CHESS

This is a two unit course that deals with the concept of sports and athletic
activities, which aims to give students in Physical Education III; skills, control
management of games geared towards attaining well-rounded physical
structure, and its tenant; ”MENSANA CEN CORPORE SANO” meaning
sound mind and a sound body as one of the primary considerations in sport and
athletic. Alertness of intellectual exercises with discipline is the major concerns
physical II which eventually leads to SPORTMANSHIP. This course is to
develop the techniques for the sports conditioning and the fundamental skills
used in Individual, Dual Sports. It will also focus on the various stages of
games skill development for variety of activities.

1. HISTORY OF CHESS

Chess was played thousands of years ago. It had its origin in India (chaturanga)
and Persia which was derived from the Persian word shah meaning king. Shah
mat is an Arabic phrase which means “the king is dead.” The word
“checkmate” originated from shah mat. A chess set was discovered in the tomb
of ancient Egyptian pharaoh. The game reached Persia and Arabia in the A.D
500’s.The word “chess” came from the Persian word shah. Arab traders
probably introduced chess to Western Europe and European colonists have
brought it with them to America.

People from all parts of the world play chess today. It is considered a brain
game which involves skill full planning. Many world countries have their own
national chess tournaments. International and world title competition in various
countries stage and organize chess competitions for youngsters, men and
women’s categories. Bobby Fisher, Anatoli Karpov, Gary Kasparove and
Filipinos like Eugen Torre, Antonio and Anthony Paragus are chess kings.

The Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) was organized as the

worldwide organization of chess players.

In chess, the goal of the chess player is to checkmate his opponents’ King, that
is, to place the enemy King under attack without any chance of escaping. Both
chess players have equal material and identical initial positions before the start
of the chess game. Neither of the chess players enjoys any advantages. As the
game proceeds, each tries to upset this balance in his or her favor in order to
end up with more material or a better position, or both. The reason for this is
that the stronger side, with correct play, in the end, captures him or her
opponent’s King and wins the game.

There are three stages in chess game: the opening, the middle game, and the
endgame.
In the opening stage, both chess players mobilizes their forces by bringing
them out as quickly as possible and posting them at good squares, as they get
them early to attack the opponent’s camp.

In the middle game of chess, the principal aim of each player is to win material
and avoid losing materials, or gain a commanding position, or both, in order to
achieve a great advantage that will force his or her opponent to give up.

In the end game of chess, a lot of pieces and pawns have been exchange and
only a few pieces and pawns are left on the board. The player’s aim is to
promote pawns to have enough forces to mate his opponents.

2. EQUIPMENT

The Board

The chess board is the same as the check board.

1.    It has 64 squares, 32 light-colored (white) and 32 dark-colored (black).

2.    Board is always set so that the first ends with a white square on each
player’s right.

3.    The eight rows that run vertically between the two players are called files.

4.    The eight rows that run from left to right are called ranks.

5.    Straight lines of the same colored squares running in a slant wise direction
are called diagonals.

SETTING THE BOARD

          At the start of the game, the two rooks occupy the extreme right and left
squares of the first rank:

1.    The two knights stand next to the rooks.

2.    The bishops are placed next to the knights.

3.    The queen is “on her color”.

4.    The king stands on the one remaining along the first rank.

5.    The pawns are then lined up in the rank directly in front of the more
important pieces.
The Pieces

There are two opposing sides in chess, one consisting of light-colored (white)
pieces and the other is dark- colored (black) pieces. Each has 16 pieces. The
eight more important pieces are the king, the queen, two rooks (castles), two
bishops, and two knights. 

3. BASIC MOVES IN CHESS

THE MOVES OF THE PIRATES

KING

  The king is the most important piece in chess and must always be protected
from capture. It is the most powerful and active piece on board. He moves only
to a square that touches the one on which he stands.

BISHOP

 The bishop is a powerful piece in chess. If he starts a game on a black square

he will remain on the black square throughout the game.

QUEEN

 The queen is the most powerful of all the pieces. She can move horizontally,
vertically or diagonal with any number of squares along the line that is not
blocked. She combined the moves of the rook and the bishop.

KNIGHT

  The knight is the favorite piece of many players because of its very
mysterious way of moving. The knight’s move will remind of the letter L. It
moves two squares in either horizontal or vertical direction and one square in
the other direction. A knight standing on a white square always ends up on a
black square after its move, and vice versa. It can jump over pieces between
original square and the square to which it moves, and it can capture only enemy
pieces that are standing on the square it finally lands on.

PAWN

 A slowly pawn may often rise to higher rank in the chess army. It may move
one or two squares straight ahead on its first move and once it made its first
move, it can advance only one square at a time and can move forward. If may
only capture an enemy piece that stands one square in front of it in a diagonal
direction the V-shaped capture.
4. BASIC RULES AND REGULATIONS

BASIC RULES AND REGULATIONS

To play chess well, you must have skill, patience, and the ability to plan your
move before you make them. But even if you are just starting to learn the
game, you can have fun playing it.

