How not to play chess

Introduction

You are playing chess every day constantly trying to improve your game. You’re watching videos, reading books, and following grandmasters to learn from them, heck some of you might also sit down and analyze your games on your own. All these to get better at chess. While you’re always thinking about what you can do to get better at chess, here are some personal insights on what you should not do when playing chess. My rating went up to 1600 but not playing in a certain way. Your basics and principles are clear, you just need little improvements that can make a significant impact.

Do not seek the best move; instead, seek a realizable plan which will give you orientation.

Chess has endless possibilities. There are more possible chess games than atoms in the universe. Playing the absolute best move in a position is a big challenge even for Grandmaster. So, it is better to play simple and logical when you do not understand what is going on the board instead of finding what is the best move in the position. I learned this the hard way by losing so many games when I could have just made a solid move and won. 
It takes a lot of time to calculate and often you will miss something which will lead to a blunder. 

Do not believe all that you are told; instead, hold fast to the logic of fundamental rules without applying them illogically.

Just because you saw an opening trap or some tricks to win quickly on YouTube or Instagram, you do not want to play that in an actual match. There is a higher possibility that your opponent knows the best move in the position, and you will probably end up losing material resulting in a loss. One time I tried the Fishing Pole trap playing as black and I sacked a Knight to quickly develop my queen threatening to checkmate. Well, guess what, not only did I lose my knight, but I lost that game in the next 12 moves.

Do not lose on time

Do you take a lot of time to make a move? Well, you are not alone. It is crucial to think and analyze the position before making a move. But do not forget you are running out of time as you go into deep thinking (unless it is a classical format). In my opinion, you should always play a bit fast when you are playing blitz or rapid. It is better to lose to a checkmate when your position is bad than lose on time when your position is excellent.

Do not leave a piece hanging.

Often, I have seen players below a 1400 rating sometimes leave their pieces undefended. I used to keep pieces hanging all the time which was the main reason I was stuck at 1200. And I was so furious that I quit chess for a week. But then I realized that it was just not me. Many times, my opponents also give me a free piece to capture which makes me wonder, is there really a problem for people under 1600 rating? You’ll only face opponents of equal caliber and you can notice that they are also making the same mistakes that you do. To to increase my rating on Chess, there was only one way. Get better. If you too leave your pieces hanging sometimes, you can do some vision practice. It's a tool on chess.com that helps you sharpen your awareness of pieces on the board. There is also a training called CCT, Check Capture Threats, which helps to make effective decisions.

When your opponent makes any move, you ask yourself these 3 questions. Will this move lead to a check? Is there a piece capturing any of my pieces? Is there a threat in the position? Just by doing this, you will improve your game tremendously.

Do not lose your sh!t

I played 23 Blitz games yesterday, I lost 17 of them and 3 were drawn. Does that make a bad chess player? Well, maybe ha-ha! But I am improving every day a little. The point is, don’t let losses take over your mind. Every chess player goes through this, and it is inevitable, but there are some good days and bad days. On good days you will be on the ninth cloud, but bad days hit hard. You don’t lose hope, you don’t give up. You need to keep calm, take a walk, call a friend, watch a stand-up, and play again. Your emotions play a big role in chess but that is a whole other topic in itself. Just remember, it is not the end. You keep practicing and keep improving your game.

Conclusion

Well, mistakes are inevitable. But the first step towards improvement is to acknowledge what mistakes you are making. I love chess as much as you do, and no amount of joy can surpass winning a challenging game of chess. You just need to practice more and if you take care of these 5 things, I’m sure you will see remarkable results.