
  Hiashatar
  Hiashatar is a medieval chess variant played in Mongolia. The game is played on a 10 x 10 board. The pieces are the same as in chess with the exception that there is an additional piece which is called the "bodyguard"...
  
  
• Senterej
  Senterej
  Senterej is a chess variant, the form of chess traditionally played in Ethiopia. It is the last popular survival of shatranj.- Rules:...
  
  
• Lewis chessmen
  Lewis chessmen
  The Lewis Chessmen are a group of 78 12th-century chess pieces, most of which are carved in walrus ivory...
  
  

Xiangqi and variants

• Xiangqi
  Xiangqi
  Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...
  
  
• Encyclopedia of Chinese Chess Openings
  Encyclopedia of Chinese Chess Openings
  The Encyclopedia of Chinese Chess Openings is a classification of all possible openings of Chinese chess , including rarely used openings. The editor of Encyclopedia of Chess Network included the first game of the 8197 Board as the basis, to draw up the ECCO code...
  
  
• Banqi
• Giog
  Giog
  Giog is a game played by two to four players. It can either be played for fun or as a serious competition. It contains a considerable amount of luck, strategic and psychological elements.-Equipment:Like Banqi, Giog uses Xiangqi Pieces...
  
  

Shogi and variants

• Shogi
  Shogi
  , also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...
  
  
• Shogi strategy and tactics
  Shogi strategy and tactics
  Shogi, or Japanese Chess, is similar to chess but has a much larger game tree complexity because of the use of drops.However, like chess, the game can be divided into the opening, middle game and endgame, each requiring a different strategy...
  
  
• History of shogi
  History of shogi
  - Arrival in Japan :It is not clear when the ancestral chess-type game that later developed into shogi was brought to Japan. This is in contrast to the game of go, which was almost certainly brought to Japan in or around the Nara period, since a go board is stored in the treasury of...
  
  
• Meijin
  Meijin (shogi)
  is one of the seven titles in Japanese professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryu-oh.The word "meijin" means "an excellent person" in a certain field...
  
  
• Ryu-oh
  Ryu-oh
  Ryu-oh or Ryūō is the name of a promoted piece in shogi, a Japanese professional shogi tournament, and the title of its winner....
  
  
• Computer shogi
  Computer shogi
  Computer shogi is a field of artificial intelligence concerned with the creation of computer programs which can play shogi. The research and development of shogi software has been carried out mainly by freelance programmers, university research groups and private companies.-Game complexity:Shogi...
  
  
• Shogi variant
  Shogi variant
  Many variants of shogi have been developed over the centuries, ranging from some of the largest chess-type games ever played to some of the smallest...
  
  
• Micro shogi
• Minishogi
  Minishogi
  |right|Minishogi board setupMinishogi is a modern variant of shogi . Shigenobu Kusumoto of Osaka, Japan, invented or rediscovered the game c. 1970...
  
  
• Kyoto shogi
  Kyoto shogi
  Kyoto shogi is a modern variant of shogi . It was invented by Tamiya Katsuya c. 1976.Kyoto shogi is played like standard shogi, but with a reduced number of pieces on a 5×5 board...
  
  
• Judkins shogi
  Judkins shogi
  Judkins shogi is a modern variant of shogi , however it is not Japanese. Credit for its invention has been given to Paul Judkins of Norwich, UK, prior to April 1998.- Game equipment :...
  
  
• Whale shogi
  Whale shogi
  Whale Shogi is a modern variant of shogi . It is not, however, Japanese: it was invented by R. Wayne Schmittberger of the United States in 1981...
  
  
• Tori shogi
  Tori shogi
  Tori shōgi is a variant of shogi attributed to Ōhashi Sōei in the late 18th century. The game is played on a 7×7 board and uses the drop rule; it's the only Japanese variant to do so...
  
  
• Yari shogi
  Yari shogi
  Yari shogi is a modern variant of shogi , however it is not Japanese. It was invented in 1981 by Christian Freeling of the Netherlands...
  
  
• Heian shogi
  Heian shogi
  Heian shōgi is a predecessor of modern shogi . Some form of chess almost certainly reached Japan by the 9th century, if not earlier, but the earliest surviving Japanese description of the rules dates from the early 12th century...
  
