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What the wives from the harem of the Iranian Shah looked like. What is checkmate in a chess game? Looks like a check

I am glad to welcome you, dear friend!

In any sport, and not only in sports, there are moments of apotheosis. So to speak, the final scene of the play. In boxing, for example, there is a knockout. In chess, this is checkmate. Let's take a closer look at what checkmate is in chess and why it is the crown of chess action.

Checkmate with another piece

You already know that checkmate can be achieved by any other piece except the queen. However, this is less common than checkmate by queen.

The most “mate” piece after the queen is the rook. The rook, as a rule, puts a linear checkmate. You and I already know what it is. An example in the previous paragraph of our article.

Examples of checkmate with a minor piece and a pawn:

On stage checkmate with knight.

Now the elephant:

And let's not forget the pawn, of course.

When writing a game, a check is indicated by the sign X; in international notation, # is used

How to checkmate?

I'll tell you a little secret. Checkmate is a consequence of your good play, not an end in itself.

If you play hard, outplay your opponent, and use your time wisely, you will achieve a winning position. Checkmate will not take long, you will deliver it.

If you play poorly, you will be able to checkmate rather by accident. As a result of a blunder or a “yawn” by a partner. And this will happen less and less as your opponents grow in strength.

Therefore, the correct goal of the game is to beat your opponent.

I believe you have noticed that when strong chess players play, they almost never play to checkmate.

When the position is losing, a strong chess player gives up. Thus, showing respect to the opponent, as if without doubting that he will bring his advantage to the checkmate. Playing until checkmate among experienced chess players is a sign of bad taste . Please keep this in mind.

So, learn to play well, and mating won’t matter.

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Good luck at the chessboard!

IN chess game There are 6 types of pieces involved - king, queen, rook, knight, bishop, pawn. At the beginning of the game, each player has 16 pieces at his disposal: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. There are a total of 32 pieces on the board.
The starting position of the pieces looks like this:

Pawn

The pawn, the only piece that can only move forward, cannot move back. The nominal value of a pawn is 1 point.

In the initial position (white - on the 2nd rank, black - on the 7th), the player can move the pawn one or two squares forward. After the first move, the pawn can only be moved forward one square per move. A pawn can capture enemy pieces one square forward diagonally to the right and left. A pawn captures pieces according to one rule, but moves differently. This is what distinguishes her from other figures.

This is a project for beginners, approved by our readers, in which you or your child can improve their playing skills, complete a chess level, and in a short time grow to a prize-winner of regional tournaments. The teachers are FIDE masters, online training.

There are two interesting rules associated with the pawn in chess. The essence of the first rule is as follows. (8th for white and 1st for black) and turns into any piece except the king. This transformation is one move, and the next move goes to the opponent.

The second rule is taking on the pass. During its move, a pawn can capture the opponent's pawn if it has moved.

In Fig. 3 the white pawn moved two squares forward. A black pawn can capture a white one and end up on the captured square, and not on the square where the white pawn is, as happens during normal captures. It is possible to capture on the pass only during the next move; after a move, this right is lost.

Horse

The horse moves along an unusual trajectory, reminiscent of the letter “G” - it moves 2 squares forward and one square to the side. Of all the pieces, only the knight can jump over its own and other people’s pieces. The knight can attack any enemy piece while being out of reach of them. When struck, the knight takes the place of the knocked down piece. The nominal value of a horse is 3 points. Located in the center of the board, it has 8 available moves, while the corner square has only two.

IN real life“to make a knight’s move” means to perform some unusual or cunning move.

Elephant

The elephant is a strong, long-range figure. A bishop has a face value of 3 points and is roughly equal in strength to a knight. This comparison is somewhat arbitrary, since in an open position the bishop can be stronger than the knight, and in a closed position the knight is often stronger than the bishop. The knight and bishop are considered “minor pieces” in chess.

The bishop moves and strikes in all directions diagonally to any number of squares, as shown in the figure. An elephant that moves on white squares is called light-squared, and on black squares it is called dark-squared.

Rook

The rook, like the queen, is considered a heavy piece. Its nominal value is 5 points. and hits vertically and horizontally for any number of cells.

A specific move in a chess game is castling. Castling is correctly performed as follows: the king is moved 2 squares to the rook and the rook is moved behind the king. Castling can be done subject to the following conditions:

the king and the rook with which castling occurs have not made moves in the game before;
there are no other pieces on the horizontal between the king and the rook;
the king is not under attack by the enemy piece;
the field through which the king moves and the field on which he stands are not under the blows of the enemy pieces.

Long castling is performed towards the queenside, short castling - towards the kingside.

