Chastity's Chess Challenge

Tag: writing

  • Chaste Tris Repository Update 2026

    For the past 5 years, I have had the repository of my Chaste Tris game hosted on GitHub. However, the code has been out of date compared to my local machine, and also very badly organized. I have taken a bit of time this weekend, besides doing school work, to organize the repositories for the 3 games I have made: Chaste Tris, Chaste Puyo, and Chaste Panel.

    The reasons for this are many. First of all, having the code Open Source does nobody any good if it is too confusing for them. Also, I included the GPL3 license in all the repositories so that it is clear that this is Free Software. The repositories for these three games are below.

    https://github.com/chastitywhiterose/chastetris
    https://github.com/chastitywhiterose/Chaste-Puyo
    https://github.com/chastitywhiterose/Chaste-Panel

    Recently, I have been reading and watching a lot of content about the terms Open Source vs. Free Software and why these terms are usually, but not always, the same thing. Following an email conversation I had with Richard Stallman, I believe I can make some analogies that will help the average person understand it better.

    When something is Open Source, it means the source code is available for you to read, but it may have a license restricting you from using it to modify or fork from the Software to make your own version. Just having the source available does not do much good if you are restricted legally from making the best use of it.

    Free Software, on the other hand, is concerned with the Freedom to use the Software as you wish. I believe this section from the GPL3 makes it very clear.

    *When we speak of free Software, we are referring to Freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the Freedom to distribute copies of free Software (and charge for them if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the Software or use pieces of it in new free programs, and that you know you can do these things.

    To protect your rights, we need to prevent others from denying you these rights or asking you to surrender the rights. Therefore, you have certain responsibilities if you distribute copies of the Software, or if you modify it: responsibilities to respect the Freedom of others.

    For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must pass on to the recipients the same freedoms that you received. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.

    To make the difference between Open Source and Free Software even clearer. Consider that some people think of Veganism as a diet that involves not eating animals, but don’t understand the ethical reasons for this. They might think it is a healthy diet to eat only plants, which is true, but it is not the primary motivation. These people may still buy or wear fur or leather, hunt animals for sport, or breed puppies to sell them. Their diet may be Vegan but their mindset is not.

    Free Software advocates who care about the Freedom of people to control their Software are like ethical Vegans who are trying to communicate clearly what it is all about. Just as an ethical Vegan like me is concerned with avoiding hurting animals, a Free Software Advocate cares about users controlling their Software in terms of performance, portability, privacy(as in not being spied on by Microsoft or Apple), and the ability to choose which Software they want to use, and if they are smart enough, invent their own.

    As someone who has been working with Free Software for many years, I care about this distinction as much as Richard Stallman, but I also know that many people are using Open Source and mean the same thing. I don’t believe that these people should be shamed for using the terms they have learned to use. I just believe we need to hold people accountable when they advertise something as Open Source but then restrict users in a way that makes the source closed to being used in the way that people like me have always meant when they said Open Source.

    Also, fun fact, did you know that the source code for Chaste Tris has always been included in the Steam release? You have to navigate to the installed files, but the source is always there.

    https://store.steampowered.com/app/1986120/Chaste_Tris/

    My Tetris game was never meant to compete with existing Tetris games, but it contains all of the elements required to make a cross-platform game. I still dream of making a small original game, unlike anything the world has seen before. Just like Chaste Tris, it will also be Free as in Freedom, just like all of the best Software has been.

  • The War I can Win

    I am a programmer who knows clever tricks I convert integers to bases two to thirty six By using character arrays as strings I can show you amazing math things

    While others talk about politics and sports I read about computers of all sorts Programming languages are all the same When you see arithmetic as a game

    I don’t write code for a job to be paid But to understand the video games I played To see what works and find out why To create, use, study, share, and modify

    I support Free Software and Open Source It is a philosophy that I can endorse Who can own a number, even a single bit? Or tell me what I am allowed to do with it?

