36
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to compose a checkmate with king and any three minor pieces against bare king in the center of the board?
It is indeed impossible to construct a mating net with king + 3 minor pieces against a lone king in the center of the board.
A mating net would require that all 9 squares in the 3x3 block which ...
- 2,491
34
votes
Accepted
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
German
Ein Springer am Rand bringt Kummer und Schand.
= (lit.): A knight on the rim brings sorrow and shame.
- 446
17
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
Russian
Конь на краю — позор на голову твою.
Literally, "a knight on the rim is a shame onto your head".
Transliterated: "kon' na krayu — pozor na golovu tvoyu".
The Russian ...
- 271
16
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
In French, I have heard "Cavalier au bord, cavalier mort" ("a knight on the rim is a dead knight").
- 261
15
votes
Accepted
Why is en passant hardly heard of?
It is taught together with the rest of the rules of the game. You playing for years without knowing about it has nothing to do with that, either you learn the rules or you don't, you won't self-...
- 3,386
15
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
The Spanish version is not the most elegant one, but there it goes:
"Con los caballos por los rincones
vas a ganar por los cojones"
Perfect consonant rhyme, which can be (liberally) ...
- 2,114
13
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
Italian
Cavallo sul bordo,
Spettacolo balordo
Literally, “a knight on the rim is an awkward spectacle”
- 231
12
votes
Accepted
Where to start with a child learning chess?
Does it make most sense to just start playing with setting up all the
pieces, or are there smaller "games" that one can/should start with?
It doesn't really matter the age of the person learning to ...
- 94.5k
10
votes
Accepted
Best method of remote tutoring?
Have you tried lichess studies ?
They can be used exactly like that. Let me give you an overview of how it works.
First you need to create a study, which you can do by heading to https://lichess.org/...
- 703
10
votes
Where to start with a child learning chess?
I tend to disagree with the other answers that suggest starting with just a few pieces.
Kids absorb so much, so quickly. When my daughter was 4, she used to just watch me so she got some familiarity ...
- 32.4k
10
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
Dutch
It's similar to the German version (not a surprise given the familiarity between both languages) but the Dutch version, which made Wikipedia, is:
Een paard aan de rand is een schand
which ...
- 24.8k
10
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
In Swedish, there is En springare på randen är en springare på stranden. — A knight on the edge is a knight on the beach. It seems real but not very common: searching, I find one usage in print, in ...
9
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
Norwegian
"En springer på randen er en springer i sanden."
A Knight on the edge is a Knight in the sand.
One source claims this is a (bad) translation of the Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's German ...
- 451
8
votes
Accepted
How to handle resignations from unlost positions when learning?
1) Unwarranted resignations happen on occasion even in tournament play, sometimes even in a won position. If your student does this in an instructional game, it's a teachable moment. In the present ...
- 6,524
7
votes
How can I make my child interested in playing chess?
I have grown up loving chess from 4 years old playing a video-game(for Windows DOS), which a lot of old school animations.
The game is called "Battle Chess".
You can play here: https://classicreload....
7
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
Danish
"En springer på randen er en springer på spanden"
This literally translates to "A knight on the rim is a knight on the bucket". Here, "on the bucket" is an idiom ...
- 171
6
votes
What is the easiest possible way to start teaching children how to play chess?
Start by playing with only pawns on the board. First person to the opposite side of the board wins the game. This was Magnus Carlsen's training method used by his father when he started to learn chess....
- 161
6
votes
Giuoco Piano to Kids
I'd explain nothing about openings to a 6 year old, except maybe something about using all your pieces (but it'll fall to deaf ears, most likely).
I assisted at a local school tournament recently, ...
- 27.8k
6
votes
Accepted
What sort of job opportunities fits well with a good chess player?
If you're question is: What job can I get if I put "strong chess player" on my CV, the answer is probably nothing. Although a difficult game to master, the skills you acquire with chess has very ...
- 5,757
6
votes
Play pawn-only chess vs a friend
The 'From Position' variant seems to require that both sides have a king. So, keep the kings on the board. In particular, create a new game with a friend, select Variant: From Position, and paste '...
- 197
6
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
A rhyming version in Chinese is:
马跳边，易被歼
(ma tiao bian, yi bei jian)
Which roughly translates as "A horse that jumps to the edge is easily destroyed", where horse is the Chinese name for the ...
- 161
5
votes
A quiet mate in two
[Corrected: most of the alternative solutions I suggested fail to g4+]
There must be some mistake in the diagram, because R(either)xR+
is a non-quiet move that forces mate in 2. Quiet moves don't ...
- 6,524
5
votes
Chess movie as educational incentive
Searching for Bobby Fisher maybe.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8khmNiamBxo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108065/
- 151
5
votes
Why is en passant hardly heard of?
Quite frankly it's because most people don't care enough about chess to grasp the motivation behind the rule, so, because it comes into play so rarely, they forget the rule even exists. I would bet ...
- 535
5
votes
Is there an equivalent to “a knight on the rim is dim” in other languages?
Japanese?
ナイトの価値は縁の内。(Naito no kachi wa fuchi no uchi.)
The knight's worth is (as a topic, somehow related to) the inside of the border.
- 151
4
votes
Accepted
What checkmates are appropriate for 7 year old kids?
The approach I use (also with older kids) is that the process of mating involves putting the king in jail and making the walls smaller and smaller ...
For something like smothered mate it is the ...
- 94.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Games that illustrate attacking themes
When it comes to maneuvering pieces to an enemy's king in a position, the following famous game with a king walk comes to my mind. The position isn't quite closed, but it does illustrate an attacking ...
- 17.1k
4
votes
What level of player is Kasparov's MasterClass suited for?
I have seen the materials in the program, and they are for players well below your level of play. I am not sure that they are even for a 1000 player since they are very basic. While he uses positions, ...
- 32.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Free offline demonstration software with arrows, sidelines and engine
Did you already give Scid a really good look?
Drawing Arrows
Arrows can be drawn in two ways. In the Main Board, hold Control and click on the start square and then end square. Or in the Comment ...
- 686
4
votes
Free offline demonstration software with arrows, sidelines and engine
I have asked a similar question before: Can I host lichess server to my local machine to use the study offline?
Because I was obsessed with lichess-study, I had chosen to use it offline. If you are on ...
- 1,114
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