First Steps In Learning Chess
How to begin learning chess
Whether you are learning how to play chess or how to pilot a 747, you always start with the basics. In the case of chess the basics are how to move the pieces correctly.
When learning chess it is impossible to learn everything at once so we break the learning into sections. At ChessWired, the first lesson is on pawns and all the rules that control their movement.
Pawns are the only piece that cannot move backward and the only piece to earn promotion when reaching the end of the board, making them quite unique.
Pawns are arguably the game’s most complicated piece and require a bit of practice
To practice pawns and to become more confident in their movements, try playing the “Pawn Game”. This is a fun game you can play while you are learning chess even without knowing the other pieces.
You won’t notice at the time, but this game helps you learn deeper chess strategies in addition to practicing pawn moves. After you have learned the basics of how to move pawns correctly, set them up on the board alone. Now find a friend and play, the goal being to reach the end of the board with your pawn first. This will get the players acquainted with pawn movements, and they can practice attack, defense and capturing.
Practicing pawns apart from the other pieces allows for a deeper understanding of them
Over time the game will teach you to recognize the different types of pawns and their strengths and weaknesses. You won’t know their names, but you will experience isolated pawns, doubled pawns, passed pawns and backward pawns. You will lose by their weaknesses and win by their strengths, gaining vital experience with the pawn itself. You will learn which pawns have value and which are to be avoided, and the various ways they come about. You will experience forcing weaknesses upon your opponent, an idea vital to chess even at the highest levels.
In doing these things you are also gaining your first insights into what is called positional chess. Positional chess is an understanding of the position as a whole, and it is most often dictated by the pawn structure of both sides. By knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents pawns it is easier make a plan for your moves. In chess there is a saying, “It is better to have a bad plan than no plan at all”. The Pawn Game will give the beginner their first taste of the planning element in chess as well as help them learn the basics of the game’s most complicated piece.
