When and How to Premove in Chess?
Hi all,
Today we're going to talk about premoves. Premove by itself is an very interesting and cool concept. There are many youtube videos where you can see Grand Masters are premoving upto many moves into the game. So, lets begin...
What Is Premove?
Premove means you are playing the next move (or next few moves) before your opponent plays your moves. The selected moves are then played in order as long as that move is legal in that position. In chess.com each premove takes 0.1 seconds.
How To Premove?
By default, the ability to premove is turned off. First you need to go to 'Play' tab. Then click on the settings option beside the chessboard. Then click on 'Play', and then on 'Live'. Then click on 'Enable Premoves' to turn on the ability to premove.
Now, after your move and before your opponents move, move again to premove. You can premove upto as many moves as you want.
You must be extreamly careful while premoving. If, by mistake or due to mouse-slip, you premove a move you didn't meant to, then as soon as your opponent plays his/her move, that move will be played automatically. So, in that case, you must left click with your mouse before your opponent plays his/her move to cancel the premove (...or to remove the premove).
Why To Premove?
In chess.com each premove takes 0.1 seconds. So, it is extreamly helpful when you are having very low amount of time. It is very helpful in blitz and bullet games. Also, if the game has increment, it can help to gather some time for thinking after some moves.
When To Premove?
- You may premove whenever you are low in time. In case the match has time increment, the premoves will help a lot to gain time. If you are confident that you can go on without premoves, then use premoves as less as possible.
- You can premove in trades where if your opponent takes your piece, you will take it back. E.g.
Here, black can premove Qxd5. This works as the premove will be played only if your opponent plays that specific move, and otherwise it will be cancelled. You can also premove in similar cases where any move other than the move you want your opponent to play cancels the premove.
- You can use premove during forced checkmates or draws (stalemates or perpetual checks) or any other scenarios where you will play the same moves no matter what your opponent plays. Remember that you must be sure that whatever moves your opponent plays, you will play the same moves. E.g.
In this case, white can premove the entire mating sequence as no matter what black does, the same sequence can deliver checkmate.
- Kindly don't use premove in any other situation. You might get into unexpected positions if your opponent plays moves other than the moves you expected him to play.
How To Take Advantage Of Premoves
When both you and your opponent has only a few seconds left, it is possible that both players are premoving random moves simply because they don't have any time to think. You should premove as less as possible and think as fast as possible in each and every move. In such endgames, it is very likely to players to blunder pieces as they can't think properly. You need to be fast enough to notice and take advantage of blunders.
When the game is down to seconds, then try to check your opponents king as much as possible, as in case your opponent has premoved any random move, that will get cancelled and then he/she has to spend some more time to move again. Similarly, if you notice your opponent repeating moves with a piece, that's probably premoved, then you should give checks (to cancel the premoves) or attack other pieces (so that the premove becomes a blunder).
So, that's all for today. Let me know in the comments what kind of content you would like to see next. Till then, stay tuned.
