Chess Education

[Phil C]

Chess is one of the oldest games around even older that football. :eek:

One can improve one's play and understanding with practice and studying. Today there is much access to help with so many outstanding books, computers and the internet along with chess clubs. I will list several steps to help you. It doesn't matter how old or young you are. In fact if you are retired you have a good advantage in having more spare time than others. I recommend that your study be done at least at a regular time 3 times a week whether for 30 min or several hours. Remember these are recommendations only and what works for some doesn't work for others. It is an individual affair.
The first step is:

1. Devote 5 hours to learning Rules of Play and Exercises. Of course this is mainly for beginners but it is important. There are many good beginner books. I also recommend that you read Chess for Dummies. The dummies refer to inexperienced beginners and is not meant to be offensive.
When you study be sure to learn the Algebraic notations and become familier with it on your chess board. Also many older books use the English notation so I would get familier with how to use it also.

Don't get discourage if you play games and make blunders and lose. Learn from your mistakes and work on improving. You will get better. It involves spending what time you can on the game but it is also to be remembered to have much patience in your study and development.

[TexasHSFootball]

need a challenger? :p

[Phil C]

I will not let you know the basic step No. 2 of 6 on how to be successful at chess. You may not be a world champions but with this guide it can help you be a good chess player. It is a great hobby and if you like it why not try to be the best one you can be. Remember this - chess games are lost not won. This is what the great players say. Whoever makes the most mistakes at the wrong time will generally lose.

2. Devote 5 hours to learning elementary endings. There are many books on it and much study on the internet. One needs to get one and study the basic endings. The good thing about studying endings is that you learn how the pieces work together. This can help you in the beginning of the game (called the opening) and the middle of the game.

Usually the first 12 moves are considered the opening and the next 12 to 24 moves of a typical game are the middle game and when most of the pieces are gone you are in the end game.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by TexasHSFootball
need a challenger? :p

I have enough trouble with my computer. :)

[Phil C]

3. Devote 10 hours to learning some openings. This is most important. I would also spend a little time on a book that shows opening chess traps. These are important to avoid. I recommend that at first you pick one opening you like and become an expert on it. This may involve some memorization but it is important. Remember chess is a game more of understanding than memorization thank goodness but in the openings some study is important.
After you master one opening then later you can work on another one to add to your opening. Also much study of openings with black pieces are very important since you need to respond to however white moves. Remember in chess you will probably play 1/2 of your games with white and the other 1/2 with black.

Remember in chess at the start of the game everything is equal. There are no outside influences such as the roll of dice or cards to have an effect on the outcome of the game. White (the one who has the white pieces) has an advantage of moving first but with careful play Black (the one with the black pieces) can also develope and work on getting a counter attack. That was one of Bobby Fischer's secrets. He first equalized with black and worked out a counter attack. He won many games with black.

[Phil C]

4. Devote 20 hours to combinations. There are many good books devoted to this and it is important. I also recommend that in addition you purchase the book Winning Chess by Irvin Chernev and Fred Reinfeld. This great book teaches you the basic tactics and is very important. I recommend that you study and understand it because as a great chess player once remarked chess is 90% tactics and it is also 90% of the fun.
When you study the positions I recommend that you use the board and study it than just diagrams that are shown. I recommend that you study it from white's side and black's side. You not only want to get to where you can do tactics but you want to be able to avoid letting your opponents use them on you. When you do that you are becoming a good chess player. Remember this is just my recommendation but do what is right for you.

Also you can get these books from your local bookstore or have them order for you. You can also get them on ebay and other internet sales. Also interlibrary loans are available but you will only have the book for a few weeks so when you ask for one be sure to be ready to devote time to it so you can get it checked back in on time.

[Phil C]

5. Devote 40 hours to learning positional play. Remember as you study chess I recommend that you do these steps in order. Positional chess mainly is studying how to put the pieces in the proper place. It is very important. Some good books include The Art of Positional Play by the great Samuel Reshevsky and Improve Your Positional Play by Carsten Hansen. There are other great books you may wish to study.

I recommend when you use books that you stick with one book until you are through with it and there may be some that you may be interested in just a few chapters. The main thing is patience and work.

