Fool's Mate
Fool's mate, also known as the "two-move checkmate", is the quickest possible checkmate in the game of chess.
The checkmate occurs extremely rarely in actual games, since it requires the player with the White pieces to be a willing accomplice in his own downfall.
There are several possible variations on the Fool's Mate, all of which result in White being checkmated after just 2 moves, but the most common form is:
1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4#
Ruy Lopez
The Ruy Lopez is a chess opening beginning with the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. While this opening was was first noted in the Gottingen Manuscript around 1490, it is named after Ruy López de Segura, a 16th century Spanish priest who published a book on chess in 1561. His book, Libro del Ajedrez, included analysis of the opening which would later bear his name.
The Ruy Lopez is regarded as one of white's best attempts to achieve an advantage in double king-pawn openings and is popular with both beginners and experienced players. It is commonly seen in games played at the grandmaster level.
The key is to put pressure on the e5 pawn quickly. However, after 3...a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 white gets into trouble with 5...Qd4!
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 The most common response to 3. Bb5. 4. Bxc6 This is the exchange variation. 4... dxc6 Black must capture with the d-pawn to hold onto the e pawn. 5. Nxe5? This is a mistake... 5... Qd4 And white must save the knight but will lose the e pawn with an awkward check.
Scandinavian Defense
Scandinavian Defense (also known as the Center Counter) consists of the moves 1.e4 d5. Although played by quite a few grandmasters over the years, the Scandinavian is rarely played at the highest levels of chess.
After Viswanathan Anand employed it against Garry Kasparov to gain favorable position out the opening in the World Chess Championship match in 1995, it has become more and more popular at all levels of chess.
While the Scandinavian is not played much by grandmasters, it is an opening worth trying out for beginners and club level players.
1. e4 Standard play by white 1... d5 Offers white a pawn 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 White gains tempo by threatening the queen. 3... Qa5 This is a good square for the queen, out of harm's way but still in a somewhat attacking position. 4. d4 Opens up for white's pieces to develop. 4... Nf6 Black makes a claim to center squares.
Mathematics and chess
The number of distinct chess positions after White’s first move is 20 (16 pawn moves and 4 knight moves). There are 400 distinct chess positions after two moves (first move for White, followed by first move for Black). There are 5,362 distinct chess positions or 8,902 total positions after three moves (White’s second move).
There are 71,852 distinct chess positions or 197,742 total positions after four moves (two moves for White and two moves for Black). There are 809,896 distinct positions or 4, 897,256 total positions after 5 moves.
There are 9,132,484 distinct positions or 120,921,506 total positions after 6 moves (three moves for White and three moves for Black). The total number of chess positions after 7 moves is 3,284,294,545. The total number of chess positions is about 2x10 to the 46 power.
En passant
An En passant (from French: "in [the pawn's] passing") is a maneuver in chess when a player moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and an opposing pawn could have captured it if it had only moved one square forward. The En passant rule was introduced in 1490.
In this situation, the opposing pawn may, on the immediately subsequent move, capture the pawn as if it had only moved one square forward; the resulting position would then be the same as if the pawn had only moved one square forward and the opposing pawn had captured normally.
En passant must be done on the very next turn, or the right to do so is lost. This move can be written as "e.p."
The English Opening
The English Opening involves the first move c4, (called The English Opening because a group of English players in around the 1890's often played it, including Howard Staunton), it is played as one of the main opening choices for white- an alternative to d4(Queen's Pawn Opening) or e4(King's Pawn Opening).
Most positions in this opening are positional in nature rather than the more tactical nature of other openings because white is preparing an attack on the flank, and often fianchettos his bishop with moves such as g3 and bg2 in order to attack a black central pawn mass.
An early d5 is the most critical reply by Black otherwise he can lose control of the d5 square and thus be on the defensive.
The main lines are the Symmetrical English- 1 c4 c5, 2 Nf3 Nc6, 3 Nc3 Nf6, 4 g3 g6 etc. or the English Four Knights- 1 c4 e5, 2 Nc3 Nf6, 3 Nf3 Nc6, 4 g3 when like i said d5 is blacks best reply.
Most positions in this opening are positional in nature rather than the more tactical nature of other openings because white is preparing an attack on the flank, and often fianchettos his bishop with moves such as g3 and bg2 in order to attack a black central pawn mass.