The Beginners Guide To Get Better At Chess!
Introduction
A problem that most players, including myself, face these days are moving are the rating ladder. You must win games in order to advance to the high levels, but we keep on losing and winning and then losing more! Or perhaps you are a chess beginner, and you want to get better. Well then, these things will help you get better!
#1: Checks, Captures, and Attacks
When making moves, you have to ask yourself where you can go, and where your opponent can go. You have to ask questions like, does this move harm my position? What can my opponent play that could win material, checkmate me, or put me in a bad position? When you attack pieces, you have to ask yourself is it better for you, or is it better for them? For example, you could attack this dumb knight that isn't in the game, but then you launch a pawn at it, and then your opponent moves the knight to a better square. Did that help you more or did that help them more? That move helped the opponent more.
For beginners:
| Piece | Cost |
| Pawn | 1 |
| Knight | 3 |
| Bishop | 3 |
| Rook | 5 |
| Queen | 9 |
| King | Infinite |
Some things you have to watch out for are hanging pieces, or unguarded pieces that could be captured by the enemy, resulting in loss of material. Having pieces is important because you need them to defend and attack. You also have to watch out for checkmating threats, like back rank mate, when a rook or queen comes down to the back rank, checking the opponent, but the opponent cannot move out of the check because its pieces are in the way, or your pieces are blocking the way, smothered mate, when a king is surrounded by its pieces, getting smothered, and then a knight checkmates the king, but it cannot be taken by any piece, so the king gets checkmated.
A dumb example of back rank mate(not real game):
A dumb example of smothered mate(not real game):
Sacrifices can lead to insane attacks or even mate. Sacrifices are complicated. You might sacrifice in order to get a better position; you might sacrifice for mate, but if you do something wrong, you will lose the game. However, if you see a weak king with little defense, there might be something. Maybe.
In the game above, I sacrificed my bishop for mate. The move f6 weakened the king. You should target weaknesses like that. It was almost +1 on the eval bar when he played that move. The bishop sacrifice was a brilliancy. You have to target weaknesses in the kings defense.
When attacking, the center must be closed, because if you cannot close the center, the opponent can transfer pieces and defend their king.
In this game, I sacrificed THE QUEEEEEEN. I noticed that the king was looking a little weak and all of his pieces were attacking my queen. He could get through my impenetrable barrier, aka my pawns and my rook, so after Qf2, he retreated. I played Nh4, threatening mate, so he moved the rook. I brought my rook in, and I think it was when he played Bc3 when I saw the sac. I played Qg3, threatening mate, but he must've thought that I wasn't threatening anything since if I took the pawn, he would take back. He also had an attack on mind, playing Qe7, looking to take the pawn on f7, and finding some sort of mate. It was already +13 when I played Qg3, and I was only up 2 points of material. King safety is very important. Most of the time, you shouldn't sacrifice.
#2: Pins and Trades
A lot of beginners struggle with pins and when to trade. Pins are very annoying, and I recommend that you try to get out of a pin as soon as possible, or else the opponent will PP on the PP, AKA Put Pressure on the Pinned Piece(From @GothamChess). What did you think it meant? If the opponent puts pressure on the pinned piece, it will make your life harder. If not careful, the enemy could win material and ruin your pawn structure(more about pawn structure and positions in the next chapter). A common pin is when you move your knight out, and the enemy moves their bishop, pinning the knight to the king or queen. the knight cannot move, or else the bishop will take the king or the queen.
I played a game against a friend as white, and this is the game that I played against him. I wanna talk about how annoying and powerful pins can be. On move 26, when I played Bb5, pinning the knight so that if the knight moved, I would have taken the pawn, and I was threatening to win the knight because if the pawn took back, the rook would take the king. The correct move was Kc7, unpinning the king, but my friend played f5, and then I won the knight. Yes, I know I'm bad at chess. Why am I making this if I'm bad at chess? I have no idea.
