Learn to Play Chess Like a Boss by Wolff, Patrick -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title page Contents How to Use This eBook Introduction

How to Use This Book Diagrams Exercises Special Note to the Reader

Part 1: Let’s Play Chess

1: Why Play Chess?

Are We Having Fun Yet? Once the Game of Kings Now the King of Games One Hundred Years of On-screen Chess Brave New World of Chess

2: Drawing the Battle Lines

Meet the Chessboard Name the Squares Meet the Pieces

The Pawn The Knight The Bishop The Rook The Queen The King

The Two Rs: Reading and ’Riting Chess Moves

Pawn Moves without Capture Pawn Moves with Capture All Other Moves without Capture All Other Moves with Capture

Exercises: Take a Deep Breath

3: Rules of Engagement

Three Special Moves

Pawn Capturing a Pawn en Passant Promoting the Pawn King’s Special Privilege

Win, Lose, or Draw

Checkmate—the Aim of the Game! An Example of Checkmate What’s Up with the Punctuation?!? Throw in the Towel

Sometimes Nobody Wins

Insufficient Material to Deliver Checkmate Friendly Agreement Perpetual Check Stalemate

Exercises: You’re Almost Ready to Play!

4: How to Win with Just One Piece

Checkmate with Queen and King Versus King

Make a Plan Constrict the King Bring Your King Up to Help Drive the King to the Corner Beware of Giving Stalemate! Go for the Kill

Checkmate with Rook and King Versus King

Constrict the King Bring Your King Up to Help Drive the King Back Beware of Giving Stalemate! Go for the Kill

Could You Do It Again? Exercises: A Plan to Win

Part 2: Tactics

5: It’s a Material World

The Concept of Material

Sometimes Fewer Pieces = More Material The Relative Value of Pieces What about the King? How Do You Use This Scale? A Piece by Any Other Name

How to Win Material and Avoid Losing Material

“How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” “Do I Really Need All of This Practice?”

How to Defend One of Your Pieces

Move the Piece That Is Being Attacked Defend the Piece That Is Being Attacked Block the Attack on the Piece Capture the Piece That Is Attacking You Attack Something Else in Your Opponent’s Position

Exercises: Practice, Practice, Practice!

6: Tricks of the Tactical Trade

The Fork

Pawn Forks Knight Forks Bishop Forks Rook Forks Queen Forks King Forks

The Pin

Bishop Pins Rook Pins Queen Pins

The Skewer Two Attacks at Once

Discovered Check Double Check

Exercises: Forks, Pins, and Skewers

7: Dirtier Tricks

Getting an Enemy Piece out of the Way

Attacking the Defender Overloading the Defender

When You Are Your Own Worst Enemy Wishing Can Help You Make It So Superman’s Not the Only One with X-Ray Vision! The “In-Between” Move Exercises

8: Hunting Down the King

When a Material Advantage Is Relative The Emperor Has No Clothes! Exposing Your Opponent’s King

Anand–Kasparov, 1995 Variations

Useful Tactics for Attacking the King

Nowhere to Run! Death by Suffocation

Exercises: The Infinite Variety of Checkmates

Part 3: Strategy

9: In the Beginning

The Beginning, Middle, and End of a Chess Game “The Opening” or “an Opening”? When Does the Beginning End?

Principle #1: The Center Is Where the Action Is Principle #2: Center Pawns First Principle #3: Minor Pieces before Major Pieces Principle #4: Time Is of the Essence Principle #5: Castle Early!

Two Openings to Illustrate the Five Principles

Queen’s Gambit Declined Sicilian Defense A Brief Digression: Fianchettoing the Bishop Back to the Sicilian Defense

Exercises

10: Making the Most of Your Pieces

Mobility: Give Me Room! Attack Your Opponent’s Weaknesses The Knight The Bishop

Which Is Better: Bishop or Knight? The Two Bishops Opposite-Colored Bishops

The Rook The Queen Exercises

11: Pawn Shop

“The Pawns Are the Soul of Chess” Chain Gangs

Side by Side Is Strongest Forward Pawns and Backward Pawns When One Pawn Holds Two Some Pawns Are Islands The Isolated Pawn Double the Pleasure

Pawns: What Are They Good For?

Open Sesame! Reconstructive Surgery Damaging Your Opponent’s Pawn Structure

Exercises

12: Space: The Final Frontier

The Advantage of Space

Grabbing Space What to Do with More Space But Don’t Forget the Center!

Relieving a Cramp

Exchange Pieces Take Some Space of Your Own Challenge Your Opponent’s Space Advantage

Exercises

13: Weak Squares

Recognizing Weak Squares Weak Squares and Pawn Structure

The Hole The Weak Color Complex

Weak Squares and the King Repairing a Weak Square Exercises

14: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Don’t Forget What You’ve Learned up to Now! Principle #1: The King Is a Strong Piece—Use It! Principle #2: The Passed Pawn Rules the Endgame

The Pawn Majority The Outside Passed Pawn The Protected Passed Pawn Blockading the Passed Pawn Connected Passed Pawns

Three Specific Endgames

King and Pawn vs. King and the Opposition King, Rook’s Pawn, and Wrong-Colored Bishop vs. King Opposite-Colored Bishops

Exercises

Part 4: Beyond the Basics

15: Playing Like a Boss and Beyond!

Design Your Own Training Program

Study the Opening Study the Endgame Study Games of Top Grandmasters Study Your Own Games Work with a Coach or a Teacher

Online Chess Resources Get Competitive

Find a Club Tournament Rules

Chess Resources and Activities for Kids

16: How Computers Play Chess

Chess: The Ideal Computer Challenge The Thinking Machine? The Rise of Computers in Chess The AI Revolution Machine vs. Machine

AlphaZero—Stockfish, London, 2017 What Does the Rise of Computers Mean for Us?

A: Glossary B: Answers to Exercises C: Other Chess Notations Acknowledgments Trademarks Copyright

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