Frequently asked questions

General questions

If you want to play a game of chess, you need to know the basic rules. Know then that the game of chess involves two players playing against each other, each possessing his own army, consisting of pawns and special chess pieces. The end goal of the game, which also means the end of the match, is the elimination of the king, a move called checkmate. The game of chess involves a gridded chessboard with light and dark squares. Pieces can move around the board through specific moves for each different piece. What makes the difference is the skill of the player and the strategy chosen to win against the opponent.

The following questions will surely have occurred to many chess players: but what size chess pieces must be to be considered regulation chess? And how big must the side of a square on a regulation chessboard be? We are happy to answer these questions. FIDE provides some recommendations to this effect. L'height of the king can vary between 8.5 and 10.5 centimetres while the base can vary between 40% and 50% in height. La The width of the box can vary between 5 and 6.5 centimetres. At this point, one may ask oneself which is the most correct match both from the point of view of playing comfort and from a purely aesthetic point of view. We suggest the following sizes:

  • King height: 8.8 cm

  • base Re: 45%

  • box side: 5.5 cm

Essentially for two reasons:

  • The first is that this limits the duration of a match, and thus of the entire tournament, within acceptable periods of time, while also giving both contenders equal time to reflect.
  • The second is that it used to happen - before the adoption of these devices - that a player who was clearly losing would plunge into 'deep' (i.e. interminable) reflections to discover a possible loophole from defeat, which of course did not exist. The consequence was sometimes that the opponent, exasperated by the slowness of the game, would abandon the game in annoyance at the player's behaviour. snailautomatically handing victory to the latter

Clocks were first introduced in the year 1867, in France. The clocks of that period had a slightly different design to those of today, yet the basic functionality was the same. Nowadays, FIDE has officially adopted digital clocks, although in world title matches it is left to the players to choose the model they prefer.

It depends on how you take them! If used as a pastime to spend a few fun afternoons with friends then they are certainly a great game, but only a game. If, on the other hand, you see them at a competitive level then they are a real sport, regularly affiliated to CONI as a sporting discipline.

Essentially, there are several categories, which are listed below in ascending order of importance:

  • Not Classified (NC)
  • Third National (3N)
  • Second National (2N)
  • First National (1N)
  • Master Candidate (CM)
  • Master (M)
  • FIDE Master (MF)
  • International Master (MI)
  • Grand Master (GM)

he ELO score indicates a player's strength based on his results in chess competitions. Each national federation has its own ELO ranking, which does not necessarily coincide with those of other federations. However, the most important ranking by far is the one issued by FIDE (Federation Internationale Des Echecs) on 1 January and 1 July each year. The ELO system, named after its Hungarian inventor Arpad Elo, takes into account the difference in value of the players. For example, in the case of a drawn game a Master gains several points if he played against an International Master, gains fewer against a FIDE Master, gains none at all against a Master like himself, loses several if his opponent is a mere Second National.

The advent of information technology in chess has completely changed the paradigms of the game. Nowadays, using the computer to analyse openings or to check who has played a particular variant is within everyone's reach and quite simple. Useful programmes include:

  • Stockfish - current world champion chess SW programme with an ELO level of over 3,600 points, practically the same as having the world champion at your disposal. However, chess SWs have the serious defect of not explaining why a certain move is preferable to others and this for novice chess players is a big limitation. For downloading you can use this link https://stockfishchess.org/download/
  • SCID - SW programme for managing chess databases, i.e. capable of recording millions of games and making them available by position, player, opening, etc.  SCID (Shane's Chess Information Database) is a free open source application for the visualisation and maintenance of large databases of chess games with features comparable to the famous Chessbase. SCID allows all classic chess database operations, enables the use of external engines for analysing games (also Stockfish of course) and provides an efficient and comprehensive set of tools. For downloading you can use this link https://scid.sourceforge.net/
  • TWIC - TheWeekInChess is a free collection of games played in all major tournaments around the world that can be easily imported into SCID. For downloading you can use this link https://theweekinchess.com/twic

To download the rules just use this link download rules

The FIDE Tournament Homologation Commission stipulates that a tournament valid for ELO variations must at least consider a thinking time per player of 2 (two) hours, assuming a number of moves equal to 60. According to this criterion examples of possible game cadences could be:

  • entire match in four hours;
  • 40 moves in 2 hours plus 30 minutes per player to finish the game;
  • all the moves in 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move (considering the 60 assumed moves, we arrive at precisely the 4 hours total required)
  • all moves in 90 minutes in increments of 30 seconds per move and a further 15 minutes reached move 40.

Even today, the term "Semilampo" is still used to refer to tournaments where the game cadence is typically 15 minutes. For the avoidance of doubt, let's say that the official FSI rules do not provide for any definition of game cadence with the term "Semilampo". The following list represents the only definitions of the game cadences in the current rules (the English term in brackets).

  • LAMPO (BLITZ) : playing time of less than 15 minutes per player, usually 5 minutes or 2′ + 3".
  • QUICK GAME (RAPIDPLAY): playing time between 15 and 60 minutes per player, usually 15′ + 10 ".

PGN notation is a format for describing and making portable a chess game, it is used by players, on the internet and by chess programmes. A game in PGN format includes a series of headings ("tags" in English), the sequence of players' moves in algebraic format and the final result.

Here is an example:

