Other abbreviations will be—
Sq for square.
Ch for check.
Dis ch for discovered check; and
Doub-ch for double check.
Written in this notation, King’s Rook’s Pawn becomes K R P, and Queen’s Bishop’s square Q B sq, and so on.
Now for the practical use of this lesson. Let all the readers who wish to learn the game first of all set the board before them as herein described. Then let them place the White men in their proper order on the board, beginning with the K. Similarly let them place the Black men on the board, beginning also with the K. As a second try, let them place the men on the board beginning with one of the R’s, and going across to the other R. Finally, let them familiarise themselves with the English notation, as given above. By the time they have done this they will be in a position to benefit by a further lesson.
II
The Board.—The chess-board is not merely something upon which the game of chess is played; it is part of the game itself, for it limits, and, to some extent, controls the action of the men. In my first lesson I gave a diagram of the board with the men set out for play, and I now give an outline diagram of the board on which the name of each square is given, both from the White and the Black side.
Now, in order to read the moves correctly, it is of the greatest importance for the student to understand the method of naming the various squares. From the diagram on page 276 it is clear that, according to our English style, each square has two names, the White player naming the squares from his own side, and the Black player from his. Thus, what the White player calls his King’s square the Black player calls his King’s eighth, and so on with all the other squares. All the boys who are taking an interest in these lessons should get this point fixed in their minds to avoid mistakes.
III
The squares running across the board are termed ranks; those running up and down, files; and those in a slanting direction, diagonals. The squares, as will be seen, are named from the pieces, which, at starting, occupy their first rank; thus the square at the lower right-hand corner is White’s King’s Rook’s Square (K R sq); the square immediately in front is White’s King’s Rook’s second (K R 2)—the word square being omitted; the next in front is White’s K R 3, and so on till you come to White’s K R 8. In a similar way you get White’s K Kt sq, or 2 or 3, etc., or White’s K or Q sq, or 2 or 3, and so on. Similarly, by turning the board round, you count the squares from the Black side as Black’s K R sq, or 2, etc., or Black’s K or Q sq, or 2 or 3, etc. The files are also named in a similar manner; thus the file running from White’s K sq to Black’s K sq is called the K’s file, and so with all the other files. The ranks are simply called first rank, second rank, etc. The diagonals have no special name, with the exception of the two running direct from one corner of the board to the other—that is, the diagonal from White’s K R sq to Black’s Q R sq, and that from White’s Q R sq to Black’s K R sq. These are called the long diagonals. Of course, some of the very sharp boys who read this will at once exclaim, “Why, they are the only diagonals a square can have, for a rectangular figure can only have two diagonals.” Well, that is all right in mathematics, but in chess, use or custom has brought about the practice of calling all the sloping lines of squares diagonals, and the two which, according to mathematics, are really diagonals, the long diagonals.
Having thus described the board, I next proceed to describe the moves of the various men.