Western chess

Chess (Western chess) is a board game that is played between two players with a chess board. The chessboard is square-shaped and contains 64 squares arranged on an 8 by 8 grid. Each player during a chess match starts with sixteen different pieces. Each player has one king and queen, two rooks, knights, and bishops, and eight pawns. Every unique piece on a chess board has unique ways of traveling up and down the chessboard. Both player in a game of chess has the goal of using the pieces to checkmate the opponent’s king. This means that the king is under attack, and there is no possible move that will deem the king safe from the attack. If a king is in check, it means it is being attacked, but there is a move that will keep it safe, either by moving the king or another piece to block the attack.

A chess tactic, which should not be confused with a chess strategy, is a short sequence of moves that is used to limit an opponent’s options and may result in the player using the chess tactic to gain an advantage. A chess strategy, on the other hand is a more long-term in nature, taking longer for an advantage in a game of chess to be realized. A chess strategy can be thought of as a series of chess tactics used to gain an advantage over an opponent. Chess tactics are generally two moves in structure, the first move is usually done to establish a threat on two fronts, while the follow up move finishes the tactic, giving the player an advantage. The following are common chess tactics that are used in competition in one form of another:

Forks:
This is a tactic that involves one piece to attack two or more of the opponents pieces at the same time. The goal of this chess tactic is to capture the piece without the player losing one of his or her pieces. This is useful because the opponent can only counter one of the threats being presented.

Skewer:
A skewer is a type of chess tactic also known as a thrust and described as a “reverse pin”. It is an attack that is placed on two pieces within a line. The more valuable piece in this tactic is usually in front of the less-valuable or equal piece. This hopefully forces an opponent to move the more valuable piece to avoid capture, which would then expose the lesser piece for easy capture.

Battery:
A chess tactic that involves a formation where two or more pieces are placed upon the same rank, file or diagonal. It is used to plan the capture of pieces that are protecting an opponent’s king. It can also be used to gain exchanges to earn an advantage. Other definitions of battery chess tactics describe it as two pieces in line with the enemy king on a rank, file or diagonal.