You should know when to trade. In the game above, I wanted a queen trade because I was up material. If you are up material you should trade. His strongest piece was his queen, and getting rid of his queen would make things a lot easier. When you are down material, you should not trade, or else you will have a hard time defending your king. You also shouldn't trade in the center when you haven't gotten you king out of the center. Castling move your king to safety, and brings your rook out. If you trade in the center while you king hasn't castled, the center will open up, and your king will get attacked. King safety and material are very important.
A common pin and trade is the bishop and the knight pin. You all know what is it. It's happened to you, and you've done it before. But which piece is better? The bishop or the knight? In closed positions, knights as better because they can hop around and plant themselves on outpost squares. An outpost square is a square that the enemy cannot kick out a piece with a pawn. In open positions, bishops are better because they can move around quicker and attack from far away.
Moving on to the next chapter!
#3: Pawn Structure and Positions
So I am really gonna have a hard time writing this because I don't know a lot about this stuff, but I'll tell you all I know.
First of all, you should have a good pawn structure. Doubled pawns are bad, because it's like one long pawn, and they are very annoying. The pawns should be holding hands, so they all help each other. It is much easier to defend and it is stronger. You don't want to ruin the pawns that the king hides behind, or else the king will be exposed and you will have a hard time succeeding in life. You want to play in the center, so you have more control, but be careful not to overextend. It will make it easy for the enemy to invade, and it can be hard to hold together. If you don't fight for the center, your pieces will be pushed back, and you won't be able to develop.
When playing the Caro-Kann, I might get a position like this. I've extended my pawns on the queenside, but it is not overextending. A position like this is a bit complicated for me, because I don't know what to do. I just respond to what white does.
What would you do in this situation? I have no idea.
#4: Endgame Tips
A lot of people fail in the endgame, so here's how to not fail.
WINNING KING AND PAWN
If you have a king and a pawn, and they have a king, you might be winning.
If it was black to move, you would be winning. If it was white to win, it would be a draw. Why? if white moved to the right, black would move to the right. If white had moved the the left, black would move to the left. If white moves to the left or right of the pawn, black would move forward. White would be forced to go behind the pawn, and black would move forward again. If white moved to the left or right, black would move backward, and white would move up, standing beside the pawn. Black would move so they would look directly at the king. If white moves back, black would move forward, so white would have to push the pawn on the square, checking the black king. The king would slide in front of the pawn, and the process would be repeated until black is pinned against the edge, forcing you to either let black take the pawn and draw, or move behind the pawn and draw the game. It's confusing explaining it in words, so just watch some videos and it will be much easier to understand.
If it was black to move, if black goes to the right you go up diagonally to the left. Same thing if black moves to the left. if black moves up, you move up. if black goes up diagonally and is in the same column as the pawn, move so that you face the enemy king. If the enemy king moves down, move you pawn up. If it has not moved, move it 2 squares. If it has moved, move it one square. The king will have to move up, and then you move your king up. Never let your king get behind your pawn. Repeat this process. Promote to a queen.
Make sure not to stalemate! If you promote to a queen in this position, it will be a draw! Promote to a rook.
HOW TO CHECKMATE WITH QUEEN:
You want to get the enemy king on the edge of the board.
If it's your turn, you can move the queen one square down, or you can move it in front of the enemy king. To get the enemy king to the edges, you do something called knight opposition.
Notice how the black king is forced to go down. If the queen was a knight, it would give a check. Repeat this process. MAKE SURE NOT TO STALEMATE!!!!
Example of stalemate:
HOW TO CHECKMATE WITH A ROOK:
You want to check the king while your king is in front of the enemy king like the position down below.
Repeat this process. move the rook far away when the enemy king attacks your rook. Follow the enemy king.
Another tip is to use your king in endgames. There are little pieces on the board, so you have to use your king. When playing in rook or queen endgame, you need to make sure that your king is not pinned against
Conclusion
As an extra tip, here are the 4 things that matter in chess to tell who has a better position.
4 things that matter in chess:
1. Material
2. King safety
3. Piece activity and future prospects of your pieces
4. Space and pawn structure
I know I didn't say this, but learn and study openings as well.
Hopefully, you all have learned to not lose at chess! If you have any questions, ask me!
@NinjagoChess23
