Chess - the basics

Make sure that it is your turn to move!     If the game is about to start and you have the White pieces it is your turn to move first.

Click on the piece that you wish to move - you should see a red border appear on that square - and then click on the square where you wish to place the piece.

Finally, when you are sure, press the  Confirm  button. The move will be accepted and, depending upon which move option you have selected, your screen will change showing either the new position and that it is your opponents turn to move or you will see the next game that is waiting for you.

If you try to place your piece in an illegal position you will see a warning message at the top of your screen. The move will not be accepted and you will need to start your move again.

Remember that ChessWorld not only checks that your move is legal, but it also checks for the consequences of that move.

You cannot place yourself in check when you move a piece. If, by moving a piece, your King is exposed to an immediate check, then the move that you made would not be legal!

Normally, you will be playing with your name at the bottom of the screen, although you may wish to change this to suit your personal preferences.

When it is your turn to move you will see the either     White    to move   or     Black    to move   below your name, depending upon which color you are playing with, on the game board. As a further reminder you will also see a note below the game board which tells you to Click on [color] piece you wish to move then click where you want to move it to where [color] is the color that you are playing with. If you are using the option to display coordinates around the board then you will see that rows 1 and 2 are where the White pieces start and rows 8 and 7 are where the Black pieces start the game.

An alternative, although perhaps less convenient, means to determine which colour you are using is to use the Play through board, which you can access by clicking on the relevant button on the right hand side of the screen. The resulting page always displays the player names in the conventional White vs Black format.

Always take care towards the end of the game when it is possible that all of your pieces have moved to the other end of the board!

If the King and the Rook with which you wish to castle have not already been moved, and provided that your King is not in check nor will it pass through check, then simply click on the King and move it either two squares to the left or right. The Rook will move automatically to the correct position.

Refer to this page for a clear and graphical explanation of the Castling move

ChessWorld does not allow any illegal moves to be made! If your opponent moved to capture one of your pawns on an 'empty' square he or she was taking advantage of the en passant move.

Refer to this page for a clear and graphical explanation of the en passant move.

After you move your pawn to the eighth rank the move will be confirmed on-screen. You will then be shown a window with the four possible candidate pieces. By default the Queen is chosen, but you can select any other piece if that would be a better choice in the context of the game.

Select the piece and then press  Submit . The game board will refresh and the correct piece will be displayed on the eighth rank.

Refer to the Learn to Play Chess page, where you will find a clear and graphical explanation of the basic Rules of the game.

ChessWorld provides direct access to an exceptionally wide range of Chess related topics.

The Play better menu provides several links:

Why and How covers some important material in an easy to read format.

Chess Glossary provides an easy reference guide to a wealth of Chess information, presented in alphabetic sequence, so that searching for a particular topic is quick and easy.

The ChessWorld Openings Glossary is an especially useful feature which can be accessed from, and is presented in the same format as, the Chess Glossary.

Learning Links provides an extensive list of almost 70 Chess related links, covering topics such as Tactics, Planning, Strategy and Openings.

return to top


Playing on ChessWorld

There are lots of advantages of web-based correspondence chess, which are illustrated in our introduction to this type of chess.

Go to the Opponents menu, and select one of the options available. The two main options available to all Members are: Suggest Opponent and Suggest variety.

Your opponent may not be on line at the same time as you. This is the beauty of web-based correspondence chess, you can play people from all around the world, at any time of day. They are notified by Email when you play a move against them and they can play their move against you whenever they next log in.

You can easily play several games at the same time, or, if you only want to play one game, then you can just logout after moving and we will Email you when your opponent replies. However, if you want to enjoy the pleasures of regular challenges we suggest that you should start up a few games to make sure of having committed opponents!

If you only choose one opponent who is not very committed to the game, you may have to wait a long time for them to respond, and some may lose interest altogether. Therefore it is best to choose a variety of opponents to make sure that you get some active games.

Web-based correspondence chess makes it very easy to play multiple games at the same time.

You need to make sure you are logging in to the site via www.letsplaychess.com or www.chessworld.net without any other URL information attached.

