How Important Are Checks in Chess?
Hello! This is H1 and we’re going to be running it back with another episode talking about chess knowledge, chess wisdom, and chess understanding again.
When you first learn about the term check, it means nothing important. After all, checkmate is more significant anyway. Beginners tend to want to focus on checkmating the opponent before playing the rest of the game but, that's for a different day. It is simple to learn what a check is, but this is a complicated game.
Recognizing the term "check" is the first step, but assessing what checks mean in chess makes a person improve rapidly. I always tell my students that you should always see the good and bad checks in a chess position. Since we're in this fast-paced chess game era, people forget this, but it is crucial.
Grandmasters and titled players do this all the time. They ensure the checks in the position don’t force them into a losing variation. Tactics come out of nowhere if you're not keeping track of your opponent’s checks. And I know this is easier said than done.
I get it and as a chess player who's been playing this old game for 17 years, sometimes I slip up, too. You have to make this muscle memory when recognizing checks because if you don't, you will never get better. I remember when I was under 1500 ELO and I would lose by “silly tactics” all the time. When I mention “silly tactics” I mean tactics that would put me in a worse position in one or two moves and then smacking myself in the head, acknowledging the mistake that I wish wouldn’t have happened.
Every chess player should be checking for checks EVERY SINGLE GAME. When exactly should you check for checks? Well, I would say every single time it occurs, but we are human and I know most of you enjoy playing faster time controls. So if you are playing a blitz match, you should check for checks in critical positions. Usually, critical positions occur in the middle game but in beginner chess games they occur all the time in the opening.
That's why I always suggest to beginners to play longer time controls to set the foundation for chess principles. Chess becomes excessively complicated when you learn bad habits from faster time controls unless you're a kid who can sponge up all different types of positions at a faster rate. But let's continue forward on checking for checks in the middle game.
Usually, tactics occur when there's a lot of tension in the game and tension is when there are a lot of pieces attacking each other. When this occurs you should be looking for forcing moves. Forcing moves are checks, captures, and threats. These 3 things lead to tactics. If your opponent has loose pieces in the position which beginners tend to do all the time. They leave their pieces unprotected without a second thought if the piece is safe.
The people who are following my advice, if you're trying to get better, if you're trying to get past a certain ELO in chess, it should deal with the calculation process that is not working for you. I'm trying to make you see chess in a different light instead of suffering like everyone who hasn’t improved in years. This will be a good start on the right path.
Keep on fighting til the end, staying focused in chess, and real life too! PEACE
You can follow the links below for more information on my chess content.
www.youtube.com/@ChessKnowledgewithH1
https://open.spotify.com/show/6AefOx7Atzw3bgyfHG2bjR?si=6cca1bf3ba35459c
