The Best Chess Move

When playing a game of chess it is always important to not get rushed and make a simple mistake. Too often a chess player will see a good or decent move and jump quickly to make that move. What is often overlooked is making the best move possible. Getting in a hurry or getting overly confident in your skills leads to making this simple mistake. Chess is a game that requires a well thought out plan and strategy if you want to win on a consistent basis.

People in general have a tendency to look for the easiest path to follow and it is no different in playing chess. While there may be an option to skewer your opponent‘s pieces, you may have overlooked the possible checkmate in two more moves that you could have made. This tendency to leap towards the first move that appears to you is a mistake that many inexperienced chess players will make.

There are multiple books, software, and web sites that offer tactical skills improvement exercises. These are very good for you to be able to look for the best move instead of looking for the easiest move. When you look at one of these tactical exercises you will be able to say to yourself “what would I have done in that situations?” Then you will be able to see what the best move is. Did your instinct move match the best move offered as the solution in the exercise? If not you may not be taking the time to look for the best possible move. These tactical exercises may seem somewhat mundane, but if you really want to improve then you need to spend time focusing on them so that you can consistently look for the best move each and every move.

You Have To Develop Your Pieces

When playing a game of chess it is important to develop all of your primary pieces early on in the game. If you have primary pieces that are still sitting on the back rank by the time you reach the middle game, then you have given your opponent an advantage in the game. All pieces need to be developed in order for you to have the tactical advantage in the game. Often times a player will leave a rook sitting on the back rank doing absolutely nothing. If you find yourself doing this, then you need to change. A rook is a very valuable piece and leaving it sitting safely tucked in the back rank is creating a situations where you are basically giving your opponent a one piece advantage.

A general rule of thumb is to move each piece once before moving any piece twice. This may seem very difficult to achieve in game play, but it does provide a great advantage to you if you are able to carry out this strategy. If you are able to safely develop all of your pieces early on in the game you will definitely have a lead in tempo over your opponent. Conversely, if you play too conservatively, you will allow your opponent to gain tempo and your opponent will be able to put you on the defense for the entire game.

Do not forget to develop your king by castling. Generally this is done on the king’s side, not the queen‘s side. This is also usually done during the opening, or within the first fifteen moves of the game. A winning strategy is one where you are able to develop and cautiously advance your pieces before your opponent has the chance to do the same.

A Winning Chess Player Attitude

A chess player‘s attitude probably has as much to do with winning and improving their chess game than anything else. A chess player can spend months reading books, practicing games, and memorizing openings, but if that chess player does not posses the winning attitude he or she will only advance so far in his or her abilities.

I am not going to suggest that you need to be an overly joyous soul to be good at chess, but you do need to work on some attitudinal skills such as confidence, respect, determination, discipline, etc. All of these traits can help make you a better chess player and perhaps a better person. Confidence in your game and your skills does not equal an arrogant person, confidence means that you know you are an intelligent person with some chess skills who could beat anyone on a given day. Confidence means that you are approaching the game with an attitude that you can in fact win the game at hand if you play well.

Respect for other players is important as well since you do not want to take an opponent so lightly that you do not try your best when you play. Determination means that you are willing to put in the practice and time that it takes to become a great chess player. If you look towards grand masters as people you would like to emulate, then understand that they got to where they are by practicing, studying, and learning from their mistakes.

Finally discipline is needed to have a winning attitude. The discipline to critically think through your moves, the discipline to sit and analyze the games that you have played, and the discipline to analyze the games of the chess greats is needed to develop a winning attitude. Disciplining yourself into good study habits will definitely help improve your game and your attitude.

Original Article : 101ChesTips.com