Mastering Chess.com Mobile: A Beginner’s Guide to Drawing Arrows

Chess is a game of strategy and skill, requiring players to think several moves ahead.

We will discuss the basic rules of chess, how to move the pieces, and what special moves you need to watch out for.

Explore the concept of drawing in chess, including different ways to achieve a draw. Delve into how to use the arrow feature in Chess.com Mobile, its benefits, and tips for utilizing arrows effectively in your games.

Let’s get started!

What Are the Basic Rules of Chess?

• Chess
1. How to win at chess: force your opponent to give up when you have checkmated their king so they haven’t knocked him over.
2. What are the sixty-four spaces on a chessboard called? Square spaces are numbered from 1 to 8. A rank is a horizontal row of eight squares. A file is a vertical column of 8 squares. A diagonal is one of 64 diagonally or opposite direction rolling rows of squares on which pieces can move. A chess piece’s square of influence is also a common term used to describe some open area of rows and columns (which are referred to as ranks and files) into which a chess piece can control or move by the player controlling it.
• Chess.com
1. Do chess puzzles daily, analyze personal completed games, and go over master games.
2. Understand strategic concepts and tactical tools.

How to Move the Pieces?

1. Open the mobile Chess.com app, and load a game you previously started or start a new game by selecting PLAY.
2. At the bottom of the game screen, place your finger on the piece you wish to move, then move your finger in the direction you wish to go, A transparent copy of the piece will move along with your finger as you drag it over the board to help you plan your move.
3. Release the piece when it reaches the desired square.

What Are the Special Moves?

The special moves in chess are referred to as the following:

1. Castles / Castling
2. En passant
3. Pawn promotion
4. Stalemate
5. Draw by repetition
6. Draw by agreement

Castling are three special chess moves that allow players to avoid or end dangerous and unbeneficial conditions depending on the pose of the board. This is my screenshot I had from mobile of how to castle with king side. To castle queenside, move your king two lefts/two squares left, then bring your queen’s rook into the king position

• King Castling: Move your king two squares to either right, then bring your king’s rook into the king position.
• Queenside Castling: Move your king two squares to either left, then bring your queen’s rook into the king position.

How to Draw in Chess?

Drawing in chess refers to ending a game early when it is no longer possible for either player to checkmate the opponent. The decision to draw must be formally requested and agreed upon by your opponent. Some ways to request a draw are tapping the king of the player, shaking hands with the player, or offering a no-gain or insufficient material draw. Discussing with your opponent for a draw offer is central to chess etiquette when you feel the end of the game is close. Arrows are used to communicate the offer and expiry of a “no-gain draw” in chess.

What Is a Draw in Chess?

A draw is a status that chess achieves under certain conditions when neither player can achieve a win. The rules set forth by Section 9 of the FIDE Laws of Chess state that any of the following conditions that occur during a game of chess immediately ends it:

1. King is in check, and the player faces no legal moves except for moves that add extenuating checks.
2. Both players agree to a draw.
3. During the last 50 consecutive moves of each player the following developments have occurred:
   • No Pawn has moved and no Pawn has been captured.
   • No piece has been captured.
   • No piece has moved.
   • No pawn has been moved and no piece has been captured.
4. The same position is encountered for the third occurrence on both sides.
5. While neither player has enough pieces to checkmate the opponent, if no supporting material exists, the game is a draw both before moves/move combinations are prohibited by the 50-move rule.
6. Either player is unable to move (Stalemate).

In the context of chess as it is played by members of the Chess.com community, players will often agree to a draw in a game they feel is well-matched so as to preserve a series of good competitive matches they have been experiencing. If you wish to agree to get a draw in your game with Chess.Com, click the three dots (…) in the upper right of the game board, then click Draw. If your opponent accepts the draw, the game will end amicably without a winner.

What Are the Different Ways to Draw in Chess?

The different ways to draw in chess are as follows:

1. When the game-ending position is reached, either player may draw, as per the 50-move rule
2. Threefold repetition rule: The same position is repeated three times by both sides, and any piece must be able to make any move. If such pieces don’t exist, chess can be drawn, and the game may be played.
3. Stalemate: If the person who has the move has no legal moves left (is not under server side checkmate) and his king is not in check

How to Draw Arrows in Chess.com Mobile?

You draw arrows in Chess.com mobile by following these steps:

1. Hold down on the selected piece until it highlights. This will also display the highlighted moves.
2. Adjustment handles will appear. Click and drag the ends to make the arrow longer/shorter, or the base circle to change the endpoint angle.
3. Release the piece and begin the move. The arrow will disappear. If added during an ongoing match, the arrow will remain in place to assist both players select moves.
4. If a piece is already selected, just click and drag on any square. If you let the piece go or place it on another square, the line will be erased. Alternatively, hold down on any selected piece to open the UI, and pick the arrow icons on the top right.
5. Draw the arrow as described.

