| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
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| Queen's Indian Defense | 6/27/2009 | Len Molden |
Q: I wanted to ask you about a certain opening move-order which I cant find in any database but still, ...
A: This is an interesting question about move order. As I don't play this particular line of the ...
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| CHESS | 6/20/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: IM A HUGE FAN OF YOUR WORK IN THE CHESS WORLD. I WAS WONDERING IF U CAN BE SO KIND AND EXPLAIN IN AN ...
A: There are at least two Chigorin Defenses that I know of. One is a long-lived main line against the ...
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| swapping pawn for chess. | 6/10/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: i played a tournament game with a clock. opponed got his pawn down to last rank with the intention ...
A: What he did was not technically correct, but not necessarily illegal. The following is from the ...
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| chess | 6/6/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: can you switch out a pawn for a queen once youve reached the other side of the chess board even if ...
A: Yes. In fact, if you are able to promote all of your pawns, you can have as many as nine queens at ...
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| Chess Evaluation +/- ?! | 6/5/2009 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: Reading chess moves, I come across these symbols ++/-,+/- or ?! or variations to them... What do ...
A: Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your question. I don't have my own computer, and I ...
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| check | 5/26/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: my opponent failed to call check, i moved, it is now his move, what can he do, or does my move have ...
A: It is difficult to answer such a question comprehensively, because the situation where the game is ...
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| quick win | 5/18/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: How can I get a win in less than 10 moves?
A: There are many ways for a game to end in 10 moves or less. All of them though are very much ...
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| check | 5/14/2009 | Louis Lima |
Q: My king was checked by my opponent's bishop. I interposed a knight that simultaneously checked his ...
A: The answer is yes. His king is in check and he must either move his king to a safe square, or ...
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| Chess | 5/2/2009 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: Once you move a chess piece to a position on the board can you keep your hand on that piece and ...
A: A move is considered complete when you take your hand off of the piece. If you don't like where you ...
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| TD pre-test | 4/21/2009 | Wuyanbu Zutali |
Q: I run a small chess club and would like to administer a pretest to some of our players wanting to ...
A: Its been awhile since I've ran tournaments, but to be a club tournament director is very easy. Just ...
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| Check | 4/9/2009 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: I am relearning chess after many years of not playing.If the BLK king is in check, can a BLK piece ...
A: Ben! Thanks for your question. If the Black King is in check, then there are three ways to get out ...
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| patterns | 3/31/2009 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: How many moves does it take for a knight to reach a square that is one square diagonally away from ...
A: The knight is a very strange beast indeed. It actually takes FOUR moves for a knight to get to a ...
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| Openings | 3/31/2009 | Len Molden |
Q: How many possible moves can you make at the beginning of the game?
A: There are 20 different moves for each side at the beginning of a chess game: - each pawn can move ...
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| question re. 9 yr. old | 3/24/2009 | Louis Lima |
Q: I have a 91/2 yr. old son who started school chess in the fall. It's been 6 months and he has a ...
A: Below is my own opinion to your question. However, I do not have experience with children and chess ...
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| Playing Chess Online | 3/23/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: My friend and I used to play Chess with Yahoo Messenger. We have had nothing but trouble for quite a ...
A: Well, I am admittedly far from an expert on computers. But I think, regardless of whether your ...
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| Nimzowitch Larsen Attack | 3/17/2009 | Len Molden |
Q: Can you show me great ideas and positions about the Nimzowitch Larsen Attack, 1.b3
A: The Nimzowitsch/Larsen Attack (also called the Nimzo-Larsen) has been played since the time of the ...
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| end game - resign or not | 3/5/2009 | Wuyanbu Zutali |
Q: A good friend and I play chess once a week. When I'm ahead in pieces in the end game, he resigns ...
A: There's an old chess saying that say "you can't win by resigning." It's up to the player to resign. ...
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| pawn vs. king | 2/19/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: I am a chess rookie and mainly play just for fun. Recently a question came up during a game: In ...
A: Well, technically no piece can really ever capture a king (once the king is put in checkmate, the ...
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| illegal moves | 2/4/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: If a player makes an illegal move, such as moving a black squared bishop to a white square, has ...
A: In general, they are allowed to take the move back. According to the rules of the International ...
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| Help | 2/2/2009 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: what happens if all the pieces are gone except the two kings and one queen on the board? Is it stale ...
A: A player with a King and a Queen against a lone King can force checkmate. However, he has to be ...
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| chess championship format | 1/27/2009 | Wuyanbu Zutali |
Q: My question concerns the format of chess championships and tournaments, for the sake of a story that ...