[Site "https://www.chess.com"]
[Event 'Lazio Chess Open 2021'].
[White "Castelfranchi, Carlo"]
[Black "Vannelli, Vittorio"].
[WhiteFideId "803219"].
[BlackFideId "816701"].
[WhiteElo "1963"]
[BlackElo "1472"].
[Result "1-0"].
[Round "1"].
[TimeControl "5400+30"].
[Date "2021.09.03"].
[WhiteClock "0:19:50"].
[BlackClock "0:00:00"].
[Board "1"]
1. e4 {[%clk 1:33:16]} c5 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 2. Nf3 {[%clk 1:33:16]} Nc6 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 3. d4 {[%clk 1:33:16]} cxd4 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 4. c3 {[%clk 1:33:16]} dxc3 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 5. Nxc3 {[%clk 1:33:16]} g6 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 6. Bc4 {[%clk 1:33:16]} Bg7 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 7. e5 {[%clk 1:33:16]} a6 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 8. O-O {[%clk 1:29:44]} b5 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 9. Bb3 {[%clk 1:30:00]} Bb7 {[%clk 1:26:53]} 10. Qd5 {[%clk 1:30:00]} e6 {[%clk 1:26:53]} 11. Qc5 {[%clk 1:22:01]} Bf8 {[%clk 1:13:49]} 12. Qe3 {[%clk 1:22:18]} Bh6 {[%clk 1:02:41]} 13. Qe2 {[%clk 1:22:18]} Bxc1 {[%clk 1:02:10]} 14. Raxc1 {[%clk 1:19:45]} Na5 {[%clk 0:57:12]} 15. Bc2 {[%clk 1:16:02]} Ne7 {[%clk 0:51:54]} 16. Be4 {[%clk 1:13:04]} Rc8 {[%clk 0:47:34]} 17. Bxb7 {[%clk 1:10:27]} Nxb7 {[%clk 0:47:47]} 18. Ne4 {[%clk 1:08:58]} Nd5 {[%clk 0:47:34]} 19. Rcd1 {[%clk 1:07:34]} Rc6 {[%clk 0:32:06]} 20. Rxd5 {[%clk 1:06:28]} exd5 {[%clk 0:32:06]} 21. Nf6+ {[%clk 1:06:50]} Rxf6 {[%clk 0:31:09]} 22. exf6+ {[%clk 1:07:08]} Kf8 {[%clk 0:31:14]} 23. Qe5 {[%clk 1:05:16]} d6 {[%clk 0:27:33]} 24. Qxd5 {[%clk 1:05:16]} Nc5 {[%clk 0:27:33]} 25. b4 {[%clk 0:59:31]} Ne6 {[%clk 0:25:46]} 26. Rd1 {[%clk 0:51:27]} Qxf6 {[%clk 0:25:29]} 27. Qxd6+ {[%clk 0:51:27]} Kg7 {[%clk 0:25:32]} 28. Qxa6 {[%clk 0:50:27]} Qf5 {[%clk 0:25:32]} 29. h3 {[%clk 0:48:31]} Nf4 {[%clk 0:21:53]} 30. Qc6 {[%clk 0:45:44]} Rc8 {[%clk 0:12:03]} 31. Qb7 {[%clk 0:40:50]} Ne2+ {[%clk 0:08:14]} 32. Kh1 {[%clk 0:38:30]} Nc3 {[%clk 0:08:14]} 33. Rd2 {[%clk 0:33:36]} Re8 {[%clk 0:05:58]} 34. Qc6 {[%clk 0:31:45]} Rc8 {[%clk 0:02:11]} 35. Qb6 {[%clk 0:31:45]} Qb1+ {[%clk 0:01:42]} 36. Kh2 {[%clk 0:26:47]} Qxb4 {[%clk 0:01:46]} 37. Rd7 {[%clk 0:21:40]} Qf4+ {[%clk 0:01:41]} 38. Kg1 {[%clk 0:21:16]} Ne2+ {[%clk 0:01:55]} 39. Kf1 {[%clk 0:21:16]} Qc4 {[%clk 0:00:38]} 40. Nd2 {[%clk 0:20:02]} Ng3+ {[%clk 0:00:43]} 41. Kg1 {[%clk 0:20:27]} Qc1+ {[%clk 0:00:49]} 42. Kh2 {[%clk 0:20:27]} Nf5 {[%clk 0:00:38]} 43. g4 {[%clk 0:19:50]} Nh4 {[%clk 0:00:00]} 1-0

Let us describe each header considering that some are not mandatory (optional):

  • Site: Place where the tournament took place (also a website)
  • Event: The name of the tournament or challenge
  • White: The name of the player who has the Whites, indicated as "Last Name, First Name".
  • Black: The name of the player who has the Blacks, indicated as "Last Name, First Name".
  • WhiteFideIdthe FIDE membership number of the white player (optional)
  • BlackFideIdthe black player's FIDE membership number (optional)
  • WhiteElo: the ELo score of the white player (optional)
  • BlackElo: the ELo score of the black player (optional)
  • Result: The outcome of the game which can exclusively be "1-0" (White win), "0-1" (Black win), "1/2-1/2" (draw), "*" (undefined).
  • Round: The round in which the match was played (optional)
  • TimeControl: the cadence at which the match was played (e.g. 90 + 60", 3′ + 2" etc.) (optional)
  • Dates: The start date of the match, in the format 'YYYY.MM.DD'; however, only the year is also acceptable
  • WhiteClock: White's remaining time at the end of the game (optional)
  • BlackClock: black's remaining time at the end of the game (optional)
  • Board: the number of the chessboard where the game was played (optional)

I comments may be inserted after the moves, inside the curly brackets {}. Eg: "{my comment}.

The following symbols are used to indicate the best moves or mistakes that may occur during the game:

  • “!”: Good move
  • “!!”: Excellent move
  • “?”: Wrong move
  • “??”: Serious error
  • “!?”: Interesting move, probably good
  • “?!”: Doubtful move, probably wrong

The ECO code is a universal classification system for openings in the game of chess.

The acronym ECO derives from the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, or rather the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, which, thanks to the contribution of numerous Grandmasters from all over the world, does an enormous and meticulous job of cataloguing the state of the art (as defined by Hans Berliner, world correspondence chess champion) of openings, i.e. the moves considered by theory to be the strongest, or simply those most used by the Grandmasters in all the different possible branches, to a depth varying between 15 and 25 moves.

Each variant has been assigned a code consisting of a letter (from 'A' to 'E') and two digits (from '00' to '99'), which allows chess players and computer programmes to easily and uniquely identify the different types of games.

Questions about the Chess club

It means attending an environment where more than people, a group of friends, share a passion for one of the world's oldest and most beautiful games of intelligence and fantasy. It means being able to play with people of any age and improve your game. It means having the opportunity to participate in individual lightning and semi-lightning tournaments, individual tournaments with a classical rhythm, team tournaments between clubs, courses at various levels, and promotional activities.

The Alfieri della Tuscia is an Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica (ASD), i.e. an association with sporting purposes that is non-profit making. Our ASD carries out its activities to promote this splendid game in the lower Viterbo area and to spread it among the very young. We are a close-knit group and participate every year in the FSI team championships, as we can count on players of the highest level, including Thomas Ulrich, Fabrizio Bonaposta, with scores of around 2,100 ELO points in the FIDE rankings, and other players with ELO scores above 1,900.

To attend the Club and play amateur games, at least the Endas membership card is required in order to benefit from the necessary insurance coverage, while to attend the Club and play competitive games, the FSI membership card is required. For all details follow this link Registration

To attend the Club and play amateur games, at least the Endas membership card is required in order to benefit from the necessary insurance coverage, while to attend the Club and play competitive games, the FSI membership card is required. For all details follow this link Registration

An FSI membership card is required to attend the club and play competitive games. For all details follow this link Registration

There are courses for beginners too 😉 Learning the basics of the game is very easy, and from then on it will be a continuous improvement with every game!

