Check (chess)

A check is a condition in chess, shogi and xiangqi that occurs when a player's king (or general in xiangqi) is under threat of capture on their opponent's next turn. A king so threatened is said to be in check. A player must get out of check, if possible, by interposing a piece between the threatening piece and the king, capturing the threatening piece, or moving the king to a square where it is no longer in check. If the player cannot move out of check, the game ends in checkmate and the player loses.

Introduction

A check is the result of a move that places the opposing king under an immediate threat of capture by at least one of the player's pieces. Making a move that checks is sometimes called "giving check". If the king is in check and the checked player has no legal move to get his king out of check, the king is checkmated and the player loses.

Under the standard rules of chess, a player may not make any move which places or leaves their king in check. A player may move the king, capture the threatening piece, or block the check with another piece.

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Chess is played by millions of people worldwide, both amateurs and professionals.

Each player begins the game with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six piece types moves differently. The most powerful piece is the queen and the least powerful piece is the pawn. The objective is to 'checkmate' the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. To this end, a player's pieces are used to attack and capture the opponent's pieces, while supporting their own. In addition to checkmate, the game can be won by voluntary resignation by the opponent, which typically occurs when too much material is lost, or if checkmate appears unavoidable. A game may also result in a draw in several ways.

Chess is believed to have originated in India, some time before the 7th century; the Indian game of chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of xiangqi and shogi. The pieces took on their current powers in Spain in the late 15th century; the rules were finally standardized in the 19th century.

Chess tournament

A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition among serious players.

Today, the most recognized chess tournaments for individual competition include the Linares chess tournament (now defunct) and the Tata Steel chess tournament. The largest team chess tournament is the Chess Olympiad, in which players compete for their country's team in the same fashion as the Olympic Games. Since the 1950s, chess computers have even begun entering the tournament scene.

Most chess tournaments are organized and ruled according to the World Chess Federation (FIDE) handbook, which offers guidelines and regulations for conducting tournaments. Chess tournaments are mainly held in either round-robin style, Swiss system style or elimination style to determine a winning party.

History

Although modern chess had been established since around 1475, the first tournament (in the sense of structured competitions) was in Leeds in 1841. There was a knockout tournament in London in 1849 and a tournament in Amsterdam in 1851. The first international chess tournament was held in London in 1851. The London 1851 tournament took place during The Great Exhibition, and would serve as a guide for future international chess tournaments that would follow it. The tournament not only showed the need for time controls but it also clearly demonstrated the drawbacks to the knockout elimination tournament format. It was won by Adolf Anderssen of Germany, who became regarded as the world's best chess player as a result.

Fast chess

Fast chess (also known as speed chess) is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60 to 180 minutes per player.

Background

FIDE divide time controls for chess into "classical" time controls, and the fast chess time controls. Currently, for master-level players (with an Elo of 2200 or higher) the regulations state that at least 120 minutes per player (based on a 60-move game) must be allocated for a game to be rated on the "classical" list. Games played faster than this may be rated under the time controls of rapid play and blitz.

More recently in November 2015, Oleg Skvortsov and Christian Issler on behalf of the Zurich Chess Club have petitioned FIDE to allow the rating of 40 minute games as classical chess (instead of the current Rapid classification), but there was no response.

Overview

Various names indicate more specifically the maximum duration of a fast chess game.

Rapid, rapid play or quick

Three-check chess

Three-check chess is a variation of chess, in which a player wins if they check their opponent three times. Anatoly Karpov is said to excel in this chess variant (Pritchard 2007:83).

This chess variant is much more tactical than standard chess: sacrifices are very common, and there can be lots of traps in the opening. Two checks is already a big advantage and may be worth more than a piece in the evaluation of a position. The game rarely reaches the endgame – usually it is decided before queens are traded.

Example game

1. e4 e6 2. d4??

2... Bb4+

3. c3 Bxc3+!

4. Nxc3 Qh4! (see diagram) 0–1

See also

References