Chess 101: Everything a New Chess Player Needs to Know! by Dave Schloss (PDF) Review and Summary

Chess 101: Everything a New Chess Player Needs to Know!

Chess is one of the oldest and most popular games in the world. It is a game of strategy, logic, creativity and skill that can be played by anyone, anywhere, anytime. Chess can also improve your memory, concentration, problem-solving, critical thinking and analytical skills. Whether you want to play for fun, for competition or for self-improvement, chess is a great hobby that can enrich your life.

Chess 101 By Dave Schloss Pdf Free

But how do you learn chess? How do you play chess? What are the rules and etiquette of chess? How do you improve your chess skills? Where can you find chess resources and opportunities? These are some of the questions that many new chess players have when they start their chess journey.

In this article, I will try to answer these questions and more, based on the book Chess 101: Everything a New Chess Player Needs to Know! by Dave Schloss. This book is a comprehensive guide for beginners that covers all the essential aspects of chess, from the basics of the board and pieces, to the moves and notation, to the strategy and tactics, to the tournament play and etiquette. By reading this article, you will learn everything you need to know to start playing chess confidently and enjoyably.

The board, the pieces and how to set them up

The first thing you need to know about chess is what are the board and pieces that you use to play it. The board and pieces are the tools of the game, and you need to understand them well before you can use them effectively.

The board and pieces

Every chessboard is comprised of 64 squares, which are divided into eight vertical "files" and eight horizontal "ranks". In other words, every vertical column is a file and every horizontal row is a rank. Some boards have coordinates printed on them, so you can easily identify the files and ranks. On these, the letters a-h run horizontally and the numbers 1-8 run vertically. Please see Exhibit 1 for an example.

Exhibit 1 Chessboard with coordinates

Each player has 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. The pieces are usually black and white, but they can also be other colors, such as red and blue. The pieces have different shapes and sizes, which indicate their value and movement. The king is the tallest piece, followed by the queen, the rook, the bishop, the knight and the pawn. The pawn is the smallest piece, but it can also become a queen or any other piece if it reaches the end of the board. Please see Exhibit 2 for an example of what these pieces look like.

Exhibit 2 Chess pieces with Staunton design

The rank and file coordinates

While learning the game, I recommend that you buy an inexpensive chessboard with the rank and file coordinates printed on it, as shown in Exhibit 1. You can buy a vinyl roll-up board at many chess supply websites for less than $10. I also recommend getting pieces with the Staunton design, which are the type used in standard chess sets. Exhibit 2 is an example of what these pieces look like.

The rank and file coordinates are useful for several reasons. First, they help you to identify the squares on the board and to communicate them to others. For example, if you want to tell someone where your king is, you can say "my king is on e1", which means that your king is on the fifth file from the left and the first rank from your side. Second, they help you to write down your moves in chess notation, which is a system of symbols that records the moves of a game. Chess notation is important for studying your games and learning from others. I will explain more about chess notation in a later section.

The Staunton design

The Staunton design is the standard design for chess pieces that was introduced in 1849 by Nathaniel Cook and endorsed by Howard Staunton, a leading chess player of that time. The Staunton design is simple, elegant and practical. It makes the pieces easy to recognize and distinguish from each other. It also makes them stable and comfortable to hold and move. The Staunton design is widely used in tournaments and clubs around the world.

There are many variations of the Staunton design, such as different colors, materials, sizes and styles. You can choose whatever suits your taste and budget. However, I suggest that you avoid pieces that are too fancy or too abstract, as they may confuse you or your opponent during the game.

How to set up the board

Now that you know what are the board and pieces, let me show you how to set them up correctly before you start playing. Setting up the board properly is important for ensuring a fair and balanced game.

The first thing you need to do is to place the board between you and your opponent, with a white square at the bottom right corner of each player. This way, both players will have a white square on their right side and a black square on their left side.

The next thing you need to do is to place your pieces on the first two ranks (rows) of your side of the board. The order of placing your pieces is as follows:

• Place your rooks (the towers) on the corners of your first rank (a1 and h1 for white; a8 and h8 for black).

Place your knights (the horses) next to your rooks on your first rank (b 71b2f0854b