Hello clever ones,
From the new kid on the board - not played much chess - had two defeats last night from conqueror2004, (some welcome that!) - we got into a situation where our pawns were alternately lined up half way down the board, blocking most of the play! I don't know if he did that as a tactic but it was pretty frustrating. Is there a name for that sort of defence (which in his case turned into a successful attack, as I got more and more worn down by my incapacity to move out my strong pieces!) Thanks. Desperate to learn. Chessica.

Hi Chessica,

Your opponent in those 2 games is basically a "pawn pusher". Both of you are ignoring basic opening principles. As a beginner you should always open with a center pawn; i.e., until you are advanced enough to study hypermodern systems (Nimzowitsch, Réti, Tartakower). For now, you should focus on classical chess theory as outlined by Steinitz and Tarrasch. Some basic tips are:

1) Develop your knights first, then your bishops.
2) Move no more than 2 pawns in the opening.
3) Avoid moving a piece more than once until you have completed development and castling.
4) Castle early, THEN develop your queen.
5) Fight for control of the center of the board.
6) Use weaknesses in your opponent's position to set up tactics (forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, discovered checks).
7) Learn to control SPACE (control squares on the board)
8) Learn to gain TEMPO (force your opponent to waste moves)
9) Learn to gain FORCE (gain an advantage in material)
10) Learn to build a sound PAWN STRUCTURE

Thanks very much indeed for this instruction, cdare. Much appreciated. Not sure what the things you mention in point 6 are (pins? skewers?) but will do some research, maybe get a Beginners book.
My main problem at the moment is trying to remeber what went on yesterday, or two days ago, or in that game as oppsed to anotehr. I know we can arrow back moves or read the notation (which is a new language to me) but I forget what was in my mind when I played my last move. Maybe I should just play one game at a time for now, and preferably with someone who can sit for an hour at a time online, something like that. One move a day is too hard for my old-age memory!
Thanks again. I am interested to have a look at your own games, if that is ok.
Chessica

No problem! In fact you're pretty much free to look at anyone's games on this site. Whenever you feel like it, you can start a couple of games with me and I can give some pointers (I won't tell you how to beat me, though!) This is just a suggestion, you don't have to take me up on it.

BTW, there's a lot of free chess info on the web. Wikipedia is actually a pretty good resource. Here's some pages you might want to check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_tactics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_strategy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_opening

Thanks, cdare. Maybe see you tonight. Out this afternoon. Chessica     PS   Will look up the Wiki info asap. Thanks.