Certainly, it is possible using the form in this link Tournament entry

Certainly, it is possible using the form in this link Course registration

To make a payment to the Club for partial membership fees, courses or tournaments simply follow this link Payment

Of course! The easiest way is to send an email to info@alfieridellatuscia.it.

Alternatively, you can use the contact form here: contacts

Yes, registered members of the Club can apply for the Members' section called Members Area, where you can download chess material, books and video courses in Italian.

Tournament questions

Article 12 of the FIDE Rules deals with the behaviour of players. Unfortunately, this article is often broken by some players who are a little too 'lively'. For example: a spectator in a game is not allowed to signal the fall of the flag of either clock. Similarly, players are not allowed, after finishing their game, to start analysing or chatting verbally in the tournament room, disturbing those who are still playing. These recommendations seem obvious, but tournament practice is replete with incidents of this kind that are detrimental to both the players and the organising club.

It happens, with some regularity, that some players forget to press the clock or to signal to the opponent that the flag has fallen. How should the referee behave in such cases? Let us try to give an articulate answer. Under no circumstances can the referee inform the player who has forgotten to press the opponent's clock. In fast-paced tournaments (Rapid and Lightning Games), with times per player of up to 60 minutes, the referee may not, on his own initiative, signal the dropping of the flag. Only in the case where both flags have fallen may the referee intervene by awarding a draw. In all other types of tournament the referee is obliged to warn the contestants the moment he detects that one of the flags has fallen.

The decision as to the position of the clock in relation to the chessboard rests with the tournament referee, who will choose the most convenient arrangement for control of the game room. It is generally placed to the right of the player who has the black pieces, as a courtesy gesture as he does not have the advantage of the stroke. If at least one of the two players is left-handed and both agree, it is possible to rotate the chessboard 180 degrees while leaving the clock position unchanged.

As is well known, the form does not have to be filled in for Quickplay and Lightning games and in the Quickplay Finish of other tournament types. In the case of compulsory completion, the player is obliged to correctly report the moves made. Both the opposing player and the arbiter may ask for any errors in the transcription of moves to be corrected. This must be done during their own thinking time and before the next move can be made. Also remember that moves must be written down after you have made your move.

One of the main rules of the game of chess is that if, in any kind of tournament, either player touches a piece he is forced to move or capture it if it is an opponent's piece. The exception to this rule is when the player would be forced to move or capture the piece touched by making an impossible move. In this case he may make any other legal move. It should be remembered, for the sake of completeness, that in the case of fast-paced games (Rapid and Lightning Play), the arbiter may intervene to enforce this rule only at the express request of the player detecting the irregularity.

Perhaps not everyone knows that the irregular move in the lightning game (time per player less than 15 minutes) can lead to immediate defeat on signal from the opponent. We specify that the irregular move is considered completed at the moment the player operates the opponent's clock.

Lo zeitnot is the lack of thinking time in a game played with clocks. A player enters zeitnot when he still has several moves to make before his time runs out. At that stage, making mistakes becomes much easier because it is impossible to go through all the variations in detail as one would wish

Zugzwang is a word German meaning 'obliged to move'. In chess refers to the situation in which a player finds himself in difficulty because whatever move he makes, he is forced to suffer the checkmate or a more or less immediate loss of material

In the absence of an additional woman, the player may promote to a woman by using the inverted rook to indicate that it is in fact a woman. Most referees consider the promotion to inverted rook to be an irregular move. In fact, the rules do not state whether the rook must stand on the chessboard with its base facing downwards, so promotion to inverted rook is not an irregular move. The problem arises when a player promotes to inverted rook by declaring that he intends to promote to queen. The declaration in this case has no value, and the overturned rook remains as such. The irregular move occurs when the player who promoted moves the upturned rook as a woman. Thus, the inverted tower is still a tower.

Questions about the game

According to modern strategy, each move has a very simple objective: to accumulate a certain advantage for us and/or reduce the advantage already accumulated by our opponent. The greater the advantage accumulated, the better the move will be.
From what has been written, it is clear that the player's attitude during the game is essential in Chess: the one who always tries to create problems for his opponent has the potential to become a successful player, even if his knowledge of Chess is limited. On the other hand, he who waits for his opponent's mistakes by playing waiting moves has no chance of substantially improving his skill in the game.
So keep in mind: every move has to look at something! And that something is usually a certain advantage in your position.

Now that we have seen that it is worth trying to achieve an advantage with every move, we ask ourselves: what are advantages in Chess? The first player who classified advantages in the game of Chess was Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion. He argued that there are nine fundamental advantages:

  • development advantage;
  • mobility advantage;
  • control of the centre;
  • bad position of the opponent's king;
  • weak houses in the opponent's position;
  • upper pedestrian structure;
  • majority of pawns on the queen's side;
  • control of open lines;
  • advantage of the Bishops' pair.

In the modern game, opinions have changed somewhat, e.g. the pawn majority on the queen's side, the advantage of the bishop pair and the space advantage are no longer considered generic positional advantages, but are to be evaluated in relation to the position of the pieces on the chessboard.

The classification of advantages in chess that I propose is somewhat different, but I think it fits better with modern thinking. Look around and you will see that the value of any product depends on two things: quantity and quality. Why should it be any different in Chess?
Even in the game of Chess, there are two main categories of advantages:

  • quantitative advantage;
  • qualitative advantage.

In the game, more or less consciously, we must try to achieve one of these advantages. Let us therefore learn a practical method to do this consciously and logically.

Quantitative advantages

There are two quantitative advantages: material advantage and the local supremacy of forces. The importance of material advantage is well known so I will not dwell on it, but local supremacy of forces is also of great importance. A game of Chess usually consists of several local battles: in order to hope to win a local battle it is always convenient to have a superiority of forces in that area. But if you want to have a local superiority of forces you must try to create it, because nobody will do it for you.

The creation of a local superiority of forces is directly related to the identification of the best game plan. How? Very simple: when devising a game plan, one must always ask oneself:  Where would it be best to challenge my opponent in a local battle? The most logical answer is something like this: "The battle must be on the queen's side (or middle or king's side) because there I have (or can create) a superiority of forces'..

Let us imagine that, on analysing the position, you have discovered that your opponent's pieces are piled up on one side of the board, and that they can hardly be moved to the opposite side. Well, you can start thinking about challenging your opponent to a battle on his weak side. What is the next step in the logical thought process? Naturally, you will have to think about how to bring your forces to that side in order to create a local superiority of forces.
I hope it is clear that the advantage of the quantitative superiority of forces and the game plan are directly related.

Qualitative advantages 

To those unfamiliar with the rules of Chess, a qualitative advantage is something imperceptible. A qualitative advantage is the result of the dynamics of the pieces during play and to interpret it correctly, it is necessary to consider the pieces as individual entities.
First of all, let us mention the five qualitative advantages, in the following questions we will briefly deal with each of them:

  • security of the king;
  • qualitative value of the pieces;
  • qualitative value of the pedestrian structure;
  • space advantage;
  • initiative.