It is likely that you have bookmarked a page or are using, for example, the following type of URL:-
           http://www.letsplaychess.com/chessclubs/asplogin.asp?chessgame_number_cam=nnnnnnn,
where 'nnnnnnn' is the game number. To avoid the old game coming back you need to use either www.letsplaychess.com or www.chessworld.net as your bookmark.

If all of your current games are awaiting moves by your opponents, the last game board that you visited will be displayed on the screen.

You need to clear your Temporary Internet Files regularly, for example, on a weekly basis.   Refer to Q. How do I clear my Temporary Internet Files? in the Computer section of the General FAQ's. for full details on this procedure.

In exceptional circumstances Admin may reinstate your game(s). In such cases you should contact the HelpDesk with the game number(s) and any relevant details. In addition we expect you to ask your opponent to make it clear to us that they agree with your request. You should be aware that a decision to reinstate a game cannot be made unilaterally - we always need the specific agreement of your opponent before we take any action.

To avoid any disappointment, take care! Always observe time limits. Check your moves before clicking the  Confirm  button.

If you have not configured your screen to show the  Confirm  button, then take extra care! For information on how to configure your screen, refer to the Preferences FAQ.

No, not in a normal game. In the special case of Coaching Games the Coach does have the ability to take back a move, solely at their discretion.

This is a special feature that is considered to be appropriate in the context of Coaching Games, and is not applicable to normal games. ChessWorld observes the rules of conventional chess in all other cases.

The board will automatically recognize checkmate. The  Claim Win  button will appear on your screen if your opponent has not moved within the time limit. The button will not appear while your opponent is on holiday even though the clock continues to count. As soon as the opponents holiday ends the  Claim Win  button will appear if the time limit has been exceeded.

Depending upon the current state of your game, you may be able to simply offer a draw to your opponent, or you may be able to claim a draw when it is your move. The  Draw  button is available on the right side of the game board and should be used whenever you want to claim, or offer, a draw.   For detailed information on the appropriate procedure, please refer to Q. What does the 'Draw ' button do? in the Game Board section of the General FAQ's.

For detailed and authoritative information check the   FIDE Official Rules    ChessWorld implements these Rules insofar as they are applicable to online Chess.

ChessWorld offers several different options, via My Stuff ... My Interface, for the choice of Analysis Board. Each board offers various features and appearance to allow maximum flexibility to Members.

However, we recommend that you choose either the   Browser neutral - click and click pieces with move history   or the   Browser neutral - click and click pieces with move history. Captured pieces not displayed by default   option.

These options are configured to provide optimum performance for all Members.

Yes, with our browser neutral board options there are a number of possibilities.

Hide the rank and file coordinates by clicking on the small square at the lower right of the board. To reinstate the coordinates, simply click in the square again.

Flip the Analysis board in one of two ways. Either use the  Flip  button, if it is available, or just double click anywhere in the column of rank numbers.

When you play through a game you can click anywhere in the row of file letters to switch move animation on or off. When you switch move animation on the drag and drop box is checked. This option can also be selected by using the drag and drop box.

Select the playing speed to suit your preference when you use the  Play  option, either Fast, Medium or Slow.

Choose the 'drag and drop' method by clicking on the box at the lower left of the board, or restore 'click and click' moves by unchecking that box. This option can also be selected by clicking anywhere in the row of file letters.

There two ways to navigate around the board. Use the arrow keys to play through each move, or use the relevant buttons below the board.

For convenience, the board also displays the full FEN string representing the current position. You may copy and use this as you wish.

If you wish to explore several variations in depth you may find it convenient to open further analysis boards. Click on the  Stem New Analysis board  button to open a new window showing the current position. You may open as many of these boards as you wish and explore different moves on each.

To print the page for reference you may prefer to select the Printer friendly Page option which will display the page on a plain background. If you do not select this option then the resulting print will also show any colored background which you may have chosen when you configured your ChessWorld pages. Whichever option you prefer, you should make sure that your browser has been configured to print background colors and images. If you are unsure of this please refer to Q. How can I print the board to show the pieces and the playing area? in the Computer section of the General FAQ.

No! ChessWorld does not impose any limits**. Full Members may play an unlimited number of games.