[Phil C]

We now approach the sixed and final step. I will add recommendations but basically after you complete these six steps you are on your own. This last step is important and is one that can be done with the others because it imvolves playing opponents whether computers or others. I recommend on these steps that if you have a friend or relative that is your level that you study and work together. If not solo will still work.

6. Devote 120 hours to learning Play and Analysis. Here you study games and analysize them. These are games of great players and your games. Remember even when you win you study games to see where you could have done better or see where you could have made a mistake but fortunately didn't. Also you study your own games and learn from your mistakes. Remember don't get discouraged. You must be patient and keep working.

[Phil C]

As one advances in chess one can improve in his rankings. An accepted and common classification is shown below.

Class E This is one for the one who is just starting to learn chess. The player advances as he learns to play the game but at the upper level the player still makes bad blunders such as being careless with pieces and leaving them open for capture

Class D The beginner improves and the bad blunders are improved on. But mistakes still happen. But as he gets to the top of this level the chess playing improves.

Class C This is where most chess players reach and stay. Bad blunders don't occur as often and this person is known to be a respectable chess club player.

Class B This player competes for chess club championships. He plays very well and bad blunders don't occur but rarely. This player is an above average chess player.

Class A This player is getting close to being an expert player. Grandmasters refer to this player as being a good player for an amature.

Expert This player is very good. Mistakes are at a minimum. He is good and can play good enough to get a won game against the Class A players. This player shows that he can get a won game. He has to prove that he can win it which he will do consistently as he rises in this catagory.

Master This player is now a master of the game. Mistakes are usually more positional or judgement than bad blunders. The difference between a Master player and expert is that the expert has to get a won game and then show he can win it. The Master only has to get a won game. His opponents already know he can win it. That is why in these games when a position is one the loser "resigns" rather than play it out because they know the end is inevitable. These players can do well against Grandmasters at times. When you buy a chess book it is generally recommend that you buy one whose authur has at least reached this class.

Senior Master These are the best of the Masters. They are outstanding players and can beat Grandmasters. They are probably very close to Grandmaster strength but haven't reached the qualifications.

Grandmasters These are the world's best players. They are at the top. To get this title they have to compete and do well at a certain number of tournaments. They also have to have beated at least three grandmasters in tournament play.

[Phil C]

Chess value of the pieces.

Generally:

Pawns are given the value of one point.

Queens are valued at 9 points.

Rooks are valued at 5 points.

Bishops and Knights are valued at 3 points.

The King is generally not valued at all (or valued at infinity) because if you lose him you lose the game. However in the end game when most of the pieces are removed he can be an effective fighting peice and needs to be used. At that point as a fighting piece he would be valued at 4 points.

[Phil C]

In basic checkmates if you have a King and Queen vs King it is very easy to checkmate. But you must be careful not to stalemate the King and let him get away with a draw.

If you have a King and Rook vs King that is still easy to get a checkmate.

If you have two bishops and king vs king that is still easy to checkmate the king.

If you have bishop and knight vs king you can checkmate but this is not easy and you have to be careful in order to checkmate the king in fifty moves. But with careful play and practice you can learn this one.

If you have two knights and a king vs king you cannot force checkmate. You can get the king down to two choices and if he makes the bad one you can checkmate him but he doesn't have to make the bad one and will always have a place to flee.

[crzyjournalist03]

I think that I just devoted way too many hours trying to understand most of these posts!

[charlesrixey]

very interesting post

i never knew how one became a 'grand master'

thanks!

[Phil C]

Originally posted by charlesrixey
very interesting post

i never knew how one became a 'grand master'

thanks!

Thank you Charles. And be patient crzy - Understanding will come with time.

[Phil C]

One interesting argument in chess is between the knight and the bishop. Both are generally valued at 3 points but the argument is who gets the edge.
It must be remembered that two bishops can checkmate with a king against a lone king but two knights cannot unless the lone king makes an error and walks into it.

For this reaso most master if you were asked to give an edge (say 1/10 of a point) to one of them it would go to the bishop.
In fact during a game between master players they will not trade a bishop for a knight unless there is a very good reason too and it is very rare that if they did that they will trade the second bishop for a knight.

But remember that recommendations are made for chess for most cases but there are always exceptions to them and one has to be alert when it occurs.

