Before we get started talking about a few special moves you can do in chess, let’s give you the answers to the quiz from the last blog on if each position was a Check, Checkmate, or Stalemate.
QUIZ ANSWERS
1) Checkmate! This sort of Checkmate is also referred to as a “smother-mate”. Notice how the black King is completely blocked in by his own pieces? This allows white to Checkmate black using nothing but his Knight! These are always fun because your opponent is almost helping you to beat him.
2) Checkmate! The white King is in Check by black’s Pawn at e2. He cannot take this attacking pawn because then the white King would capture him. He also cannot move to any other square because he’d be under attack by other pieces (a Bishop at e1, a Rook at c1 and c2, and the opposing King at c2 and d2). There is also nothing that can intercept.
3) Stalemate! Well… at least if we say it’s black’s turn! If it’s black’s turn, black is unable to move his king anywhere without being attacked by either the Pawn at g7 or the opposing King. And his other pieces are blocked and unable to move. If it’s White’s move, he can win very easily in a couple of moves. But for the sake of this quiz, we’ll say it’s black’s move and he’s been stalemated.
4) Check! The white Queen threatens the black King, but black can simply intercept with the Knight.
5) Checkmate! This is a NEARLY identical position as 4. The only change is that now black cannot use the Knight to intercept the white Queen, because then white’s Rook at c8 would be able to capture the King.
How’d you do? If you missed any, go back and look at the position again to figure out why you got it wrong.
Moving on… Today, we’re going to talk about 3 special moves: Castling, En Passant, and Pawn Promotion. These are moves that can be done, but I didn’t include them in our initial discussion of how the pieces move (with exception of Caslting) because they’re special circumstance moves. But we’re going to talk about them now that you have a better understanding of what’s going on.
Castling
As mentioned before, when you Castle, you are giving your King a little extra protection. Thank of it as moving him from the courtyard to the nearly impenetrable tower! You can Castle either to the kingside or queenside by moving the King 2 spaces toward the Rook, and then placing that Rook immediately to the other side of the King. This is demonstrated n this illustration:
You may Castle only once per game, and there are a few rules about Castling you must obey.
1) The King must not have moved from his starting square before you Castle.
2) The Rook that you Castle in-tandem with the King must not have moved from its starting location.
3) You cannot Castle while in Check. If a piece is attacking your King, you can’t escape it by Castling.
4) You cannot Castle THROUGH Check. If a piece is not attacking your King, but it’s pointed sniper-style at one of the spaces your King would have to go through for a Castle, then you cannot Castle. This last rule may seem a bit tricky, but it’s very simple.
In this picture, you can Castle:
In this picture, you cannot castle because the King would have to move through a space that’s being targeted by black’s Bishop:
Castling is usually a good idea because it gives the King extra protection by placing it behind a wall of Pawns one one side and the Rook on the other, as well as getting it further out of reach of the opposing Queen. ONLY Castle, though, if it puts your King in a more protected area. For instance, in the following image, you would NOT want to Castle kingside, because the King would actually become MORE exposed to danger.
Do you see how Castling now would cause problems for white? If white castles, then black will bring his light-square Bishop to h3, which threatens a 1-move checkmate by the Queen taking the pawn at g2:
White can try to stop this mate by pushing the g-pawn, but then he loses a rook for a bishop:
Or if he moves the Knight to h4, he’ll lose a Knight and a Pawn for a Bishop and a torn open king side:
So while Castling is USUALLY a good defense, keep your eyes peeled to make sure it actually protects you.