    I fight for users who love the games of old Who rebel and don’t do what we are told I made a Tetris game and they said it was no good And that I broke copyright like no one should

    But who decides which person can play a game In math and entertainment there is no shame Can anyone own a letter color or a square? I will fight and debate you if you even dare

    Because integer math is the one war I can win I wrote the code myself and committed no sin And I can tell you that for every byte array There is a game hidden that only a hacker can play

    To humans I am nothing but just a transgender freak And evil men can kill my body because it is weak But the computer has no bias and means me no harm. In this digital world I am safe and I feel no alarm

    No matter what compiler, language, or tool When I code the people see I am not a fool If you take my computer, I am still in control Because the numbers are part of me deep in my soul

    This world is often sad but I still have a great dream Where we all work together as part of the same team And that every person can experience the ultimate thrill Of the binary code that flows where no man can ever kill

  • Chapter 10: Software Licenses

    This blog has turned into most of my rants about computer programming recently, but I still play and teach Chess in case you are interested. But tonight, I spent some time writing another chapter of my programming book, Chastity’s Code Cookbook.

    Chapter 10: Software Licenses

    Perhaps it could be said that once you have written a program, what you do with it is even more important. For most of my life, I never considered the concept of copyright or ownership of the toy programs I wrote. I figured that unless I made a great game or operating system that I would not need to consider writing the terms and conditions about what people can or should do with my work.

    And even now, I don’t think my programs have enough of an impact for anyone to care about software licenses. However, I have found some software licenses that are compatible with my personal philosophy for how software should be shared and distributed.

    Generally, I only recommend software that is considered “Free Software” by the definitions of the Free Software Foundation.

    I have been an advocate of Free Software as it is directly tied to Freedom of speech. I am well aware that Software Freedom and Open source are usually, but not always, the same thing. This page by the FSF on the GNU project links to licenses where you can read the full text. However, I will also provide my summaries based on my understanding.

    https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html

    GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3

    https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html

    This section is the abridged and simplified version by Chastity White Rose. In case of confusion, see the original text.

    The General Public License guarantees your Freedom to change a program licensed under it and to share it with others. However, when you share it with others, they must have the same Freedom you do. Therefore, you must give others access to your source code if you choose to distribute your own modified version.

    Part of this Freedom is to include the source code when you distribute it. Source code is the preferred form of the program that makes it possible and/or easy to modify, provided you know the programming language being used. Examples include source files for languages such as C, C++, Assembly, Pascal, or Java. Also included in this definition are build scripts written in Bash, Windows Batch, GNU Make, or any similar system.

    In my opinion, the benefit of the GPL3, as well as past and future versions of it, is that it declares the author does not intend it to be used in proprietary programs. As a programmer and author, I would not want a big tech company to come along and use my code for evil purposes or to restrict others from accessing what I intended to be free.

    At the time of this writing, I don’t think anything I have written is in danger of being misused. Still, I hope that people use my programs if they find them useful, modify them to make them more useful to their purposes, and share their work with others who go on to do the same.

    The reason for restricting proprietary use is so that another person or company can’t take my code, claim to be the original owner, and turn it into something opposed to what I intended. More importantly, I never want someone to charge money for my software. Specifically in the case of software written by me, Chastity White Rose, Free Software is free as in Free Speech and Free Price.

    Considering all this, I place all my code in this book under the GPL3 license so that the Free Software Foundation and entire world of Open Source and Free Software nerds can take action on my behalf if someone ever tries to restrict my work after my death. These words are my statement that you can’t steal what was made to be free.

    GNU Lesser General Public License Version 3

    https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.html

    The Lesser GPL is very much like the regular GPL with an important exception. It is to allow proprietary programs to use a library. At first, I didn’t see the point of this; however, when I read the following article, I came to understand better.

    https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html

    The reason it was to the advantage of the Free Software community to allow the GNU C library to be linked by proprietary programs is that it prevents the need for those developers to rely on other proprietary software.

    When I think about it, would I really want someone to have to rely on a C compiler or library made by Microsoft or Apple because they couldn’t use GNU Libc for the proprietary game they made? No, I wouldn’t want that. I will explain my reasons for this.

    Basically, complying with the normal GPL3 prevents someone from profiting from their work. If you are required to provide the source code, then anyone smart enough to compile it on their system can copy and modify your game infinitely without paying you.

