Happy New Year! Chess in 2020
Haven't came back in a long time for a good reason! I've been working secretly (not even on chess.com) on a blogging project. I've spent a lot of time on chess.com every single day ever since quarantine began here in Canada (March 2020). Chess.com has been a huge socializing environment, and many players are developing their chess skills.
One thing about chess however, is that it is one of the oldest games that is still spiking in popularity. Many people don't know about this, but chess is becoming the most popular it has ever become, both numerical wise and percentage wise.
2020 has been a crazy year. On Jan 25th 2020, COVID-19 was officially confirmed. Then it started spreading. Chess.com has played a major role in the chess platform, as it has brought players all over the world to play, and it still stands as one of the biggest socializing websites in the world! (Excluding social media, of course). It remains strong today.
I've done a lot on chess.com in the past months, and have achieved many things I couldn't possibly have imagined 9 months ago. I did fail at a few things (streaming, ending twitch now), and I succeeded at others (youtube channel, blogging of course).
For Chess in 2020, I'm not here to summarize the year. I'm here to give advice for everyone at all ages and levels. If one of these categories suits you, perfect!
| Style\Rating & Age | 800-1200 (All ages) | 1200-1600 (All ages) | 1600-2000 (Ages 6-15) | 1600-2000 (Ages 15+) | 2000+ (Ages 6-18) | 2000+ (Ages 18+) |
| Closed (Pawns block the position) | Make sure to play faster and to find activity for your pieces. | Make sure to exploit all your opponents weaknesses. | Make sure that there are no severe pawn breaks your opponent may be attempting to do. | Calculate thoroughly what your next pawn moves will be. Give reasons inside you head why it should be played. | At this level, closed positions won't raise your strength. You will need to change strategies. | At this level, closed positions won't raise your strength. You will need to change strategies. |
| Slow and Steady (Slowly build up an unstoppable attack) | Make sure that your opponent has no moves to threaten or capture your pieces. | Make sure that nothing goes wrong and that your pawn structure is intact. | Make sure you aren't moving too fast. Also make sure your king is far away from any pawn storms. | Make sure your pieces are centralized. At this age you shouldn't play wildly, so you should be able to play slow and calculate thoroughly. | Make sure that you don't get any doubled pawns or missplaced pieces as they will cause you the game. One pawn may decide everything. | You will be a master calculator at this point. Even GMs will need to follow this guideline: Never go on the attack with a loose king. Otherwise this style isn't for you. |
| Solid (Hard to beat, hard to go on the attack) | Make sure to seek any moment to attack your opponent's king while keeping your king safe. | Make sure that the queen is in a safe position ready to leap into action. | Make sure that your opponent won't be able to use any pawn breaks and make sure that your king is always safe. | Trying positions with queenside castling may be good at this level. Make sure not to go on the attack too often. | This is my style. Make sure you have solid endgame technique because endgames are really common with this style. | Calculate thoroughly every option your opponent has for the attack. Make sure to have prophylaxis and stop all of them. |
| Calculating (Just playing whatever is calculated) | The hardest style to play. Make sure to calculate everything. This applies for all levels here, and is the most flexible style. Usually only Super GMs are able to achieve this. | The hardest style to play. Make sure to calculate everything. This applies for all levels here, and is the most flexible style. Usually only Super GMs are able to achieve this. | The hardest style to play. Make sure to calculate everything. This applies for all levels here, and is the most flexible style. Usually only Super GMs are able to achieve this. | The hardest style to play. Make sure to calculate everything. This applies for all levels here, and is the most flexible style. Usually only Super GMs are able to achieve this. | The hardest style to play. Make sure to calculate everything. This applies for all levels here, and is the most flexible style. Usually only Super GMs are able to achieve this. | The hardest style to play. Make sure to calculate everything. This applies for all levels here, and is the most flexible style. Usually only Super GMs are able to achieve this. |
| Sharp (Double-edged positions) | Go on the attack immediately. You'll probably mate your opponent first. | Make sure to bring all your pieces into your attack. Make sure your king doesn't get into the open board. | Make sure that you are prepared to sacrifice any pieces or pawns for the mate. Start calculating thoroughly. | Calm down if you are being attacked. Sacrifice if needed. Play wisely and make sure no dirty blunders are played. | You will gain the most rating out of this style. It will stop about here though, as you will need to try to make sure nothing goes wrong. That is really hard for this style. | You will gain the most rating out of this style. It will stop about here though, as you will need to try to make sure nothing goes wrong. That is really hard for this style. |
| Open (Same like sharp, except major pieces can be brought in) | Bring your rooks and queen into the fight immediately. | Make sure to protect your king, and make sure your opponent can't exploit the weak files. | Playing it slow and steady, but trying not to trade the major pieces for a better chance at winning (and losing). Depends. | Get ready to sacrifice pawns, pieces or rooks for the mate. It might work if your opponent is distracted with open files on the other side of the board. | Trade everything for a comfortable position. Otherwise, just play and calculate thoroughly for mistakes. | Trade everything for a comfortable position. Otherwise, just play and calculate thoroughly for mistakes. |
| Suicidal | Sacrifice, sacrifice until your opponent can't survive. You probably can get a win or two. | Start caring about king safety. It will help you advance into other styles as this one isn't long term. | Make sure to get ready and sacrifice anything that is required to win. Otherwise, just go into the endgame. | Try to get the upper hand on the board by perhaps psychologically playing faster and scarier. Then try to win in an endgame. | Suicidal style will not work at this level, try to find a different style. | Suicidal style will not work at this level, try to find a different style. |
You don't need to read all of it obviously. And the words may be a little small. But after seeing many games from many players, the table above pretty much summarizes how you should be able to improve. I'll see you in my next blog 
Thanks for Reading!!
The Chess Maniac
