My thoughts on Chess...So far!!!

Intro

Hey hello mate! Welcome back to my blog! I’ve played many games of chess in the standard format, and so far, I’ve put together my thoughts on chess pieces and blunders in this blog and I’d like to share them with you. I hope these thoughts help you win or at least draw your games. And please, don’t ask me about the games I’ve lost. I’ve learned from them, and so should you. So, shall we begin?

I will take that as Yes...

King:

So far, I’ve played many chess games, and at the start, I thought the King was useless. But it turns out, this lad becomes powerful and takes the spotlight in the endgame. If your position or tactical plan goes wrong, he’s the first victim, especially if your opponent’s pieces have their eyes on him. He’s worth zero points, but that doesn’t mean he’s worthless. He should always be protected because once his escape routes are covered by the opponent’s pieces, it’s game over.

And yeah, after the game, all your captured pieces come out of “jail” and join the next game if you’re ready to play again! This is because you’re checkmating and capturing the King, not killing him.

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Queen:

Everyone loves this girl except maybe Mikhail Tal. This piece is powerful, especially in the Scandinavian opening, but your opponent might fall for her beauty and attack her early. At first, I used her just like any beginner would, charging in without a second thought. But later on, I started saving her for the endgame. Now, I don’t give her up so easily.

Of course, if her sacrifice gives me a positional or tactical advantage, I’ll let her go. She’s worth 9 points, after all. And I feel like she secretly has a crush on the knight because she can’t jump! 😄

I used to think the game was over if I lost my queen, but now I’ve learned to play without her too. Some opponents give up their queen, but most still manage to checkmate me without her. The queen is super useful in middle game trades and opening attacks, but we should always be aware of what we’re doing with her.

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Rook:

The Rook is the piece that’s a true multitasker, both a defender and an attacker. It helps defend the king by castling, either long or short. That’s where it kind of copies the knight’s jump, but not in an L shape! 😄

It becomes really powerful on the second or seventh rank, and when it teams up with its twin, the whole file or rank becomes dangerous, just like the bishop pair. In an open file or open rank, it becomes a wall, controlling key areas and restricting the opponent’s pieces.

The Rook can also create a battery when lined up with either the queen or its twin, and sometimes even be tripled! At the start, I used this piece mostly for a rook lift, but later in my games, my opponents started preparing against it. They’d bring their pieces close to my rook, either to attack it directly or to exchange it by placing their own rook on the same file or same rank.

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Bishop:

This bishop isn’t a father in church, but he rules both light and dark squares with his twin. At first, I’d use him to pin the queen. He’s great for that, but later I realized he’s powerful on longer diagonals. That’s why everyone loves the king’s fianchetto openings!

The light-squared bishop is blind on dark squares, and the dark-squared bishop is blind on light squares. So, when one of these twins is missing, the opponent’s pieces can dance on those squares freely.

When he pairs up with his girlfriend, the queen, the diagonal becomes powerful and can even deliver checkmate in some positions in the middlegame or endgame. He can also act like a sniper, keeping an eye on both castles, one for protection and one for attacking!

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Knight:

This piece is the handsome one in every chess set, and the queen gets excited whenever Chess.com and Lichess.org release a new piece set, whether it’s offline or online. At first, I used it to fork by focusing on the c2 or c7 pawn, and I’d also exchange it with a bishop or rook.

Later, I realized it’s pretty useless in open positions but really useful in closed positions because of its jumping ability. It can create double attacks and can also attack up to eight different pieces at once, depending on its position. However, if one of the opponent’s pieces is also a knight, then it becomes one of the targets for the other knight. By positioning pieces correctly around it, we can avoid checks or attacks from it.

The knight is especially useful for forks and plays a key role in one mate: the smothered mate. In this checkmate, the knight can single-handedly deliver the final blow to the king. It also acts as great support when other pieces like the queen, rook, or bishop are trying to attack or checkmate the king.

When it’s centralized or when we create an outpost, it can collect "tax" from other pieces.

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Pawns:

The pawn is that one piece that always needs a guardian to be strong. But once supported, it can become super powerful. It has many forms like backward pawn, passed pawn, isolated pawn… you name it! A passed pawn can be a game-winner, but only if it’s not blocked. Place a knight, rook, queen, or even a king in front of it, and its journey is stopped right there.

At the start, I used the e4 pawn to open my games and played the Italian. Then I switched to d4 but came back to e4 again because of the Vienna Gambit. In gambits, these pawns are sacrificed to create threats...poor lads. These pawns are truly the king’s men… they can become anything except the king. Everyone gets excited for their “gender switch” moment, but underpromotion is also a sneaky weapon when used right.

A good pawn chain can win the game, but it often creates a backward pawn too. If that backward pawn is captured, the whole structure can collapse. So, pawn placement is crucial! In the opening, they keep an eye on key squares, and though rare, they can even fork pieces. Sometimes, they even dare to kick the queen! 😄

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Blunder:

On this 64-square board, I used to think there was only one mistake and that was a blunder. If that happened, I believed my game was over. That was my thinking in the beginning.

But over time, I’ve gained some experience from playing many games, and now I know there are actually four types of errors.

• One is a positional error, which slowly worsens your position.
  
  
• Then there’s a tactical error, which can either ruin your position or even end the game immediately.
  
  
• The third is a calculation error, where you might either gain or lose power, depending on how your opponent responds and how the position plays out.
  
  
• Finally, there’s also something called a strategic error, which happens when you don’t fully understand the strategy or proper piece play in a given position.

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My Thoughts:

So mate, here are my thoughts on chess so far.Whether its B or N, ?? or !! and X or #, every move and every piece has its own value in its own way. On this 64-square board, from the humble pawn to the mighty king, each has a role to play.

Every concept in chess is useful in shaping your game. Practice not only gives you confidence but also teaches you how to play correctly and more importantly, how not to play.

But remember, every decision is made by you alone. Your choices keep the game alive. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you escape with a draw. But in the end, you are the god of your own game no matter the consequences.

😄Thanks for reading mate!😄