    The Lesser GPL3 allows someone, for example, to use a free library to implement the graphics, sound, etc., for their game or utility program without providing the source code to their own program, which uses these libraries, but does not copy code from it.

    In short, if you want to make money, you probably want the Lesser GPL, but if you just want to be a nice person and make your code free for the education and entertainment of all people without promise of reward, the normal GPL serves the purpose best in my opinion.

    There are hundreds of other software licenses to be considered if you have written a program and want to decide which terms to release it under. You can, of course, create your own from scratch, but it might be worth reading about those that already exist to see if they match your ideals.

    Free vs. Proprietary

    I am not against proprietary programs when they are video games for entertainment only. I also believe the programmers should be paid for their work, like any other job, to help them survive.

    But my personal ideals are different from those of most programmers. My goal is to write books to share my code and to teach people how to do things, but I don’t plan to profit off the code because I value individual Freedom more than I do money. I hope that even after my death, others will still learn the joy of computer programming and use it to make great things.

    Writing computer software isn’t just a hobby or a business; it is a ministry. Think about all the software that has been written to create the internet and allow people to write books and share them with the world. Think about the programmers who made video and audio recording, encoding, and formatting possible.

    This book is about computer programming, not religion, but I must say, if you had a message that would save the lives or the souls of others, would you really want to be restricted in what manner you use to share that information? Therefore, I propose that Free Software is a necessity in light of Digital Rights Management and companies like Amazon removing ebooks from people’s devices that they have already paid for.

    Traditional books are dying, and bookstores are closing. If we don’t work together to stop digital book burning, then we lose the final method of sharing words of eternal value.

  • How to Filter Chess Games by Checkmates and Length

    When I first began playing Chess, I was obsessed with the Scholar’s Mate, which is when white wins the game in only 4 moves. Such occurrences are quite rare when playing against experienced players. However, I recently began thinking about how checkmates in under a certain number of moves could be useful.

    If a game is won in very few moves, there is a high chance that the winning player did not make any mistakes. Also, in certain arena tournaments, the winning player of the tournament is who has the most points by winning more games. Those who know how to win games in fewer moves can simply get more wins in the same amount of time.

    Therefore, I have written some instructions for using pgn-extract to find games with a certain number of maximum moves. I have previously mentioned how useful this command line tool is. If you download your own database of games from lichess.org, you can use my example commands by simply changing the names of the files and your username in the commands to find the games you have won the fastest.

    How to Find Checkmates

    the “–checkmate” flag is used to only output games that end in a checkmate instead of a resignation or a stalemate. See the example commands here.

    This first command takes all of the games where chastitywhiterose was the white player and won the game by checkmate.

    pgn-extract -Twchastitywhiterose -Tr1-0 lichess_chastitywhiterose.pgn -ochastitywhiterose_white_wins_lichess.pgn --checkmate

    The second does the reverse and finds every time that chastitywhiterose played as black and then black won the game by checkmate.

    pgn-extract -Tbchastitywhiterose -Tr0-1 lichess_chastitywhiterose.pgn -ochastitywhiterose_black_wins_lichess.pgn --checkmate

    How to Find Quick Checkmates

    The documentation for pgn-extract shows that you can limit the length of games matched in database. By combining the “–checkmate” flag and the “–maxmoves” flag with a number as an option, you can find all the checkmates that happen up to that number of moves.

    https://www.cs.kent.ac.uk/people/staff/djb/pgn-extract/help.html#move-bounds

    For example, this command finds all my checkmates with white which happen in 10 moves or less.

    pgn-extract -Twchastitywhiterose -Tr1-0 lichess_chastitywhiterose.pgn -ochastitywhiterose_white_wins_lichess.pgn --checkmate --maxmoves 10

    And this does the same with black checkmates of 10 moves or less.

    pgn-extract -Tbchastitywhiterose -Tr0-1 lichess_chastitywhiterose.pgn -ochastitywhiterose_black_wins_lichess.pgn --checkmate --maxmoves 10

    Because I am someone who usually plays the Queen’s Gambit opening as white and the French Defense as black, very few of my games end this quickly. My play style is to slowly wear my opponent down in a long classical game. But perhaps your style is to take your opponents down quickly before they even know what happened!

