Tips to Win More Games

Don

Sep 21, 2021, 3:34 PM | 1

Well, today I reached 1800, a goal I'd been trying to reach for the last 4 months. I have learned many new things during that time. This blog will give a few general chess tips to win more games.

1. Don't Play Hope Chess

This one isn't really a problem for intermediate tournament level and above, but you should not play hope chess. Don't play useless moves attacking your opponent's pieces, or useless checks. It can be tempting, but it's just a waste of a move unless you gain something. Time-scrambles are an exception however.

2. Think Prophylactically

You shouldn't be self-centered, but care about others around you. The same thing applies to chess. You should always check what each of your opponent's moves do. You also can flip the board (Press X during a Chess.com game) and see what would be possible plans for your opponent, so you can stop them. Here is an example from my blog on prophylaxis:

There is a pin on the e5 knight, so we must use this to are advantage. The natural move would be to put more pressure, but is that a good move? Think from your opponent's perspective and maybe even flip the board.

3. Be Risky

Tactics are pretty cool, but real sacrifices are cooler. But sacrifices can be risky, and you might lose the game. You should learn to take risks and not worry too much about the outcome of the game. A game on Chess.com is not very important, so you should be risky. While you may lose a few games because of this, you will win more games overall.

4. Castle Carefully

Everyone loves an exciting, attacking game. The direction you castle can determine whether you will have an attacking game or a positional game. Castling the same way as your opponent creates a more quiet game because you can't very well push your pawns against their king without exposing your own king. Castling opposite ways creates a more attacking game. If your opponent hasn't castled yet, they are more likely to castle kingside. Of course, this won't work all the time, often there will be games that break this rule. You should castle opposite ways if you have more attacking potential on the board than your opponent, and vice versa. Attacking potential comes from

Better developed pieces
More pushed pawns

If you're playing only for fun, you probably can just castle opposite ways every game. If you really care about winning or losing, or are trying to bring up your rating, you probably should be careful about which way you castle.

That ends the blog! I hope you can use these tips to win more games in the future. So see you in the next blog! (when I'm probably 1700 again...)

Tips to Win More Games

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