The great Bobby Fischer once remarked (on a great chess player who said that bishops are always preferred over knights) "While this may be true nine out of ten times one still has to be alert to the time when it is not."

[Phil C]

Two books that might be good in your position play study aren't well known but they are good. One is Pawn Power in Chess by Hans Smoch and King Power in Chess by Edmar Mednis. These books are invaluable in teaching how these pieces can be used.

[Phil C]

Many celebrities and movie stars were good chess players and loved the game. Some of these are Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone, Myrna Loy, Linda Darnell, Maureen O'Sullivan, John Wayne and others.
John Wayne really loved the game so much that a chess playing scene is included in at least two of his movies. These were McClintock and Chisum.
I don't know if Audie Murphy was a chess player but he did play a game with the local doctor (played by Charles Drake) in the movie No Name on the Bullet in which Murphy plays a hired gunfighter. In this movie white and red pieces are used instead of the usual white and black. Murphy had red and many fans thought it was symbolic because Murphy was a gunfighter that shed blood.

[Phil C]

I like the game of chess. I also like checkers and most other board games including monopoly. In fact I like all sorts of games including cards and dice games. In monopoly dice are very important. I also like dominoes. I like most any type of game.

[Phil C]

I got interested in Chess when I was 10 almost 11. My father had a good friend named Pete who was a better than average player and a fine person. He had learned to play the game good when he was in the army and at night in the army barracks when they didn't have anything to do they would play those games and he got good at it. My first goal was to get where I could win against him. The first games he wiped me out across the board fairly quickly but as time went on I got better. Then I played him a great game and he only beat me at the end because I got caught on the first rank by my queen and he checkmated me with his rook. Still I played him a good game and was feeling confident. The next time I played him I was overconfident and of course not careful and he checkmated me in the first few moves.
Crushed but determined we played a game later on that month. I was very careful. As the game progress I realized that I had the better of it but I knew I had to be careful. I wasn't going to let this one get away. I was most watchful. Finally I checkmated him and won my first game against Pete. We played two more games that night and the next two games I won were even easier but I was watchful. I never lost a game to Pete again but we did continue to play friendly games throughout the years when time permitted.

[Phil C]

One great chess author said "Chess is a game of understanding. Not memorization."
I agree to a large extent. I think some memorization especially openings is needed but not a whole lot. Learning and Understanding are much more important. Also patience and persistance.

[Phil C]

The World's Great Chess players are born not made. They have to do hard work on the game but still they have been gifted in this area than most of us. These are the ones that become grandmasters and battle for the world championships and big tournaments.
Still do not despair. With hard work and study one can become an expert in the game. I had an intelligent friend that was not exceptionally gifted in this game but he worked at it and got to the expert level.

[Phil C]

Ken Smith has some good recommendations on improving your game. I recommend that this be studied after you finish the advise in above postings. The five Artistry books are fantastic. It is too bad the arthor didn't get to finish the Theme Book on Openings but fortunately there are many great books on the openings.



http://hem.passagen.se/shottokhan/lssn.html

[Adidas410s]

Growing up as a child...I longed to learn to play chess. However, my dad said that until we had to be able to beat our Granny in checkers before he would teach us chess. Finally, at Thanksgiving when I was 8, Granny made a mistake and I won! That evening, we stopped by the store and my dad picked me up my first chess set! :)

[Sweetwater Red]

I know how to move the pieces. For some reason my bishops
keep ending up on the same color though.:(

[Phil C]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
I know how to move the pieces. For some reason my bishops
keep ending up on the same color though.:(

:( ;) :D

Also Sweetwater have you ever noticed that whenever the knight moves it always changes to the opposite color after the move. :)

[Sweetwater Red]

Originally posted by Phil C
:( ;) :D

Also Sweetwater have you ever noticed that whenever the knight moves it always changes to the opposite color after the move. :)

Yes. Why I can keep those straight and not the bishops is
beyond me. Unfortunely, no one realizes it immediately. It ends
up ruining the game.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
Growing up as a child...I longed to learn to play chess. However, my dad said that until we had to be able to beat our Granny in checkers before he would teach us chess. Finally, at Thanksgiving when I was 8, Granny made a mistake and I won! That evening, we stopped by the store and my dad picked me up my first chess set! :)

When I was about ten my father brought me my first chess set. He went over to Nevo Laredo to shop and brought me a beautiful hand carved set from Mexico that I still have today even though it has wear and tear on it. He also stopped a local book store in Laredo and brought me my first chess book called Championship Chess and Checkers for all by Larry Evans and Tom Wiswell. I still have that book too.