    I suggest downloading and installing the pgn-extract tool and placing the path to it in your system settings so you can run commands to extract your best wins.

    My own purpose in this is to identify games that I have played which are high quality enough to include in a future Chess book. Fast wins are quite satisfying.

  • How The Chandler Caterpillar Evolved into a Chastity Butterfly

    Chastity’s Journey into a career in writing began in 2013 when she published a book titled “Confessions of a Confused Virgin”. This book project was intended to teach Chastity about the process of self-publishing a book so that she could help her mother, Judena Klebs, publish the books she had written.

    However, the people on Facebook enjoyed Chastity’s different points of view on dating, marriage, and sex. After that, Chastity started blogging on a WordPress blog about whatever she had on her mind at the time. Eventually, these small posts became content for future books she would publish.

    The majority of her writing was a series of conversations she had with a unicorn in a dream. The series remains forever published as “Chandler’s Honesty” because Chandler is her legal name even though she is known by her preferred name of Chastity White Rose. Unlike most transgender people, Chastity does not consider Chandler to be a “dead name” but instead a name of historical importance as she evolves from a caterpillar to a butterfly and yet remains the same person.

    butterfly.png

    Chastity is a simple person who prefers playing Tetris or Chess much more than writing. However, she began a project in Pride month of 2025 with a focus on educating the public about the LGBTQIA+ community that is different than the hype you would hear from mainstream media.

    Chastity graduated with a Creative Writing Degree in July of 2025 after attending Full Sail University as an online student while working full-time at Walmart in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

    Her best paperback books and ebooks can be purchased from Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play books, and many others. These works cover a range of topics, such as opinions on politics or religion, her Journey as an Asexual Transgender woman (Chandler’s Honesty), and even a 100-page book about the board game of Chess (Chastity’s Chess Chapters).

    But beyond writing books and blog posts, Chastity is offering services to help others write and publish their books, blogs, and websites. Those who have a story to tell but who may not be as technologically inclined may benefit from her experience using Kindle Direct Publishing, Draft2Digital, WordPress, and writing content with Markdown and HTML.

    Chastity writes on two main websites that she pays to keep free of ads and distractions.

    You can also follow her author profiles for updates on the latest books she publishes.

  • Chapter 11: Song Lyrics

    Besides writing about Chess in this book, I also sometimes write poems about Chess which double as song lyrics. The lyrics for my top 3 best songs are below.

    Chastity’s Chess Challenge Lyrics

    [Verse]
Chastity sat down
Chessboard in the light
Pieces in a row
Ready for the night

[Verse 2]
Every piece unique
Knights jump around
Bishops slide oblique
Soon the pawns surround

[Chorus]
Checkmates and castles
Battles on the squares
Chastity’s got the tactics
Winning everywhere

[Verse 3]
Opponents get nervous
Rooks move with speed
Chastity keeps her cool
Focused indeed

[Verse 4]
She'll show you the websites
Where she likes to play
Just watch her stream highlights
And you'll learn the way

[Bridge]
Every move calculated
Every step so clear
She's the queen of the board
No need to fear

[Verse 5]
We don't always make the best move
But the point of Chess is to have fun
If you keep playing you will improve
You'll believe me when the game is done

[Verse 6]
Whether you are a powerful queen
Or just a slow moving pawn
Soon you'll become a chess machine
Playing in your dreams from dusk to dawn

[Verse 7]
Some people call Chess a game
While others say it's a fight
Perhaps it's all the same
The dance of black and white

[Verse 8]
Chess is for people of every kind
It doesn't matter who or what you are
You have all the power in your mind
Learn to checkmate like a star

    Chastity’s Chess Chapters Lyrics

    I was trying to inspire people to play chess
My plans were good, but the execution was a mess
If people don't know how to start
Then they will never know that chess is art

I decided to write my own chess book
With large pictures for people to take a look
The new player needs some motivation
Before they even know chess notation

My graphic design was quite berserk
Most of my time was spent on artwork
They needed to be the right size
I failed so many of my tries

