An Introduction to International Chess

International chess is a board game for 2 persons, each of whom moves his pieces across a chessboard with the aim of checkmating the opponent's king. The basic rules and principles of chess are easily mastered, but the subtleties of advanced play are extremely hard to master. Because of this, chess is one of the few games that everyone can enjoy, for beginners will experience as much fun in games with opponents of their level as will two Grandmasters locked together in an intense battle for the World Championship.

History Of Chess

Click on this link to find out how chess has evolved over the years. There is a list of past World Champions (including Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov and the current World Champion, Garry Kasparov).

Rules & Moves

The basic rules of the game of chess. If you have no idea what a pawn is, how it looks like and how it moves, this page is for you.

Chess Notation

When players say e4 c5 Nf3 d6 what do they mean? The page to enlighten you is here. Also included is bughouse notation (although not official).

Openings

Openings are how the most exciting games develop. A good choice of opening moves is crucial to secure victory, so learn the Guioco Piano (one of the simplest and earliest) openings here.

Middlegames

The middlegame struggle is even more intense than that of the opening stage. Due to the sheer number of possibilities, chess research on it is less precise than than the openings. However, we have included some general advice on it here.

Endgames

A strong endgame is vital to "finish" your opponent off, or regain the upper hand if you're down - by getting (or threatening to get) a pawn promoted into a queen. That's the basic idea behind the endgame. To find out more, click on the link.

Conclusion

This website is meant for the beginner to intermediate chess player (because that's what both of us are =). But if you are an advanced player, you might be interested to learn how to play Bughouse Chess for fun (in fact, it really hones your attacking skills)! You could also visit the Links page to go to a website which caters for you.