You cannot move the rook first. There is a rule in chess: if you take it, move. If you first move the rook to the king, the opponent has the right to demand that the move be considered completed, and castling will not take place. Castling is the only move in chess where two pieces make the same move.

Queen

The queen is the strongest piece in chess, with a nominal value of 10 points. The queen moves in all directions vertically, horizontally and diagonally to any number of squares on the board. The queen is an important piece. He is strong and mobile, effective in attack and defense. The queen must be protected from attacks from enemy pieces. Losing the queen or exchanging it for a piece of lesser value leaves little chance of winning.

Equally, a queen can be exchanged for a queen, two rooks or three minor enemy pieces. There are times when an experienced chess player specifically gives up the queen to achieve a certain goal in the game. This is called "sacrifice". Beginning amateurs need to remember that the queen must be preserved and used as the strongest piece.

King

The king is the most important piece in chess and has no face value. The game is lost when the king dies - he gets checkmate. The king cannot be kept under attack by enemy pieces. He needs constant protection. Like the queen, the king moves and strikes vertically, horizontally and diagonally, but only one square in any direction. Located in the middle of the board, the king holds 8 squares under attack.

At the end of the game, when there are an order of magnitude fewer pieces on the board, the strength of the king becomes approximately equal to the strength of the minor piece.

Check is a position where the king is under attack from an enemy piece. The king is not allowed. You need to move to another square, defend with your own piece, or simply capture the enemy piece that declared check.

In Fig. 10 the white king can escape check, the bishop can cover the king, the queen can capture the black rook.

The game ends when the king is checkmated. This means that the king is under attack (check) and has nowhere to go - the free squares are under attack from the enemy pieces.

A curious situation in the game is a stalemate. The king is not in check, but he has nowhere to move - all free squares are under attack from enemy pieces. Other pieces also have no moves.

In this case, the game ends in a draw.

According to the accepted scoring system, there is 1 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 for a loss.

Some figures have double names. Before the revolution, the bishop was called an officer, the rook was called a tour, and the queen was called a queen. These names are not common among chess players; sometimes they are used by amateurs.

Chess has attracted attention for a long time. After all, this is not only a game of intellectuals. It combines creativity and mathematics, logic and a non-standard approach to solving situations.

So, let's see where it all began.

History of the game

An unusual word is “chaturanga”. Few people have heard it today. In fact, this is the name of the game in ancient India, which became the ancestor of chess. It was played by four people, and each of them had only eight pieces. Raja (king), chariot (rook), cavalry, bishop and four pawns. The colors were also different from modern ones. There were red, green, yellow and black figurines on the board. It’s not easy to put checkmate!

There was, however, an option for two players. In terms of the number and arrangement of pieces, it exactly corresponds to chess today.

The second version of the origin is Byzantine. In the Middle Ages, the Roman nobility had fun at Zatrikion. Two opponents, 16 pieces each. It seems that everything is the same as now... But not everything is so simple! The board was round! Sixteen fields along the outer circumference and four along the width of the playing ring.

IN Russian Empire in the XVIII-XIX centuries. Chess for four players with fortresses was popular. 76 pieces, 192 cells and a twenty-sided board!

Today there are fields in the shape of a cylinder and a torus (donut). You can put checkmate by going around from behind!

A modification of this game, invented in 1948, is supplemented with the rules of checkers and is called chess mats. You can only move on black squares, and each participant has 8 pawns, 2 kings, 1 bishop and 1 camel (another name is nanny; the same as a knight in standard chess).

The “combat” version of the game suggests the following. The board is divided horizontally into two halves, and opponents place troops hidden from each other. Then it is assembled into one whole and continues according to the usual rules.

What is check

So, let's go back to the standard field. The goal of the game is to destroy the king of the other side. So, an attack on him is a check. If the opponent was able to defend himself or avoid him, the fight continues.

Let's understand it with an example. The picture shows this position: attacks the black king.

There are several types of checks in chess:

Eternal(as soon as the player moves away from the threat, on the next turn he is again under attack).

This method of attack will greatly lengthen the game time, almost up to several hours. However, on the other hand, it is very beneficial for the loser. You can make a repeating move three times and, if the player wishes, a draw will be declared.

Hidden(a figure checks, which was previously hidden by another of the same color. That is, one moved away, the second attacked).

A fairly common type of attack. The beauty of it is that when you create a suitable arrangement on the board, you can take one of the enemy fighters, while the enemy king will be under attack. Next step your opponent will also be a plus for you, since he will have to defend himself rather than attack and develop his position.

Cross(having closed yourself from the threat, you respond with the same move by attacking the enemy king yourself).