[Phil C]

Combinations is very important in chess. Combinations is a series of moves in which you strive to get an advantage in material or perhaps positionally. Tactics (such as pins and forks) are used and it is important to know tactics. You should study tactics until you are an expert or near expert. Also another mark of a good player is when you can play the knight well.

An interesting story about combinations occurred at a tournament in Europe between the top grandmasters of chess. Two of the older ones who were former world champions were Dr. Emanual Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca. Capablanca had won a game and the younger players were analyzing it to see where the loser went wrong. They saw a combination and after the loser had made the move they concluded he had the game won. However Capablanca won about 25 movies later and they were trying to see where he went wrong. Lasker walked by and saw the losers move and right away said "That move isn't right. That move loses." Lasker had seen that it was Capablanca that had made the combination to win the game then and not the loser. Later when Lasker and Capablanca were having coffee together Lasker told him "Some of these younger players aren't as good as some people think." Coming from a former world chess champion he was most likely right.

[Phil C]

Ken Smith has great recommendations on study. I think if you study to devote about 30 to 40 minute intervels and take a break for about ten minutes to listen to music or take a short walk. Then get back to your study. The main thing is for you to do it at your own pace and devote however much time you can spare. Persistence is the key rather than much time.

[Phil C]

The study of tactis is very important. They are the main tools of combinations. A good book is Winning Chess by Fred Reinfeld and Irvin Chernov. This book is great. I recommend that until you are a strong A player that you study as much about tactics after you finish your other course of study. Also until you are strong A player I recommend that you study book positions on your chess board. I know the diagrams are simple but with the extra retainage I feel it is worth the extra time and trouble to set it up on your chess board. I recommend that you study it from both the black and white side of the boards and do extra analysis from both points of view.
Remember tactis is something to learn and do but they are also to be avoided when they go against you.

Still however these type of books are great to take along and look at and study the diagrams when there are no boards around. They are great for looking at when y ou have spare time such as waiting at a doctor's office, commuting to work when someone else is driving, etc. However, don't neglect looking at the positions on your own board later.

[Phil C]

Grandmasters have said that tactics is 90 to 99% of chess so knowing tactics is very important. If you are a master of tactics you can do well. Books on tactics and combinations are very good. Remember combinations involve tactics in nearly all cases. Remember even if you don't know openings too well and get at a slight advantage after 12 moves your knowledge of tactics can help carry you through the middle game and you can have such an advantage at the end game with your knowledge that then the winning is a manner of technices.

Remember a good player knows how ot play tactics and avoid them as far as his/her opponents are concerned.

[Phil C]

Even though I have given you the value of a king at 4 points remember that is just as a fighting piece. It has no bearing on points overall because both sides have kings to the end and they would cancel each other out.

Material is an important element in winning chess. To have the advantage of one point in master play is generally decisive in 90% of the games even though it makes for stubborn resistance and the player at the disadvantage will play longer hoping the other player will make a mistake perhaps in positition and get a draw out of it. But that isn't often.

A two advantage is disasterous and most masters will resign right then.

Remember these in usual circumstances with everything else being equal but there are exceptions.

But getting an edge in points is what players try to get in order to win. That is why tactics are so important.

When you play the computer be alert especially when the computer is at a high level of play and see how it is very good in combination play with tactics.

[Phil C]

A good chess player as I have mentioned not only plays good combinations involving tactics but also how to defend against them. A good chess players plays good defense.
Also good Knight play distinguesses above average chess players along with good Queen play.
Good position play is important especially involving pawn structure play. The pawns must be developed and support each other. Remember when a pawn moves forward (unlike the other pieces) it can never move back so it is important to have good and careful pawn play.

Remember if you go play in tournaments to avoid making a bad impression with other players never refer to the knight as a horse or a rook as a castle.

[Phil C]

Besides good books to study there are also free chess lessons on you tube and those are good to go along with books because they help clarify things. A good chess video about openings is at you tube and in search type in Chess Lesson: Basic Opening Principles. It is very good and gives the basic ideas about what you want to accomplish at the beginning of the game.

