Chess: history, terminology. Life is a game: zugzwang is an additional motivation, not an end

Checkers and chess are some of the most popular modern games. It's hard to find a modern person who never once moved around the black and white board of a figurine, thinking through ingenious maneuvers. But few people, except professional players, are familiar with chess terminology. However, these concepts are often used to describe the real events of social life. "Zugzwang" is one of these terms.

A bit of history

Checkers and chess are quite ancient games. Scientists around the world could not determine when they appeared. It is believed that the drafts were played in ancient Babylon. Chess appeared a little later - about fifteen hundred years ago, in India. Today both games are considered intellectual and occupy a significant place in the leisure of people who want to learn to think logically. And thanks to the development of computers and smartphones and the ubiquitous spread of high-speed Internet, you can now compete with the virtual enemy everywhere, and not wait for friends to gather at the table. At the same time, you can choose a player according to your level, and not be afraid that zugzwang is the only possible option for ending a gambling match.

The most important

The study of any new subject always begins with a conceptual apparatus. In order to be able to come up with an interesting maneuver yourself, you must first familiarize yourself with the descriptions of thousands of already played combinations. And this can not be done without knowledge of terms. Training in any section begins with a story about how the figures are called. The coach explains to the newcomers that the queen, the tour, the officer and the horse are wrong designations. The listed figures are called: queen, rook, elephant and horse. The first two are classified as "heavy", the second - "light." In total, each player has eight pawns, two elephants, a horse and rooks, one queen and a king. All figures walk in different ways. Pawns - horizontally and vertically, elephants - diagonally, horses - with the letter "G". Ferzi and kings are more mobile figures, so they combine the styles of others.

Board and designation of moves

The chess field consists of 64 cells: one half - white, the other - black. On both sides are "white" and "black" troops. The conditional line that separates them is called the demarcation line. The beginning of the game, or its debut, is a variety of gambits and defenses. The second and longest phase is the middlegame. It ends with defeat, draw and victory. Zugzwang is only an intermediate result. If the player has exceeded the time allowed to think about the move, then he is considered a loser. In this case, they say that he was in time trouble.

The moves of each player are recorded on a special form. In their description, both abbreviated names of figures (Kp, F, C, L, K) are used, and the notation of contours (Latin letters) and verticals (numbers). Castling is written in zeros.

Chess Terminology

The names of many game situations are used to explain the real events of public life. It is difficult to find a person who does not know what a mate is. Unlike the Shah in such a situation, it is already impossible to save the king, and the outcome of the game becomes a foregone conclusion. Pat - this is actually a forced draw, because none of the players have the opportunity to make a move. Castling in chess is connected with the protection of the king, it can be short and long. Zugzwang is a situation in which any next move by one of the parties will lead to a deterioration of the game situation for it. A fork is a situation where two pieces of the enemy are immediately under attack.

Zugzwang Position

For the first time this term is found in German chess literature dating back to the 19th century. His English counterpart was widely used after its use by world champion Emmanuel Lasker in 1905. But the very concept of zugzwang was known to players long before the advent of the term. In 1604, Alessandro Salvio, one of the first researchers of chess, first described this state of affairs. Although some scholars argue that zugzwang was described as early as the Persian texts on shatranj, which date back to the 9th century of the new era.

Life is a game

Little girls and boys love dolls and soldiers. With the help of them they lose real life situations. With age, we accumulate experience, but the need for imitation of events does not disappear. Checkers, especially chess, are a vivid example. They allow you to distract from real life, and at the same time and practice concentration and memory. Zugzwang in chess teaches that sometimes there is no better way out, so you need to act, not procrastinate, looking for a non-existent move. Sometimes it is useful to let things go by themselves, wait, and then take matters into their own hands. The Shah is not the end, but the motivation to exert more effort. The main thing - do not let mate! Although the opportunity to improve their skills and re-play the game has not been canceled yet, so everything turns only from you!