A very common response to the previous option, which was not thought through in all details. Often, beginners find themselves in a situation where the opponent seems to be “gazey.” A stunning figure stands under battle, or the check is asking for itself. If it seems to you that the situation is completely in your favor, and everything is going like clockwork, stop and look at the board from a different angle. Perhaps you are walking with your head held high towards your own defeat, right into a laid trap.

What is checkmate

This is not an abuse of the defeated side, but simply a similar-sounding word. In Persian it means “helpless, immobilized,” and in Arabic it means “died.”
Your king is being attacked, but there is nowhere to run, nothing to beat and no way to defend yourself? This is what happened. That's it, checkmate, which means “the end of the game.”

The main task is to prevent such a turn of events at any cost. It may turn out to be a draw, create stalemate. But it is better to understand in detail all the intricacies of the game and control the position on the board yourself.
Analyze games based on records, analyze the decisions of grandmasters at world championships. Finally, learn how the opening differs from the middlegame!

This amazing game is so diverse and multifaceted that once you become friends with it, you will begin to change for the better. Even if now everything is not as good as we would like.

Well, never mind, soon you will master strategy and tactics so much that you will be able to fight several opponents at once!

Now let's look at the main options for winning.

Checkmate with queen

One of the first two studies for beginners. We know how to walk, we learned how to record games. It's time to put the first mat in greenhouse conditions. Well, training is necessary. Hard to learn, easy to fight.

We carefully examine the composition. A great combination for beginners. It can be solved simply, no matter where the pieces are located. The white king stands on A1, and on the next move the black queen attacks him, moving to A3. Can I close or beat the attacker? How about escaping from a blow? A difficult situation. The game is over, and the loser should disassemble the game according to the record and analyze the mistakes made.

Checkmate with bishops

Also a fairly common variation of victory. One or two officers can play a key role in the battle. And if the enemy short-sightedly leaves the flanks open, it would be a sin not to take advantage of the moment. Checkmate, gentlemen.

Please note that the stronger pieces have not actually moved yet. The cavalry and elephants did all the work! This happens in games when the players get carried away by some strategic ideas. Imagine, yesterday you analyzed Capablanca's opening, and today your opponent moves in such a way that there is an opportunity to realize it. Beauty!

Checkmate with rook

A classic composition for beginner players. One or two rooks, two kings and an empty board. One of the first sketches that you will become familiar with in the process of mastering this wonderful strategy. The white king holds G7 and H7, the tour attacks along the eighth rank. "Finita la comedy".

Checkmate with bishop and knight

A more difficult task. The cavalry walks in the letter “G”, the officer only walks diagonally in one color, in our case white. The black king can run away from such company for quite a long time until he is pushed into a corner. And there are already three for one.

Such moments, of course, happen in normal game, but more often this happens in sketches. Start with short examples and work through all possible events. Later, you will move to a more complex level, figures will be added. Solutions will be hidden not after three moves, but after seven. We develop combinatorics and improve our powers of observation. It's only begining!

Checkmate with king and pawn

Another element of the composition. Even if there is no opponent, and you are just learning the basics. Take a couple of puzzles, a board and a set of figures. Try to record the parts for later analysis.

In our case, there are several plot developments. Checkmate in chess is done in this way by pawns or, if one of them reaches the last rank, by one of the previous methods.

You can choose any piece instead of a pawn.

So, today we got acquainted with the history of the amazing game - chess, and looked at the basic studies. We understood such concepts as check and checkmate.

But this is only the first step. We haven't even entered the threshold of this magical palace yet. The joys of the greatest victories and the sorrows of irreversible defeats still await you ahead. Happy tears of a national or world champion, the proud title of grandmaster.

Who knows, having become infected with prospects, perhaps you will begin to develop and bring an idea to the masses. Logical thinking will become flexible, and an attentive gaze will become tenacious.
The versatility of the world of chess is breathtaking and amazing in its prospects. As the classic said, Moscow will be renamed New Vasyuki, and Vasyuki - to Old Moscow.

The rest is a matter of practice. Good luck, dear readers!

If you decide to learn how to play chess, the first thing you should do is understand the name chess pieces. This will significantly speed up and simplify the process of further learning. The game of chess is one of the oldest, it has been around for many centuries. Its development was continuous: at first people played with grains, then with clay balls, and only by the Middle Ages the figures that are familiar to us appeared on the board.

Today, when playing chess, each player uses six types of pieces. They differ in color: one has white figures, and the second has black ones. In this case, the “army” of both one and the other player consists of 16 figures. We will look at them in more detail a little further. Each piece has its own place on the board and a specific trajectory, method or methods of movement during the game. So, let's figure out the names of the chess pieces from pictures and photos.