[Phil C]

Yesterday I had a copy of Winning Chess by Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev and was able to study it for 35 minutes while waiting for my boys at their dentist office.

[Phil C]

After your preliminary of study and with experience and you are a C player your time will consist of two parts in your chess.
One is game time. This is time playing games whether they be live opponents at home, tournaments, etc or the computer. Analyisis of the games is included here.

The next one is study time. This will consist of your study of openings, tactics, endings, middle game, pawn structure, etc. This will include studies on the computer or books or internet lectures. I recommend group study too if time permits but don't overdo this and neglect personal study. A good group study session once a week is good and perhaps a good time would be to get together an hour before a sporting event begins on tv or other times. In group study you can analyze games or positions or whatever the group wants. These are great and you can even learn from ideas from players not as good as you and of course those that are the same and better.

Don't forget your tactics study. That is most important.

[Phil C]

When you become a C player you are probably very good in your club. Study is important if you want to raise your level. As mentioned tactics is very important and two books I still recommend that you purchase and study is Winning Chess by Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev and Win at Chess by Fred Reinfeld. I recommend you buy your own personal books and if your local book store doesn't have it then have them order them for you. They are worth the money if you really want to improve your chess.

Winning Chess is great because it teaches you combinations by classifying the different tactics used into groups such as pins, knight forks, discovered attacks, etc. This is a book that can be studied anytime you have a few minutes. I also recommend that at study time you go to each chapter and study the diagrams and figure it out. Then set up the position on the board and study them and go over the authors' comments. Look at each position from both black and white's point of view. Analyze each position and look over possibilities. Then after you have gone over each position review it from the diagrams. You will be getting an understanding. Then you can review chapters when you have those occassionally. It is tempting to look at the diagrams and say simple and not do it on the board but you miss out on extra study and benefits. It is worth the trouble in this book to set up each position on the board and study it. Remember patience and persistance is important.

[Phil C]

Win at Chess by Fred Reinfeld can be studied after you have mastered the Winning Chess Books and the tactics discussed. I feel this book should be studied as recommended for the other. The good thing about this book is that it doesn't tell you the tactics used and you have to figure it out like you would in a game. Well worth the time.
Remember these two books use practical positions that have occured in games already played by good tournament players. They aren't composed problems but practical.
When you have mastered these two books they are still good for reviewing and studying when you have time. You will no doubt get other books and you may not want to set up all the positions on the board and that is probably fine by then but these books I highly recommend that you do study them over the board.

Chess tactics study is a must until you become a strong A player which means you are almost an expert. After that analyzing and experience plus other studying will probably be more important. At that point you will be on your own what to study but at the same time you will know your weak points and what you need to study.

[Phil C]

In college I didn't get to become too active in the chess club but I had a professor who was a co-sponsor and he was a very good chess player. His name was Dr. Hardy and he was a math teacher as well as computer expert. Dr. Thurston was his co-sponsor and he was a math teacher. Both men were outstanding teachers and I had the pleasure of having a calculus class with Dr. Hardy that I enjoyed very much. When the club started Dr. Hardy was already an expert player and he moved up to the master level the last I heard. Dr. Thurston was a good class A player and I last heard he was an expert player. They may have moved up since then.

[Phil C]

The book I have recommended Winning Chess by Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev may be out of print so it is possibility that your local bookstore may not be able to order it for you. But you should still be able to borrow a copy on an interlibrary loan or better yet go to Amazon on the internet and you can probably buy one there. It is worth the money to have.

[Phil C]

Another area of study that you should devote your time to is opening study. Many good books and lessons on you tube and the interenet are available and should be used. The opening is one part of the game no one can avoid so you need to understand the principals and apply them. Understanding is much more important than memorization and many of us don't have the ability to memorize the many possibilities in chess but understanding is the possiblility.
In openings you need to study a few good chess opening trap books in which many books are available. Two good ones by Bruce Pandolfini are Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps and More Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps. You local book store should easily be able to order these books for you if they don't have them in stock.

Remember, you need to have an understanding of these traps because nothing is more descouraging than losing a game in the first ten minutes so besides understanding them to win games you need to do so to avoid fast loses. If you do get in a trap study the game where you went wrong and not be descouraged. It is a learning process and with each mistake and defeat you learn and improve.

