Hot Board Games Posts

How To: Smothermate the king in a complicated chess game

Check out this chess video tutorial Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk on how to win the game. This game is taken from the Book of Stamma (1737). White plays and wins. You will see a good example of a smothered mate in the chess conundrum. Here, you will learn how to smothermate the king, which is just like checkmating, but smothering it, causing one sacrifice after another.

How To: Play the Philidor position in a chess endgame

This chess game video tutorial from Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk shows you how to use an important postition in rook endgmaes. It's important to know the Philidor Position which shows the easiest way to draw as the weaker side in R + P (rook and pawn) vs. R (rook). Black plays and draws the chess game. How can black save the game?

How To: Play the board game "Goa"

Check out this how-to video to play the board game "Goa." Goa is for two to four players and lasts for ninety minutes. In Goa, each character takes on the role of a 16th century Portuguese spice trader (pretty specific, huh?) To win, you have to be the most efficient at growing your spice export business.

How To: Play the pirate-filled board game Jamaica

Have you ever heard of Jamaica? Of course you have. It's that island right next to Cuba and Haiti. Well, that's not really what I'm talking about though. I'm talking about the board game Jamaica. This video series will show you how to play the board game with a presentation of the playing cards, the game round, the action types, combat, cost of spaces, penury, treasures, and the end of the game.

How To: Use the overworked defender tactic in a game of chess

Ever here of the "overworked" defender" chess move? Of course you have, but that doesn't mean you know how to pull it off. See how to do it, right here. A chess piece is overworked when it has more than one defensive job (guarding pieces or squares) to do. Typically, the overworked piece is exploited by capturing one of the pieces it's defending or occupying a square it's defending. This forces it to leave one of its defensive jobs usually resulting in material loss or checkmate.

How To: Use the skewer tactic in a chess game

Need some more chess tactics for your arsenal? Well, why not try out this "skewer" tactic from this video lecture. A skewer is an attack on two pieces on the same line. The opponent moves the more valuable piece exposing an attack on the second piece. The skewer is a reverse cousin to the "pin."

How To: Avoid common chess mistakes

I bet you just can't win a game of chess, can you? You're probably rushing yourself, or not protecting your pieces. Well, in this video, you'll see how to avoid the common chess mistakes, such as moving too fast, giving away chess pieces for nothing (or not protecting your chess pieces), and not castling.