  
• Sho shogi
  Sho shogi
  Shō Shōgi is a 16th century form of shogi , and the immediate predecessor of the modern game. It was played on a 9x9 board with the same setup as in modern shogi, except that an extra piece stood in front of the king: A 'drunk elephant' that promoted into what was effectively a second king...
  
  
• Cannon shogi
  Cannon shogi
  Cannon shogi is a modern variant of shogi . It was invented by Peter Michaelsen in February 1998.- Game equipment :Two players, Black and White , play on a board ruled into a grid of 9 ranks by 9 files...
  
  
• Hasami shogi
  Hasami shogi
  Hasami shogi is a variant of shogi .- Objective :The objective of the game is to capture five or eight of your opponent’s pieces.- Game equipment :...
  
  
• Hand shogi
  Hand shogi
  Hand shogi is a variant of shogi , however it is not Japanese. It was invented in early 1997 by John William Brown of Lewisville, AR, USA...
  
  
• Annan shogi
  Annan shogi
  Annan shogi also called Korean shogi, is a variant of shogi . Annan shogi is a popular shogi variant in Japan.- Gameplay :...
  
  
• Unashogi
  Unashogi
  Unashogi is a variant of shogi , invented in late 1994 by Edward Jackman and based on Unachess by Jeff Miller.-Rules:Same as standard Shogi except:...
  
  
• Wa shogi
  Wa shogi
  Wa shogi is a large board variant of shogi in which all of the pieces are named for animals. It is played either with or without drops.- Game equipment :...
  
  
• Chu shogi
  Chu shogi
  Chū shōgi is a board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi in its rules and game play. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi variants in regular use. Chu shogi seems to have been developed in the early 14th century as a derivative of dai...
  
  
• Heian dai shogi
  Heian dai shogi
  Heian dai shogi large chess') is an early large board variant of shogi as it was played in the Heian period. The same 12th century document which describes the Heian form of shogi also describes this variant...
  
  
• Akuro
  Akuro
  or Evil Wolf is a piece in some variants of the Japanese board game Shogi. There are typically two akuro at the beginning of the game. They can step one square orthogonally sideways or forward, or diagonally forward.The following shogi variants have akuro:...
  
  
• Dai shogi
  Dai shogi
  Dai shōgi is a board game native to Japan. It is similar to standard shogi in its rules and game play. Dai shogi is only one of several large board shogi variants. Its name means large shogi, from a time when there were three sizes of shogi games...
  
  
• Tenjiku shogi
  Tenjiku shogi
  Tenjiku shogi is a large-board variant of shogi . The game dates back to the 15th or 16th century and was based on the earlier chu shogi, which itself was based on dai shogi.- Objective :The objective of the game is to capture the opponent's king and, if present, the crown prince, which counts as...
  
  
• Dai dai shogi
  Dai dai shogi
  Daidai shōgi is a large board variant of shogi . The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on the earlier Dai shogi. Apart from its size, the major difference is in the range of the pieces and the “promotion by capture” rule. It is the smallest board variant to use this rule.-...
  
  
• Maka dai dai shogi
  Maka dai dai shogi
  Maka daidai shōgi is a large board variant of shogi . The game dates back to the 15th century and is based on dai dai shogi and the earlier dai shogi. The three Edo-era sources are not congruent in their descriptions of the pieces not found in smaller games...
  
  
• Ko shogi
  Ko shogi
  Kō shōgi is a large-board variant of shogi, or Japanese chess. The game dates back to the turn of the 18th century and is based on xiangqi and go as well as shogi. Credit for its invention has been given to Confucian scholar Ogyū Sorai.- Rules of the game :Unlike standard shogi, pieces may not...
  
  
• Tai shogi
  Tai shogi
  Tai shogi is a large-board variant of shogi . The game dates to the 15th century and is based on earlier largeboard shogi games...
  
  
• Taikyoku shogi
  Taikyoku shogi
  Taikyoku shōgi is a large board variant of shogi . The game was created around the mid 16th century and is based on earlier large board shogi games. Before the rediscovery of taikyoku shogi in 1997, tai shogi was believed to be the largest playable chess variant ever...
  