Guest Members may play as many unrated games as they wish but they are limited to five current rated games in addition to any Welcoming Tournament games.

** Members who wish to commit themselves to large numbers of games should be aware of time limits! If, for whatever reason, you do not make a move within the time limit, your opponent(s) may claim the game(s).

Refer to the Play ... Current Games page. The Summary view gives you a clear indication of the time of the last move. The Detailed  view provides additional game information.

This could happen when you join a new Tournament and you are playing White. We do not send email messages to advise that All-play-All Tournaments have started: we suggest that you check the Tournament cross-table, via My Stuff ... My Tournaments to check the current state of enrolment. When the enrolment stage is completed you will see details of every game that you are playing in that Tournament.

There are alternative ways to check your game load.

Look at the Play ... Current Games page and set the Order current games by option to display Your turn and least time left.
Look at your game page and, if you have any games awaiting your move you will see the message 'n' Boards await your move, (where ' n ' is the actual number of games), above the  Prev  List  Next  buttons on the right hand side of the screen.

Try to complete as many games as you can and allow any remaining games to time out naturally rather than resigning a large number at the same time.

Allowing your games to time out naturally tends to have less effect on the ratings system insofar as it affects other Members. Further, doing this avoids unnecessary processing operations on our server, thus maintaining the best possible performance for all of our Members.

If there are exceptional circumstances, please contact the HelpDesk. However, in general, you should understand that it is your choice and your sole responsibility to undertake games, or enter Tournaments.

No! You are solely responsible for your game load! If we did allow you to reset your playing record it would give you an unfair advantage over your opponents. Any such changes to your records would have to be reflected in all of your opponents' records and would clearly be unacceptable to them.

ChessWorld always acts in the best interests of all of its Members.

If you have too many games to play it is possible that you inadvertently created too many games when visiting the Opponents ... Create New Games page.

Visit the Opponents . . . Quick List Search page. If you have any outstanding games there will be a Check Own Games link, at the top of the page. Click on this link and the screen will show you a list of all games currently waiting. On any, or all, of those games you can click on the Cancel this pending game link.

You cannot remove a game once it has been started.

You should be aware that the number of games that you are committed to is always a result of your own actions. If you create games, as noted above, or if you accept an invite to enter a Tournament, you will be committing yourself to a particular game load.

ChessWorld does not, and indeed cannot, impose games on any Member.

When a new Tournament is created, it is possible that there are not enough places available for all of those Members who accept an invitation.  In some cases those 'overflow' acceptances are added to the ChessWorld Tournament waitlist. Periodically the names on this list are checked and, in appropriate cases, some Members may be placed in one of our Welcoming Tournaments.

If a Member has accepted a Tournament invite in the recent past we assume that they would have no objections to being entered into an alternative, comparable, Tournament. This process is always carefully monitored. Before we continue, we always check both playing and site history and we make every effort to avoid overloading any Member.

ChessWorld does not, and indeed, cannot, arbitrarily enter any Member into a Tournament without their prior acceptance of an invitation.

Occasionally a Member may find that they have a sudden influx of games and they cannot understand why this has happened.

In every case, other than Tournament games, (see Q. Why have I got games in a Tournament even though I never saw an invite?, above), this is because, at some stage, the Member has used one of the options available via the Opponents ... menu to set up a number of games from which Opponents may select. As these open games can take some time to be matched with an Opponent it is possible that the Member may have forgotten just how many games they had initiated.

ChessWorld does not, and indeed, cannot, arbitrarily place any Member into a Game without their prior agreement.

Limit the number of concurrent games!    Many ChessWorld Members play with a game load of between 10 and 40 games. Choose a number which gives you a choice of regular games and does not impose undue pressure on your free time. Before you enter tournaments, especially the larger All-Play-All Tournaments, be aware that you will be committing yourself to a large number of concurrent games.

Be selective when you respond to your opponents. Enter relevant game numbers into the Goto Game box. You can also use the Play ... Current Games page to select a game with a single mouse click. The display on the Current Games page can be configured to match your preferences. Refer to the Preferences FAQ for further information.