          Chess is like a game of war between two kingdoms. The players sit
opposite each other at a chessboard, a checkered board with 64 squares. One of
the players uses the white (or light - colored) pieces, or chessmen, while the
other uses the black (or dark-colored) ones. Each has 16 pieces – one king, one
queen, two rooks (or castles), two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. The
white king is on a black across from the white king, the black king is on a white
square.

          The object of chess is to force your opponent’s king to surrender. You
and your opponent use your men to protect your king and attack the enemy.
When a piece is moved onto a square occupied by an enemy piece, the enemy
piece is captured and removed from the board. When the king is in danger of
being captured, it is check and must be moved out of check or protected. The
game ends when the king cannot move to safety or being protected from
capture. This is checkmate. When neither player can win, the game is drawn. 

MOVEMENT OF THE PIECES

          Each of chess piece is moved in a different way. The queen is the most
powerful piece. You can move it clear across the board in one turn. The queen
can go forward, back and to the right or left, or diagonally, any number of
squares, if there are no other pieces on its path. The king can also move in any
direction- but only one square at a time. The rooks, or castles, move forward o
backward, right or left, any number of squares, but never diagonally. The
bishops move diagonally any number of squares. Pawns move forward one
square at a time. But a player may dance a pawn two squares the first time it is
moved. The pawn can move one square diagonally only to capture another
piece. It can never move backward or sideways. A pawn that crosses the board
is promoted. It is then exchanged for any other piece except a king. An upside-
down rook or a coin is used to mark this piece. A player can, therefore, have
two or more queens, bishops, knights, or rooks on the board, but never more
than one king. A pawn is usually made into a queen because a queen is so
strong. This process of promoting is known as queening a pawn.

          The knights move in an L-shape. A knight can go two squares forward,
backward, or to either side, or then one square forward, backward, or either
side, or then one square to the right or left. It can also go one square in any
direction and then two squares to the right or left. The knight is the only piece
that can jump over other pieces when it moves.
          Once you know how the pieces are moved, the trick is to know where to
move them. Look around the board to see if any of your pieces are in danger of
being captured as you advance toward the enemy. You especially do not want
your queen to be captured. Make sure you do not leave your king unprotected.
Toward the end of a chess game, the players usually have only a few men left,
because the others have been captured. The game becomes very exciting,
because the weak king is often left to defend itself.

DRAWN GAMES

          A game is called (tie) if any one of the following occurs:

1.    Both players agree to draw during the game (in some competitions, players
must make at least 30 moves before they may agree to draw).

2.    Neither player has enough pieces left for a possible checkmate. (For
example, only two kings remain on the board or one player has a king and
bishop or knight against the opponent’s king.)

3.    One player, whose turn is to play, has no legal move and it is not on check.
This is called “stalemate”. (Note the difference between checkmate and
stalemate. After checkmate, the player also has no legal move, but his king is
on check.)

4.    The same position is repeated three times during a game, with the same
player about to move.

5.    One player can prove that the opponent’s king can be checked endlessly
(perpetual check),this rule reduces to rule 4 when the same position is repeated
three times or more.

6.    Neither side has made a capture or moved a pawn for the last 50 moves. 

CASTLING

Castling is a special move involving only the king and the rook.

1.    The king and the rook have not yet moved during the game.

2.    The squares between the king and this rook are occupied.

3.    The king is not on check and will not have to move across a square
threatened by an enemy piece.

4.    The king may be moved two squares toward the rook, and the rook (as part
of the same move) is placed on the square directly on the other side of the king.
It is possible to castle in the kingside (where only two squares separate the king
and the rook). Each player can castle only once during a single game. Castling
normally occurs early in the game, and it is usually done to place the king in
safer position.

EN PASSANT

          En passant is a French word for “in passing.” It is a special way of

capturing the pawn. It occurs very rarely. If pawn has reached its 5th rank, an
enemy pawn advancing two squares on its first move passes a square on which
it could have been captured in the usual v-shaped with the pawn on the
5th rank, the pawn on the 5th rank may capture the advancing pawn as it had
moved only the square forward on its first move. This capture must be made on
the very next move. If not taken advantage immediately, the opportunity to
capture en passant is lost.

NUMERICAL VALUE OF THE PIECES

Queen – 9

Rook – 5

Bishop and Knight – 3 ½

Pawn – 1

     You should always calculate the value before exchanging any of your piece
for one of your opponents. Incidentally, the king is not given a numerical value
because the king can never be captured or exchanged.

Additional Insights:

·        The longest chess game theorically possible is 5,949 moves.

·        Blathy, Otto (1860-1939), credited for creating the longest Chess

Problem, mate in 290 moves.

·        Dr. Emanuel Lasker from Germany retained the World Chess Champion
title for more time than any other player ever: 26 years and 337 days.

·        In 1985, Eric Knoppert played 500 games of 10 minutes Chess in 68

hours.

·        FIDE stands for Federation Internationale des Eches, which literally

translate into World Chess Federation.