Entries by summertop

Author: Summertop

One of my favorite games on BrainKing is Loop Chess. In this game captured pieces are help in reserves to be played at a later time. These captured pieces can be quite valuable. Many of your opponents will under-value captured pawns. If you know how to use a pawn, it becomes as valuable as a bishop. Especially as the game progresses. True the pawn is much more limited in mobility, but this is negated by the ability to "drop" the pawn anywhere you want it. Take the following Example:



If Black were to drop a pawn onto G2...



It would put White into a potentially difficult situation. Not only could the Black player promote the pawn to a queen, he would also have a nice rook in reserve.

There are other ways to maximize your captured pawns. You can often drop a pawn onto the board in such a way that it challenges two powerful pieces at the same time. This forces the opponent to swap a more powerful piece for your pawn. Just remember to drop your pawn onto a protected square.

You can also use pawns to force the opponent's king into a position where you can check mate him. You can either lead him around by forcing the king to capture the unprotected pawn or you can force him to move into less protected areas of the game board.

Author: Summertop

BrainKing offers several levels of memberships. The basic level, Pawns, is free. This level is very usable. Pawn level members can have up to 20 games at one time, but they can make unlimited moves. They can even join a tournament. Some tournament offer prizes to the winners. There are public discussion boards where members, including Pawns, can talk about everything from games to poetry to sports. These discussion boards are well moderated so all of the unpleasantness that exists on other sites doesn't exist on BrainKing.

So, if the free Pawn membership level is so feature rich, is it truely worth the money to upgrade? well, there are two main features given for the upgraded memberships. Each one, by itself, is worth the cost of the upgraded membership. Combined, they offer more for your membership than any other online game site. Add in all the other little features, such as animated smileys and the referal program, and it is a "No-Brainer" to upgrade your membership. Let's visit the two main features for upgraded membership levels:

More Games: When you upgrade your membership, you can have an UNLIMITED number of games at one time. You can also join as many tournaments as you want. With that many games, you don't want to "time-out" and lose by default. So, you get up to thirty "Vacation" days per year to help. Pawns only get five vacation days. You even get a new game, not available to Pawns, called "Run around the Pond".

Fellowships: Fellowships are a place where a group of friends can get together. Most fellowships are themed. For example, you might join a fellowship devoted to the game of Backgammon. You also might join one devoted to Sports. You can join as many fellowships as you want. In these fellowships there are private discussion boards and private tournaments. A fellowship can even put together a team and join an tournament against other fellowships. You can even create your own fellowships and invite your friends to join it.

So as you can see, it is well worth the expense to upgrade you membership to take full advantage of the BrainKing community.