How to Win at Chess – Part 1: Appreciate How to Lose

Before you can consistently win at chess you have to first appreciate how to lose at chess.

Losing is more important.

More than anything losing teaches resiliency. No other lessons could matter if, after a few losses, you gave up on the game. Every aspiring chess player has lost hundreds of games. Every good chess player has lost thousands.

Each loss offers a lesson unique to the game: develop your pieces better, don’t leave them undefended, watch for back-rank mates, take the time to calculate, look for deeper tactics …. And on and on.

As we’re learning the game most losses come from dropping unprotected pieces. Wailing “Oh no, my queen!” is now obligatory at our club! This is a lesson to all: consider your opponent’s threats as much as your own.

But once your king has toppled, the best lesson of all is to tuck that hard-earned nugget of wisdom away, acknowledge the sting of loss, and rack ‘em up again.

And losses need to sting. Chess is better when losing matters, so don’t wave off a loss dismissively. Let it matter. Imbue the game with enough importance that it’s a meaningful struggle (else why play?) but not so much that your world is upended when you lose. Let your psyche feel the pain … just enough to remind you that playing stronger would feel better. 

And have that sting impel you to make time to improve.