Chess is one of the oldest board games that we have and is also one of the most widely adopted across the globe. The game encompasses a great deal of strategy, analysis and intuition. By practising chess you will certainly be keeping your brain in check!
Let’s get to the rule and principles which underpin the board game so you can get set up and begin progressing your ability to play!
In each game, the player who plays with the white pieces will have the honour of making the first move. This means that if you play as white you will always enjoy the advantage of being one move ahead of your opponent. The player who plays as black is said to be defending due to this difference in tempo.
Though, throughout the game, the tempo will change as you develop your pieces and begin to attack the pieces of your opponent. As you progress as a player you will need to do quite a bit of calculating.
You will need to come up with a multitude of strategies and defend against the attacks of your opponent. While you focus on capturing enemy pieces you will also need to keep an eye on what your opponent might be planning themselves.
The overarching goal is of course to trap the enemy king, although capturing the material of your opponent is a great way of improving your advantage in the game!
Knowing what resources to learn from is also important.
Developing your skills on the board
One of the best concepts for beginners to focus on when they start out playing chess, and keep practicing even when they develop into an advanced player is developing your pieces.
At the beginning of each game, all of your most powerful pieces and those that are worth the most points of material are positioned along the back rank or bottom row. Points of material are a way of valuing the strength of a piece and something that you will consider before taking your opponent’s pieces.
You shouldn’t take your opponent’s pieces simply because you can! Often some trades might actually benefit your opponent more than they benefit you. Essentially you will need to ask yourself if it is a good trade for you.
You might be better off moving the piece that your opponent has attacked or even backing it up with another one of your pieces. This can be a great opportunity to develop your pieces as you defend your position.
So back to the concept of developing your pieces on the chess board. At the beginning of the game your stronger pieces are blocked by a wall of pawns. Given that each piece’s value or strength is determined by the amount or the importance of squares that they cover, you will need to open up the board to give your pieces more value.
This is why the majority of chess games begin with players moving either the centre pawns or jumping your knights ahead of the second row.
Whether you choose to play chess in person with an opponent or with online players you will still have all of the same pieces, your king, queen, bishop, knight, rook and all the pawns. If you are playing over the board make sure that you set up all the chess pieces correctly and that both you and your opponent know all of the rules and moves!
Professional level chess is both educational and exciting to watch.
Let’s talk about the opening
The game of chess is often broken down into three phases, the opening, the middle game and the end game. These phases allow players to better understand the different tactics or ideas that they should employ in the respective situation.
The opening is a pivotal part of any chess game. Your reliance on knowing a few different openings will increases as the competition starts to improve as you improve at the game. For beginners, you will likely have the chance to recover even if you manage to make a mistake or fall into trouble early on.
The opening is essentially the first few moves that you make on the chess board. Given that chess is a sequential game with so many possible moves. By sticking to a limited repertoire of moves to start the game, you will be limiting the avenues or paths in which the game might go down. This will result in you being better prepared for the games.
If you are constantly playing in similar positions you will be more familiar with the objectives of your position and you are less likely to run into one of your opponent’s traps as a result!
Given that the game has been around for so long, certain strategies have been tested throughout time. Many of these opening strategies are commonly known and learned by players seeing to gain an advantage over their opponent.
For many players, they will likely know what their first 2 or 3 moves are going to be before they even sit down at the chess board.
Here is an introduction to the world of online chess.
The middle game
In the middle game, both players are now said to be playing chess. This means that they are playing off of instinct and reading the game and have finished with the moves which they have memorised for their opening.
With that said, at a higher level players will have memorised the best move for many moves after the opening. This is what is known as their preparation.
In order to become stronger at chess you will need to develop your skills in the middle game. For beginners this is where the majority of games are won and lost.
To improve at the middle game you will need to be familiar with the patterns in which your pieces can move and the squares that they see. Completing chess puzzles online is perhaps the best way to improve at the middle game. Of course, playing a lot of games is essential too, there is no getting around playing the game if you wish to improve.
The middle game requires you to see tactics and assess all of your potential moves. You will even need to anticipate your opponent’s response and have a plan in place for sometimes several moves in advance.
However, this is not necessary for beginners although it is certainly something to work towards when you are starting out.
You should look to develop your pieces in the early game. Moving pieces such as your rook, queen can put your opponent’s king in danger from across the board. Moving a pawn could take some pressure off of your other pieces. Remember that once the pan reaches the end of the board, that player will get a new piece such as a queen.
When looking at the game and what moves you can make to threaten the pieces of your opponent, you should take time and look if your pieces could put the king of your opponent in check!
The middle game is generally the longest phase of the game. This means if you manage to develop your skills, you will likely triumph over your opponent!
Here is some advice on where to find your first chess tutor.
The end game
The final stage of a game of chess is known as the end game. This stage is all about how you take the advantage that you earned throughout the game and convert it into a win.
Afterall the focus of chess is trapping the enemy king, while you might have captured more pieces then your opponent, that doesn’t mean that you are going to win the game.
Converting your position into a win is a skill in itself. In the endgame, your pawns the seemingly most insignificant piece on the board really come to life. Given that pawns can only capture on their forward-facing diagonal squares they can be perceived as weak. In the end game if one of your pawns manages to reach the end of the board.
You can promote the pieces to a queen once it reaches the end of the board. Just like that the weakest piece can become the most powerful piece on the board. That is what is so exciting about the endgame.
Since there are fewer pieces occupying the board, you will need to be methodical in how you manoeuvre your pieces. There really is no feeling quite like getting checkmating your opponent or getting them to resign. This is something you will have to experience for yourself, so get practising yourself!
Whether you already know how to play chess or know none of the chess rules you will find value in this article. Once you know a proper chess set up and have searched chess rules for beginners you will be well on your way! You don’t even need a board you can play chess online free.
Don’t worry the online chess board has the same number of pieces, squares, players and rules than the physical game. Once you find an opponent you will be able to play the game. Remember to keep an eye on your time and to keep your pieces safe, especially your king!
If you’d like to take the first step and get started playing chess then read this guide.
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