There is nothing more important in the game of Chess than the safety of the kingEven a single moment in which we do not think about the safety of the king can prove fatal. When deciding on the game plan one must always make sure that one's king is well protected, because even if we have accumulated quantitative and qualitative advantages, a nut attack leads to immediate defeat and nullifies what has been built up previously.

On the other hand, one must try to endanger the position of the opponent's king:

  • forcing him to weaken the structure of the surrounding pedestrians,
  • opening attack lines with sacrifices of material,
  • exploiting a superiority of forces on the king's wing,
  • pushing pawns against the opponent's castling to open columns for attacking rooks

From the very first moment one takes one's first steps in the game of Chess, one learns that each piece has a 'quantitative' value (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
As a general rule, the quality value of a piece depends on four characteristics:

  • mobility of the piece: how many houses the piece has available to move (without being caught)
  • activity of the piece: pressure exerted by the piece on the opponent's position (attack on weak houses, tactical threats, attack on opposing pieces, etc.)
  • control exercised over the chessboard: chessboard squares controlled by the piece
  • stability of the piece: i.e. if the piece is easily attacked and forced to move (a horse in an outpost is obviously preferable to a horse in an unstable position)

The mobility of a piece represents its ability to move over a large number of squares and to move quickly (i.e. in a few moves) to any side of the board.
The activity performed by a piece is also of great importance. On a scale of values, ordered from worst to best, there are four main situations:

  • The worst situation occurs when a piece is far from the battlefield and cannot get there quickly;
  • a piece performs a purely defensive task, i.e. its main task is to protect a specific target;
  • a piece plays an offensive role, i.e. it attacks a target in the opponent's field;
  • The best situation occurs when a piece plays an offensive role and one or more defensive roles at the same time. This is the best situation: while defending an objective, a piece can have a complementary role in that it indirectly helps another piece, freeing it from its defensive task.

I hope I have well explained the importance of the qualitative value of the pieces. So, during a game of Chess, we must accordingly try to do two things:

  • improving the quality value of our pieces (increasing their mobility, giving them good homes in which they are stable and cannot be driven away and from where they play an offensive role);
  • reduce the qualitative value of the opponent's pieces (by curbing their mobility, not allowing them to occupy strong and stable positions and forcing them to play defensive roles or, if possible, take them out of the game).

Initiative

Initiative, i.e. the ability to create immediate threats, is also very important. If you put your opponent under pressure he will first have to parry threats and only then face the problem of how to improve his position: thus his alternatives will be reduced. In many cases his pieces will have to take uncomfortable and inactive positions, thus worsening their quality.
The means of gaining initiative are ALL those of Chess technique i.e. those tactical and strategic rules which, given a position, both colours try to apply after a concrete analysis. Whoever has seen right will either increase his own initiative or dismantle that of his opponent and gain an advantage.
In modern chess, initiative is so important that many conditions can take on a different value depending on whether or not the player has the initiative.
Given a position, you cannot 'not find a move' if you think in terms of initiative. If one is tactical, one will look for tactical traps (ray attacks, defenceless opponent's pieces, pinning, double attacks, etc.), if one is more strategy-oriented, one will make strategic considerations such as battery or flanking pieces, playing on an open line (column or diagonal), pressing against some weakness, or marking or unmarking homologous pieces.

As with the parts, the pedestrian structure also has its qualitative value. Pedestrians should not be treated as individual entities, but must act together as a unit. The qualitative value of the pedestrian structure is influenced by the presence of doubled, isolated pedestrians or the presence of pedestrian islands, however, your goal is not to have a single pedestrian strong, but to have the entire pedestrian structure strong. For example, a pedestrian chain is clearly more valuable than uncoordinated pedestrians.
There are dozens of books on the market that consider the qualitative value of pedestrian structures, and we certainly cannot deal with such a vast subject by dismissing it in two sentences. Nevertheless, I expect the reader to understand the need to consider pedestrians for what they are as a whole, i.e. as a unit.
If we see the pedestrian structure as a unit, we will notice that its qualitative value is influenced by the same four characteristics we saw earlier, namely: mobility, positioning, role and stability. In this case, we realise from good positioning that a healthy pedestrian structure provides good control of the centre.

The space advantage, from the traditional point of view, is determined by the position of one's pawns and occurs when a player controls a certain area of the board having advanced his pawns there. In modern theory, however, the concept of space expands and is in close correlation with mobility and thus also with the quality of pieces and pawns, assuming fundamental importance. Let us therefore look at some postulates to try to better understand the modern concept of space.
Space' refers to the control of squares by pieces and pawns. The player who controls the most squares has a space advantage.
Hence, there is a correlation of space also with material advantage, for if a player has more pieces, he will consequently also control more houses, hence more space.
Even in the traditional conception the space advantage is important because it forces the opponent's pieces to move into narrow positions and get in each other's way, while the player with the advantage is free to move his pieces quickly from one side of the board to the other. With the modern conception this is supplemented by the fact that on many occasions the same result can be achieved by controlling only a few important squares.
To sum up: why is the space advantage important? Simply because the space advantage indirectly affects the quality value of the parts.

If one has understood the topics discussed above, drawing up a correct game plan and choosing the best move will become easier. All that is needed is to order our thinking. Looking for the best plan means looking for the most suitable way to improve our position and at the same time worsen the opponent's position. It is about looking for the possibility of gaining one of the above advantages or trying to annihilate these advantages if they belong to the opponent.
Here are some questions to be answered to come up with potential plans and the best moves. It's a kind of rundown, it's what the Americans call check-list and which we, much more machinistically, call shopping list:

  • Is my king safe? If not, how can I defend him?
  • Is my opponent's king safe? If not, how can I benefit from his exposed position?
  • Can my opponent gain a material advantage?
  • Can I gain a material advantage by force?
  • On which side of the chessboard can I create a superiority of forces in order to win a local battle?
  • How can I counter the superiority of my opponent's local forces?
  • How can I increase the quality value of my pieces and my pedestrian structure?
  • How can I reduce the qualitative value of my opponent's pieces and pedestrian structure?
  • Where can I get a space advantage?
  • Where can my opponent gain a space advantage?
  • How can I use the space advantage I have, in order to increase the quality value of my parts and create a superiority of local strengths?
  • Which pieces should I change in order to reduce the space advantage my opponent has?
  • Can I create immediate threats and obtain long-term initiative? Can my opponent do this?

