Once you have learned the basics of chess, how to move your pieces and engage your opponent to move theirs, it is time to learn those rules that could set your opening game straight. A good opening ensures better protection of the King, control over an area of the board, like the center, greater mobility for pieces, and better opportunities to capture opposing pawns and pieces. To be adept at this there are a few principles that one must follow as beginners. Let’s take a look at the following:
You may think the answer is either a yes, or a no. Although the answer could not be, or rather is not that simple. The country’s relation to education started quite early. History suggests ancient India had traces of education being widely spread across various sections of the society. Scholarly scriptures and manuscripts that are translated from oral recitation by saints and sages had been found in different parts of the country, known as the remains of the cultural impression.
Consider playing chess an art. Have you ever come across anyone saying, they have learnt everything in the process of studying art or literature? It is impossible. The same is with chess. You can master its skills, but you can’t get over learning chess. You learn something new everyday. Beginners have a tendency to constantly learn new things and we agree, any new activity that you pursue can make you curious at the beginning. Which is absolutely fine but you need a mentor to guide you through. You just need to understand how it's all happening.
Dorris Lessing, the British-Zimbabwean novelist and the Nobel Prize Awardee of 2007 said: ”Things are not quite so simple as black and white.” If that is so why do we just ponder upon the substance of just two colours, Black and White? These weigh too heavy if classified differently, yet the fundamentals of all from a silent comedy movie of the 1900’s to a poetic representation of the darkness that prevails on a full moon night. One such expression has also been associated with the black and white of a chessboard. Well, we found out the representation of the chessboard painted or referred to as black and white has nothing to do with its primitive discovery.
They agree to it or not, initially, every grandmaster started with learning and memorizing opening moves. Once you get acquainted with the opening moves, get to the next exercise. Learning these moves doesn’t mean you do not have the potential to learn this game. Learning these moves gives a better chance to proceed and eventually win a game. It also helps you understand the structure of the game and understand your position. Your idols, the grand masters have now been practising these opening moves since years so they don’t need to visually see to move ahead. They just virtually picture it in their brain and focus on ideas of the opening move. If you wish to trick your opponent just like your grandmasters do, try and learn all the basic and important opening moves.
A very common question that might have come across the mind of every rookie is why is the ‘queen’ most powerful piece on the chessboard? To answer this question, we have to go back in time. Historians believe the queen rose to power in the 15th century. Before that, the queen, who was previously known as the ‘fers’ or the ‘advisor’ was the weakest piece on the board. The advisor could only move one square diagonally. Why it became powerful, is because the game of chess that was once limited to a part of the world spread across the European continent during the 15th century. Due to the presence of many influential female monarchs in the continent, the game went through some crucial changes. These changes made the Queen, all-powerful and important.
Not just kids, firstly, we all are culprits here. We all are addicted to the screen as much as any kid. Kids generally mimic the behaviour of their parents or whomever they spend their time with. They are quick learners and according to Dr Howard Klein, the director of behavioural pediatrics at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore "A 1-year-old understands that the actions he's copying have a significance,"
So, if at the age of 6-7 he/she is inclined to play video games more than usual, it is a behavioural tendency he/she picked up while growing up. How can you stop them from engaging into video games? The answer is you can’t. You can limit their access but can’t stop them from playing video games completely.
These kids are young and they are the best at what they do. Being a chess master is a dream for every kid who adores chess. But these kids have made a place in the world named as the Youngest Grandmasters. You know your game well, but do you know them? Let us take some inspiration from these little geniuses.
Can our brains be re-wired? Could we reboot the matrix of our mind and upgrade it to perform better? Psychiatric researches intended to study the neuroplasticity of the brain - "the ability to change its structure and function in response to experience," (Sharon Begley, TIME, 2007) - reveal that consistent mental practices help in reorganizing our brain patterns. And that is good news! What if our emotional responses could be controlled, behavioural patterns altered, and the entire thought process re-worked to make us better, smarter and productive individuals? Can our kids get less wimpy, grumpy, cranky and lazy with a few brain-tricks? Provokingly enticing!
