Chess is a strategic and tactical game. Each player commands an army of 16 pieces.
A good game of chess has three periods. In the opening game, the players bring their forces to bear in preparation for battle. At the beginning of the middle game, the players attack and counterattack for positions. The last phase is the endgame, when there are fewer and fewer pawns and pieces left on the board, and it is safer for the king to come out for the final battle.
Some basic chess tips and tricks can help you to understand the chess game better. If you want to win at chess, it will take a lot of studying and a lot of practicing.
Table of Contents
Studying the moves
Each piece can only move in a certain way. Here is an example:
- A pawn can move straight, but it can only attack from one angle, one square at a time.
- A knight moves in an L-shape.
- The bishop moves at an angle, but can move more than a square at a time.
- The rook can only move in a straight line, but can move forward, backward or sideways.
- The queen can move any number of squares in any direction, but cannot move in both directions in one movement.
- The king moves at a dignified pace. Move one square in any direction at a time, just as the king should do.
Opening with a pawn
Moving the pawn in front of the king or queen forward two squares. (Only on its opening move can.) It opens the way for your bishop and queen to enter the game. They move at an angle so that if the pawn is in the way, they cannot enter the field.
Bring out the knights and bishops
Moving your knight and bishop to the center of the board before you move your queen, rook or king. Let these pieces out from behind the pawns so that they can attack.
Careful with your back
And the front! Always imagine what your opponent’s last move does when it’s your turn? Is he setting up a trap to capture your piece? Decide your own plans. Always take a look at all possibilities. Look first at the moves that could capture your opponent’s man or threaten his king. Make sure to double check your moves before you play. Check if your move leaves something unprotected.
Don’t spend time
Don’t move too much with your pawns and don’t try to take out your opponent’s pawns.
Early Castling
A castling is a move that permits you to move the king to a safe position and bring your rooks into play. As soon as all the squares between your rook and the king are not occupied, you can move the king two squares towards the rook, which moves to a square on the other side of the king. If your opponent ignores the castle, you can probably attack against his king. This is the only move that allows you to move more than one piece in one turn.
Attacking in the middle game
The middle game begins after you have brought all your knights and bishops into the game and castled them (these moves are your openings). In the middle game, keep an eye out for capturing your opponent’s men. Capture any pieces that your opponent is not protecting. But see what happens if you capture his pieces. Will you be picked off? Always be seeking ways to move many of your men into position to strike the enemy king.
Wisely losing pieces
You will capture some of your opponent’s pieces. Some of your pieces will also be taken away. You have to find out what is and what is not a good exchange. If you are going to lose one of your pieces, use those points to figure out if you played well.
- Queen: 9 points
- Rook: 5 points
- Bishop: 3 points
- Knight: 3 points
- Pawn: 1 point
Is it good to lose a bishop to save a pawn then? No!
Don’t move too fast
If you are seeing a good move, sit down and look for a better one. Thinking patiently is the main key to success in chess.
Winning the end game
The endgame begins after you and your opponent exchange pieces and you are left with only a few men. Pawns now become more significant. If you can push a pawn to the row furthest from you, that pawn becomes the queen. A great success! Let your king attack, so long as he stays in range of your opponent’s remaining pieces. Particularly out of range of the queen, don’t let yourself get caught up.
When your opponent threatens to capture the king with one of his pieces on the next move, your king is said to be in check. If your king is in check, and you have no means to eliminate the threat. It cannot escape, you cannot take the opponent’s piece that has it in check, and you cannot prevent the check by moving your own piece, the game is over. Checkmate! If you checkmate your opponent before he checkmates you, you win!
Best sites to practice chess online
There is no better way to improve your chess skills than to play many many games of chess. There are many sites on the Internet where you can find opponents of all levels. You can start anytime, anywhere, day or night.
At over 28 million members, chess.com is the largest online chess community on the Internet. You can play live with different time controls, or play correspondence-style games with days per move. The basic membership is free, but additional training features, videos and statistics are available to premium users.
- chess24
Established in 2014, chess24 has quickly become one of the top chess games and learning sites on the web. Basic membership is free, but the premium membership upgrade allows full access to a large amount of training material, like video series and e-books. Premium members also have the chance to challenge prestigious chess players on live streams.
- Lichess
Lichess is highly regarded for being a free and open source online chess server. You can even build it into your own website. It offers various online game modes, as well as training features, and is highly competitive. Although it lacks training content, Lichess has a slick and rapid interface and 24/7 tournaments.
- Internet Chess Club (ICC)
ICC has been the premier chess game site for a long time. If you wished to play against international masters and grandmasters, ICC was the best option by far. However, it has been surpassed in recent years by rivals such as chess.com. The membership is not free, but comes with a one month free trial period.
- Free Internet Chess Server (FICS)
FICS is among the oldest online chess servers. It was initially created as a free substitute for ICC when ICC began charging players a membership fee. Since there is no official interface, in order to play, you need to download a compatible.