beeblebeebleblop - I am no expert, but having faced the same problem I have come to the following conclusions: 1.) It's just a game and taking risks is par for the course and part of the fun. 2.) However, don't just throw pieces to the wind. Players like vsaxena are very good at gathering information and weighing the probabilities before taking calculated risks. 3.) Openings can be selected that are not so overly timid yet are still relatively sound. 4.) Fear is good!
Just my 2 cents....
A key part of the game is gathering information as to where you think your opponent's pieces are and particular his pawns. I've seen top players "mark" their opponents likely pawn positions, usually with reasonable accuracy.
It can give you an idea on the best way to attack, and if you can work out where the king is, even better.
thanks i wrote this in some humor but you are giving good tips. I usually am bad at gathering info and too busy focusing on making my base stronger.
many players follow one of two opening theories in FOW:
1) traditional openings or 2) All Out Attack,
This second one ususally involves launching all your pawns, and your queen in a suicidal charge straight at the "hidden" enemy camp on the oposit side of the board. Its like they are surprsised to find enemy pieces hding in the fog, but will blindly charge none-the-less.
For those that follow the traditional opening theor, they forget that many of those openings rely on a mutual understanding of the opening theory in play - which is ridiculous when you remember your oponent cannot see what moves you are making unless you step on a square they can move to.
Those that tend to do well in FOW, balance the two approcahes, using their pieces to survey no-mans-land and cpature as much info about what moving in the darkness ahead. And the old addage that always has meaning in chess "in order to win you must be prepared to lose pieces" takes on even more meaning in FOW.
Does anyone else besides me imagine that the opponent is doing the craziest shiet on the other side of the board, does your imagination also run wild thinking that the other person is lining up against you in the perfect combination about to strike at you? I often find my self very paranoid about the opponents pieces which makes me play often too defensively and hinders my play. Does anyone else have this problem, and what about offense players what do you do to battle this fear? I was watching vsaxenas games earlier today and I saw that he had a good mix of defense and offense that seemed to work well, but I cant seem to find my rhythm .