En Passant
The en passant move was developed in late medieval times after pawns were allowed to move more than one square on their initial move. This was done to make sure the now faster moving pawns retained some of the restrictions imposed by slow movement, while at the same time speeding up the game.
the most obscure and least used move in Chess is called en passant (pronounced "aw pawsawnt"). It can only occur when a player exercises his option to move his pawn two squares on its initial movement and that move places his pawn next to the opponent's pawn. When this happens, the opposing player has the option to use his pawn to take the moved pawn "en passant" as if the pawn had only moved one square. This option, though, only stays open for one move.
Strategy Tip: It is not always best to take an opponent's piece every time the opportunity arises. Carefully consider what taking this move will do to the mutual support of the pawn structure or in revealing a piece that may be situated behind.
Castling
This move was invented in the 1500s to help speed up the game and to help balance the offense and defense.
Castling is a special defensive maneuver. It is the only time in the game when more than one piece may be moved during a turn.
The castling move has some fairly rigid restrictions:
It can only occur if there are no pieces standing between the king and the rook.
Neither king nor the rook to be castled with may have moved from its original position. (The other rook may have already moved.
There can be no opposing piece that could possibly capture the king in his original square, the square he moves through or the square that he ends the turn.
The king moves two squares toward the rook he intends to castle with (this may be either rook). The rook then moves to the square through which the king passed. Hopefully, the diagram to the left makes this clear. If the king castles queen-side the rook must move four squares. However on the king-side the rook only moves three squares.
Strategy Note: Castling is a great aid in defensive strategy. It also has a tendency to bring a powerful rook into play when under normal circumstances it might be stuck behind a wall of pawns.
End game
The game ends when one of the players captures his opponent's king, when one of the player's resigns or there is a stalemate.
When a player's king is threatened by an opposing piece, it is said to be "in check". When a player places the opposing king in check he should announce, "check". The object of a player is not merely to place his opponent's king in check but to make certain that every square where the king has a possibility of movement is also covered. This is called checkmate. The king is considered captured.
Either player may resign at any time. This generally happens when a player loses a major piece and the outlook for victory in his case appears bleak.
Stalemate is considered a tie. A stalemate occurs when a player's only move is to place his own king in check, but its current square is not threatened. As long as he can move another piece or the king can move to an open square, stalemate may not occur.
A draw also results when the only two pieces on the board are Kings, regardless of their position. If the pieces remaining on the board make check mate impossible, for example one cannot checkmate an opponent with only a king and a bishop a draw would also result.
CHESS NOTATION
chess moves and describe the play by using algebraic chess notation . The files are named a through h from the left of the player who play with white pieces. The ranks are numbered from 1 to 8 from the side of the player with whites.
The coordinate of each square is written by using its file letter and its rank number such as a1 , a2, b1 ,e4 etc. ( see the diagram ). When you move your piece , you write also a letter which symbolize that piece except the pawn .
K king , Q queen , R rook , B bishop , N knight
Other symbols
0-0 : a short castle
0-0-0 : a long castle
! : a good move
!! : a very good move
? : a bad move
?? : a very bad move
!? : an interesting move
Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", pronounced [ˈtsuːktsvaŋ]) is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move. The fact that the player must make a move means that his position will be significantly weaker than the hypothetical one in which it was his opponent's turn to move.
In game theory, it specifically means that it directly changes the outcome of the game from a win to a loss. The term is used less precisely in games such as chess; i.e., the game theory definition is not necessarily used in chess For instance, it may be defined loosely as "a player to move cannot do anything without making an important concession" (van Perlo 2006:479). Putting the opponent in zugzwang is a common way to help the superior side win a game. In some cases it is necessary to make the win possible
The term zugzwang is frequently used in chess. A player whose turn it is to move who has no move that does not worsen his position is said to be in zugzwang (Soltis 2003a:78). Thus every move would make his position worse, and he would be better off if he could pass and not move. Sometimes different chess authors use the term zugzwang in different ways In some literature a reciprocal is called zugzwang and a one-sided zugzwang is called a squeeze
Special Tips:
In a chess endgame, being in zugzwang usually means going from a drawn position to a loss or a won position to a draw, but it can be from a win to a loss, or a substantial loss of material which probably affects the outcome of the game. A chess position of reciprocal zugzwang or mutual zugzwang is equivalent to the more precise definition of zugzwang in game theory. Opposition is a special kind of zugzwang