What we generally like to do is systemise everything in our life. Categorize, classify and sort everything around us and make life easy. But, not everything must be classified or can be sorted. Some are unique in their own way. Just like chess. Is it a game, a sport, an art or science? We don’t know, but we know it’s popular and educational. It is played across borders, irrespective of age, gender or community. It is an activity that unities people.
You might have come across many unforgettable moments in your lifetime. These moments are stored in your memory for a long period of time, having various symbolic significance. You associate your numerous emotions with such moments and thus recollect memories from the past.
Chess as a game has come a long way since it’s birth. Its epic transformation from being a strategic gameplan framework to a prestigious sport is noteworthy. Today let us find out the monumental events that occurred in the history of chess.
Learning new activities is fun for everyone. However, it has been speculated that children are better at learning chess than adults. Why is it so? Though it has not been proved, it is assumed that children take up new activities not as a task but a medium to celebrate, smile and laugh. They later get engaged in those activities that help them express better. At first, even chess is a way of expression for kids which later turns into an interest, plus they don’t have external pressure to perform, so whatever time they invest on it, they grasp the tricks and techniques well. So, who are these little geniuses in your state, Karnataka? Let’s find out.
The distinction between a Superhero and an Antihero is simple. It’s the principles or vision they embrace. A hero would be portrayed as a person who serves the humankind and a villain is one who wishes to destroy it. But is that simple? There are different kinds of humans in this planet, all having a distinctive personality, a likely or even unlikely perspective towards things. Is protecting their kind from the enemies an evil thing to do? Then what makes Magneto a villain?
Who’s the World’s Greatest Detective? It’s Sherlock Holmes! We decided to deduce the smart, attractive and observant Holmes as a creative minded, high-functioning sociopath. However, what makes Sherlock Holmes the greatest detective is his deadliest nemesis, Professor James Moriarty. He is the best suited super villain that Homes could come across. He is evil, witty and known to be the ‘Napoleon of Crime’.
What makes Moriarty best suited for Chess, is his ability to plan, plot and strategize. Chess is a game that needs patience, a cool mind and a designated power holder to take over the gameplay through sheer mind games.
What do we know about our super villains? One thing for sure is, they make our heroes stand out. But, is that it? Do they just glorify our heroes and prove the dominance of good over evil? It is time we hail our supervillains too. Even if we do, their contribution to the movies are significantly greater and more impactful. If that wouldn’t have been the case, we wouldn’t have considered Heath Ledger as an outstanding performer and thus winning an Oscar.
Recently in an interview, Anish Giri, the former chess prodigy was quoted saying, “Chess is Extremely Psychological”. Everyone knows this, but still what grabbed the attention of chess enthusiasts is, when he mentioned that a player should be in his/her ideal state of mind. He also said that observing the body language of your opponent can put you in a good place in the game. But then what about Online Chess? How do observe your opponents?
The World was in awe on February 10, 1996, when IBM’s Deep Blue beats Garry Kasparov. This was the first record of a computer defeating a human in chess. What followed up with such an event is building stronger technologies that could challenge the intelligence of man. After the event, Garry Kasparov, in an interview said that, “For machines to beat humans, it doesn't have to be perfect it just has to make less mistakes than a human. Humans eventually get less vigilant and make mistakes from tiredness. Machines don’t.”
In a very recent interview he made a statement which stated that he has been convinced by the fact that if humans and AI work together, the future can live up to the expectations of high ‘augmented intelligence’.
The internet is a treasure chest of knowledge, there is always something that was unknown to you. That’s what the internet was used for, to know the unknown. The World Wide Web is a vast universe and everyone would find something suiting their interest, however, kids of a tender age get distracted towards unfamiliar websites that keeps popping up on the screen.
Does playing chess make people smart or smart people are attracted towards chess? We might never find out the right answer to that. However, we already know that chess is the game of kings and emperors. It helped them strategize and plan their warfare. It helps them defend their throne by scrutinizing attacking possibilities of their opponent.
Parenting is a tough job. Both emotionally and intellectually, you get to experience new obstacles every day. There is a lot going on every day and it is so obvious to feel exhausted. You try to juggle between your work life and parenting and even try to nurture your kids in the limited time that you spend with them.