I never give up because I am a nerd
I put my heart into every single word
I want my readers to understand
The vision of chess that I have planned

Because chess is not hard to learn
As long as you do not rush your turn
It's not a game for the strong or fast
But for the patient who can outlast

With every piece that you take
You question if you made a mistake
The book I write will not mislead
But you need the patience to read

If there is something I should show
Then message me and let me know
The game of chess should always be free
If you take the time, I know you will agree

    Chess for All Lyrics

    [Verse]
Board is set let's play our game
Everyone can join the same
Pieces move their timeless dance
In chess there's always a chance

[Verse 2]
Kings and queens on either side
Pawns advance with humble pride
No one's left out in this fight
A game of skill no dark no light

[Chorus]
Chess for all chess for you
Every move it's something new
No matter who or where you are
In this game we're all a star

[Verse 3]
Black or white it doesn't matter
On this board no walls to shatter
Rich or poor we all belong
In this fight we're going strong

[Verse 4]
Even if you've never played
There's no need to be afraid
Anyone can learn this game
That's why chess has so much fame

[Bridge]
Male or female gay or straight
At this table no one's late
Every voice and move unique
All together we are sleek

[Verse 5]
Anyone can win this game
But when you lose feel no shame
Even masters make mistakes
All your games are just remakes

[Verse 6]
Each new player finds their style
When you find it you will smile
Books and courses help us learn
What we need to take our turn

[Chorus]
Chess for all chess for you
Every move it's something new
No matter who or where you are
In this game we're all a star

  • Technical Writer

    After publishing my first Chess book, Chastity’s Chess Chapters, I have come to realize that what I was accidentally doing is the start of Technical Writing. When I think about the majority of what I have been reading in my lifetime, I discovered it was not story novels. I am much more likely to be reading a book or a PDF manual written for Open Source Software.

    In the process of writing my Chess book, I depended greatly on the Technical Writing of other people. For example

    These three people were extremely influential to what I needed to learn. The Markdown Guide provided me with the knowledge to separate chapters from paragraphs and link to images which I needed to include in my book. It also pointed me to Gabriel’s blog post about using only open source tools to publish a book. His blog post introduced me to Pandoc, which is a perfect complement to using Markdown as described in the Markdown Guide. These 3 unrelated authors of Technical Writing about how to use these Open Source tools all accidentally worked together in helping me include the images in my own book.

    The end result is that my book, Chastity’s Chess Chapters, is a Technical Writing book about how to play the game of Chess, what software and websites can help, and also some about the process of how the book was made. There were a few Pandoc commands included in the book to remind myself how I did the process of making my book files, but also for the purpose of sharing the information to help other authors write whatever books they want and get them published.

    After speaking with Career Coaches Susan Smey and Mary Helen Norris, I am starting to see that a Technical Writer is what I am becoming without even trying. The kind of things that I have been reading and writing have a name. Once you know a name of something, it can be Google searched, and then opportunities are available! I am very excited for what career I may have because of my Full Sail University education and my self taught computer skills.

  • Chastity’s Google Translate Process

    The following steps outline what I did to convert my Chess book I recently published into Spanish through the power of Google Translate. I did this because I have Spanish speaking friends and Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in the United States of America.

    First, I had to take the original ebook in English and convert it into an OpenOffice Document.

    pandoc ChastityChessChapters-ebook.md -o book.odt --reference-doc custom-reference.odt

    Then I saved it as a Microsoft Word docx file from within LibreOffice. This is so Google Translate will accept it as a valid document.

    Then, I had to go to Google Translate and convert the entire document to Spanish.

    The final step was converting this document into an epub for the Spanish ebook.

    pandoc book-spanish.docx -o ebook-spanish.epub -s --metadata title="Capítulos de ajedrez de Chastity" --metadata subtitle="¡El ajedrez no es tan difícil de aprender como te han dicho!" --metadata author="Chastity White Rose"

    When I published it, I did not edit the results at all because I know so little Spanish that if there was something wrong, I would not have a clue how to fix it.

