CHESMAYNE

Eternaly “Carolina Moon” Acker Bilk

Check simple, + or, +CH

Checkmate simple, ++ or, ++CM

Quiz no.1 Quiz no.2 Quiz no.3 Quiz no.4 Quiz no.5 Quiz no.6

French:

Discovered check - échec à la décourverte

Double check - échec double

Perpetual check - échec perpetuel

To give check - faire échec

To give checkmate - faire mat

Check and Checkmate. +CH and ++CM: chess is a war game and the whole point of the exercise is to capture or kill the KI. However, regicide is not permitted in the game of KIs. It is a fundamental law of chess that the KI can never be captured (* in Chesmayne the ‘asterisk’ symbol is used to indicate capture), whenever a direct attack is made upon him by your opponent. The KI must be warned of this danger, immediately! ‘Shah’ is Persian for ‘ruler’ or ‘KI’, and ‘mat’ is Persian for ‘helpless’ or ‘defeated’. Over the centuries Shah-mat has become checkmate. Up to the beginning of the 20^th century it was mandatory to announce check. Up to the 19^th century it was mandatory to announce +CH to the QU or ‘gardez’ when the QU was attacked. In the past, if the KI and another piece were simultaneously attacked, it was the norm to announce this fact by saying check to both pieces. At one time an unannounced check could be ignored!

The KI is in +CH from the BS. Solution: KT-A04*B02-BS.

When the KI is directly attacked. The game is lost unless the KI can be moved out of check, or another piece can be placed between the KI and the attacking piece, or the attacking piece can be captured. The act of attacking one’s opponent’s KI. When +CH takes place, a player usually will call out “check” to h/er opponent so that s/he is aware of the threat. See the check [link] section of the tutorial. An attack on the KI. In games between inexperienced players it is usual to announce “+CH” to your opponent when attacking h/er KI. If you play in adult tournaments you will find that your opponents will probably not do this, expecting you to see for yourself if you are in check. The act of attacking the opponent’s KI. When check takes place, a player usually calls out “check” so the opponent is aware of the threat. The opponent must get out of check on the next move, either by moving the KI, capturing the attacking piece, or moving another piece between the KI and the attacking piece.

KI is in +CH from the BS on B02. Solution: Interpose ie, RO-D08/D04.

KI is in +CH from the BS. Solution: KI-E05/F04.

There are three ways to get out of check…

01 Move your KI.

02 Interpose with another MP/mp.

03 Capture the checking MP/mp.

If none of the above three escapes from check are available, your KI is ++CM. An attacking move on the KI-GE-RE etc. The elementary and commonest form of attack on the enemy KI is the simple threat arising from a check. The :fk (fork) involving a +CH, for example, is nothing but a double attack on the KI and another MP/mp. The possibility of +CH must be considered above all during the calculation of a series of forcing moves. In addition to the usual checks, which can have a greater or lesser effect, there are other special types of +CH, namely…

01 Check (simple): +CH

02 Discovered Check: +DC

03 Double Check: +DO

04 Perpetual Check: +PC

05 Pendlum Check: +PE

See notation symbols. Symbol: +CH. The KI is attacked. A move that attacks the enemy KI. +CH is a move threatening to capture the KI. Since losing him means the end of the game, the KI must be saved immediately. Players are also not allowed to make a move that would open their KI to +CH. By placing your KI on the same diagonal as a KT with one intervening cell between them you cannot be placed in +CH again under three moves!

01 French: Echec. 02 German: Schach! 03 Italian: Scacco. 04 Spanish: Jaque.

Is the position below ++CM? Certainly not! B-KT can capture A-QU1. Always look at the position carefully before you play a move you think is checkmate. If your adversary says “Checkmate”, look carefully to see if you can find a way out of your dilemma.

Check

See main text (Major Pieces). An attack on the KI-GE-RE etc. A player cannot castle when in +CH. ++ or ++CM: the game ends when the KI-GE-RE etc cannot get out of +CH. The enemy KI cannot be captured. He can only be ‘attacked’ (he can be threatened by capture on the next move). This occurs when an enemy MP or mp threatens the cell in which the KI resides. When the KI is attacked by an enemy MP or mp, then one says that the KI is ‘in check’. The player whose KI is in +CH must parry the +CH with the next move. If the +CH cannot be parried then the KI is ++CM and the player who has checkmated the enemy KI wins the contest. Claiming a +CH which does not in fact exist or a non-existent ++CM is of no consequence. A MP or mp blocking a +CH to the :A-KI can itself give +CH to the :B-KI. +CH can be parried by moving the KI to a cell which is not threatened by an enemy MP or mp, by capturing the MP/mp which is checking the KI, by placing one of your own MPs/mps on one of the cells lying between the KI and the attacking MP. This is not possible if the +CH comes from a KT, VC, CN or, in the case of a +DO.