General questions

If you want to play a game of chess, you need to know the basic rules. Know then that the game of chess involves two players playing against each other, each possessing his own army, consisting of pawns and special chess pieces. The end goal of the game, which also means the end of the match, is the elimination of the king, a move called checkmate. The game of chess involves a gridded chessboard with light and dark squares. Pieces can move around the board through specific moves for each different piece. What makes the difference is the skill of the player and the strategy chosen to win against the opponent.

The following questions will surely have occurred to many chess players: but what size chess pieces must be to be considered regulation chess? And how big must the side of a square on a regulation chessboard be? We are happy to answer these questions. FIDE provides some recommendations to this effect. L'height of the king can vary between 8.5 and 10.5 centimetres while the base can vary between 40% and 50% in height. La The width of the box can vary between 5 and 6.5 centimetres. At this point, one may ask oneself which is the most correct match both from the point of view of playing comfort and from a purely aesthetic point of view. We suggest the following sizes:

  • King height: 8.8 cm

  • base Re: 45%

  • box side: 5.5 cm

Essentially for two reasons:

  • The first is that this limits the duration of a match, and thus of the entire tournament, within acceptable periods of time, while also giving both contenders equal time to reflect.
  • The second is that it used to happen - before the adoption of these devices - that a player who was clearly losing would plunge into 'deep' (i.e. interminable) reflections to discover a possible loophole from defeat, which of course did not exist. The consequence was sometimes that the opponent, exasperated by the slowness of the game, would abandon the game in annoyance at the player's behaviour. snailautomatically handing victory to the latter

Clocks were first introduced in the year 1867, in France. The clocks of that period had a slightly different design to those of today, yet the basic functionality was the same. Nowadays, FIDE has officially adopted digital clocks, although in world title matches it is left to the players to choose the model they prefer.

It depends on how you take them! If used as a pastime to spend a few fun afternoons with friends then they are certainly a great game, but only a game. If, on the other hand, you see them at a competitive level then they are a real sport, regularly affiliated to CONI as a sporting discipline.

Essentially, there are several categories, which are listed below in ascending order of importance:

  • Not Classified (NC)
  • Third National (3N)
  • Second National (2N)
  • First National (1N)
  • Master Candidate (CM)
  • Master (M)
  • FIDE Master (MF)
  • International Master (MI)
  • Grand Master (GM)

he ELO score indicates a player's strength based on his results in chess competitions. Each national federation has its own ELO ranking, which does not necessarily coincide with those of other federations. However, the most important ranking by far is the one issued by FIDE (Federation Internationale Des Echecs) on 1 January and 1 July each year. The ELO system, named after its Hungarian inventor Arpad Elo, takes into account the difference in value of the players. For example, in the case of a drawn game a Master gains several points if he played against an International Master, gains fewer against a FIDE Master, gains none at all against a Master like himself, loses several if his opponent is a mere Second National.

The advent of information technology in chess has completely changed the paradigms of the game. Nowadays, using the computer to analyse openings or to check who has played a particular variant is within everyone's reach and quite simple. Useful programmes include:

  • Stockfish - current world champion chess SW programme with an ELO level of over 3,600 points, practically the same as having the world champion at your disposal. However, chess SWs have the serious defect of not explaining why a certain move is preferable to others and this for novice chess players is a big limitation. For downloading you can use this link https://stockfishchess.org/download/
  • SCID - SW programme for managing chess databases, i.e. capable of recording millions of games and making them available by position, player, opening, etc.  SCID (Shane's Chess Information Database) is a free open source application for the visualisation and maintenance of large databases of chess games with features comparable to the famous Chessbase. SCID allows all classic chess database operations, enables the use of external engines for analysing games (also Stockfish of course) and provides an efficient and comprehensive set of tools. For downloading you can use this link https://scid.sourceforge.net/
  • TWIC - TheWeekInChess is a free collection of games played in all major tournaments around the world that can be easily imported into SCID. For downloading you can use this link https://theweekinchess.com/twic

To download the rules just use this link download rules

The FIDE Tournament Homologation Commission stipulates that a tournament valid for ELO variations must at least consider a thinking time per player of 2 (two) hours, assuming a number of moves equal to 60. According to this criterion examples of possible game cadences could be:

  • entire match in four hours;
  • 40 moves in 2 hours plus 30 minutes per player to finish the game;
  • all the moves in 90 minutes with an increment of 30 seconds per move (considering the 60 assumed moves, we arrive at precisely the 4 hours total required)
  • all moves in 90 minutes in increments of 30 seconds per move and a further 15 minutes reached move 40.

Even today, the term "Semilampo" is still used to refer to tournaments where the game cadence is typically 15 minutes. For the avoidance of doubt, let's say that the official FSI rules do not provide for any definition of game cadence with the term "Semilampo". The following list represents the only definitions of the game cadences in the current rules (the English term in brackets).

  • LAMPO (BLITZ) : playing time of less than 15 minutes per player, usually 5 minutes or 2′ + 3".
  • QUICK GAME (RAPIDPLAY): playing time between 15 and 60 minutes per player, usually 15′ + 10 ".

PGN notation is a format for describing and making portable a chess game, it is used by players, on the internet and by chess programmes. A game in PGN format includes a series of headings ("tags" in English), the sequence of players' moves in algebraic format and the final result.

Here is an example:

[Site "https://www.chess.com"]
[Event 'Lazio Chess Open 2021'].
[White "Castelfranchi, Carlo"]
[Black "Vannelli, Vittorio"].
[WhiteFideId "803219"].
[BlackFideId "816701"].
[WhiteElo "1963"]
[BlackElo "1472"].
[Result "1-0"].
[Round "1"].
[TimeControl "5400+30"].
[Date "2021.09.03"].
[WhiteClock "0:19:50"].
[BlackClock "0:00:00"].
[Board "1"]
1. e4 {[%clk 1:33:16]} c5 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 2. Nf3 {[%clk 1:33:16]} Nc6 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 3. d4 {[%clk 1:33:16]} cxd4 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 4. c3 {[%clk 1:33:16]} dxc3 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 5. Nxc3 {[%clk 1:33:16]} g6 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 6. Bc4 {[%clk 1:33:16]} Bg7 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 7. e5 {[%clk 1:33:16]} a6 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 8. O-O {[%clk 1:29:44]} b5 {[%clk 1:28:15]} 9. Bb3 {[%clk 1:30:00]} Bb7 {[%clk 1:26:53]} 10. Qd5 {[%clk 1:30:00]} e6 {[%clk 1:26:53]} 11. Qc5 {[%clk 1:22:01]} Bf8 {[%clk 1:13:49]} 12. Qe3 {[%clk 1:22:18]} Bh6 {[%clk 1:02:41]} 13. Qe2 {[%clk 1:22:18]} Bxc1 {[%clk 1:02:10]} 14. Raxc1 {[%clk 1:19:45]} Na5 {[%clk 0:57:12]} 15. Bc2 {[%clk 1:16:02]} Ne7 {[%clk 0:51:54]} 16. Be4 {[%clk 1:13:04]} Rc8 {[%clk 0:47:34]} 17. Bxb7 {[%clk 1:10:27]} Nxb7 {[%clk 0:47:47]} 18. Ne4 {[%clk 1:08:58]} Nd5 {[%clk 0:47:34]} 19. Rcd1 {[%clk 1:07:34]} Rc6 {[%clk 0:32:06]} 20. Rxd5 {[%clk 1:06:28]} exd5 {[%clk 0:32:06]} 21. Nf6+ {[%clk 1:06:50]} Rxf6 {[%clk 0:31:09]} 22. exf6+ {[%clk 1:07:08]} Kf8 {[%clk 0:31:14]} 23. Qe5 {[%clk 1:05:16]} d6 {[%clk 0:27:33]} 24. Qxd5 {[%clk 1:05:16]} Nc5 {[%clk 0:27:33]} 25. b4 {[%clk 0:59:31]} Ne6 {[%clk 0:25:46]} 26. Rd1 {[%clk 0:51:27]} Qxf6 {[%clk 0:25:29]} 27. Qxd6+ {[%clk 0:51:27]} Kg7 {[%clk 0:25:32]} 28. Qxa6 {[%clk 0:50:27]} Qf5 {[%clk 0:25:32]} 29. h3 {[%clk 0:48:31]} Nf4 {[%clk 0:21:53]} 30. Qc6 {[%clk 0:45:44]} Rc8 {[%clk 0:12:03]} 31. Qb7 {[%clk 0:40:50]} Ne2+ {[%clk 0:08:14]} 32. Kh1 {[%clk 0:38:30]} Nc3 {[%clk 0:08:14]} 33. Rd2 {[%clk 0:33:36]} Re8 {[%clk 0:05:58]} 34. Qc6 {[%clk 0:31:45]} Rc8 {[%clk 0:02:11]} 35. Qb6 {[%clk 0:31:45]} Qb1+ {[%clk 0:01:42]} 36. Kh2 {[%clk 0:26:47]} Qxb4 {[%clk 0:01:46]} 37. Rd7 {[%clk 0:21:40]} Qf4+ {[%clk 0:01:41]} 38. Kg1 {[%clk 0:21:16]} Ne2+ {[%clk 0:01:55]} 39. Kf1 {[%clk 0:21:16]} Qc4 {[%clk 0:00:38]} 40. Nd2 {[%clk 0:20:02]} Ng3+ {[%clk 0:00:43]} 41. Kg1 {[%clk 0:20:27]} Qc1+ {[%clk 0:00:49]} 42. Kh2 {[%clk 0:20:27]} Nf5 {[%clk 0:00:38]} 43. g4 {[%clk 0:19:50]} Nh4 {[%clk 0:00:00]} 1-0

Let us describe each header considering that some are not mandatory (optional):

  • Site: Place where the tournament took place (also a website)
  • Event: The name of the tournament or challenge
  • White: The name of the player who has the Whites, indicated as "Last Name, First Name".
  • Black: The name of the player who has the Blacks, indicated as "Last Name, First Name".
  • WhiteFideIdthe FIDE membership number of the white player (optional)
  • BlackFideIdthe black player's FIDE membership number (optional)
  • WhiteElo: the ELo score of the white player (optional)
  • BlackElo: the ELo score of the black player (optional)
  • Result: The outcome of the game which can exclusively be "1-0" (White win), "0-1" (Black win), "1/2-1/2" (draw), "*" (undefined).
  • Round: The round in which the match was played (optional)
  • TimeControl: the cadence at which the match was played (e.g. 90 + 60", 3′ + 2" etc.) (optional)
  • Dates: The start date of the match, in the format 'YYYY.MM.DD'; however, only the year is also acceptable
  • WhiteClock: White's remaining time at the end of the game (optional)
  • BlackClock: black's remaining time at the end of the game (optional)
  • Board: the number of the chessboard where the game was played (optional)

I comments may be inserted after the moves, inside the curly brackets {}. Eg: "{my comment}.

The following symbols are used to indicate the best moves or mistakes that may occur during the game:

  • “!”: Good move
  • “!!”: Excellent move
  • “?”: Wrong move
  • “??”: Serious error
  • “!?”: Interesting move, probably good
  • “?!”: Doubtful move, probably wrong

The ECO code is a universal classification system for openings in the game of chess.

The acronym ECO derives from the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, or rather the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, which, thanks to the contribution of numerous Grandmasters from all over the world, does an enormous and meticulous job of cataloguing the state of the art (as defined by Hans Berliner, world correspondence chess champion) of openings, i.e. the moves considered by theory to be the strongest, or simply those most used by the Grandmasters in all the different possible branches, to a depth varying between 15 and 25 moves.

Each variant has been assigned a code consisting of a letter (from 'A' to 'E') and two digits (from '00' to '99'), which allows chess players and computer programmes to easily and uniquely identify the different types of games.

Questions about the Chess club

It means attending an environment where more than people, a group of friends, share a passion for one of the world's oldest and most beautiful games of intelligence and fantasy. It means being able to play with people of any age and improve your game. It means having the opportunity to participate in individual lightning and semi-lightning tournaments, individual tournaments with a classical rhythm, team tournaments between clubs, courses at various levels, and promotional activities.

The Alfieri della Tuscia is an Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica (ASD), i.e. an association with sporting purposes that is non-profit making. Our ASD carries out its activities to promote this splendid game in the lower Viterbo area and to spread it among the very young. We are a close-knit group and participate every year in the FSI team championships, as we can count on players of the highest level, including Thomas Ulrich, Fabrizio Bonaposta, with scores of around 2,100 ELO points in the FIDE rankings, and other players with ELO scores above 1,900.

To attend the Club and play amateur games, at least the Endas membership card is required in order to benefit from the necessary insurance coverage, while to attend the Club and play competitive games, the FSI membership card is required. For all details follow this link Registration

To attend the Club and play amateur games, at least the Endas membership card is required in order to benefit from the necessary insurance coverage, while to attend the Club and play competitive games, the FSI membership card is required. For all details follow this link Registration

An FSI membership card is required to attend the club and play competitive games. For all details follow this link Registration

There are courses for beginners too 😉 Learning the basics of the game is very easy, and from then on it will be a continuous improvement with every game!

Certainly, it is possible using the form in this link Tournament entry

Certainly, it is possible using the form in this link Course registration

To make a payment to the Club for partial membership fees, courses or tournaments simply follow this link Payment

Of course! The easiest way is to send an email to info@alfieridellatuscia.it.