There may be genuine reasons for you stop, or delay, playing on ChessWorld. For example work commitments, illness and hospitalization: such issues can occur to any of us at any time.

As a general rule, in these cases, your opponent(s) will always appreciate the courtesy of a brief explanatory message. If you feel that there is no choice but to leave a number of unfinished games ChessWorld would prefer that you allow those games to time out naturally as this tends to have less effect on the ratings system insofar as it affects other Members. Further, doing this avoids unnecessary processing operations on our server, thus maintaining the best possible performance for all of our Members.

In some circumstances you may wish to take advantage of the ChessWorld holiday booking system.

You can set up any position quite easily!   Go to the My Stuff ... My Other Stuff ... My Positions page, where you will find full details of the required procedure. If you wish to extract a position from an existing ChessWorld game you will need to provide the Game number. You will also be able to access a simple playing board where you can reconstruct positions from other sources and then extract the correct FEN string.

You can set up positions from the Opening, the Middle game or the End game, although only Opening positions can be used for Rated games.

Once you have entered, and checked, your position simply click the  Submit  button and, subject to Admin approval, your position will be added to the ChessWorld database, normally within 24 hours.

Yes. ChessWorld allows you to maintain a private note area for this specific purpose - anything you enter cannot be viewed by another Member. On the play page simply click on the  Planning Notepad  button and you will see a new window open.

On the left hand side, a mini-board will show the current position, with the movelog displayed immediately below. On the right of the screen a large text input area is provided, which you may use as you wish.

A special feature of this page is that you can, if you choose, also repeat the contents of your notes directly on the play page, which you may find convenient when considering your next move(s). This display is not visible to your opponent. The option may be toggled as you choose, simply click on the   Remove mini-notepad from side of board   link as appropriate. This link changes from   Remove ...    to   Add ...    according to the current choice that you have made.

For your general guidance, as soon as you make any entry into the text area and click on the  Submit  button the original button on the play page will change to  Planning Notepad (used) 

No. Although ChessWorld is a fully featured conventional Chess site we do not provide this facility. We do offer our Members a wide variety of time limits per move options, but with our International Membership, and the inevitable time differences, it is not appropriate for us to offer this variant. However, it is possible to play using the 1-day per move time limit, which many Members find challenging.

You may also wish to explore Play like the Masters, available via the Play better ... menu. This unique ChessWorld feature allows you to interactively play any game from our Masters Collection. Simply choose your colour and then make moves as the Master would have played. After a correct move the opponents move is made automatically, so that your virtual opponent is always waiting. This feature will always provide you with your choice of virtual opponent, and you can play as quickly as your skill allows! Many of the games will have already been attempted by other Members and their efforts recorded so that you can easily compare your own performance.

Support for conventional Blitz Chess is available at other Chess- or Game-related sites, however, ChessWorld is unable to make recommendations, or to offer any advice as to the nature, functionality or suitability of such sites.

Yes. Although ChessWorld is a fully featured conventional Chess site we do provide a limited sub-set of Fischer Random games with limited functionality as a service to our Members.

Support for such Chess Variants is available at other Chess- or Game-related sites, however, ChessWorld is unable to make recommendations, or to offer any advice as to the nature, functionality or suitability of such sites.

Almost certainly the answer is no!

However, we do caution our Members against making repeated draw offers, not making any move until the time limit has almost expired or playing on in a clearly lost situation. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions for further details regarding unacceptable conduct on ChessWorld.

return to top


Coaching

Go to the My Stuff ... My Details page and answer the Coaching. I would like to be on the list of players available for friendly unrated coaching games prompt by ticking the Yes box. Your name will then appear on the Member Coaches section which any player can access from the Play Better ... Coaching Resources menu. If you turn off your Game Invitations from the My Stuff ... My Email page your name will no longer appear on the list of Coaches. This is useful if you wish to temporarily remove yourself from the list, but if you want to permanently remove yourself you should change the option on the My Stuff ... My Details page.

Guest Members cannot become a ChessWorld Coach.

Go to the Play Better ... Coaching Resources page and then click on the Member Coaches link.

