So, when I was a kid, I was in my elementary school's chess club. I never really bothered to go deeper, but I learned some info many beginners don't know. I don't remember all of them, but these are the keys I remember (and a couple others I've added). The tools on this site/app should help you develop further.

1) Material Advantage

I'm sure you've since the little list of captured pieces and the +X next to them. It's showing who has a material advantage when it does so. Each piece has a point value- pawns are 1 , Knights and Bishops are 3, Rooks are 5, and Queens are 9 (and Kings are both -10 and over nine THOUSSSSAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDDDD).

When you do make a trade, you want to make sure you're getting the better deal, and usually that means trading up (giving up a bishop for a rook, etc.). You'll also need to keep board state in mind- early game, you can think of Knights as 3.5 and Bishops as 2.5 because Knights handle the clutter better, but later on those values flip because Bishops can cross the whole board in a single move.

2) Seize Initiative

If you're stuck responding to your opponent's moves, they can control you and push your pieces around the board. It's better to be on the attack than stuck in a defensive position, so look for a way to do so at all times (but don't force it).

3) Build Pawn Chains.

Pawns work better together when they're lined up diagonally. You can wall of whole regions of the board by having pawns that protect each other (and protecting the back pawn with another piece).

4) Take The Center Squares.

Something I read when I was young and cannot remember where- the player who holds the center four squares wins the majority of the time. I want to say it was something like 70% of the time, but you know what they say- 86% of all statistics are made up on the spot. What I do know is that holding the center splits your opponent's forces and allows your pieces to attack both sides of the board at once.

I'll be adding more as I remember them, so keep an eye out. Might also change this to a blog post and edit this forum post to make it a link.

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