News & Updates
Some of our customers who are new to the chess scene sometimes ask us what the difference between Fritz 12 and Rybka 4 is. That is an excellent question that we’d like to clarify. Both programs are chess software that help teach chess. Here are a few other similarities:
- Both programs are in the “starter” chess market, offering a complete package for the chess player new to chess software.
- They both offer chess-playing engines, allowing you to play against a computer from beginning to advanced levels.
- Both programs feature a huge database of past games (over 1.5 million games in each) from the 17th century and later.
So what makes these two programs different? They are both quite similar and offer a very similar set of features. It is important to note that Fritz 12 is geared more toward the new and learning chess player. The program offers better competition for players who are newer to the game and are looking to improve. Rybka 4, on the other hand, is much more geared toward advanced players looking for a challenge. While they both offer the different skill levels, Rybka 4 is much better in the advanced category.
Buy Rybka 4
Buy Fritz 12
The last piece to discuss on the chess board is the King piece. This piece is the game winner. Once you lose your King, the game is over, and your opponent wins, regardless of the score. The King chess piece is the piece you must protect the most and you cannot live without. Many experienced players, though may find themselves utilizing their king in an attempt to gain an advantage over an opponent, something weaker chess players are very leery of doing. No matter how you choose to use your King piece, he must stay alive at all costs.
How A King Chess Piece Moves
King chess pieces are somewhat limited in their movement. They cannot go riding across the chess board as quickly as most other pieces and they are easier to contain than most chess pieces from an opponent’s perspective. Here are a few rules to note:
- The king piece can move one single square in any direction.
- The king cannot move onto a square the is currently occupied by a piece from it’s own team.
- The king piece cannot move to any square that puts them into a “check” position.
- The king piece can participate in a move known as “castling”, where the piece can move up to three squares while exchanging places with a rook chess piece.
Basic Tactics
Safety first, is the motto most chess players abide by when moving and using their king piece. Experienced players can use their king piece to help set traps and capture opposing pieces, though the King is rarely the aggressive piece in this situation. Most players try to keep their king piece in one of their two corners where there are fewer directions from which an attack can come. Often, castling with a rook piece early in the game gets the King piece to the corner faster, keeping the piece safer from attacks.
Favorite Chess Sets
Here are some chess sets that feature unique or interesting King piece designs:
Pegasus Ebony Wood Chess Pieces ($559.99)
Premier Chess Pieces ($18.99)
Cavalier Ebony Wood Chess Pieces ($449.99)
St. Petersburg Wood Chess Pieces ($89.99)
Zagreb Rosewood 2.5″ Chess Pieces ($44.99)
Considered the most dangerous and versatile piece on the board, the Queen chess piece is also one of the most important. Unless you are an expert chess player, losing your queen piece can easily be the final blow before falling to your opponent. Most players are willing to sacrifice just about any other piece on the board in order to save their queen. So why is the queen so important?
How A Queen Chess Piece Moves
The queen chess piece is like a combination of the Rook and Bishop chess pieces. Each player starts out with one queen piece (although any pawn that makes it to the other side of the board can be traded in for another queen, which is why some chess sets come with extra queens). The queen can move forward or diagonal in any direction. Here are a few notes:
- The queen can move in any direction on a straight or diagonal path.
- The queen cannot “jump” over any piece on the board, so it’s movements are restricted to any direction of unoccupied squares.
- The queen can be used to capture any of your opponent’s pieces on the board.
Basic Tactics
Most players try to keep their queen defended because of it’s ability to move. It is a very useful piece in any chess game and is often involved in endgame strategy. Experts try to get the queen piece toward the center of the board as soon as possible in order to help defend that space and gain an advantage over their opponent. The queen can be used in a variety of defensive strategies and works well to defend the King no matter where the King is on the board, so long as the queen is nearby. The most dangerous piece to a queen is the opponent’s knight pieces. The queen may not be able to attack a knight piece directly that is attacking the queen, so players try to be wary of their opponent’s knight pieces. Advanced players may be more likely to sacrifice their queen in an attempt to win a game, though this is quite rare.
Favorite Chess Sets
The queen piece is often a very beautiful chess piece and in more expensive sets, it may feature a very beautiful crown and piece shape.
St. Petersburg Sheesham Chess Pieces ($109.99)
Zagreb 3″ Ebonized Chess Pieces ($59.99)
Fianchetto Ebony Chess Pieces ($279.99)
Siogne Bud Rosewood Chess Pieces ($289.99)
The Bishop chess piece is easily the most forgotten piece of all the chess pieces. From the beginners’ perspective, the piece cannot do a whole lot to help out your game, considering each piece can only cover half of the board at a time and is quite vulnerable to attacks from straight on. But the bishop does have his place in the game of chess. In most chess sets, the piece is very traditional. It is a tall, slender piece with a pointed tip that has a strange cut made into it. Usually, the design doesn’t change much, unlike the Knight piece, which has a lot of flair in it’s design.
