by Ikaros Marks

Created on: June 29, 2009

Of all the board games ever created, few have stood the test of time. One of the notable ones is the game of chess. When a brand new player is faced with a chess board, it is almost hilarious to see his or her face drop. Most times he or she will simply opt out of the game because the pieces look daunting to learn how to control. A secret most novices keep from beginners is that learning the pieces and how they move is the hardest thing in the entire game.

The board is made up of two sides, traditionally black and white, but with the difference in materials used these days, the colours tend to vary. In any case the lighter of the two pieces is the side that usually plays first. Laid out on the board directly in front of you are the pieces that comprise your "army". Chess is originally a war-game and the game that has evolved into modernity is based on the European Court.

The first thing a beginner should know about learning to play chess is that the entire game is structured around one of the weakest pieces of the board: the King. Even though it is one of the weakest pieces in the game, it is powerful in its own right. Your aim in chess is to make sure that your opponents king can be captured. When the king is threatened, you must call "check" to announce your intention. If the king cannot move out of a position where it is "checked" then the game is over and that is called "Checkmate".

At the bottom rightmost of the board is the castle or rook. This piece moves and captures along any vertical or horizontal line (called "ranks" and "files") but cannot move or capture pieces diagonally. It is one of the more powerful pieces on the board because it controls vast swathes of the board easily and can protect pieces from a distance. Its power lies in the ability to lock parts of the board off from the kin and literally aid in cornering it since the king cannot cross a rank or file controlled by the rook.

Next to our friend the rook is the horse or knight. The knight is a tactical (some call it 'sneaky') piece because of the peculiar way it moves. The knight must move two squares in a chosen direction followed by one square that is perpendicular to the original direction of movement. Another thing that is unique to the knight is the fact that it can jump pieces that would otherwise block it. This along with its unique movement style make is a very dangerous piece because it is the only piece that can attack another piece that is not of the same type directly and

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