29
votes
Accepted
How did a pawn appear out of thin air in “P @ e2” after queen capture?
You were playing the chess variant called Crazyhouse. In this variant you can place pieces you captured, as one of your color anywhere on the board, instead of a normal move.
I don't know the software ...
- 1,174
26
votes
Was there ever a time when the goal in chess was to capture the king?
Wikipedia claims that
In early Sanskrit chess (c. 500–700) the king could be captured and this ended the game. The Persians (c. 700–800) introduced the idea of warning that the king was under ...
- 14.8k
25
votes
Why not take the bishop with the knight (Guseinov vs. Bauer)?
There is no hurry. After 8. Bb2 the bishop on b6 is not going anywhere. NxB continues to be available to white until black does something about it like a6. That means that delaying NxB gains a tempo ...
- 87.9k
21
votes
Can a player capture en passant two times in a row?
Yes, given that the opponent helps the capturing side, it is possible to capture en passant two times or more in a row
Here is a famous example from a real game. The score came from chessgames.com
You ...
- 16.6k
15
votes
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Chesscademy Tactic: Is my alternative as good as the right answer?
The problem is that 5. Qxh5 isn't check, so Black has time for some back rank tricks (instead of capturing the rook on f6):
[FEN "r1r4k/1p5R/3b4/4q3/B3P1Q1/1n1P3P/6P1/5R1K b - - 0 1"]
1... Kxh7 2. ...
- 24.5k
14
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What is the correct hand movement to capture a piece?
According to the FIDE Laws of Chess:
4.1 Each move must be played with one hand only.
In other words, the "correct" hand movement is one which uses only one hand. The order in which the opponent's ...
- 87.9k
13
votes
Which piece is least likely to be taken?
I recently looked into that very thing a couple of weeks ago, and found an excellent breakdown on it (just this one, though):
The short answer is that aside from Kings, h2 & h7 are the least ...
13
votes
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Why didn't the Black rook capture the White bishop?
When a "total newbie" achieves such an overwhelming position against a computer, it most probably means that the computer was forced to make a "sub-optimal" move from time to time -...
- 442
12
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Donald Byrne capture with the queen instead of pawn (against 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Game of the Century)?
What would be a more in-depth explanation of why capturing with the queen is a bad idea?
If White retakes with the Queen he loses a piece, and stays in horrible position that is 100% lost. Below is ...
- 11.8k
11
votes
Notable decisive grandmaster-level games where only pawns were captured?
Last week GM Nigel Short tweeted:
Not sure I have won too many games without a single piece or pawn being captured. Short-Derakshani, Beautiful Minds Krulich Cup, rd 10.
I can't find PGN of that ...
- 27.2k
11
votes
How to quickly calculate two pawns facing two pawns
Since this is happenning so early in the game, the best idea is probably not to get involved in deep calculations, but rather to get some knowledge about the pawn structures that could arise from ...
- 15.5k
10
votes
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Why doesn’t the computer like my odd queen trade?
Losing an exchange is itself enough to make the move weak.
You go from being up R+P for N, which is a winning advantage,
to up just one pawn with opposite color Bishops, which
could often be drawn.
...
- 6,374
10
votes
Accepted
What is the correct hand movement to capture a piece?
Short answer: Their movement is cleaner than yours, but not more legal.
Longer: When you shove aside a piece with your capturing piece, it risks affecting the placement of the pieces around it. It ...
- 5,204
9
votes
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Capture towards the center vs. undoubling
In this particular position both ...ab6 and ...cb6 are reasonable.
Generally speaking I would prefer to take toward the center because the doubled pawns are not weak at all when they have neighbours ...
- 14.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Chess variant where king is captured
Other than making stalemate impossible as you already mentioned, it doesn't seem to me like this would make a meaningful difference (or any difference) to the strategy of the game. If you allow your ...