How A Bishop Chess Piece Moves
The bishop chess piece is stuck moving in diagonals. Each player starts out with two bishop pieces, each one residing on it’s own color of square. Between both pieces, you can cover the entire board, but one piece can only cover one half of the board, only the colors of squares it started the game on.
- The bishop can move in any direction diagonally, so long as it is not obstructed by another piece.
- The bishop piece cannot move past any piece that is obstructing it’s path.
- The bishop can take any other piece on the board that is within it’s bounds of movement.
Basic Tactics
Bishops are usually considered stronger pieces toward the end of the game. Often, though, the pawns make it difficult to use the bishop piece during the early parts of the game. The bishop is considered excellent in defending a castled King, though and can be used to help pin pieces into areas of the board. Most experts would agree, though, that giving up a Bishop is better than giving up a Rook.
Favorite Chess Sets
Here are a few of our favorite chess sets with good bishop pieces:
When it comes to your chess set, the Knight chess piece is often the defining piece in the set. This piece offers the most chance for variety and uniqueness in a chess set and it is often the piece with the most detail. When it comes to the game of chess, the Knight chess piece is often the favorite piece and most unpredictable piece in the game. Many a game has been ended because of the make-or-break tactics with the Knight.
How A Knight Chess Piece Moves
The Knight chess piece moves in a very mysterious way. Unlike Rooks, Bishops or Queens, the Knight is limited in the number of squares it can move across. In fact, it’s movement is a very specific movement. The piece moves in a shape similar to the uppercase “L”. Here are the specifics:
- The Knight piece can move forward, backward, left or right two squares and must then move one square in either perpendicular direction.
- The Knight piece can only move to one of up to eight positions on the board.
- The Knight piece can move to any position not already inhabited by another piece of the same color.
- The Knight piece can skip over any other pieces to reach it’s destination position.
Basic Tactics
Most experts prefer their Knight pieces to be “close to the action”. Because of their strange movement, the can often cover weaknesses that other pieces leave. Knight pieces are also best employed near the center of the board and they are often one of the first pieces to reach the center area of the board. The Knight also has a unique ability to attack another piece without risking being attacked by the same piece (aside from other Knights, of course).
Favorite Chess Pieces Sets
Here are some of our staff favorite chess sets with beautiful and unique Knight pieces:
Columbian Series Wood Chess Pieces ($349.99)
Alexander Series Wood Chess Pieces ($659.99)
French Rosewood Chess Pieces ($39.99)
Reykjavik Ebonized Chess Pieces ($89.99)
See All Chess Pieces
The rook piece from the Reykjavik Chess Set.
The straight piece.
That’s the easiest way to describe the rook chess piece. In traditional sets, the piece looks kind of like a castle tower and begins each chess game as the outside corner pieces. Each player has two rook pieces to begin.
How A Rook Chess Piece Moves
The rooks are the most simple-moving chess pieces on the board. Their movements are only straight, moving forward, backward or side to side. At any point in the game, the piece can move in any direction that is straight ahead, behind or to the side. Here are a few things to know about how the Rook chess piece moves:
- The rook piece can move forward, backward, left or right at any time.
- The rook piece can move anywhere from 1 to 7 squares in any direction, so long as it is not obstructed by any other piece.
Castling
The rook piece is the only piece on the board that can participating in a “castling” move with the King piece. This is a move where the King piece and the rook piece work together, allowing the player to move two pieces at the same time. We’ll discuss castling later.
Favorite Sets
While many chess sets have very traditional rook chess pieces, some chess sets have some very interesting and beautiful rook chess pieces. Here are a few of our recommendations for chess sets with beautiful rook chess pieces.
Reykjavik 3 3/4″ Sheesham Chess Pieces
St. Petersburg 3 3/4″ Ebonized Chess Pieces
Fianchetto 4″ Ebony Chess Pieces
Soigne 4″ Rosewood Chess Pieces
Moving your chess pieces can be a very confusing concept. There are six different types of chess pieces on a chess board and every piece has it’s own unique way of moving across the board. Some pieces move only diagonally, while other pieces only move forward. Some pieces can only move one square at a time. Keeping track of your chess pieces and knowing how they move is key to understanding how to play chess.
Basic Chess Movements
While every piece is restricted by it’s own set of rules, there are a few rules that all pieces must abide by.
- No chess pieces can move through or past any other chess pieces in it’s path, except the Knight piece, which can jump over pieces during it’s movement.
