PIECE VALUES PART 1

Each piece is worth a certain number of points. A pawn is worth 1 point, a knight or bishop is worth 3, a
rook is worth 5, and a queen is worth 9. The king has no point value because it can never be captured or
traded.

Now we're going to look at a very basic example of how you will use the point values in your own games.
(e4)

We have seen this position before, right? (e5)

White gets out a piece. (Nf3)

Black does the same. (Nc6)

This is called the Spanish Opening. Note that White can take Black's c6-knight with his bishop on the next
move. Black would then be able to capture the bishop with his b- or d-pawn. This is called a TRADE. Now
think about the point values of the bishop and the knight. Is this trade good for White, bad for White, or
even? (Bb5)

Black attacks the b5-bishop, forcing White to make a decision. Should he trade or not? (a6)

White decides to trade his bishop for Black's knight. Remember that both pieces are worth 3 points, so
this is an EVEN TRADE. It's not better for White or better for Black, it's just even. White didn't have to
trade - he could have just moved his bishop back to a4, for example. But trading is also fine. (Bxc6)

PIECE VALUES PART 2

In this example, we're going to look at an UNEVEN TRADE, where one side gets more points than the
other. (e4)

(e5)

White brings out her queen on the second move. This is almost always a very bad idea, since the queen
can be attacked easily. (Qg4)

Black puts another pawn in the center and attacks White's queen. Do you see how? With the c8-bishop!
(d5)

White immediately decides to capture Black's bishop. But she must have forgotten that the queen is worth
9, and the bishop is only worth 3! (Qxc8)

After Black recaptures, she is ahead by 6 points. This is a huge advantage, and should be enough to win
the game easily. This is why you need to always keep in mind the point values of the pieces! (Qxc8)
HANGING PIECES PART 1

When a piece can be captured for free, it is called a "hanging piece" or just "hanging". It is important to
be on the lookout for hanging pieces, both for yourself and for your opponent!

*This looks like a pretty normal position from the beginning of the
game...except it isn't. One of Black's pieces is hanging - see if you can
spot it!

Excellent! You just took a hanging rook. That's five free points! (Bxa8)

HANGING PIECE PART 2

Sometimes hanging pieces are not so obvious. You have to really

look for them! Here Black set a little trap. He played a normal-
looking move, capturing a pawn...

...and White simply captured the pawn back, attacking Black's

queen. (c4)

Do you see why this was a big mistake for White? (Nxc4)

Excellent! You were really looking at the whole board, and so you
spotted the hanging piece. Congratulations on winning three
points of material for free! (Qxg5)
TRAPPED PIECES PART 1

A piece that has no safe squares to move to is called a "trapped piece". Trapped pieces are a lot more
common than you might think. Let's look at an example!

White's position is pretty good, and if it were his move, he might have a
slight advantage. But it is Black's move, and Black has an immediate way
to trap White's bishop on a4.

He starts with ...b5, attacking the bishop. It only has one safe square to
move to. (b5)

Now Black has a way to completely trap this bishop! Take a close look
and see if you can find it! (Bb3)

Terrific! White's bishop is trapped behind a wall of pawns, and has no safe squares! (c4)

White has no choice but to sacrifice his bishop for a pawn. (Bxc4)

After Black recaptures, he will have given up 1 point and gained 3 points - an UNEVEN TRADE in Black's
favor. (bxc4)

TRAPPED CHESS PART 2

When one side occupies the center with pawns and the other side only uses their pieces, often the pawns
can cause a lot of damage. (e4)

This is not a very common opening. (Nc6)

White continues to occupy the center with pawns. (d4)

Black still has not staked out any territory in the center with his pawns. Now his knights will get pushed
around. (Nf6)

White starts claiming space and attacking Black's pieces. (d5)

A huge mistake. Black's knight is about to get trapped! See if you can figure out how. (Na5)

Excellent! Black's knight is trapped and he is going to lose it. Good job using what you learned about
trapped pieces! (b4)
COUNTING PART 1

Count the points for each side and figure out who is ahead in material.