    However, I also changed the text on the cover of the book to the Spanish equivalent of what I had on the English cover. I suspect that my book will provide a much needed resource to Spanish speakers because most books on Chess are written by players who are English, French, and Indian. Since my goal is to promote Chess to people of every kind, it was essential to make a Spanish translation, and perhaps other languages will follow in the future now that I have a working process to translate an entire book very quickly.

    The Spanish version I made can be found on Smashwords and Amazon.

  • The Albin Counter Gambit

    There is a response that black can use against white’s queen’s gambit. The result is that black can take white’s queen if they make two critical mistakes,

    I have pictures of the most common sequence of moves here. I will explain the ideas behind the Albin Counter Gambit and why it can be used to turn the tables against white and destroy their queen. They can of course avoid the trap in a few ways, but this opening is psychologically very tricky.

    First, we are in the Queen’s Gambit position. White offers a free pawn on c4 to tempt black into taking it. I have previously covered why you should not accept the gambit pawn. Those who are playing black can use the following tricks.

    Instead of taking the pawn, or using the common declines of moving a pawn to e6 or c6, black instead moves their king’s pawn two squares to e5. This is a counter gambit because now white will think “Yay, a free pawn!”. Usually they will take it without question.

    White takes the pawn. There is no reason not to because it really is a good move. However, white will be overconfident at this point, thinking they are playing someone who doesn’t know what they are doing.

    Black moves the d5 pawn one square forward to d4 where white’s pawn was before. This doesn’t look like a problem except that it means white cannot move their knight to c3 or the pawn will take it.

    White will probably try to advance their king’s pawn to e3 with the idea of trading queens if the black pawn captures it.

    Black now moves the bishop to b4 and puts the king in check. White has 4 options here, not a single one of which is any good. Either they move the king out of the way to e2 and block their bishop, or they put their knight, bishop, or queen in the way on d2 to block the check.

    Not wanting to sacrifice a knight, white sacrifices the bishop on d2.

    But black never intended to capture anything with the bishop. They check was just a distraction from the d4 pawn which now takes the e3 pawn. Now it attacks the bishop and pawn. Also, the white bishop on d2 is not able to capture that pawn because then the king will be in check again.

    The white bishop simply takes the black bishop and thinks they are winning the game already.

    But then the black pawn captures the f2 pawn and the king is in check. There are two legal moves here, both of which are losing for white. Either they move the king to e2 and let the pawn kill their knight, or they take the pawn, which seems like the logical option.

    The white king takes the pawn and yet fails to notice that nothing is defending their queen.

    Black queen takes white queen because when the white bishop moved out of the way, they had no obstacles between them.

    At this point, white usually resigns after losing their queen. There really are no good moves for white in this position and the black queen can keep putting the white king in check while taking all their pieces. This is why the Albin Counter Gambit is so dangerous to a Queen’s Gambit player like me. Don’t fall for this trap as I once did!

    But you may wonder, can the Queen be protected if the white king moves to e3 instead of taking the pawn on f2?

    No, because remember that the pawn can promote to any piece, including a knight when it promotes. This puts the king in check.

    Of course, the rook can take this black knight, but that will not help the situation at all.

    The true purpose of taking that knight was to remove the final defender of the king from a bishop on b4 check.

    As you can see, there is no way to protect the queen. As soon as the king moves to one of the 3 legal squares, the white queen will be captured by either the black bishop or queen.

    The Albin Counter Gambit doesn’t always go this way, but it certainly can. This is why it is a perfectly valid response to the Queen’s Gambit.

  • Queen’s Gambit Accepted White Pawn to e3

    Daily writing prompt
    Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
    View all responses

    When I made the decision to move my king’s pawn to e3 after black accepted the Queen’s Gambit. I learned of a Chess opening trap that led me to prefer pawn to e3 over e4. In this trap, black will lose a knight, bishop, or rook depending on which mistake they make.

    What I learned about this is that even though pawn to e3 blocks the dark squared bishop from getting out past it, the high chance that my opponent will fall into this trap makes it worth it. That bishop also should be kept there to defend the king from diagonal checks in the future.

