The game of chess is played between two players. The player with the lighter color pieces usually white will make the first move. Then their opponent will begin to take turns and moves can‘t overlooked or skipped. When you are setting up your chessboard you will want to be sure and remember two important facts. You will want to be sure that your light colored squares are to the right of yourself, and also that the Queens are placed on their particular center file colors by the Kings.

Squares that already have one of your games pieces placed on it will not allow you to move another piece to it. If you can make a legal move, you are allowed to capture your opponents pieces and can replace it with one of yours. 

The main objective to playing chess is to try and checkmate the other person’s King. A chess game can be over immediately if the King can’t avoid being captured and checkmated. However, if the King is just being threatened to be captured but can escape then it is only a check.  The King can’t enter upon check, if so it will have to be moved out quickly! 

Three different ways a person can be moved out of the check:

• With the checking pieces make sure you capture them.  A Knight can’t be obstructed, but try to hinder the attack. Be sure and place one of your pieces by the pieces that checking and their King. 
• Get the King out of the way of the check.  A stalemate can occurs when the King piece wasn’t in the check and there wasn’t anymore moves that are legal. Stalemate games are considered to be a tie. 
• Calling checkmate or check is RUDE! 

When playing chess each player should allow the other player to be able to see that they are awaiting the position of check or being checkmate. If their opponent doesn’t discover that piece is in check or checkmate and them make the illegal moves, the other opponent needs to point out that there was an illegal move. The player should only point it out and not have to take the responsibility to have to be explaining the rules of the game while it is in progress. 

However, it is illegal for players and everyone else to be explaining rules or anything else that might be interfering with the chess game. If the opponent does not believe that a move was legal then they can ask the TD to clarify. When playing a quality game of chess check or checkmate shouldn’t be called to even tolerated.

 In today’s society wood is a very useful material that a lot of people use primarily for building. It is a very sold and sturdy material that can be easy to convert into several different designs. The construction industry is the most common place that wood is being used, but that does not limit the use of wood.

For decades, many people have used wood to make several different crafts such as toys and games. Some of the well known chessboards, including their pieces are made from natural wood. Lots of devoted time and effort is put into constructing every individual board and carving all the different chess pieces. Throughout the world several well skilled craftsmen hand make these games!

Several individual that are in love with their wooden chess board games would agree that they are worth every dollar they have invested into them. Wooden chess games not only hold their quality, but they also bring back a part of the history of chess. Chess has been a game that has been played throughout the years and still continues to be one of the all time favorites for thousands of people.

Back in the days chess games was constructed typically with wood and for the “important” people. In today’s society it would not be uncommon for an individual to find a vintage and antique set in a museum or even in a famous person’s collection.

Wooden chess sets are very common and used frequently all around the world. If you was to purchase a wooden set not only are they inexpensive now and days, but they can also be easily replaced. Several tournaments in today’s society prefer a wooden chess set.

However, a wooden chess board does not make you lose or win the game it is the knowledge and experience of the individual’s skills in the competition.

Emerging from Europein the second half of 15^th century from a much older game of Indian origin, the real aim of this game is to checkmate the opponent’s king. Chess, for many centuries has been touted as a game of extreme patience and skill of the mind usually always played on a square checkered board with sixty-four squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. . In the beginning each player (one controlling the white pieces, one, the black pieces.) controls six pieces, one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops and eight pawns.

Checkmate in the real sense means to get the opponent’s king completely cornered so that he\she cannot, under any circumstances, defend or save the king in the next turn. It is typically to threaten a player’s king with capture (in check) and there is no way to dodge it. The term ‘checkmate’ is an alteration of the Persian phrase “Shah Mat” which means literally that the king is ambushed, although there is general misconception that the word means ‘the king is dead’ as chess crept into Europe through Islam where the word ‘Mata’-mate means ‘ is dead’. Moghadam traced the etymology of the word mate. It comes from a Persian verb ‘Mandan’ to remain which is cognate to the Latin word ‘manco’ that implies ‘to remain’ in the sense of ‘abandoned’ and the formal translation of which is ‘surprised’ in the military sense of ‘ambushed’, thus the king is mate when he is ambushed, surprised or abandoned by his luck.

The most common checkmates occur when one side has only a king and the other the minimum pieces required to mate the opponent’s king that is, 1.queen, 2.one rook 3.two bishops on opposite coloured squares or 4. a bishop and a knight. Checkmate in common parlance means an irrevocable win.

The game of chess has come a long way from being a recreational board game. Many people have started taking this game very seriously looking at it with a professional bent of mind rather than treating it like a mere hobby. Tournaments are being held across the towns, cities, countries and worldwide. Chess academies are being run by veteran chess players which are gaining popularity day by day. Companies are queuing behind the renowned chess players for endorsements and advertisement contracts and the tournament winners are finding themselves hogging the limelight more than ever. It seems people have suddenly woken up to the hidden potentials that an excellent game of chess holds. But what is the reason behind this sudden worldwide craze for this game?

The history of chess dates back to almost the 7^th century. While its exact origin is unknown, it is speculated to have its roots inIndia from where its popularity had spread toPersia, then to the Arab world during the Arabian invasions of the 600s and finally made its way toEurope as a consequence of active trade between the European and the Arab countries. Gradually it became a favorite game among the ruling class. The Renaissance period of the fifteenth century saw the game’s rules metamorphosing into the present day rules which also threw light on the then social structures and hierarchy. For e.g. the queen was initially less powerful but gradually had all powers vested in her.

The popularity of chess lies in the fact that it helps people to keep their minds sharp and practice developing new strategies with which the opponents can be defeated. The mental exercises, acute observation and patience it requires and the confidence to make one’s own decisions are some qualities that people develop. It keeps the mind and in turn the body healthy and improves concentration powers which has major beneficial consequences in every day life. It has been observed that children who play chess are good performers in studies and extra curricular activities.

All these factors and the victory of their favorite players in international tournaments have bestowed upon chess a certain glamour like never before. People have taken to playing the game in greater number and rest assured, the popularity of chess is likely to continue for a very, very long time.

If you know your chess inside and out, you would know about the illegal moves. However these terms are quite unfamiliar to beginners. That is why we shall attempt to explain them, in an effort to make them more understandable to those who are playing the game of chess for the first time.

Illegal moves mean moves that are not allowed, not just because they are bad moves, but because they are against the rules. For example, a rook cannot move like a knight moves, if you try to make your rook move in an L-shape, it would be considered an illegal move.

But there are also illegal moves which involve the king, you should know about these and also how to react to them properly. The main thing you should know is that you can never move your king into check, and you can never leave it in check. For instance, if a player makes such a move that his king is exposed to check, that move must be taken back and a legal move must instead be made. Then again, if a player’s king is in check and he makes a move which does not remove his king from check, then the same rule applies – he must take back his move and make a legal move instead.

Now here’s the tricky thing that you need to know – if a player does not notice this and leaves the king exposed to check, the opponent cannot capture the king. It is the opponent’s responsibility to point out that an illegal move has been made, and to tell the other player to make a legal move.

An understanding of illegal moves is very essential to the playing of chess –  you must overcome this hurdle in order to become a much better player. Once you understand illegal moves thoroughly, you would be in a better position to win the games that you play.