Hot Board Games How-Tos

How To: Play xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess

Chinese chess is the world’s most popular board game. Chinese chess, also known as xiangqi, has been played throughout East Asia for over 1000 years. The playing pieces have traditionally been identified using Chinese characters, so only those who could read Chinese characters could play. Now, Chinese chess is available in a set in which the pieces are identified by symbols on one side and Chinese characters on the reverse side so that anyone can enjoy this challenging strategy game.

How To: Play chess with concrete tactics

Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk shows you how to play chess in this chess video tutorial, but wait, where's Alexandra? For this chess master class, guest star GM Laurent Fressinet from France will be filling in to show you how to play one of his games from Warsaw (2005), Fressinet vs Postny.

How To: Pin your opponent from the chess middle game

Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk teaches you in this chess video tutorial, how to pin your opponent down from the middle game of chess. This chess example is from the game Kosteniuk vs Gaeva in Verdun (1995). White plays and wins by checkmating with the queen and rook. To see how to master the chess move, just watch and see.

How To: Keep a criminal pawn at bay in a chess middle game

Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk teaches you how to play a real game of chess in this video tutorial. From the game Onischuk vs Carlsen in Biel (2007). Black plays and wins, by first taking white's rook and checking the king. The white king then takes the black queen, and so on. This will show you how to keep a criminal pawn at bay in a chess middle game, causing your chess opponent to resign like the loser that he/she is.

How To: Play chess like Napoleon Bonaparte

Check out this chess video tutorial from Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk on how to play chess like Napoleon Bonaparte. This chess game is from Napoleon vs General Bertrand in St. Helena (1818). White plays and wins, but how? Well, see for yourself. Let's just say that Napoleon wins the chess game with his queen.

How To: Play from the Saavedra position in endgame chess

Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk teaches you how to play from the Saavedra position in endgame chess. White plays and wins, but remember to look for the best defense for black. Your rook and kings will get a workout, but if you do it right, you might just get out of a chess jam and win the endgame. You'll have to advance the pawn to get a rook, yes, not a queen, a rook.

How To: Solve a chess game study from the Book of Salvio

Learn from this chess video tutorial, hosted by Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk, on how to solve the chess game study from the Book of Salvio (1604). White plays and wins by sacrificing his rook and moving his pawn up the chessboard to get queened. It's as simple as that. Endgame chess is a great thing to learn to become a master.

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?