A: This is an intriguing question. Many tournaments large and small have players on stage. But, not ...
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| chess championship format | 1/27/2009 | Len Molden |
Q: My question concerns the format of chess championships and tournaments, for a story that I'm ...
A: Many large chess tournaments have the top boards play on stage as well as other matches between ...
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| Who is better | 1/15/2009 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: Who is better in this position with white to move? White pawns: a2,b2,c2,f2,g2,h2 Rooks on a1&h1, ...
A: White has a bit of an advantage here. He should probably play 1 Qe2+ to trade off more pieces. ...
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| How to improve in Chess | 12/25/2008 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: I have played chess for 2 years, but have now reached a point whereby I find it difficult to ...
A: William! Thanks for your question. Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. Now that Christmas is ...
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| checkmate | 11/11/2008 | Wuyanbu Zutali |
Q: If your opponent has only his king left, and, besides your king, you have two knights, is there a ...
A: Yes. Checkmate is very possible except it takes great skill to do it. You have to create barriers ...
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| first moves allowed by pawns | 10/30/2008 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: I have always played in UK and told that the first pawn to move by each player may move 1 or 2 ...
A: In the Official Rules of Chess published by the International Chess Federation (F.I.D.E.), you can ...
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| Converting an Advantage | 10/22/2008 | Wuyanbu Zutali |
Q: I am a club player and have a pretty good handle on strategy and tactics. I also play against the ...
A: Ahhh, If only I had your problem. My computer program Sigma Chess is one tough bird. I have to use ...
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| chess move | 10/16/2008 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: I am currently playing my police chief in a game and I fear he has me? Our current positions are as ...
A: I'm sorry, but it would not be ethical for me to give advice about a game in progress. Sorry 'bout ...
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| Chess Openings | 9/30/2008 | Len Molden |
Q: I am teaching my daughter chess who is about 1000. She is 8 and quite bright. She can use some help ...
A: MCO is still being printed with a new edition recently released (!). However, the times have ...
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| Queen pawn openings | 9/11/2008 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: I will be starting to play in tournaments regularly starting this week, and i plan to play d4 a bit. ...
A: If you open with 1 d4, then the most common responses are 1...d5 and 1...Nf6. If you play 2 c4 ...
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| Which one??? | 9/8/2008 | Len Molden |
Q: Are school is holding a chess competition, I have made it to the semi finals which are going to be ...
A: Congratulations for making it to your school's semi finals! Here's some good opening plans for you, ...
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| castling | 9/6/2008 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: i was once asked about castling in the queen side where the king does not cross the open line of ...
A: No, it is in fact perfectly legal for the rook to pass over an attacked square in the act of ...
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| The Caro-Kann Defence | 8/30/2008 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: As I have been looking at various openings, I have noticed the Caro-Kann. The opening looks very ...
A: I often play the Caro-Kann in tournaments myself. It is a very solid defense and often frustrates ...
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| king being in check | 8/29/2008 | Chuck Kinzie |
Q: when in check can the king take the piece that put him in check?
A: Yes, the King can take the piece that put him in check. The only exception is that the King cannot ...
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| chess | 8/16/2008 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: When your opponent has only his king left how many moves do you have to checkmate him before it ...
A: I believe you're referring to the 50-moves rule. A game can be declared a draw after 50 moves (by ...
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| En Passent | 8/14/2008 | Len Molden |
Q: Is a player allowed to en passent out of check?
A: I believe this would be a legal move as it would be like a player capturing a piece that is giving ...
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| Fried Liver Revisited | 8/1/2008 | Wuyanbu Zutali |
Q: Recently my opponent and I played the usual moves. I was white. Play went 1. e4 e5 2. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6 ...
A: The Fried Liver can indeed toast unwary players. I've been burned once by it over the years and it ...
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| Chess strategies: using pawns | 7/25/2008 | Len Molden |
Q: I am a part-time novelist who is hoping to use a chess strategy as a plot point. I was wondering if ...
A: It's good to see that you'll be using chess strategy for your plot as not enough books or movies ...
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| enpassant | 7/4/2008 | Tony D'Aloisio |
Q: when passing your opponents pawn if im white and move two squares up coming from a2 to a4 and my ...
A: I believe you're asking if the White a4 pawn can be captured en passant by a Black pawn on b3. The ...
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| Where I Stand | 6/30/2008 | Len Molden |
Q: im Rijen im 16 ive been playing chess for about 11 years now, when i was ten i beat one of the ten ...
A: Before I can answer your question, I need some more information from you please: 1) What country do ...
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