- 2,113
8
votes
Why not take the bishop with the knight (Guseinov vs. Bauer)?
One way of thinking in these situations in the opening is the following: while white gains the bishop pair after taking on b6, it also opens up the a-file for black's rook. Moreover (as Brian Towers ...
- 7,758
7
votes
Longest period with each piece "hanging"
Since a game with all 14 pieces, as kings are excluded, hanging has probably not happened yet, and will not for a long time, I will answer as best as I can. Under these circumstances, I think that the ...
- 16.6k
7
votes
Accepted
With a pawn rush, should I take the knight?
Take the c3 knight. Since white has developed only one piece, he can't punish you. If he takes back with the d pawn, trade queens. Now he can't castle. Then you develop, move your rooks to the ...
- 20k
7
votes
Accepted
Why can I not make an en passant capture?
From Wikipedia (is this what you read?)
When a pawn advances two squares from its starting position and there is an opponent's pawn on an adjacent file next to its destination square, then the ...
- 3,452
7
votes
Accepted
Maximum number of captures in a position
I have some records from a book published in 1969. They might have been surpassed since then, but if that is the case, I was not able to locate that information. I guess, since there is no reply after ...
- 3,731
7
votes
Can the king capture his attacker?
As long as the queen is not protected by another piece, the king can capture it. The king can in fact be a strong attacking piece, particularly in the ending, when it doesn't have to worry as much ...
- 2,936
7
votes
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In the case of en passant, should I move my pawn first or remove my opponent's one?
Both methods are legal. There is, however, one difference between the two options. If the en passant turns out to be illegal, then you must make a move involving the first piece you touched, if it is ...
- 17.3k
7
votes
Piece And Pawn Only Massacre Games
In the pawns only, you don't need to move so many pawns. Getting the major pieces involved early seems to be fastest:
[FEN ""]
1.e4 c5 2.Qh5 Qa5 3.Qxh7 Qxa2 4.Qxg7 Qxb2 5.Rxa7 Rxh2 6.Rxb7 Rxg2 7....
- 17.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Touch move and capture sequence
Here is what the FIDE Laws of Chess have to say:
4.3 Except as provided in Article 4.2, if the player having the move touches on the chessboard,with the intention of moving or capturing:
4.3....
- 87.9k
6
votes
Only being able to move and not capture while in check
Below is for regular chess. I don't know about any chess variant which would have a rule like you describe.
If you are in check you have to deal with it somehow, i.e. after your move you should not ...
- 20.6k
6
votes
Was there ever a time when the goal in chess was to capture the king?
I think you may be right, but I can't find anything to support it.
However, if the goal was originally to actually capture the opponent's king, this raises another interesting question:
What happens ...
- 335
6
votes
Accepted
How can I improve my evaluation of exchange positions?
A very good and old book is Think Like a Grandmaster by the Grandmaster Alexander Kotov. He was first to put forth the idea of candidate moves. Kotov recommended looking for several moves that seemed ...
- 3,505
6
votes
Accepted
What is the longest possible series of consecutive captures?
Here's an example of 30 successive captures (White's 3rd to Black's 17th). It is the solution (from White's 3rd onwards) of a massacre proof-game found by Gerd Wilts & Norbert Geissler.
[Title "...
- 6,177
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votes
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When is it a good idea to capture the fianchettoed bishop?
[FEN ""]
1. d4 c5 2. d5 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Nf6 6. Bf4 O-O 7. Qd2 Re8 8. Be2 e6 9. Nf3 exd5 10. exd5 a6 11. O-O Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Qc7 14. a4 Nbd7 15. Rfe1 Bf8 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Rxe4 ...
- 5,673
6
votes
Accepted
Why taking the bishop with queen is better here?
Your queen then attacks the undefended white d-pawn.
Also, white is threatening Ne4 (attacking the black squared bishop), and after e.g. Bg7, taking on c5. If black took with the bishop, this would ...
- 1,145
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