There is no easy answer to that question. You may prefer to choose someone from your own country, or someone who has a rating fairly near, and of course, above, your own - we recommend that your Coach should be at least 200 rating points above you.

One of the most helpful guides would be to click on the Unrated-Coaching Games | Unrated Games link and use your judgement. If a player has played a lot of coaching games they may be more successful, and more experienced, in helping other players to understand the significance of various moves. Be aware, however, that this is only a guide: there may be very good reasons why a player can only offer a few coaching games, perhaps because of lack of time, or because they prefer to spend a longer time with one of their 'coachees'.

No. Although it may be possible that a lower rated player could offer you helpful advice, the Coaching feature is configured so that the higher rated player is always defined as the Coach.

Any Member may request a game with one of the available Coaches by first clicking on the appropriate  Invite  button on the Coaches page and then pressing the  Send Invitation  button on the next page..

Any Full Member may also create a game by going to a players homepage and using the Game Invitations option. When using this option it is important to ensure that the Coaching game link is pressed, which will automatically send the pre-configured text in the Optional invitation message to the other player. If this option is not selected before sending the invitation the full features of a Coaching game will not be available.

This facility is only available to a Coach. Once a game has started and your opponent, (the 'coachee'), has moved, you can use the  Analyse  button to access the Analyse board. You can then easily move either your own or your opponents pieces to suit the particular situation. When you are happy with the revised position you should then press either the  Apply position to main game  or the  Create a new game path  button. This will place the pieces on the game board in the chosen position.

This facility is only available to a Coach. Using the Analyse page you can use the navigation buttons under the board to move back as many pieces as you wish. You also move the pieces individually either by using drag and drop or by clicking the piece and then the destination square. Bear in mind that you need to move White and Black pieces alternately.

Yes. If you wish to do this you need to use the Analysis board and then make the required changes. You may see the message [color] nullmove? where [color] indicates which color is expected to move first. By clicking the  OK  option you can then make the required move(s).

These are only available to a Coach and are not visible on the Opponents screen.

  Apply position to main game     Replaces the current game with a new game, retaining the current position, which then becomes the only active game.

  Create a new game path    Retains the current game as 'active' and also creates a new game, retaining the current position, which then becomes another active game.

The Analyse page is only available to Full Members.

If there are any 'extra' stem game boards available the Coaching Group link on the right hand side of the game board will be displayed in a different colour, indicating that it is now an active link. Click on that link and the complete game board history will be displayed.

In a Coaching game there are two possible methods. The conventional method, using the game board message box is always available, and both you and your opponent can see the contents whenever the board is visited. The other method is more specific. By using the Coaching Group display it is possible to use the box below the relevant board and add any pertinent comments. These messages are only visible on that screen and are not duplicated on the primary message box display.

Yes. However, those notes are not displayed on the stem game display page, if it exists, so the immediate relevance of such comments may not always be obvious. Where one or more stem games exist we advise that all comments be made on that page under the relevant board, as appropriate, where the comments are more readily accessible and identifiable.

There is no limit to the number that you can create, but you should remember that they are all derived from the original game and over-use of the creation facility will tend to reduce the effectiveness of your coaching lessons.

Whilst you can play perfectly adequate coaching games based solely on the original game board, you may find that the creation of one, or more, stem games helps you to explain, or develop, certain concepts. You could also use the main board for your coaching session and then use one, or more, stem games to explain interesting variations. The choice is entirely up to you.

Yes. On the game board, click on the Coaching Group link to open the stem game display page and then click on the appropriate board number. You may either just look at the game or you may decide to reinstate the game using the Reinstate game link on the stem game display page. A Coach cannot reinstate a game if it has been aborted by the Coachee.

Yes. All games in the current coaching session are displayed, in sequence, from the original root game. Under each of these games there is an option available to Coaches allowing them to either   Abort   or   Reinstate.

A Coachee can only abort a game by using the option available on the main game board. Although the options on the stem game display are visible to the Coachee, to indicate the current status of the game(s), they are disabled, so that any change can only be made by the Coach.

This feature is not enabled by default. To enable it simply tick the check box at the lower left of the Analysis board.

return to top