Buy Chess Sets: What Chess Set Suits You?

The game of chess can be fascinating and enthralling. A game of two player chess can take less than an hour or several hours but the time will slip away as you move the pieces of a chess set, so absorbed you can become.

Great masters can play games of astonishing length. In 1989 Ivan Nicolic and Goran Arsovic played a match that comprised 269 moves and lasted more than 20 hours - even then it ended as a draw! The upstart 21-year-old challenger Garry Kasparov faced World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov for the world title in 1984. The individual games did not take much more than was normal but the whole tournament lasted five months with 48 games. Incredibly, after thousands of hours of play and analysis, the tournament was cancelled. The struggle was reconvened six months later and Kasparov went on to become the youngest world champion at twenty-two years old.

Clearly you are unlikely to get involved in such marathon matches but nonetheless there is no reason why your owngames with friends may not be as intense and, indeed, significant to you.

To play a great game of chess, the pieces of a chess set with which you play should be the best quality you can afford. The chosen chess set should reflect the value you place upon it. There is a huge variety of chess sets available: from the standard Staunton chess pieces through to themed chess sets or even a carved chess setmight attract you.

Obviously the quality of a chess set will vary according to the price you are prepared to pay but it would be worth going that little bit further to get a good quality chess set. In any case, a striking ornamental chess set can be a focus for your room and a conversation piece for visitors.

There is something attractive and interesting about the right chess set.

Looking to buy chess sets perfect for your needs or as a gift that will never be forgotten? Visit ChessSetHeaven.com for a range of high quality themed chess sets that will suit you perfectly.

Chess Basics: Having The Initiative

All games in two player chess begin with White making the first move. Whatever the player using the black pieces of a chess set does, the White player always has the initiative.

But what does this really mean?

In his book on chess basics, the former World Chess Champion, Jose Raul Capablanca (1888 - 1942) explained it this way:

As the pieces are set on the board both sides have the same position and the same amount of material. White, however, has the move, and the move in this case means the initiative, and the initiative, other things being equal, is an advantage.

Now this advantage must be kept as long as possible, and should only be given up if some other advantage, material or positional, is obtained in its place. White, according to the principles already laid down, develops his pieces as fast as possible, but in so doing he also tries to hinder his opponent's development, by applying pressure wherever possible.

He tries first of all to control the centre, and failing this to obtain some positional advantage that will make him feel assured that he will, in turn, be able to withstand his adversary's thrust; and finally, through his superiority of material, once more resume the initiative, which alone can give him the victory.

This last assertion is self-evident, since, in order to win the game, the opposing King must be driver to a position where he is attacked without having any way of escape. Once the pieces have been properly developed the resulting positions may vary in character.

It may be that a direct attack against the King is in order; or that it is a case of improving a position already advantageous; or, finally, that some material can be gained at the cost of relinquishing the initiative for a more or less prolonged period.

Looking to buy chess sets perfect for your needs or as a gift that will never be forgotten? Visit ChessSetHeaven.com for a range of high quality themed chess sets that will suit you perfectly.