Alternatively, you can use the contact form here: contacts

Yes, registered members of the Club can apply for the Members' section called Members Area, where you can download chess material, books and video courses in Italian.

Tournament questions

Article 12 of the FIDE Rules deals with the behaviour of players. Unfortunately, this article is often broken by some players who are a little too 'lively'. For example: a spectator in a game is not allowed to signal the fall of the flag of either clock. Similarly, players are not allowed, after finishing their game, to start analysing or chatting verbally in the tournament room, disturbing those who are still playing. These recommendations seem obvious, but tournament practice is replete with incidents of this kind that are detrimental to both the players and the organising club.

It happens, with some regularity, that some players forget to press the clock or to signal to the opponent that the flag has fallen. How should the referee behave in such cases? Let us try to give an articulate answer. Under no circumstances can the referee inform the player who has forgotten to press the opponent's clock. In fast-paced tournaments (Rapid and Lightning Games), with times per player of up to 60 minutes, the referee may not, on his own initiative, signal the dropping of the flag. Only in the case where both flags have fallen may the referee intervene by awarding a draw. In all other types of tournament the referee is obliged to warn the contestants the moment he detects that one of the flags has fallen.

The decision as to the position of the clock in relation to the chessboard rests with the tournament referee, who will choose the most convenient arrangement for control of the game room. It is generally placed to the right of the player who has the black pieces, as a courtesy gesture as he does not have the advantage of the stroke. If at least one of the two players is left-handed and both agree, it is possible to rotate the chessboard 180 degrees while leaving the clock position unchanged.

As is well known, the form does not have to be filled in for Quickplay and Lightning games and in the Quickplay Finish of other tournament types. In the case of compulsory completion, the player is obliged to correctly report the moves made. Both the opposing player and the arbiter may ask for any errors in the transcription of moves to be corrected. This must be done during their own thinking time and before the next move can be made. Also remember that moves must be written down after you have made your move.

One of the main rules of the game of chess is that if, in any kind of tournament, either player touches a piece he is forced to move or capture it if it is an opponent's piece. The exception to this rule is when the player would be forced to move or capture the piece touched by making an impossible move. In this case he may make any other legal move. It should be remembered, for the sake of completeness, that in the case of fast-paced games (Rapid and Lightning Play), the arbiter may intervene to enforce this rule only at the express request of the player detecting the irregularity.

Perhaps not everyone knows that the irregular move in the lightning game (time per player less than 15 minutes) can lead to immediate defeat on signal from the opponent. We specify that the irregular move is considered completed at the moment the player operates the opponent's clock.

Lo zeitnot is the lack of thinking time in a game played with clocks. A player enters zeitnot when he still has several moves to make before his time runs out. At that stage, making mistakes becomes much easier because it is impossible to go through all the variations in detail as one would wish

Zugzwang is a word German meaning 'obliged to move'. In chess refers to the situation in which a player finds himself in difficulty because whatever move he makes, he is forced to suffer the checkmate or a more or less immediate loss of material

In the absence of an additional woman, the player may promote to a woman by using the inverted rook to indicate that it is in fact a woman. Most referees consider the promotion to inverted rook to be an irregular move. In fact, the rules do not state whether the rook must stand on the chessboard with its base facing downwards, so promotion to inverted rook is not an irregular move. The problem arises when a player promotes to inverted rook by declaring that he intends to promote to queen. The declaration in this case has no value, and the overturned rook remains as such. The irregular move occurs when the player who promoted moves the upturned rook as a woman. Thus, the inverted tower is still a tower.

Questions about the game

According to modern strategy, each move has a very simple objective: to accumulate a certain advantage for us and/or reduce the advantage already accumulated by our opponent. The greater the advantage accumulated, the better the move will be.
From what has been written, it is clear that the player's attitude during the game is essential in Chess: the one who always tries to create problems for his opponent has the potential to become a successful player, even if his knowledge of Chess is limited. On the other hand, he who waits for his opponent's mistakes by playing waiting moves has no chance of substantially improving his skill in the game.
So keep in mind: every move has to look at something! And that something is usually a certain advantage in your position.

Now that we have seen that it is worth trying to achieve an advantage with every move, we ask ourselves: what are advantages in Chess? The first player who classified advantages in the game of Chess was Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion. He argued that there are nine fundamental advantages:

  • development advantage;
  • mobility advantage;
  • control of the centre;
  • bad position of the opponent's king;
  • weak houses in the opponent's position;
  • upper pedestrian structure;
  • majority of pawns on the queen's side;
  • control of open lines;
  • advantage of the Bishops' pair.

In the modern game, opinions have changed somewhat, e.g. the pawn majority on the queen's side, the advantage of the bishop pair and the space advantage are no longer considered generic positional advantages, but are to be evaluated in relation to the position of the pieces on the chessboard.

The classification of advantages in chess that I propose is somewhat different, but I think it fits better with modern thinking. Look around and you will see that the value of any product depends on two things: quantity and quality. Why should it be any different in Chess?
Even in the game of Chess, there are two main categories of advantages:

  • quantitative advantage;
  • qualitative advantage.

In the game, more or less consciously, we must try to achieve one of these advantages. Let us therefore learn a practical method to do this consciously and logically.

Quantitative advantages

There are two quantitative advantages: material advantage and the local supremacy of forces. The importance of material advantage is well known so I will not dwell on it, but local supremacy of forces is also of great importance. A game of Chess usually consists of several local battles: in order to hope to win a local battle it is always convenient to have a superiority of forces in that area. But if you want to have a local superiority of forces you must try to create it, because nobody will do it for you.

The creation of a local superiority of forces is directly related to the identification of the best game plan. How? Very simple: when devising a game plan, one must always ask oneself:  Where would it be best to challenge my opponent in a local battle? The most logical answer is something like this: "The battle must be on the queen's side (or middle or king's side) because there I have (or can create) a superiority of forces'..

Let us imagine that, on analysing the position, you have discovered that your opponent's pieces are piled up on one side of the board, and that they can hardly be moved to the opposite side. Well, you can start thinking about challenging your opponent to a battle on his weak side. What is the next step in the logical thought process? Naturally, you will have to think about how to bring your forces to that side in order to create a local superiority of forces.
I hope it is clear that the advantage of the quantitative superiority of forces and the game plan are directly related.

Qualitative advantages 

To those unfamiliar with the rules of Chess, a qualitative advantage is something imperceptible. A qualitative advantage is the result of the dynamics of the pieces during play and to interpret it correctly, it is necessary to consider the pieces as individual entities.
First of all, let us mention the five qualitative advantages, in the following questions we will briefly deal with each of them:

  • security of the king;
  • qualitative value of the pieces;
  • qualitative value of the pedestrian structure;
  • space advantage;
  • initiative.

