ChessFilter: I need help learning how to check and checkmate effectively.
April 15, 2010 8:18 PM Subscribe
ChessFilter: I need help learning how to check and checkmate effectively.
In my chess games, I usually have a hard time when it comes to checking. I check over and over again with multiple pieces, but the king keeps running and running and eventually manages to hide and keep himself safe. Not only do I fail to checkmate, but in the process of repeated checking, I manage to weaken my defenses and make my opponent's win more likely. (Ironically enough, after the bout of trying to checkmate and not being able to, my game somehow manages to get a lot weaker. And my opponent capitalizes. Oh, and by repeated I mean like at least 10 moves.)
Anyhow, I am looking for tips on how to manage checking better to increase the chance of a checkmate and how to make sure that I don't weaken my position on the board to help my opponent win while I am on the offense.
In my chess games, I usually have a hard time when it comes to checking. I check over and over again with multiple pieces, but the king keeps running and running and eventually manages to hide and keep himself safe. Not only do I fail to checkmate, but in the process of repeated checking, I manage to weaken my defenses and make my opponent's win more likely. (Ironically enough, after the bout of trying to checkmate and not being able to, my game somehow manages to get a lot weaker. And my opponent capitalizes. Oh, and by repeated I mean like at least 10 moves.)
Anyhow, I am looking for tips on how to manage checking better to increase the chance of a checkmate and how to make sure that I don't weaken my position on the board to help my opponent win while I am on the offense.
Checking repeatedly for no good purpose is a sign that you don't have a strategy in mind, or a goal, or a position you're trying to bring about. It's just harassment, and you're wasting moves by doing it, hoping your opponent will blunder or that you'll discover it's a checkmate.
Check with purpose. Check because you want the king to move. Check because he'll have to block with a particular piece. Check because it'll cause your opponent to do something that's to your advantage, like tie up a piece or block one in.
to increase the chance of a checkmate
Checkmates don't happen by chance, they're arranged by you. The only value to checking is that it can't be ignored; other than that, it's just another move. Don't try to randomly bring about a checkmate, look for how you can make it happen by forcing your opponent to respond to you. If you're not thinking "if I check with this piece, he'll have to do this, which allows me to do this..." then you're not arranging it, you're just spraying lead.
posted by fatbird at 8:34 PM on April 15, 2010 [4 favorites]
Check with purpose. Check because you want the king to move. Check because he'll have to block with a particular piece. Check because it'll cause your opponent to do something that's to your advantage, like tie up a piece or block one in.
to increase the chance of a checkmate
Checkmates don't happen by chance, they're arranged by you. The only value to checking is that it can't be ignored; other than that, it's just another move. Don't try to randomly bring about a checkmate, look for how you can make it happen by forcing your opponent to respond to you. If you're not thinking "if I check with this piece, he'll have to do this, which allows me to do this..." then you're not arranging it, you're just spraying lead.
posted by fatbird at 8:34 PM on April 15, 2010 [4 favorites]
You want to read How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremey Silman
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 8:36 PM on April 15, 2010
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 8:36 PM on April 15, 2010
I check over and over again with multiple pieces, but the king keeps running and running
Study those checkmate patterns and you'll notice something -- there are always several pieces simultaneously in play and at work. Pieces are being used to drive the king toward other pieces. If you're checking, and the king is running, you're likely just looking for little openings and pulling off little "a-ha" moves that have no real bearing on the bigger game. You're missing the forest for the trees.
"Dude, I can totally snipe your king from here with my bishop!"
"Yeah, so? Because you're chasing my king with your bishop, you're not noticing all the other things I'm doing."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:44 PM on April 15, 2010
Study those checkmate patterns and you'll notice something -- there are always several pieces simultaneously in play and at work. Pieces are being used to drive the king toward other pieces. If you're checking, and the king is running, you're likely just looking for little openings and pulling off little "a-ha" moves that have no real bearing on the bigger game. You're missing the forest for the trees.
"Dude, I can totally snipe your king from here with my bishop!"
"Yeah, so? Because you're chasing my king with your bishop, you're not noticing all the other things I'm doing."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:44 PM on April 15, 2010
Don't concentrate on checking, that's just reactive, concentrate on an overall strategy. You need to "pull" the opponent into checkmate. That's when the game is rewarding.
there are three strategic reasons to check that don't necessarily end up in checkmate.
1. Stop your opponent from castling
2. "Forking" That is trapping a piece by checking - the knight is particularly good at this.
3. Pinning Where an opponent's key piece cannot move because they are being pinned against - usually the king
Look for these moves.
Your strategy should have enough flexibility to meet your opponent's moves as well as restricting your opponent from enacting their own strategy. Constant checking isn't strategic play.
posted by the noob at 9:41 PM on April 15, 2010
there are three strategic reasons to check that don't necessarily end up in checkmate.
