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Basic Chess Rules for Smarter Plays

There's no question about it�learning basic chess rules well translates to smarter plays in the game. Good strategies are always founded on rules and principles of a game, and chess is no exception here. Thus, thorough knowledge of chess rules is a must.

We begin with rules on the movements and operations of each piece. When we study the movement limitation and purposes of chess pieces we develop a concept of their particular roles and potentials in the game. We even have a notion of the right timing when a certain piece should be used and in what context.

Weak beginners in chess just move any piece for the sake of moving them. This is a sure way of losing in chess and having our skills kept underdeveloped. There are lousy novices who use a knight for their first 8 moves in the game. They make their horse jump over the fence of pawns and let it run wildly around the board like a rodeo presentation. But if we know the rules and proper procedures we would develop good opening strategies in the game through networking of pieces.

When we know the rules on capturing and take them seriously too, we'd realize that all pieces should be supported the moment they are released from the initial formation. In fact, the first few moves in chess should often be geared to territorial defense fortification before any attack can be planned. When we know the rules on pawn conversion we would be careful how we treat our pawn structure right at the start.

Basic chess rules also teach us the powers, rights, and privileges of pieces and consider the same in times of engagement. We won't check the enemy queen with an unsupported pawn and we'd know the right time for an appropriate castling strategy. A vital rule is on the strategy value of pieces. When we know that a rook has a higher value than a knight we wouldn't trade off our rooks for enemy knights unless really warranted. We see that a captured rook is equal to an enemy bishop and 3 pawns to even up the score.

As we learn and become familiar with basic chess rules we become conversant in the ins and outs of the game and adept in handling pieces at a moment's notice. With the blink of an eye we see potential checks and double checks and detect enemy assaults. Indeed, rules cannot but hone our chess strategies to perfection.