How is Chess Played?

How is Chess Played?

For down to earth beginner's basics on chess see Chesscorner.com, About.com and the US Chess Federation.

US. Correspondence Chess Champion Jon Edwards has a website at Princeton University which he calls Chess is Fun. There are numerous materials presented which are a great help for beginners to learn how to play chess.

An explanation of chess rules is found at ChessClub.com.

See FIDE for the full text of the official FIDE Laws of Chess.

Chess.net Online Chess

Chess.net Online Chess

Chess.net requires a free download of its chess software Chess.net for Windows which can be used during the free trial period. However, when I logged on as a guest, both under the name "guest" as well as under a new handle, I got the message that too many guests were logged on and that I would not be able to log into the site. That of course is a waste of my time, waiting to log in to such programs, and I removed this software immediately from my PC.

Garry Kasparov at the London Chess Centre

Garry Kasparov at the London Chess Centre

The London Chess Centre reports that Garry Kasparov will be signing his autograph to his newest book, My Great Predecessors and to his newest DVD, Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine on July 3, 2004 in London.

ChessBase Online Chess

Chessbase Online Chess

ChessBase, known for its comprehensive Chessbase database and makers of the superb chess software Fritz - now available as Fritz 8 - also have an online chess server at PlayChess.com with nearly 100,000 players. Software must be downloaded and play is free for the first 30 days. Thereafter, a serial number can be purchased for the software which is then good for a year.

A map of the world shows by dots where people all over the planet are online for Chess Online.

FIDE Women's Chess Championship 2004 Elista Kalmykia

FIDE Women's Chess Championship 2004 Elista Kalmykia

As reported at ChessGames.com, ChessBase.com and ChessCenter.com, the 25-year old Bulgarian, Antoaneta Stefanova, defeated the 30-year old Russian, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, in the final of the FIDE Women's World Chess Championships which were held May 21 through June 8 in Elista, Kalmykia.

FIDE covered the games live.

GM (Chess Grandmaster) Yuri Yakovich analyzes the final game in annotation.

Chessgames.com has the Games

Chessgames.com has the Games

Chessgames.com Online is one place to go to hone your fine skills in chess. Great games by top players can be viewed from start to finish in the ChessGames database. One of the best ways to learn how to play the game is to see the masters at work.

Chessgames.com features an "Opening Explorer" for the analysis of openings move by move.

Chessgames.com also features up-to-date chess news and a directory of thousands of top chess players around the world.

We have added a ChessGames.com search box - this is not advertising - in the left column of Magnifichess for you to search for chess games of your choosing.

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nf6 - Mate in 19 moves

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nf6 - Mate in 19 moves

I have been taking it on the chin at the various online chess sites, where I am experimenting with all kinds of strange openings and moves and often getting clobbered by the opposition in the process. But trial and error are the sources of learning.

Good games, of course, are always remembered fondly.

Here is a win I just completed at Game.Knot.com, which was particularly pleasing, resulting in a mate after only 19 moves.
Any checkmate under 20 is always a pleasure, as long as one is on the right side of the board, of course. The mate is already clear a number of moves previous to that since the king has nowhere to go.

[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=1850866"]
[Date "2004.06.04"]
[White "jan-p"]
[Black "magnifichess"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1229"]
[BlackElo "1200"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Termination "normal"]

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. d3 d6
6. h3 h6 7. g3 Nd4 8. Nxd4 Bxd4 9. Ne2 Bb6 10. f4 Be6
11. f5 Bxc4 12. dxc4 Nxe4 13. c3 Bf2+ 14. Kf1 Nxg3+ 15. Kxf2 Ne4+
16. Ke1 Qh4+ 17. Ng3 Qxg3+ 18. Ke2 Qf2+ 0-1

Online Chess at Yahoo!

Online Chess at Yahoo!

Yahoo under its "Games" section also has thousands of online chess players. I played two nice games there, but the green and white chess board is so horrid that it hurts my eyes - and I could not find a way to change the colors - so I will not be returning there.

FIDE - World Chess Federation Online

FIDE - World Chess Federation Online

FIDE is the abbreviation for the World Chess Federation in French, Fédération Internationale des Échecs.

Chess is regarded to be a sport - only those who have never played find this hard to believe (a real chess game can be as exhausting as any other sport) - and FIDE is recognized by the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, as the supreme ruling body for world chess.

FIDE organizes the official world chess championship tournaments and its champions are generally regarded to be the world champions of chess, although in recent years there was a competing organization, the PCA, since disbanded, whose champions were generally accepted as the true world champions. In recent years, the political infighting and wrangling over the world championship of chess has continued, so that there is still no unified world chess champion. Read this report from the Corus Chess Tournament.

For a history of FIDE and the tournaments it organizes, see FIDE and the Wikipedia.

