Chess Path For Beginners — From Zero To Hero (Part 4)
Hello and Welcome Back to this series!
- In the previous lessons, we have covered the basics and now, it’s time to broaden our knowledge with more useful Chess Terms and important tips.
- Let’s make sure, that you are ready to become a Chess Player.
Here are 2 New Chess Terms, that a player of any level should know.
1. En passant
En passant is a French word, which means in passing. Let’s deep dive into it.
In the past blogs, we have learnt, that a pawn moves straight and always captures diagonally.
If you missed that, make sure to catch up below.
Chess Path For Beginners — From Zero To Hero (Part 2)
- But, in a very concrete case, a pawn can capture a pawn, even when it’s on the adjacent square.
Let’s see its examples and differences.
Firstly, let’s review the pawn’s regular movement once again to refresh our knowledge.
White to move.
Here, the white pawn can either advance further with the move 1.e5, or take the black pawn with the move 1.exd5.
In this example, we see, that if we decide to take the pawn, we have to move our pawn on the exact square, that the opponent’s pawn is on.
- However, in the case of en passant, it’s a little different.
Let’s break it down in smaller steps.
We will take a sample position for this rule, like this :
Black to move.
Now, it’s Black’s move. Notice, that the Black pawn can move to either d6 or d5 (matter of preference), but for us to understand the rule, Black needs to move the pawn to d5, like this.
Notice the adjacent placement of the pawns.
Now, it’s white’s move. Can they take the Black pawn?
No matter, how confused you may be, the answer is yes. Let me make everything clear.
- Whenever a pawn of any color moves up by two squares and after that move, is adjacent, it can be taken.
Let’s see this example on the picture.
How the pawn will be captured.
In this scenario, if White decides to take the pawn, it will move to d6 , taking the pawn, as if it was on d6 instead of d5.
- If this rule still sounds unclear/confusing, take your time on the first example and don’t rush.
If you’re still confused, here’s one more example to try for yourself.
Black to move.
White’s last move was e2-e4. Now, can Black take this with en passant?
- Yes, as the pawns are adjacent.
2. Castling
A picture, which we’ll use to understand the concept.
- Castling — A maneuver of the King and Rook, commonly used in chess games, in order to improve King safety, piece coordination, mobility and activity.
We’ll discuss the strategy of castling in later blogs, but until then, let’s understand it clearly.
- There are 2 types of castling : Short and Long.
On the picture above, short castling is done with the right-side rook, and the long one with the left-side rook.
- They’re also called Kingside and Queenside castling
1. Short castling
Let’s take a position like this :
The position required for castling.
Now, when we want to castle short, we move our King 2 squares to the right, and our rook 2 squares to the left, just like this :
Short castling done correctly.
2. Long castling
Once again, let’s take a sample position to understand this concept.
The position required for castling.
Now, although long castling is a bit different, it’s not hard to memorise at all.
You simply move the King 2 squares to the left, and the Rook 3 squares to the right, just like this :
Long castling done correctly.
- If you’re having some trouble with any of these rules, make sure to research them well and practice, so that you can improve overtime.
If you’re struggling with any chess problems, let me know, so I can help!
Until next time, Sarah
Thank you for reading!
