Chess Tactic : Doing Nothing

Chess is a very complicated game, as we all know. One of the reasons that it is very complicated is that you must move a piece every move. This makes it nearly impossible to hold the wonderful defense that you have created without giving your opponent an opportunity to penetrate your defensive scheme. This defensive structure that you have carefully crafted grows to be even more important in the end game.

Understanding that it is sometimes better to shuffle a piece back and forth from square to square, than to weaken your defense, is very important. Doing this may seem… boring… but it is better to be boring than to throw away a win or a chance at a draw. If your opponent allows you to do this enough, the game will end in a draw due to the 50-move rule. More often though, your opponent will grow impatient and make an error. This is assuming that you are in a weaker position and that your opponent is looking for a way to place you into a checkmate instead of letting you get the draw.

This frantic moving and searching by your opponent will frequently result in them making a mistake and giving you the victory. Another consideration is whether or not you are playing a timed game. If so, you can run your opponent out of time with this shuffling of your piece because your opponent will spend time looking for a mate while you are in a perfectly defended position that requires no thought. Look at your end game for opportunities to utilize this do nothing strategy. This strategy will come in handy at times and can help you secure a draw, or even better a win.

Chess Tips: What is Your Opponent Trying to do?

This is a question that you should ask yourself each and every time your opponent makes a move in a chess game. Too often players will overlook this simple question and focus far too much on what he or she is trying to do, not what their opponent is trying to do. Ignoring the strategy that your opponent is trying to implement is similar to going to war and only focusing on your army’s goals while ignoring the goals of the enemy.

You are trying to capture your opponent’s queen in these next few moves because it appears to be weakly guarded. This can be a good or bad strategy depending on what your opponent is trying to do. If your opponent is attempting to lure you into focusing all of your attention on that poorly guarded queen while setting you up for checkmate, then your attention is focused in the wrong place. Of course you are not a mind reader and do not always know what your opponents strategy is, or if he or she even has a strategy in mind. However, it is critical that you consider what you believe your opponent is trying to do.

When playing chess your goals in the game need to become somewhat secondary to countering the goals that your opponent has. If you see that in two moves you can place your opponent in checkmate, but fail to realize that in one move he or she can capture your attacking pieces, then you have failed to examine what your opponent is trying to do. Once again it is the all-important balance between offense and defense that you are working towards in the game of chess. Focusing all of your attention on one area or the other is a mistake. Find a good balance between the two styles.

Chess Strategies - Skewers and Pins

Pinning your opponent is when you are able to trap one of your opponent’s pieces. The most common scenario is pinning a piece that your opponent has placed in front of his or her king. Picture your opponent placing a bishop in front of his or her king and you placing a rook on the same file. Now your opponent cannot move the bishop or he or she will be placed into check. It is an illegal move to put yourself into check. Now that you have learned the tactic of pinning your opponent’s pieces you need to know when it is the best time to actually capture that pinned piece.

Many times a chess player will react too quickly and take the opponent’s pinned piece because it seems like the right move. This is often a mistake. If you are able to pin one of your opponent’s pieces you may be best served to wait to capture that pinned piece. If you react quickly and take it now, you will lose the piece that you have used to create the pin. From the example above, you would lose your rook once you take the bishop.

A better option is to wait until your opponent moves that piece. Referencing the example again, wait until your opponent moves the king before you take the bishop. Eventually, if you are patient, your opponent will move the king in order to get the bishop back into the game. When your opponent does this take the bishop. An even better scenario is making sure that your opponent has moved king so that you can capture the bishop without losing your rook. The most important concept is to be patient. Far too many chess games are lost due to players acting too quickly.

Chess Move: How The Pieces Move and Capture

Picture yourself playing a tough chess game and your opponent is threatening to promote a pawn. When should you capture this pawn? For most of us the answer would probably be to capture it as soon as possible, or when it is convenient for us. Typically a player will capture that pawn quickly to eliminate the threat that it presents by being able to be promoted. If the pawn has a few moves to go before it can be promoted a lot of players will wait until they are in a good defensive position before going after that pawn. What if both of these tactics are mistakes though?

Often times a better option to capture that promoting pawn is to wait until after it has promoted. This means that you take it the very next move, after it promotes. You must eventually capture the promoting piece, but doing so too early may cost you a win or, at worst, a draw. Most chess players face a promoting piece late in the end game where pieces and moves are extremely valuable. The end game situation makes it even more critical that you plan ahead and that you do not hurt yourself in capturing that promoting piece. Of course, do not wait to capture the promoting piece if your opponent is threatening to block your capture.

Instead of capturing the promoting piece too soon, try to gain tempo in the game so that you have your opponent forced into a more defensive stance. A tempo advantage often wins games. Tempo is when you are a move ahead of your opponent and you are able to threaten your opponent due to your solid defense. Being too hasty in reacting to your opponent‘s advances can be very destructive.

Chess Move: Protect an Attacked Piece

There are many methods to protect your pieces when they come under attack from your opponent. Not all of these methods will work in an actual game, but all should be considered depending on the situation that you find yourself in.

The first method is to move the piece to a safe square. This would be a square where your opponent cannot attack the piece or where it is guarded by another piece of yours.

A second method to protect an attacked piece is to capture the attacking piece. This may be one of the best methods because not only do you eliminate the threat from your opponent, but you also gain material and tempo in the process. Your opponent will have gone from an offensive front to a defensive posture in this one move.

The third method is block the attack. This does not work with all pieces such as knights. If you opponent is attacking with a queen, rook, or bishop this method will work. This is where you simply move another piece in the path of the attacker so that your opponent cannot capture your primary piece.

The fourth method is to simply guard your piece that the opponent is attacking. Moving another piece does this, so that if your opponent does attack, you will be able to capture the opponents attacking piece the very next move.

The final way to protect an attacked piece is to counterattack. Pinning or skewering your opponent can do this. For example, if your opponent threatens to take your rook, but you are able to threaten to capture your opponent’s queen, then your opponent is likely to surrender the attack and to defensively move his or her queen.

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.