#Sente gote how to

Rd7! (sente again) Rxd7 trades the second pair of rooks in sente, and white wins the endgame by one tempo. This forces black to capture 1…Rxd7, and now it is white’s move rather than black’s. Black gets to move freely immediately after, taking the file with 1…Rd8! (and winning the endgame, an exercise for the reader). Normally this will give a slight advantage in this position it will determine the outcome of the game.Ī common mistake by less experienced players is to play 1. How white makes the rook trade will result in the gain or loss of a single tempo. In this position, both white and black have rooks facing each other on the d-file. How they end up being traded can distinguish an experienced player from a new player. Rook tradeĪ basic example is also a very common one: a situation where both sides have rooks on the same open file.

#Sente gote how to

Take them as a demonstration of (a) how to use these terms in a discussion, and (b) how to think about the initiative. The following examples show a variety of situations in which I would naturally use the terms sente and gote in describing the moves. I find myself reaching for these terms quite often when analysing or annotating games, as they succinctly and precisely describe a common concept. In general sente is associated with dictating the flow of play, and gote is associated with not dictating the flow. A semi-literal translation that I feel captures the essence of the above is the following: sente = leading hand, and gote = following hand. You might already sense that these terms more precisely describe what it means to “have the initiative” in various contexts.

White has sente (but not “has gote”), or is in sente/gote = white is to move, and react to black’s threat/idea.

exchanging a piece) = something is accomplished while finishing with white to move/black to move.

White achieves something in sente/gote (e.g.

This move is sente/gote = this move forces black to react/does not force black to react.

Sente and gote are adjectives a move, a sequence, or a player can be in sente/gote. So instead of throwing out a definition of sente and gote here, I’ll just show you how to use these words borrowed from Japanese.

What is sente and gote?Ī good way to learn new words in a language is to see them used in a sentence, then try making a new sentence yourself using them. Rather than read a dry essay on the nature of time on the chessboard, it’s probably easier to understand by seeing a quick explanation of the terms followed by many examples, so let’s get to it. I find that they are clearer and more focused terms than “the initiative” that we have in chess. Sente (pronounced sen-teh, 先手) and gote ( go-teh, 後手) are terms frequently encountered when studying the Japanese games of go and shogi. Two useful terms we can borrow from their literature are sente and gote, which relate to the concept of the initiative. There is much to learn from the study of chess and chess-like games in Asia.