I have been anxiously awaiting to share this refraction on the next chess term. The KNIGHT is a unique piece and is often referred to as a horse, which harkens back to medieval times. The KNIGHT has the ability to move two squares in one direction and then one square at a right angle, landing on the opposite color from…
In chess, the ROOK, also known as the castle, is a unique piece and considered one of the major ones on the chessboard. A player has two of them, positioned in each corner. A ROOK moves in straight lines, across a RANK or FILE. Moving in a straight line seems simple. I wish my journey to a healthier me would…
As of this posting, I have refracted on nineteen different chess terms that, in my mind, can relate to TOPS. There are a few other terms to write about. However, it is time to start moving some pieces into place. The first is the least powerful piece, a PAWN. Each player starts with eight, and they are located on the…
Deadlock, impasse, standstill, stand-off, draw and tie are all fancy ways that describe that “stuck in a rut” feeling. That horrible feeling that no matter what you do, your progress has come to a complete halt. In the game of chess, when that moment comes when there are no legal moves to make, a STALEMATE occurs. It can be used…
RANKS on a chess board are the horizontal rows, and FILES are the vertical columns. Nothing special, just terms used to help players orient themselves to a POSITION on the board. I never really gave it much thought and was surprised that the eight rows and eight columns had a name. The terms RANK and FILE come from the military,…
The term CRAMPED in chess describes the quality of a player’s POSITION. A CRAMPED POSITION means there is a lack of SPACE with no freedom to move. To further refract on my previous blog, it is important to note that in TOPS, we must work at maintaining the SPACE we need and be careful of missteps. While change can be…
In the game of chess, SPACE is particularly important. This allows the player better freedom to move across the board. This also plays very well for a TOPS member. When I joined TOPS, I had a preconceived notion that I was going to be handed a specific plan to follow. Now, at that time, it would have made me feel…