Checkmate

Checkmate

Checkmate

There is a paradox in chess - the KI cannot actually be captured! A KI can be put in +CH. If he cannot get out of a +CH position then the game is lost. The KI is the most important of the MPs and can only move one cell in any direction. This is a salutary restriction, designed to keep him close to home, where he is less liable to attack than on the open battlefield. This MP is said to be ‘attacked’ when your opponent has one or more MPs/mps so placed that on their next move they could capture him. He is said to be ‘defended’ or ‘protected’ if a MP/mp of his own army can recapture the attacker. An undefended MP/mp who is attacked is said to be ‘en prise’, literally translated from the French ‘in grasp’. A player is not compelled to defend against an attack except when it is the KI who is threatened. In such a case, the attacker should draw attention to the attack by calling +CH. In reply, only moves which get the KI out of +CH are admissible. The commonest form of attack on the enemy KI is the simple threat arising from a +CH. The :fk (fork) involving a +CH, for example, is nothing but a double attack on the KI and another MP/mp. The possibility of +CH must be considered above all during the calculation of a series of forcing moves.

Double check, +DO

The +CH is a means of pursuing the KI but it is also a weapon that can be used to capture new enemy MPs/mps. This tactic can create havoc in the enemy camp and often leads to the loss of high caliber MPs. Removal of a blocked MP/mp to a different cell can put the KI in +CH. Usually the KI has to move, or another MP/mp must be interposed between the opposing combatant that is checking the KI. Whatever happens, usually the MP that caused the +DO (double) goes on to capture material. The objective is to use the +CH to snatch new material from your opponent. An unsupported MP/mp in enemy territory can be captured using such combinations. Even QU1 or other MP can be in danger when unsupported.

+CH can also be used to undermine the support of one MP for another. Sometimes the power of +CH can force a mp through to the promotion cell. The +DO (double) tactic occurs when two MPs +CH the opposing KI simultaneously. Because both MPs cannot be captured the KI has to move elsewhere on the board. +DO (double) occurs when the KI is checked by two different MPs. +DO (double) is nothing other than a +DC (discovered) where the discovering MP itself gives +CH at the same time. It is obviously more effective than other +CHs. You cannot defend yourself against it by either interposing a MP/mp or capturing one of the checking MPs with a MP other than the KI. The KI in +CH is obliged to withdraw from the cell on which he stands. Also, +DO (double) is given almost without exception by MPs that have different ways of moving. This rule knows only two exceptions, which arise out of the regulations covering taking ‘en passant’ and PA promotion. +DO (double) is frequently put to use for the purpose of bringing about a direct ++CM.

Discovered check, +DC

The +DC (discovered) is a superb form of the +CH. This type of +CH, which in most cases is very effective, occurs when a MP opens the line of the checking MP by moving away. Their positioning before executing the +DC (discovered) is sometimes termed a ‘battery’ (:by) and is particularly common in the field of problem chess. It should be noted here the difference between a ‘battery’ (:by) and a :pn (pin). In what way lies the extraordinary effectiveness of +DC? The discovering MP can capture enemy MPs/mps that are defended several times over because your opponent must respect the +CH. Occasionally, instead of the direct capture of an enemy MP/mp, it is even more effective for the discovering MP to threaten a MP of higher value. Decoying the KI is a very common method of enforcing a +DC. +DC (discovered) by an advanced-passed-PA (:ap-PA) is a motif that occurs very often.

+PC - Perpetual Check

Sometimes the +DC can be used even more effectively for the purpose of a direct ++CM attack. An interesting example which occurs frequently in practical play, is a series of +DCs (discovered), the so-called ‘pendulum’ (+PE). In this the +DCs are repeated by discoveries by one and the same MP, which either capture enemy MPs/mps with gain of tempo or creates strong threats by changing position. There is also the discovered-attack that is combined with a +CH. In this, one MP opens the line of attack of another MP ie, for the purpose of threatening an unprotected MP/mp or a MP of higher value and gives +CH at the same time. Your opponent is compelled to cover the +CH and therefore cannot thwart the attack by the other MP.

