This is a very short guide to playing better chess. It is aimed at those players who know all the basic moves but are finding difficulty deciding on a strategy and generally improving their play.
Introductory Comments
Chess is not a dreadfully difficult game, the moves are
fairly easy to pick up. The problem is finding a strategy to win at it.
Basically you are at the head of an army and you are trying to defeat another
equally matched army.
The first thing to do is formulate a plan, it doesn't have to
be good, it just has to be there, what if I did this, then what might my
opponent do?
Attack
Next, always try and attack, if you are fighting a war you
need to win it and generally if you make a lot of attacks you will begin to win
games.
Practice
Chess is not something you will get good at in a few games,
or even in a few hundred. Play as many games as you can, you will gradually get
better. Try different strategies and don't worry about getting beat!
Tips
Finally, here are some general tips to get you started, These
tips are not hard and fast and it may be necessary to break them on occasion. They should be taken as an indication of what
you should think about doing, nothing more.
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Open with a centre pawn. While the knight opening followed by a centre pawn is similar you are allowing your opponent to get the advantage of playing the opening they are most comfortable with. As white move the King or Queen pawn two squares. This frees up one of your bishops and eases development. As Black move the opposing pawn to your opponent. With more experience your openings can become more experimental but the centre pawn is almost always your best first move.
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Don't move pieces twice during the opening. If you move any of your pieces twice during the opening then you are allowing your opponent to steal a jump on you by moving out another piece. If at all possible wait until you have moved out both your knights and bishops and usually castled before moving your pieces again.
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Castle quickly. One of the most basic moves in chess, castling at the right time is also one of the most important. Ideally you should try to castle on the opposite side to your opponents attack. However if you are starting off I would recommend castling king's side always (it gives a tighter position with fewer loose pawns than the queen's side castle) and extremely quickly i.e. within a few moves of moving your kingside knight and bishop out.
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Search for gaps in your opponent's defences in the middle game. Keep an eye on where the opposing king is and watch out for possible
forks or
skewers. Your goal is to capture the King so aim your pieces at the King or a pawn near the King. Swap pieces to create extra space and don't be panicked into premature attacks or sacrifices. You should ensure an attack is supported at all times.
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Find out which squares are your opponents and your own weakest and most undefended squares. Move pieces to defend these squares for you and attack those squares on your opponent's side. Also try to attack both sides and switch attacks from one side of the board to the other if necessary. Your Queen, Bishops and Rooks all have long range so use it. Try and get your knights up close to the opposing ranks.
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Many games are won by the player who isn't necessarily playing interestingly or brilliantly but by the player who makes the least mistakes so try and make small developing moves rather than big flashy moves all the time.
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Watch out when making a sacrifice. Knowing when to sacrifice a piece is one of the most important aspects of chess play. The correct sacrifice can win you a game but equally a poor decision to "sac" a piece can kill you off, particularly against a more experienced player. Initially you certainly should try sacrificing pieces against your opponents, mostly these will be mistakes but occasionally they will pay off. However if you are playing in a semi-serious game you really want to win I would think very carefully before doing a sac at all and only after you have thought it through a few times first. Of course that is what I am saying here but in reality I have wasted pieces left right and centre with misguided sacrifices! Don't be like me! It is necessary to practice
sacrifices in friendly games. Otherwise you will find it extremely difficult to
break open a strongly defensive position.
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Be very careful about moving pawns. The pawns are the only pieces that cannot move backwards. As such once moved they can leave an unpluggable gap in your defences. Think very carefully therefore before making any pawn moves.
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Practice the end game. If you have
time then gaining a good knowledge of a few openings can be useful. However, the opening is
really just about moving your pieces out and making sure you don't do anything too silly.
The end game is another matter. Based on your strength after the middle game
i.e. who has the most pieces and best position it should be possible to predict
the victor and there are definite strategies in the end game that should always
be followed in certain scenarios. You should know how to mate a king with a king
and a rook for example, which can be trickier than it sounds if you don't know
what you are doing. Therefore study the end and middle games but don't get
tangled up in too many openings. Learn one or two openings and know them well.
That is entirely sufficient for most games.
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Use your time effectively. There are no prizes for quick play in chess. While practice games over 1 minute of 5 minutes etc are fun in real games you must use your time advantageously. This is something I have never managed to get my head round and it has lost me a number of games. You should think through your moves carefully before moving your piece and if you are in a match you should write down your move, then look at it, imagine your opponents next few moves and only then make the move.
Definition: Castling Castle by
moving your King two squares towards your Rook. Note that you cannot castle
through check ie over a square which is being attacked by another piece.
Definition: Fork A fork is where you use your knight, bishop or pawn to attack two pieces at once with a lower value piece. Usually the piece used is the knight because of it's unusual style of movement and the most effective fork is when you check the king, thereby forcing the king to move and allowing you to take the other piece you have "forked".
Definition: Skewer
If you keep an eye on where the king is then sometimes he will venture in front of the Queen or a rook and you can then use either a rook or bishop to check the king forcing him to move out of the way and allowing access to the piece behind.
Definition: Pin If a more powerful piece is behind a less powerful piece and you have a piece like the bishop or rook attacking the intervening piece then that piece is said to be "pinned" because you cannot move the less powerful piece without letting in the attack on the more important piece. Often the king can be pinned behind a piece in this way. You would then attack this piece with another piece like a pawn or a minor piece like a bishop or knight. You should then be able to "win the exchange" i.e. exchange a poorer piece for a stronger piece, say a bishop or knight for a rook or a pawn for a knight.
Definition:
En Passant is the French term for when your opponents pawn is on the fifth rank (two squares up from your pawn either to the right or the left). You move two squares in your first pawn move to beside the opposing pawn however - because the initial two pawn move is purely to enhance development - your opponent can take your piece and vice versa if the position was reversed.
Definition: Notation The most common form of notation and the most commonly used today is as follows: Looking up from white's position the board is numbered / notated A-H along the back row and 1-8 up the sides i.e. A1 is your Queen's side Rook and G7 is Black's king's side Knight. If you are doing a pawn move then the destination square only is given ie 1. (w) e4 (b) e5.
Bishops = B Knights = N Queens = Q King = K
Castling King side is 0-0 while Queen side is 0--0