1. Stop your opponent from castling
2. "Forking" That is trapping a piece by checking - the knight is particularly good at this.
3. Pinning Where an opponent's key piece cannot move because they are being pinned against - usually the king
Look for these moves.
Your strategy should have enough flexibility to meet your opponent's moves as well as restricting your opponent from enacting their own strategy. Constant checking isn't strategic play.
posted by the noob at 9:41 PM on April 15, 2010
Read the Mating Patterns chapter of Ward Farnsworth's Predator at the chessboard. In fact read the whole thing. It is the best beginner/intermediate chess tutorial I've ever come across. Just reading the first several chapters took me from flailing around blindly to seeing 3-4 moves ahead, recognizing points to attack and maneuvering material to attack them in less than a week of perusing. Seriously, it's great. The way it's structured builds your ability to spot and capitalize patterns very, very well. When you plan and achieve an exchange that leaves you up 4 moves ahead you feel like God. It's an awesome feeling.
posted by nathancaswell at 9:42 PM on April 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by nathancaswell at 9:42 PM on April 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
To contrast what the noob said, constant checking may not be a strategy but it VASTLY reduces the number of moves your opponent can make. It becomes very easy to predict the response an intermediate player will have to a given check. When it's that easy to predict a response, it becomes very easy to see several moves ahead and plan to achieve material gain. If a check presents itself, take it!
posted by nathancaswell at 9:46 PM on April 15, 2010
posted by nathancaswell at 9:46 PM on April 15, 2010
Also, in agreement with what the noob said, Forking is the single best tactic at your disposal. The way the pieces are arranged at the start of the game makes a knight fork of the king/rook very easy against a mediocre player. You just have to wait until his queen clears, maybe move a pawn and get a knight to C7 (vs black) or C2 (vs white). Only the Queen protects these squares at the start of the game and the rook is trapped. Pins and skewers don't happen as much. If you're going to understand a single tactic, understand Knight Forks.
posted by nathancaswell at 9:53 PM on April 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by nathancaswell at 9:53 PM on April 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, remember that a check doesn't have to lead to checkmate. In fact it often never does. Use checks to capture minor pieces rather than to go after the King unless you're in the endgame. And even if you are in the endgame, a check that results in you going up a pawn can swing the game in your favor. OK I'm done.
posted by nathancaswell at 9:55 PM on April 15, 2010
posted by nathancaswell at 9:55 PM on April 15, 2010
Just sayin' that a bunch of mefites play chess at chess at work Wilful and nomis to name but two. If you want to get good at chess, play all the time.
posted by the noob at 10:09 PM on April 15, 2010
posted by the noob at 10:09 PM on April 15, 2010
Goddamnit, I can't stay away... think of a check to an uncontested square (and one that can't be blocked and contested simultaneously) as a free move. I get to move here and then you have to burn a move, which gives me ANOTHER move, and suddenly I can fork you here, which I couldn't before. That's why the knight as the noob says is so great for forks, it moves in patterns that are hard to visualize. You can check the king and force it to move, then BAM fork a queen and a bishop or a queen and a rook.
posted by nathancaswell at 10:18 PM on April 15, 2010
posted by nathancaswell at 10:18 PM on April 15, 2010
Also, the knight is the ONLY piece that can threaten a queen without exposing itself to capture from said queen. Knights rule.
posted by nathancaswell at 10:19 PM on April 15, 2010
posted by nathancaswell at 10:19 PM on April 15, 2010
Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles. Get a big book of puzzles where you force mate in 1-3 moves. If you can find it, Lazlo Polgar's big book of puzzles is a good investment. Learn the basics of king-queen, rook-king, and king-pawn endgame formulas. While you should always look for opportunities to force the mate, your overall strategy is to simplify to one of the endgame formulas.
Before you even think about checking the king, ask yourself, "What moves can my opponent make in response? Are all of them bad?" If your check isn't forcing the king to yield ground or give up a piece, your next moves should be to find ways to further restrict your opponent or gain a material advantage.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 7:18 AM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Before you even think about checking the king, ask yourself, "What moves can my opponent make in response? Are all of them bad?" If your check isn't forcing the king to yield ground or give up a piece, your next moves should be to find ways to further restrict your opponent or gain a material advantage.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 7:18 AM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Learning and practicing tactics always helps, but I think what you're looking for is The Art of Checkmate.
When you work through these typical mates, you learn patterns of checkmate. Once you know what to look for, it's easier to find it.
posted by MtDewd at 5:06 AM on April 22, 2010
When you work through these typical mates, you learn patterns of checkmate. Once you know what to look for, it's easier to find it.
posted by MtDewd at 5:06 AM on April 22, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
The point is, you don't need to invent a way to checkmate someone in your head. Endgames can often be played very similarly, using just a few pieces in a consistent pattern to take someone down.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 8:29 PM on April 15, 2010