  
• Sannin shogi
  Sannin shogi
  Sannin shōgi , or in full kokusai sannin shōgi , is a three-person shogi variant invented circa 1930 by Tanigasaki Jisuke and recently revived. It is played on a hexagonal grid of border length 7 with 127 cells. Standard shogi pieces may be used, and the rules for capture, promotion, drops, etc...
  
  
• Yonin shogi
  Yonin shogi
  Yonin shōgi, , is a four-person variant of shogi . It may be played with a dedicated yonin shogi set or with two sets of standard shogi pieces, and is played on a standard sized shogi board.- Objective :...
  
  
• Edo-era shogi sources
  Edo-era shogi sources
  The 象戯図式 Shōgi Zushiki, 諸象戯図式 Sho Shōgi Zushiki, and 象棋六種之図式 Shōgi Rokushu no Zushiki are Edo-era publications describing various variants of Japanese chess, otherwise known as shōgi....
  
  

See also

• Index of chess articles
• Glossary of chess
  • Glossary of chess problems
• ChessX
  ChessX
  ChessX is a free, open source chess database for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. At an embryonic stage, it was planned to be a community maintained version of Scid . However, ChessX is now evolved into a more modern project that uses Qt library to create advanced graphical interface and C++ language...
  
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• Chess game collection
  Chess game collection
  The most common types of chess game collections are collected games of a single player , annotations of games from a single tournament, collections of chess games covering a certain period of time The most common types of chess game collections are collected games of a single player (e.g. My Best...
  
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• Chess handicap
  Chess handicap
  A handicap in chess is a way to enable a weaker player to have a chance of winning against a stronger one. There are many kinds of such handicaps, such as material odds, extra moves A handicap (or "odds") in chess is a way to enable a weaker player to have a chance of winning against a stronger...
  
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• Chess in early literature
  Chess in early literature
  One of the most common ways for chess historians to trace when the board game chess entered a country is to look at the literature of that country. Although due to the names associated with chess sometimes being used for more than one game , the only certain reference to chess is often several...
  
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• Chess in the arts and literature
  Chess in the arts and literature
  Chess became a source of inspiration in the arts in literature soon after the spread of the game to the Arab World and Europe in the Middle Ages. The earliest works of art centered around the game are miniatures in medieval manuscripts, as well as poems, which were often created with the purpose of...
  
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• Chess libraries
  Chess libraries
  Chess libraries are library collections of books and periodicals on the game of chess.Chess has a very extensive literature, probably exceeding that of all other games combined....
  
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• Hippogonal
  Hippogonal
  A hippogonal chess move is one similar to a knight's move. That is, a leap m squares in one of the orthogonal directions, and n squares in the other, for integer values of m and n. It need not be a 2:1 ratio for m and n...
  
  
• Morphy number
  Morphy number
  The Morphy number is a measure of how closely a chess player is connected to Paul Morphy by way of playing chess games. People who played a chess game with Morphy have a Morphy number of 1. Players who did not play Morphy but played someone with a Morphy number of 1 have a Morphy number of 2...
  
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External links

• Predator at the Chessboard - A Field Guide to Chess Tactics - Learn chess tactics
• The Blue Book of Chess; "Teaching the Rudiments of the Game, and Giving an Analysis of All the Recognized Openings" by Howard Staunton
  Howard Staunton
  Howard Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that...
  
  
• Chess Strategy, free lessons on basic elements.
• ChessGames.com – online chess database and community
• Chess records -details of longest game, most passed pawns, fewest captures etc.
• A sample chess game
• The Chess Encyclopedia

International organizations

• FIDE – World Chess Federation

• Official rules – FIDE Laws of Chess
• FIDE list of top rated players
• ICCF – International Correspondence Chess Federation
  International Correspondence Chess Federation
  International Correspondence Chess Federation was founded in 1951 as a new appearance of the ICCA , which was founded in 1945, as successor of the IFSB , founded in 1928....
  
  
• ACP – Association of Chess Professionals
  Association of Chess Professionals
  The Association of Chess Professionals is a not-for-profit organisation, the closest thing in existence to a trade union for professional chess players. According to Article 2 of its terms:-History:...
  
  

News

• Chessbase news
• The Week in Chess

Online play

• Chess.com &ndash player versus player
• Play against the computer
• Chessfriends
• Sparkchess