- All chess pieces must remain on an unoccupied square during the game until captured. This means you cannot move pieces on and off the board.
- Chess pieces can only make movement in one direction, except the Knight chess piece. For example, a Rook cannot move 5 squares forward, and then 3 squares to the side in the same turn.
- Chess pieces can capture opposing chess pieces by moving onto the square they occupy, where they must remain until the next turn.
- Unlike checkers, chess pieces are not required to capture opposing pieces if the opportunity presents itself. Instead, the player can elect to not capture the opponent’s piece, which may put them at risk to have their own piece captured.
Pawn Movement
Pawns are the most restricted pieces on the chess board. The pawn can only move forward one square, with two exceptions. The pawn can move forward two squares (if desired) on it’s first move of the game, but can then only continue forward by moving one square forward per turn. When capturing other pieces, a pawn can only move forward diagonally one square. Pawns cannot capture pieces that are directly in front of them, but must wait for the blocking piece to move or be captured by another piece.
Rook Movement
The rook chess piece is allowed to move in any direction, but is restricted to moving in a straight direction. The rook can move forward, backward, left or right until it reaches the edge of the board or another piece blocks it’s path. The rook can move anywhere from 1 to 7 squares, as long as the path is not blocked by another piece. Rooks can capture any other piece on the board, as long as it is within it’s movement range.
Bishop Movement
The bishop piece behaves the same as the rook chess piece, except it’s movement is restricted to diagonal movement. The piece can move in any diagonal direction, as long as the path is not obstructed. The piece can move anywhere from 1 to 7 squares, as determined by the player.
Knight Movement
The movement of the knight chess piece is a little more complicated to describe. Often, the piece is described as being a “wild card” piece because it moves in such an odd direction. Essentially, the knight piece can move in one direction two squares and then turns to the left or right moving one more square. The movement shape looks similar to the shape of the letter “L”. During this movement, the Knight chess piece can skip over other chess pieces to reach it’s destination. The knight piece cannot move to any square already occupied by the same player’s piece, but it can capture an opponent’s piece when it lands on a square occupied by an opponent’s chess piece.
Queen Movement
The queen is often considered the least-restricted chess piece on the chess board. The queen combines the movement of both the Rook and Bishop pieces, meaning it can move in any direction, diagonally or straight. As with the Rook and Bishop, the Queen can only move forward as long as there are no other pieces in it’s path. The Queen can move 1 to 7 squares in any direction.
King Movement
The king piece is the most simple and straight-forward piece. The King can move in any direction by a single square, as long as it is not restricted by another piece. The King can capture any other piece, but it can only move to a square as long as it does not put the piece into a “Check” position, where an opponent’s piece could capture it on the next move.
These are just the most basic movements of the chess pieces. We will be exploring more in-depth movement and terminology of each piece moving forward.
The official way to set up a chess board.
While there are many different ways you can set up your chess board, there is only one “official” way to set up your board. It can also be difficult to undertand and even remember how to set up your chess board.
White At The Bottom
First, remember that white always starts out at the “bottom” of the chess board. To start, the bottom left square should be a dark-colored square. Rotate your chess board until a dark-colored square is found at the bottom left corner of the board (left for the person playing as white). This square is also known as “a1″ in chess notation.
Set Up Your White Chess Pieces
Now you can begin to set up your white pieces. Place a white Rook on a1. The Rook is the piece that looks like the top to a castle. The next square to the right (from the white player’s position) is “b1″. Place a white Knight (looks like a horse) on b1. Going right, the next square (which should be dark) is c1. Place a white Bishop (the piece that has a strange chip taken out of the top) here. On d1, place your white Queen (the piece with the crown), then on e1, place your white King (the piece with the cross on top of the crown). Next, place a white Bishop, then a white Knight and finally your last white Rook on f1, g1 and h1 respectively.
Once you’ve placed your major pieces, you need to place your 8 white pawns (they should all look the same and are the smallest pieces in the set). They should all be placed on the squares between a2 and h2, just in front of your other white pieces.
Set Up Your Black Chess Pieces
Now you can set up your black chess pieces. It is easiest to set it up from the white side. Start at the top left corner. This square should be a light square and it is known as “a8″. Place a black Rook. Your next square to the right is “b8″. Place a black Knight here. Next on c8, place a black Bishop. At this point, it may seem a little backwards, but you should put your black Queen on d8, the next square to the right. On e8, place your black King, followed by your second black Bishop on f8. Next put your last black Knight on g8 and your last black Rook on h8. The pawns for black are all placed on the row in front of your current pieces, between a7 and h7.
Copyright 2012 Wholesale Chess. All rights reserved.
