Introduction to Chess

Presenter

• Levi Rosman, International Master from NYC

Overview

• Goal: Provide tools to learn and navigate chess as a beginner
• Five major concepts:
  1. Board setup and piece movement
  2. Piece interactions
  3. Checks and checkmate
  4. Basic opening ideas
  5. Study plan

Chessboard and Setup

Board

• 8x8 square grid
• Files: a, b, c, etc.
• Ranks: 1, 2, etc.
• White starts on ranks 1 and 2, black on 7 and 8

Pieces

• 8 pawns per side on 2nd and 7th ranks
• Back rank setup:
  • Corners: Rooks
  • Next: Knights
  • Then: Bishops
  • Center: King and Queen (Queen on matching color square)

Movement and Points

• Pawns: 1 point, move forward only, can move two squares initially, capture diagonally
  • Special rule: En passant
• Knights: 3 points, move in L-shapes, can jump over pieces
• Bishops: 3 points, diagonal movement on same color
• Rooks: 5 points, move vertically or horizontally
• Queens: 9 points, combines rook and bishop movement
• Kings: Move one square any direction, special move: Castling

Piece Interactions

Vision and Attacks

• Consider what pieces see and attack
• Trades and captures based on point values
• Defense: Protecting pieces with others

Examples

• Rook and queen attacking and defending pawns
• Bishops and knights interactions

Checks and Checkmate

Check

• Attack on the king, must escape

Checkmate

• King in check with no escape

Stalemate

• No legal moves but not in check

Quick Checkmate

• Two-move checkmate example

Opening Ideas

Strategy

• Control the center with pawns
• Develop knights and bishops early
• Castle early
• Avoid early queen outings

Common Openings

• King's Pawn, Sicilian, French Defense
• London System as a setup opening example

Scholar's Mate

• Avoid traps like early queen attacks

Middle Game

Strategies and Tactics

• Tactical plays dominate beginner games
• Example tactics: Forks, pins, skewers

Puzzle Solving

• Study tactics through puzzles

Endgames

Key Endgames

• King and pawn versus king
• Checkmate with king and queen or rook

Ladder Checkmate

• Use two major pieces to restrict and checkmate

Study Plan

Recommendations

• Play longer games
• Analyze games for mistakes
• Learn basic openings
• Study endgames gradually
• Solve puzzles focusing on quality

Resources

• Books and exercises mentioned
• Video recommendations for further learning

Final Thoughts

• Engage with the chess community
• Explore various resources to improve