USCF US Chess Federation Chess Hall of Fame Live Online

Chess Hall of Fame Live Online Chess

Chess Hall of Fame Live is the official online chess service of the United States Chess Federation and the World Chess Hall of Fame.

US Chess Live software must be downloaded, either as a Windows program or as Java for other platforms.

Of all of the tested chess interfaces, this appears to be the best of the bunch and the one we will probably choose to use, though it is also the only one with no free guest use - you must become a paid registered member. Chess here is played seriously. [Update: actually if you register on the site, you have a free trial period before you have to pay.]

Members of the US Chess Federation - see US Chess Online - obtain reduced rates.

IN rating chess players, the ELO system is used which is described at the USCF site as follows:

"The USCF rating system, developed by statistician Arpad Elo in the early 60s, rates the performance of chessplayers in sanctioned tournaments. Most ratings fall between 400 and 2600, with an average of about 1350. The highest rated active member in the US is Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov, rated 2743 as of October 2003. In 1970, the World Chess Federation adopted the USCF rating method for international events. In 1993, World Champion Gary Kasparov achieved the highest international rating ever, 2805, breaking Bobby Fischer's 1972 record of 2780. GM Kasparov is now rated 2838, and remains the highest rated chessplayer internationally".

To see the actual rating of the Top Players worldwide, see the World Chess Federation Online, FIDE Online. FIDE is the abbreviation for the World Chess Federation in French, Fédération Internationale des Échecs.

Chess at World Chess Network

Chess at World Chess Network

The World Chess Network offers online chess. The World Chess Network software must be downloaded and installed (free).

Variations of Chess at ItsYourTurn

Variations of Chess at ItsYourTurn

Some strange variations of normal chess can be played at ItsYourTurn.

Experience at the Internet Chess Club

Internet Chess Club

The Internet Chess Club has a one week free trial and states that "the Internet Chess Club is the longest running and most vibrant chess community on the internet."

You have to download the free chess program
BlitzIn 2.34 for Windows
in order to play.

I tried some of the blitz games. Fun but I prefer normal chess.

Chess Experience at GameKnot.com

Chess Experience at GameKnot.com

I like the user interface here and the idea one can play several games at one time, so I will probably play some more games here.

Chess Queen History

Chess Queen History

The New York Times has a Book Review by Liesl Schillinger on the book, "'Birth of the Chess Queen", authored by Marilyn Yalom, a Stanford University "gender scholar". The book discusses the history of chess and particularly focuses on the Queen.

Magnifichess Game 1 at GameKnot

Magnifichess Game 1 at GameKnot.com

Well, I won my first game at GameKnot.com but I sure am rusty at chess, making some grievous errors at the beginning and winning only because my opponent lost his Queen early in the game and then put up a valiant battle with his bishops. As a result, definitely an interesting chess match which I ran under the name "Paris in the Spring" because I wanted to try out the French Defence (at least in appearance) and because it fit the time of year and mood.

[Event "Paris in the Spring"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=1837861"]
[Date "2004.05.29"]
[White "wwcom1"]
[Black "magnifichess"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
[BlackElo "1200"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Termination "normal"]

1. Nf3 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Nbd7 5. Re1 Bd6
6. Nc3 c6 7. Nd4 a6 8. e3 Rb8 9. Nf3 h6 10. d3 b5
11. e4 Bb7 12. a3 Ne5 13. b3 Nxf3+ 14. Qxf3 c5 15. e5 d4
16. Na2 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Nd5 18. exd6 Qxd6 19. Re4 Nf6 20. Bf4 Qd8
21. Re5 O-O 22. Rxc5 Rc8 23. b4 Nd5 24. Bc1 Qf6 25. Kg2 g5
26. Bb2 Rxc5 27. bxc5 Rc8 28. Re1 Rxc5 29. Nb4 Nxb4 30. axb4 Rxc2
31. Rc1 Rxb2 32. Rc7 g4 33. Rc8+ Kg7 34. h4 Qxf3+ 0-1

Magnifichess (TM) Chess Blog Launched

Magnifichess Chess Blog Launched

The Magnifichess Chess Blog - a play on words for this magnificent game - was launched on May 29, 2004.

We will post interesting chess stuff here as we find it.

Start at Chessville for interesting chess quotes

or go to the Chess Blog for Chess is Fun by Jon Edwards, United States Correspondence Chess Champion

or go to The Daily Dirt Chess Blog for "insider news and views"

or ChessOps for the basics on Chess Openings

or go to GameKnot, which I found by looking for a quote by Bobby Fischer, which got me interested in chess again, and a site at which free multiplayer chess is possible.

I play under the name of Magnifichess at GameKnot - but after not playing chess for the last 20 years and having more or less forgotten the openings - without using any computer assistance, which is prohibited - the old and new generations of chess freaks will probably give me a lesson or two in the course of my matches. As usual, I play too fast - which is more fun - but it is then easier to make mistakes and overlook dangers one sees initially and then forgets. We shall see how it goes.