    If you are the black player, I would recommend against accepting the Queen’s Gambit entirely. It leads to many traps by white. If you do accept it, you will lose your pawn anyway. Don’t waste time with that and instead move out other pawns depending on what pieces you plan to move. Below are the two most common responses to the Queen’s Gambit. The following is my written recommendations black should play instead.

    1. d4 d5 2. c4

    ! Good moves for Black

    • e6 Defend the d5 pawn by moving the king’s pawn to e6. If white decides to capture the d5 pawn black will capture back and then white will still not be able to move their bishop to c4. Playing e6 is called the “Queen’s Gambit Declined”. This is the best move in my opinion because moving this pawn there prevents diagonal attacks on the f7 square even if white does manage to get their bishop or queen lined up there.

    • c6 Although it is less common, c6, known as the “Slav Defense” is another way to decline the gambit. By playing this move, black is hinting at a possible check against the white king by moving the black queen to a5. In any case, this move has the same idea that black will capture back on d5 if white’s c4 pawn takes it. It isn’t bad but

    ? Bad moves for Black

    • dxc4 If black takes this pawn, they can fall into one of many possible traps. It is nearly impossible to prevent white from taking back this pawn with the bishop after moving the e pawn. Also, white now has the option to safely move the e pawn to e4 without it being captured because black no longer has the pawn on d5. If black has played dxc4 here, then they are now in a “Queen’s Gambit Accepted” position. White has the advantage of controlling the center with both their king and queen pawns. Black can still win of course but it will be much harder from here.

    Queen’s Gambit Declined

    d4-d5-c4-e6.png

    1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6

    If black declines the Queen’s Gambit with e6, there are some things white must look out for. First, by moving the e pawn, black allows their dark squared bishop to get out next turn. This can possibly put the king in check and/or pin the knight if it has moved to c3. Therefore, all evaluation of moves should consider this threat.

    ! Good moves for White

    • c5 By advancing the c4 pawn to c5, black is prevented from getting their dark squared bishop out entirely. I recommend this as the best move because now both of black’s bishops are prevented from getting out. They already blocked their light squared bishop on e6 and now our c5 pawn prevents them from moving the dark squared bishop there unless they are prepared to get killed by the d4 pawn in response.

    • a3 is not the most offensive move but it is a nice defensive measure to prevent the dark squared bishop from coming to b4. This move should be done if white wants to safely move their knight to c3.

    • Nf3 Moving the knight to f3 is particularly good in the Queen’s Gambit Declined position because it is safe here and can possibly move to e5 next turn. It also means we have not committed to whether we will move the e pawn one or two squares.

    ? Bad moves for White

    • Nc3 Whatever you do, don’t try moving the knight to c3 on this turn unless you are prepared to lose it! You can move it here later if you wish but not until you have dealt with the threat of black’s dark squared bishop first. There will be some people who disagree with me on this because they think losing a knight to take down a bishop is a fair trade. However, I protect my knights because they are my “Queen Killers” and are often involved in forks later in the end game that my opponents don’t see. If you move the knight to c3 here, the bishop can move to b4 and the knight can’t move because that would put the king in check.

    Slav Defense

    d4-d5-c4-c6.png

    1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6

    I must admit that I have not studied the Slav Defense as much as I have the Queen’s Gambit Declined or Queen’s Gambit Accepted. However, I do have two recommendations for white moves here.

    • Nf3 is a solid move because the knight will certainly be involve in the game at some point and is not under immediate threat.
    • Bf4 is a good idea here because we can target the knight on b8 now that the c pawn is not in the way. We have a lot of options for where the bishop can go from here. It is a safe move at this point with no real downsides. Don’t hesitate to kill the knight with the bishop unless you are player who prefers to keep your bishops alive. There is some matter of preference when it comes to the value of knights vs bishops.

    As I play more games in the Slav defense, I may have more to say here. The Slav Defense has its own merits even though it is not as popular as other responses to the Queen’s Gambit.

    Follow me for More Chess Tips

    I play Chess on Lichess.org almost daily. You can find me as user chastitywhiterose. Send me a challenge for a correspondence game or contact me for setting up a time for some live classical Chess!

    I also stream on Twitch and upload the videos to YouTube also.