If you determined that Black is ahead in material, you are correct! Black
has 10 points, White has 9. This is a strong indication that Black has an
advantage. (Ng2)

COUNTING PART 2

Sometimes it may look like one side has the advantage, but when you
actually count up the material, you realize that the opposite is true. Once
again, figure out who is ahead in points in this position.

That's right, White is ahead! Even though Black has four pieces and White
only has three, White has so many extra pawns that he is actually ahead
in points! 23 for White, 22 for Black. White has a large advantage here.
(Qf4)

COUNTING PART 3

It is often necessary to count the material and know who is ahead before
you make big decisions.

In this situation, Black has the opportunity to trade rooks. Figure out who
is ahead in points and then decide what is the best move.

Excellent! Trading pieces is the right decision here, because Black is

ahead by one point. Keeping the rooks on the board would have made
things way too complicated. (Bxc5)
FIND THE BEST MOVE

All right, time for a little test! In this position, you're going to
have to find the best move. And it might not be what you think it
is!

Count the material and figure out who is ahead in points. Also
look for trapped and hanging pieces. A good rule of thumb is to
always look for CHECKS and CAPTURES before considering any
other moves...and remember to take your time! This is a tricky
one!

Checkmate!!! Congratulations, you did it! Even though you could

have taken Black's queen, checkmate is WAY more important.
Great job! (Be4++)

BACK RANK

Now we're going to start learning some basic checkmate

patterns. The first one is called the BACK RANK checkmate. The
back ranks are the 1st and 8th ranks - where the kings usually
are. When the king has castled (especially kingside) it can
sometimes be trapped behind its own pawns and easy to
checkmate. Let's take a look...

In this example, both sides have castled short, but notice that
White has played the move h3, which gives his king another safe
square to move to. Black's king does not have that extra safe
square, and because of that, White can checkmate him right
now! See if you can find the right move...

Excellent, you checkmated Black! Now you know about the back rank checkmate...so don't let it happen to
you! (Rd8+)
PAWN MATE

This position is a common endgame checkmate. White has two pawns

and they are both very close to promoting. Black can stop them both
with his king, but he's going to get trapped.

White can use his pawns to checkmate Black in one move. Find the
checkmate!

White can use his pawns to checkmate Black in one move. Find the
checkmate!

Excellent, you used your pawns to checkmate Black! You don't always need a lot of big pieces to
checkmate - especially if your opponent only has his king! (h7+)

UNCASTLED KING

Now let's look at a VERY common checkmate pattern against a king that
has not castled yet. The f2 / f7 squares are naturally very weak (because
only the king protects them), and sometimes a checkmate is possible on
these squares!

This is a position from an actual game. Both sides have played three
moves, so it is only move four - but White already has a checkmate on
his next move! See if you can find it.

This is a position from an actual game. Both sides have played three
moves, so it is only move four - but White already has a checkmate on
his next move! See if you can find it. (Qxf7++)

THE CASTLED KING

We learned in the last lesson that f2 / f7 are the weakest squares when
the king has not castled. However, when the king has castled short, the
weak square changes. This is because after castling, f2 / f7 is protected
by a rook. So h2 / h7 become the weakest squares.

This is a very typical castled king position. Black has a way to take
advantage of White's weakest square and checkmate him.

Excellent! Once again, you used your queen and bishop to checkmate
White''s castled king. (Qxa7++)
MATING NET

The more pieces you have near your opponent's king, the more likely
that you will be able to checkmate. When your pieces take away all of the
king's escape squares, it is called a MATING NET.

In this position, White's pieces take away all of the escape squares for the
Black king. He has no safe moves, so now you just need to put him in
check.

Excellent! You used your last piece to checkmate Black! (Bd5++)

ARABIAN MATE

The ARABIAN MATE is a very common checkmate pattern using

only a rook and knight.

Find the move that puts Black in checkmate.

Excellent! This kind of checkmate is called the Arabian mate. (Rh7++)

ROOK