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The Reluctant Messenger's Chess Center



Chess Center Home For Chess Beginners Chess Practice for Novices Advanced Chess Secrets Expert Computer Challenges Chess Openings Chess Tactics Endgame Theory Online Chess Resources

The Reluctant Messenger Website is both a story presenting a combination of spiritual and scientific ideas and an online research resource for science and religion. One of the characters of the story, Chester, likes to play chess. In both the book and the story, Chester plays a chess game with a Spiritual Guru who is simply referred to as The Master. In it he uses a strange opening where he moves the pawn in front of his King's Knight forward two spaces. It is called The Grob and is sometimes used by tournament players as a way to get their opponents "out of book." This opening and chess strategy will be explored further in the future. Book mark this page for announcements and updates. Consider this chess center as another online resource of The Reluctant Messenger.

The Chess Center is divided into 9 Sections. They are:

  • Chess for Beginners: This section is for those who need to learn how to set up a chess board and make legal chess moves.
  • Novice Exercises: This section is for those who want to improve their chess skills. Chess problems help the inexperienced chess player learn the types of tactical patterns that frequently occur in a game.
  • Advanced Concepts: This section is for those who are ready to take the simple chess tactics learned in the previous section and learn how to use them as the building blocks for learning how to think 4, 5 and 6 moves ahead in chess.
  • Expert Chess Software: Before the computer it was impossible for the average player to test their skills against master level opponents. Today there are dozens of free chess engines as well as commercially available software that can play at the master level.
  • Chess Openings: Regardless of whether you are a casual player or a tournament player, understanding opening theory is essential for any chess player.
  • Midgame Tactics and Strategies: The Midgame is where tactics reign supreme and where good strategies get developed. This section covers both.
  • Endgame Theory: The least sexy of all of the required chess skills, but end game theory must be mastered in order to win those close games!
  • Internet Resources: This section will help you find an online opponent and find other resources for improving your chess game.
  • Chess Center Home: This is the page you are reading right now. Book mark it for announcements and updates.

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