Currently only mobile devices support drawing arrows in Chess.com Titled Tuesday Simul live tournaments. Bots do not support it.

What Is the Arrow Feature in Chess.com Mobile?

The arrow feature in Chess.com Mobile is a way to visually point things out while annotating your games. The arrows generated by Chess.com Mobile can point to how some pieces moved, how the board looked at some moments, and can help denote general strategy when accompanied by circles or text. Mobile app arrows can only be viewed in the web-based analysis tool, not in the mobile app or web player. Other people do not see them and they do not show on the static PGN game file.

As of the Chess.com mobile app versions 4.9.0 for iOS and 4.9.2 for Android, you cannot create and edit arrows with the mobile app. However, you can access a specific tool on the website which allows you to draw arrows and add them to games originally played on the mobile app, and then view the user-generated arrows in the web analysis board.

Arrows are typically used in conjunction with other drawn items such as circles and textbox explanations. The combined use of arrows with circles and text allow a very clear visualization of strategies of the players, the movement of pieces and potential scenarios that can arise.

How to Use the Arrow Feature?

The arrow feature can be used in Analysis mode on Chess.com mobile by long-pressing a piece players want to move. The user then drags & drops that piece to the desired square while leaving two fingers on the screen to show where they want the piece to go. Their opponent’s last move displays as a reference point, and an animation is played when the player lifts their fingers from the screen, indicating the move is final. After the move is played, the arrow disappears and players can view the board from a different angle.

It is ideal to allow both players to make moves with arrows after each opposing move as that allows alternate views of each move as the game progresses. Chess.com’s arrow feature provides an intuitive analysis perspective for both players and viewers, as movement with two fingers leaves a line showing where pieces will land. The arrow feature has no effect or additional functionality when observing live games without analysis mode enabled.

What Are the Benefits of Using Arrows in Chess?

The benefits of using arrows and enjoy specific features illustrated by those benefits. High-quality chess instruction requires clear and easy-to-understand communication. This is achieved because merit crusician meriticus on the player Tod Vierzehn who has more than meritusty club This assists the club and brokerage firm in achieving effective instruction and in creating a deeper understanding of game dynamics by removing misunderstandings with visual cues such as arrows and squares.

Arrows on chess software and educational platforms aid the communication process by drawing viewers’ focus on a particular aspect of the board. Merely discussing the point is sometimes not enough and can allow for a wide range of interpretation. Drawing an arrow focuses the audience’s attention and leaves no room for doubt about what an instructor is trying to illustrate.

Used by commentators. Chess tournament commentators are some of the biggest consumers of chess training tools such as being able to input and display arrows on the board. Whether they are speaking to a viewer, thinking out loud, or demonstrating a game, the use of arrows allows them to reinforce their analysis and engage with the audience.

Helps viewers track progress. Similar to using arrows in comics and storyboards to guide the reader or viewer’s eyes to see where the story is going, a well-placed arrow in chess can keep the attention of viewers. It tells them where to look on the board and what they should be trying to deduce from a series of actions.

Tips for Using Arrows in Chess.com Mobile

Tips for using arrows in Chess.com Mobile include the following directives for quickly applying useful features:

• One-finger drawing control: Long press on any piece or square, and then release to create a quick, easy-to-understand arrow. Use short presses to change the base or head of the arrow to any piece or any square respectively.
• Move list and notation screen: Turn this on to review and confirm your arrows after you have completed them.
• Arrow color indicator: Turn this feature on to indicate whose arrow is currently on the board.
• Use the color picker: Draw red arrows for black moves, and green arrows for white moves.
• Arrow undoing: Just press long with a single finger and swipe right to erase the latest arrow you drew. You can tune whether an arrow was fully deleted if it was unfinished or stay if the arrow was complete.
• Finger zoom control: Two fingers for simple zoom and pinch zoom and. This will aid in effective and quick drawing and editing of arrows. The arrow’s size with the board’s perspective can be calibrated on the board.

Use Arrows to Plan Your Moves

You can draw arrows while planning your moves in Chess.com Mobile to demonstrate your strategic or tactical ideas to yourself. This is also very helpful in clearly presenting your plans to your friends or coach. In situations where you have not decided on your move or sequence of moves, but are calculating and evaluating various alternatives, either to yourself or out loud, you can draw arrows to demonstrate the various variations. Arrows are usually used while in Analysis Mode and waiting for your opponent to move, but players can physically draw on the pieces with their fingers while a live game is in progress. A more thorough explanation of this example can be found in the Draw a Square Example section below. Here are some practical examples of Usage of Arrows in this scenario.

