Bridge is a social card game. Two partners compete with two other partners to decide which partnership will play and which will defend. The winner is the partnership that succeeds in its assigned role.
The Bridge notes develop a methodology for deciding whether it is better to play or defend. The two key factors in playing bridge are the ability to evaluate a Bridge hand and the ability to communicate with your partner.
I have made a few observations after playing and coaching average players. First, average players tend to forget about hand strength after the opening bid. Second, many average players are so afraid of no trump that they make bad bidding choices to avoid playing it. Third, average players often lack even average playing skills.
The Bridge notes are organized with the goal of raising the skill level of an average player. These notes stress point evaluations for 1-hand and for the 2 hands in a partnership first in choosing what bid is appropriate. Then the strategies and tactics of playing are covered in detail. After the players have mastered hand evaluation and playing techniques, then they are ready for bidding.
Chess is a board game played between two people. It is a game of skill, cunning, and logic.
Chess is an exciting game and very demanding. For anyone who is up to the challenge, chess can provide immense satisfaction. For many years I was intimidated by the game and played it only occasionally. If the subtleties of the game are introduced slowly, then I believe just about anyone can appreciate the game at some level and enjoy it as much as I do. The key to having fun is playing someone of equal ability. Let the winner be proud of his or her accomplishment, and let the loser have a learning experience that makes him or her a stronger player and a better person.
After playing a few very good players and a few less-than-good players, I have observed that most games begin with a few exploratory moves followed by a series of moves in which each player basically reacts to the moves of the other player. The players become bystanders in the front row, and the game takes on a life of its own. Now I realize that a chess game is really much more than the sum of the two players and that my bad moves and my good moves are really a collaborative effort. While my game gets better at a frustratingly slow pace, my enjoyment of the game is much improved.
The chess notes on these pages are divided into problem sets. Each problem set has a brief description followed by a series of examples that illustrate the concepts. There is a set of problems related to the concept that will help to understand better how the concept applies in the context of a chess match.
Many of the chess examples are from games that I have played on It'sYourTurn.com. It'sYourTurn has room for new and experienced players, and I have gained a lot of good experience on the site. Another site that I play on and use as a source of examples is http://www.chess.com/echess/.
The chess diagrams are generated by the Palview program found on the Palview Pages. The Palview program animates the problem set by letting the player pick his or her moves interactively.
If you have any comments about these pages, or spot any errors, or you would like to contribute a game or an idea please forward me an email at p.konieczko@myfairpoint.net.