Delivering ++CM

The ultimate object of the game is to deliver checkmate to the opposing KI and for this it is usually necessary to have a superiority of forces. The method of checkmate is always based on the principle of limiting the number of possible moves for the opposing KI. QU1 is a very powerful MP and it is easy to administer checkmate with her aid, but since QU1 is only one unit and therefore covers only one field of action, QU1 must be helped in her task by one or more of the other MPs including the KI. This leads us to a fundamental rule in the endgame - always use your KI as much as possible. The way to checkmate depends on confining the opposing KI to as few cells as possible. This can be done by limiting the opposing KI to the top four ranks, then to three ranks - two - one, and then ++CM. You use QU1 or other MP to force the KI to rank-8.

Thirty eight +CHs occurred in a row between Westerinen and Tal (1969).

Check and Mate, the 1947 ballet by Sadlers Wells
Click on the pictures for a larger version

The ‘keywords’ below may be found in this dictionary

CHECK Symbols

+ = plus sign - the abbreviation for ‘check’ 31:01

+CH = Check (simple) 31:02

+DC = Discovered check 31:03

+DO = Double check - Royal Battery Check 31:04

+DD = Double Discovered Check 31:05

+FC = Family Check 31:06

+PC = Pendulum Check 31:07

+PE = Perpetual Check 31:08

+CC = Cross Check 31:09

+DRCC = Direct Return Capture Check 31:10

+SCH = Spite Check 31:11

BATTERY 31:12

+RO = CHECK-ROOK. 31:13

DAGGER 31:14

DIRECT RETURN CAPTURE CHECK (Symbol, +DRCC) 31:15

FACER +FA 19:45

HOMONYM 31:46

SPITE +CH (Symbol: +SCH) 31:47

USELESS CHECK 31:48

PARRY 31:49

CHECKMATE Symbols

++ = double plus sign - the abbreviation for ‘checkmate’ 32:01

++CM = Checkmate (simple) 32:02

++CMA = Announced Checkmate 32:03

++ACM = Arabian Checkmate 32:04

++DCM = Dilaram’s Checkmate 32:05

++DCMP = Direct Checkmate Problem 32:06

++DC = Discovered Checkmate 32:07

++DO = Double Checkmate 32:08

++DD = Double Discovered Checkmate 32:09

++SM = Smothered Checkmate 32:10

++ST = Stalemate 32:11

++DR = Draw (simple) 32:12

++PDR = Pendulum Draw 32:13

++TR = Threefold Repetition of position (++DR) 32:14

++DRR = Draw by Repetition of moves - (three times) 32:15

++DR50 = Draw after 50 move rule (see ‘draw’ in dictionary) 32:16

++AD = Agreed draw 32:17

++CR = Cognovit Resignation 32:18

++GMD = Grandmaster Draw 32:19

++RS = Resigned 32:20

++EPU = E Pluribus Unum (++CM by a mp) 32:21

++CMK = Checkmate by a knight (KT, KM, SB etc) 32:22

++BYL = By-Your-Leave (a request to ++RS a game) 32:23

++BR = Back Rank Checkmate 32:24

++BK = Bare King Checkmate 32:25

++CME = Epaulet Checkmate (by QU1, RO1 or RO2) 32:26

++BC = Boden’s Checkmate (++CM by two BSs at the boards edge 32:27

++FCM = Fools ++CM. Shortest possible game on any

level 32:28

++SCM = Scholar’s Checkmate 32:29

++MV = Medinese Victory (see ++BK) 32:30

++MC = Mirror Checkmate 32:31

++MS = Mirror Stalemate 32:32

++SE = Selfmate (Suimate) 32:33

++LT = Loses-on-time 32:34

++ICM = Ideal Checkmate 32:35

++PM = Pseudo Checkmate. Your opponent can only

delay ++CM by a series of blocking moves 32:36

++FM = Forced Checkmate: your opponent has already played a series of moves which have forced the winning move 32:37

++WN = Win32:38

++LS = Loss 32:39

++OD = Offered Draw 32:40

++ANCM = Anastasia’s Checkmate 32:41

++GBK = Great Bare KI 32:42

ABORT 32:43

AMOV 32:44

ANASTASIA’S CHECKMATE (symbol, ++ACM) 32:45

ARABIAN ++CM (Symbol, ++ACM) 32:46

AUDLEY 32:47

:bt 32:48

BY-YOUR-LEAVE (++BYL) 32:49

CEDE (++RS) 32:50

CLEAN SCORE 32