There is nothing more important in the game of Chess than the safety of the kingEven a single moment in which we do not think about the safety of the king can prove fatal. When deciding on the game plan one must always make sure that one's king is well protected, because even if we have accumulated quantitative and qualitative advantages, a nut attack leads to immediate defeat and nullifies what has been built up previously.

On the other hand, one must try to endanger the position of the opponent's king:

  • forcing him to weaken the structure of the surrounding pedestrians,
  • opening attack lines with sacrifices of material,
  • exploiting a superiority of forces on the king's wing,
  • pushing pawns against the opponent's castling to open columns for attacking rooks

From the very first moment one takes one's first steps in the game of Chess, one learns that each piece has a 'quantitative' value (pawn = 1, knight and bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9).
As a general rule, the quality value of a piece depends on four characteristics:

  • mobility of the piece: how many houses the piece has available to move (without being caught)
  • activity of the piece: pressure exerted by the piece on the opponent's position (attack on weak houses, tactical threats, attack on opposing pieces, etc.)
  • control exercised over the chessboard: chessboard squares controlled by the piece
  • stability of the piece: i.e. if the piece is easily attacked and forced to move (a horse in an outpost is obviously preferable to a horse in an unstable position)

The mobility of a piece represents its ability to move over a large number of squares and to move quickly (i.e. in a few moves) to any side of the board.
The activity performed by a piece is also of great importance. On a scale of values, ordered from worst to best, there are four main situations:

  • The worst situation occurs when a piece is far from the battlefield and cannot get there quickly;
  • a piece performs a purely defensive task, i.e. its main task is to protect a specific target;
  • a piece plays an offensive role, i.e. it attacks a target in the opponent's field;
  • The best situation occurs when a piece plays an offensive role and one or more defensive roles at the same time. This is the best situation: while defending an objective, a piece can have a complementary role in that it indirectly helps another piece, freeing it from its defensive task.

I hope I have well explained the importance of the qualitative value of the pieces. So, during a game of Chess, we must accordingly try to do two things:

  • improving the quality value of our pieces (increasing their mobility, giving them good homes in which they are stable and cannot be driven away and from where they play an offensive role);
  • reduce the qualitative value of the opponent's pieces (by curbing their mobility, not allowing them to occupy strong and stable positions and forcing them to play defensive roles or, if possible, take them out of the game).

Initiative

Initiative, i.e. the ability to create immediate threats, is also very important. If you put your opponent under pressure he will first have to parry threats and only then face the problem of how to improve his position: thus his alternatives will be reduced. In many cases his pieces will have to take uncomfortable and inactive positions, thus worsening their quality.
The means of gaining initiative are ALL those of Chess technique i.e. those tactical and strategic rules which, given a position, both colours try to apply after a concrete analysis. Whoever has seen right will either increase his own initiative or dismantle that of his opponent and gain an advantage.
In modern chess, initiative is so important that many conditions can take on a different value depending on whether or not the player has the initiative.
Given a position, you cannot 'not find a move' if you think in terms of initiative. If one is tactical, one will look for tactical traps (ray attacks, defenceless opponent's pieces, pinning, double attacks, etc.), if one is more strategy-oriented, one will make strategic considerations such as battery or flanking pieces, playing on an open line (column or diagonal), pressing against some weakness, or marking or unmarking homologous pieces.

As with the parts, the pedestrian structure also has its qualitative value. Pedestrians should not be treated as individual entities, but must act together as a unit. The qualitative value of the pedestrian structure is influenced by the presence of doubled, isolated pedestrians or the presence of pedestrian islands, however, your goal is not to have a single pedestrian strong, but to have the entire pedestrian structure strong. For example, a pedestrian chain is clearly more valuable than uncoordinated pedestrians.
There are dozens of books on the market that consider the qualitative value of pedestrian structures, and we certainly cannot deal with such a vast subject by dismissing it in two sentences. Nevertheless, I expect the reader to understand the need to consider pedestrians for what they are as a whole, i.e. as a unit.
If we see the pedestrian structure as a unit, we will notice that its qualitative value is influenced by the same four characteristics we saw earlier, namely: mobility, positioning, role and stability. In this case, we realise from good positioning that a healthy pedestrian structure provides good control of the centre.

The space advantage, from the traditional point of view, is determined by the position of one's pawns and occurs when a player controls a certain area of the board having advanced his pawns there. In modern theory, however, the concept of space expands and is in close correlation with mobility and thus also with the quality of pieces and pawns, assuming fundamental importance. Let us therefore look at some postulates to try to better understand the modern concept of space.
Space' refers to the control of squares by pieces and pawns. The player who controls the most squares has a space advantage.
Hence, there is a correlation of space also with material advantage, for if a player has more pieces, he will consequently also control more houses, hence more space.
Even in the traditional conception the space advantage is important because it forces the opponent's pieces to move into narrow positions and get in each other's way, while the player with the advantage is free to move his pieces quickly from one side of the board to the other. With the modern conception this is supplemented by the fact that on many occasions the same result can be achieved by controlling only a few important squares.
To sum up: why is the space advantage important? Simply because the space advantage indirectly affects the quality value of the parts.

If one has understood the topics discussed above, drawing up a correct game plan and choosing the best move will become easier. All that is needed is to order our thinking. Looking for the best plan means looking for the most suitable way to improve our position and at the same time worsen the opponent's position. It is about looking for the possibility of gaining one of the above advantages or trying to annihilate these advantages if they belong to the opponent.
Here are some questions to be answered to come up with potential plans and the best moves. It's a kind of rundown, it's what the Americans call check-list and which we, much more machinistically, call shopping list:

  • Is my king safe? If not, how can I defend him?
  • Is my opponent's king safe? If not, how can I benefit from his exposed position?
  • Can my opponent gain a material advantage?
  • Can I gain a material advantage by force?
  • On which side of the chessboard can I create a superiority of forces in order to win a local battle?
  • How can I counter the superiority of my opponent's local forces?
  • How can I increase the quality value of my pieces and my pedestrian structure?
  • How can I reduce the qualitative value of my opponent's pieces and pedestrian structure?
  • Where can I get a space advantage?
  • Where can my opponent gain a space advantage?
  • How can I use the space advantage I have, in order to increase the quality value of my parts and create a superiority of local strengths?
  • Which pieces should I change in order to reduce the space advantage my opponent has?
  • Can I create immediate threats and obtain long-term initiative? Can my opponent do this?

© 2021 - Copyright by Andrea Cuccarini - All rights reserved