• Considering if getting control over the Open D File by doubling rooks is a good mid-game plan, the drawn arrows help understand if the plan fits well with the situation on the board and helps eliminate a variety of alternatives. Each arrow indicates the positioning of the two hypothetical black rooks in a different pair of board files. All other arrows indicate the positions of actual or potential targets that they can exert control on in those positions.
• The following language is exchanged with the analyst because the initial board position on move 15 serves as the default. The language exchanged with the analyst prior to the display of the appropriate default board position for move 15 on may be slightly different. Player: So the way I see it is, if we want rooks on h and j…
• Player: then we would play this… the queen waits until an op takes away the pressure of the bishop…
• Player: Then we would have the queen wait…
• Player: and this knight would jump either here or here(Other possible moves for Kg1 are also possible. This is just a sample. Qf1 could also come to further defend the Ng3, for example). The pawn on g could move… h could be opened for support…
• Player: and we would push this… and this…
• Player: if they dont move correctly… we push, and they have no chance, we develop.. In this situation, we are winning. If they move correctly, we can still get in checkmate… but we have to look a little more long-term…

When moving the pieces in this and the following example, the analyst should make screenshots of every move or every 2-3 moves, beginning with the initial game position before White’s 8th move on move 15. Therefore the first game image after the initial move 15 should be displayed with the analyst move language. Player: So the way I see it is, if we want rooks on h and j…

Use Arrows to Analyze Your Opponent’s Moves

Similar to how you can use arrows and move suggestions to analyze your own moves on chess.com, you can use them to analyze your opponent’s moves. They can help you plan out what you think your opponent’s strategy is if you can’t quite see it yet. This feature is particularly important and helpful in fast games where time is limited and you don’t have time to go back and forth from the board.

Use Arrows to Communicate with Your Opponent

You can use arrows to communicate with your opponent during live games. Arrows can express that you are thinking about a move, point out a mistake you found in your opponent’s most recent move, explain the reasoning behind a move, or express emotions during a game. They can also be used to communicate when playing with no chat enabled or with a time control that makes typing comments in the chat difficult.

The examples in the screenshot show a player pointing out fork move with two different pieces using green and blue arrows, followed by a sad face communication. Just keep in mind that because other players can see them, they could also be misinterpreted, so be careful not to unintentionally send mixed messages or add to tension during a game.

This is a purely optional practice. Not everyone uses arrows to communicate with opponents. Masters and other highest-level players seldom use arrows due to the innate complexity of chess and spoken analysis. Players do not have to be talking during a game to leverage chess’s verbal, visual and body language qualities.

Conclusion

You can draw arrows in a chess.com mobile game during live analysis and post-game analysis in Analysis and Analysis Board modes. When you hold down on a move to make an arrow in Analysis mode, tap and hold and then move your finger without lifting until you tap the selected point. You can send arrows from different pieces or areas at the same time with toggle on from the arrow selection menu. In board analysis, tap where you want the arrow to begin and a floating menu with drawing tools will appear. Select the arrow tool, then drag without lifting your finger until you reach where you want the arrow to end.

Arrows serve as a teaching tool for coaches, as they enable students playing on their own computer to understand real-time which pieces can move where for their coach who is viewing the game remotely is providing live commentary.

Potential improvements to the chess.com mobile application related to using arrows include the ability to make the size of arrows adjustable. As of the time of this writing, the arrows on the mobile app are quite pronounced, which may be good for those with visual problems, but in the future, it would be good to give users who prefer more minimalist arrows the option of choosing lighter, thinner arrows.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Draw Arrows in Chess.com Mobile?

Drawing arrows in Chess.com mobile can be a useful tool for communicating with your opponent during a game. Here are some common questions about this feature and their answers.

1) How do I access the arrow drawing feature in Chess.com Mobile?

To draw arrows in Chess.com Mobile, simply tap and hold on any square on the board. The arrow drawing menu will appear above the board.

2) Can I draw arrows on my opponent’s turn?

Yes, you can draw arrows on your opponent’s turn as well. This can be helpful in planning your own moves while your opponent is thinking.

3) How many arrows can I draw at once?

You can draw up to 3 arrows at a time on the board in Chess.com Mobile. If you need to draw more, simply erase the existing arrows and draw new ones.

4) Can I save my arrow drawings for future reference?

Unfortunately, the arrow drawings are not saved on the board and will disappear once the game is finished. However, you can take screenshots of the arrows for future reference.

5) Are there different types of arrows I can draw?

Yes, Chess.com Mobile offers four different types of arrows: straight arrows, curved arrows, dotted arrows, and dashed arrows. You can choose the type by tapping on the arrow drawing menu.

6) Can I undo or erase my arrow drawings?

Yes, you can undo or erase your arrow drawings by tapping on the “Undo” button or by using the eraser tool in the arrow drawing menu. This can be helpful if you make a mistake or change your strategy.