Tips & Tricks

There you have it: the fundamentals of Chess! You should know the rules, openings, basic tactics and a few advanced strategies. Now the only way to become even better is to play a lot, and maybe analyse games and recognize more advanced patterns.

Playing games, you can experiment with new ideas and learn how to play against different types of opponents. Every game of chess you can draw on your experience from previous ones. Maybe you recognize a situation and still know what move you made and whether it was the right one or no. Or perhaps you have over time invented your own mating pattern, suited to your playstyle, that is very effective.

Analysing games, you can learn from the mistakes other people, usually grandmasters, made in their games. Trying to come up with better alternatives will improve your skill. But, they also provide an opportunity for you to see new patterns and attacking combinations to use in your own games.

Anyhow, I will now give you some last tips and tricks that didn’t really fit elsewhere. And then you’ll be on your own!

Sacrificing

A sacrifice is when you let the opponent capture one of your pieces without recapturing, to gain a positional advantage and maybe even a surefire way for a checkmate.

However, don’t think that sacrifices are magical unicorns that will always help your game. Only make a sacrifice if you are absolutely sure you are going to gain from it what you have in mind (or maybe even better).

If you’re not sure, you’ll have sacrificed your piece for nothing 99% of the times.

For this reason: don’t take an enemy piece without looking at the unexpected consequences. Maybe he made a bad move … maybe he’s making a brilliant sacrifice.

Never assume, recalculate

Before moving a piece, see what it defends and what it prevents.

Sometimes, one of your pieces is preventing an attack without you knowing it, and moving it will unleash your opponent.

Also, ensure you don’t provide the opponent with an opportunity to place a double attack. Always.

Knights before bishops

Develop knights before bishops.

This is simply a logical insight: bishops are hidden behind a wall of pawns at the start of a game.

Knights can get into the game and control the centre in one single move. It is therefore, most of the time, better to start by bringing your knights out.

Actively look ahead

Learn to think multiple moves ahead. If you only think one step ahead, your opponent won’t have to go further either, and will always see through all your plans.

Learn to view the game from your opponent’s POV. What dot hey want? Why did they do this particular move? What are they threatening? What do they think I want?

Chess is volatile

If you have finally achieved a winning position, don’t let it slip away! Don’t sit back and relax, don’t start toying with your opponent—one wrong move and you have lost the game.

I can’t count the number of times I lose a game through stalemate or the careless loss of a queen, when I was young. I was winning considerably, I was confident, so I relaxed and it all went wrong.

First move disadvantage

Don’t be the one starting an (equal) exchange, unless you can gain a great positional or tactical advantage from it.

Let the opponent come—they will waste one move on starting the exchange.

For example, say your opponent places his bishop in such a way that he is threatening your bishop. You could then use your move to exchange bishops, but that’s probably what your opponent is hoping for. If your opponent wants to exchange anyway, let him do that in his own time and not yours.