Thinking with Chess

Mathematics can be defined simply as the science of patterns

At the lowest level is information about external appearance used in identification. This kind of information is necessary to keep track of individual species, but it conveys practically nothing about the functions of species.” Classifying by function, as the chess experts did, is a higher level of information

In contrast, if a player is not in check but has no legal move, the position is called a “stalemate.” A stalemate is a type of draw (tie). A draw is scored as half a point for each player

Capture the checking piece or pawn;

2.Place one of your own chessmen between the checking chessman and your king;

3.Move your king away from the check

In order to castle, neither the king nor the rook involved may have moved before

On its first move, it has the option of moving forward either one or two squares. After each pawn’s initial move, it moves one square at a time

pawn reaching the opposite side of the board may promote to a queen (or rook, or knight, or bishop) even if the original piece is still on the board

The plus sign means check. (The rook is checking the king on a1

The “x” in the middle of the black move indicates a capture

The king may castle once per chess game, as discussed later in this chapter