Basic Bughouse Tips 2
Here are some more bughouse tips. Since there are a lot of chess players who are now playing bughouse, I will discuss the main differences between chess and bughouse.
The Importance of Time
The biggest problem chess players encounter while playing bughouse is that they take too long a time to find a good move. The uptime is very important in bughouse, so, in fact, the longer you think, the worse your move becomes. Thus, you must play bughouse like you play bullet chess (1 + 0) unless you have to sit for some reason. When you sit (waiting for a piece or keeping a piece from your opponent), this is the only time when you can actually THINK. Playing quickly is especially important when you defend. It's easy to understand - the longer you think, the more pieces will come, and thus there will be higher chances of you getting mated. Hence, when you are in trouble, start moving because it won't get any better; it will only get worse if you think.
The Initiative is Crucial
Another important aspect of bughouse is that attacking is much easier than defending. Therefore, if two opponents of equal strength are playing, the one who gets an attack is much more likely to win. Thus, tempos in bughouse are much more important than in orthodox chess. At the beginner and intermediate levels, sacrificing pieces for an unclear attack is perfectly fine. For example, when your queen is getting chased by piece drops, in most cases it is best to just leave it hanging and create some counterthreats on the king. CHESS PLAYERS DON'T ATTACH YOURSELF TO YOUR QUEEN TOO MUCH! Just let it die if you have to – it’s no big deal.
Recaptures in Bughouse
My next point is about recaptures. Every chess player often premoves recaptures in blitz and bullet games. However, you shouldn’t do this in bughouse, especially if both you and your opponent have a full set of pieces in hand. Remember: the person who first creates an attack will most likely win; there is no time to recapture pieces in such situations. Use the tempo you have and create a threat to the king.
Swapping Pieces
Another problem for chess players is that they fail to understand that bughouse isn’t just a one board game – you can’t swap pieces carelessly because you have your partner’s board to worry about. Therefore, you must often take a quick look at your partner's board. For example, let’s say you can win a piece by giving away 2 pieces and winning 3. Well, this would be a pretty bad idea if your partner is under attack.
Be Careful When Trading Queens
Trading queens with reckless disregard is a huge problem most inexperienced players have. When you or your opponent offers a queen trade, make sure that it doesn’t hurt or even checkmate your partner.
Well this is it for now; I hope you found my pieces of advice useful!