1. (King) - this is the most important figure on the “battlefield”, around which the game is built. After all, the end of the game comes precisely when the opponent’s king is defeated. Despite his status, the king is quite limited in his movements; he can only move one square in any direction. But at the same time, he has the advantage of castling. This term means a joint move with a rook, during which the king is sent to a safer place.

2. (Queen) - this is the most active, strongest and second most important figure during the game. Its possibilities in movement trajectories are most diverse. The queen can move both up and down the board, and left and right, as well as along white and black diagonals. The queen is a difficult figure from the enemy’s point of view, because she has great capabilities for protecting the king and can find herself in in the right place. The queen usually looks almost the same as the king, but a little lower and often with a small ball on top.

3. (Rook) - this figure moves only vertically or horizontally and is limited by obstacles. At the start, the player has two rooks, which are placed at the edges of the field. Sometimes called “officers”, these figures protect the royal family.

4. (Bishop) - also a paired figure, considered light, usually looks like a low tower with a pointed drop. This form may resemble the robes of a monk - and so it is. The figurine appeared precisely because Catholic priests were fond of chess and brought something of their own to it.

5. (Knight) - usually looks like the corresponding animal. Its peculiarity is its unusual manner of movement, namely the letter “G” in any direction. The knight easily jumps over obstacles (opponent pieces) and at the beginning of the game stands next to the rook.

6. (Pawn) - this is a chess soldier who is the first to rush into battle and opens the game. Each has 8 pawns. They move most simply - one square at a time and only forward, although as a first move they can jump over a square - and they only knock down enemy pieces diagonally. Pawns play an important role, they defend other pieces, and when they reach the opposite edge of the board they can return in their place any previously captured piece - a queen, a rook, and a knight. The only exception here is the king.

The harem seems to the European to be a kind of abode of young and beautiful women from the Arabian fairy tales “1000 and one nights”. Meanwhile, interesting photos of the harem of Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar, who ruled Iran at the end of the 19th century, destroy the prevailing stereotypes. In our review you can see the beauties of the Iranian ruler's harem with your own eyes.

Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar, the fourth Shah of Iran, gained power in 1848 and ruled for 47 years. His reign was the longest in Iran's 3,000-year history.

1. Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar is the happy owner of a harem.

Historians say that for his time, Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar was well educated and was known as a sybarite, so much so that he subsequently displeased his associates.

2. Ad-Din Shah Qajar and photographer Sevryugin before photography.

One of Shah Qajar's many passions was photography. He liked photography as a child, and when he came to power, he decided to create the first official photo studio in his palace. In the 1870s, Russian photographer Anton Sevryugin opened his studio in Tehran, who became the court photographer of the Iranian ruler. Sevryugin created a photographic chronicle of Iran and was awarded an honorary title for his services.

3. The main entrance to the Gulistan Palace.

A Russian photographer could photograph the Shah himself, his male relatives, courtiers and servants. And Qajar, an ardent admirer of photography, reserved the right to photograph his harem, in which, according to historians, he had about 100 concubines.

4. Completeness - how main criterion beauty.

It is known that Nasser ed-Din Shah printed the photographs himself in the palace laboratory and kept them in satin albums in his Golestan palace, where the museum is currently located.

5. The incomparable Anis al-Doleh - the beloved wife of the Shah (right).

The extraordinary nature of the photographs of his concubines lies in the fact that according to Shiite laws at that time it was prohibited to photograph people’s faces, and especially the faces of women. And only the most powerful man in the country could afford to break the law.

6. Anis al-Doleh, or the Heartfelt Friend of the Power.

7. Incomparable Anis al-Doleh (sitting).

Photographs of women challenge the generally accepted idea of life in a harem - the Shah's wives look quite modern for that time and self-confident, they calmly look into the camera lens, without flirting or shyness.

8. Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar with some women from the harem.

One can even assume that the wives in the harem had friendly relations - some photographs show groups on a picnic.

9. Harem on a picnic.

10. The thin inhabitants of the harem did not suffer.

From the photographs one can judge the tastes of the Iranian monarch - all women are in the body, with fused thick eyebrows and a clearly visible mustache. It is clearly seen that the women did not suffer from hunger and were not burdened with physical work. Experts say that Golestan’s collection even contains nude photos, but they are safely hidden.

11. Young concubine with a hookah.

12. In many photos, the concubines of the harem are depicted in short fluffy skirts like tutus (shaliteh). And this is no coincidence.

13. It is known that in 1873 Nasser ed-Din Shah, at the invitation of Alexander II, visited St. Petersburg and attended the ballet. According to legend, he was so fascinated by Russian dancers that he introduced shalitekh for his women. True, concubines could refuse Muslim headscarves only in front of the camera. However, it is possible that this is just a legend.