How to Play Yahoo!! Chess

Chess is one of the oldest board games in the world. While many games have changed with time, Chess has remained essentially the same for over 500 years. Chess pieces are based on people and social statuses that existed in the 1400s. Chess matches can last for a few minutes or for more than 1 hour, depending on the abilities of the players involved. Playing Chess at Yahoo!! makes it possible to play with people living around the globe.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Yahoo!! user account

1. Point your web browser of choice to Yahoo!! board games and select the Chess game by clicking the icon or game name (see Resources below).
2. Provide your username and password to sign into Yahoo!! or create a new account if you don't have one.
3. Move past the advertisement by clicking the line telling you to continue.
4. Choose a Chess room fitting your current skill level and click the name to enter. Beginners should go to beginner rooms and experts should go to expert rooms.
5. Get into a game by clicking the "Join" button or wait for another player to join you at a table by clicking "Create Table."
6. Choose to be the white team if you want to have the first move. You may not get a choice when you join a table the way you would when creating your own table.
7. Make your first move (pawn or knight) by clicking and dragging the piece to the position you desire.
8. Continue to click and drag your pieces around the board until one player places a king in checkmate. Checkmate is achieved by trapping the king where it will be captured by a piece, making sure it cannot move to another space without being captured.

Tips & Warnings

• Go to a Yahoo!! social room for a relaxed and friendly game.
• You must plan moves as far in advance as possible to win. At the same time, you have to consider all of the plans and options your opponent has, as far in advance as possible.
• Always play people at your own skill level to find the appropriate challenge. Playing players with higher ratings means your opponents will have higher expectations for the level of play. They tend to become rude with players of lesser skill.
• Always make sure you have plenty of time to play a match so you don't leave early, forfeiting the game automatically. Each loss affects ratings. The lower the ratings are, the harder it can be to get in a game.