[Phil C]

Chess Endings are also very important to study. In the beginning one needs to be able to do the basic checkmates such as queen and king vs king, king and rook vs king, king and 2 bishops vs king and king, bishop and knight vs king. I recommend that you practice these and can do them throughly. They are all easy except for the king, bishop and knight vs king. Remember there is a fifty move rule which starts after each pawn movie or any capture where one must checkmate the king by the 50th move afterward. It can be done with the king, bishop and knight but one must be careful because if he lets the king out of the web then the 50 moves may be reached. I recommend that you get a friend and practice until you can master these basic checkmates. I recommend that you play the one with the material edge and the lone king to get good experience. You will probably need to review these basic checkmates once in a while.

Good ending books need to be studied. It is estimated that master players will play at least a rook and pawn ending every 8 games so you may want to get a good book on that type of ending.

[Phil C]

Elements of chess are very important. These are what win games. Sometimes they overlap. Sometimes a player will give up the advantage in one element for an advantage in another. It depends on the position. Remember when you try to get an advantage in an element your opponent is trying the same thing and if you are trying to prevent your opponent from getting the advantage in an element he/she is trying to do the same thing to you.

We have discussed material element which is probably the most important one where we valued the pieces and pawns.

Another element is mobility. This is often called space. The pieces need to be positioned where they can best move around the board and control space. In the opening it is called development in which you try to get pieces out to the center where they can move around. A piece that controls or occupies the center has an advantage in movie around the board quickly. Control of the center is more important than occupation but generally some occupation is necessassary. The four center squares of the board are most important in this regard. Also of important is the sub center which are the 12 squares around these four center squares. The one who controls the center and subcenter will have a good chance to win the game.

Another element is time. This is the time to get a piece to the right square. If you take two moves to move a piece to a square when it could have been done in one move you have lost time or a tempo as it is called in chess. This is not good in that it gives your opponent a chance to get more pieces in good places. It has been said that if one gains three tempos that he/she has a gained a value of one pawn or one point.

Another element that must be studied is pawn structure. This is really probably a subsection of mobility but it is critical to pawns because they can only move forward and can never go back. Pawns must be carefully placed to help block your opponents pieces and not block yours. Study in this phase is important.

King safety is an important element. In fact it takes priority over everything. Always watch to make sure your king is safe and watch and see if your oppenent's king is safe and if not how you can take advantage of it. The great players recommend that generally you castle as early in the game as possible because it helps bring a rook into play and puts your king in a safer position.

[Phil C]

To learn how pieces work together I recommend that you master the elementary checkmates which consist of the following:
King and Queen vs Lone King
King and Rook vs Lone King
King and 2 Bishops vs Lone King
King, Bishop and Knight vs Lone king.

With a little practice you can master the first four easily and be ready in case you ever have a game like that. Nearly all of the time you will end up with a King and Queen (or Rook) vs King which are both easy to do. The hard one is the King, Bishop and Knight. This will probably take about 30 to 40 moves if the lone king plays correctly. The danger is that you will probably have to checkmate the lone king in 30 moves so if you let him escape your web he gets away with a draw. Personally I have never had a game come down to this (or even with King and 2 bishops). I have only seen it happen one time while watching and the player with the advantage didn't know how to checkmate the opponent. It is worth the time to practice it and keep reviewing it. It teaches you how to work pieces together and if by chance you ever play a game with this advantage you can win and not be embarassed.

Another ending is with the King and 2 Knights vs King. You can't force checkmate but it would be good exercise to work it and have the pieces work together with the King to force the opponent to the corner. Practice and reviewing it once in a while is the key. Who knows maybe the opponent will walk into it and you get a checkmate. The Key thing if you are the lone king is to remember this and you won't lose - Stay out of the corners. As long as you stay out of the four corners you will get the draw. Remember you may come down to two choices and one may be a corner square. Move to the other one. If by chance you are placed where the only move is to a corner then don't worry. He cannot checkmate you. But remember it must be the only option. Don't lose a game you should draw.

[Phil C]

If you evern watch the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments with Charleston Heston and Yul Brynner you will hear chess referred to a few times. Interesting isn't it?