Chess960: Advice, Tips, Resources

Suggested by:  @charlie1datil • @Southernrun

A place to share and discuss anything relating to Fischer Random/Chess960/Freestyle Chess.

Unleash bishops early on

Control the center and try to attack the weak spots near the king early

Develop your queen very early, unlike normal chess!

Can anyone give some tips

Try to advance your pawns in the center and close it if it gives you more space

Try to play pawn moves that open up your diagonal attackers (queen , bishops) and fight for centeral squares as well .

Castling getting the king and the rook to the same squares as the standard chess castle.
you could do it in the first move 🤯.

Not in all positions.

I’m not necessarily a 960 pro but I used to play a lot of 960 blitz back in the day and sometimes I try to attack a pawn with my first move of the game via a pawn move that opens up the scope of a piece. Either that or I go for the center

Learn to discern if the setup lends itself better to an open game or a closed one, and play your first move accordingly.

https://youtu.be/4Wn9HsmoTbg

If the queen starts in the corner, make sure she doesn't get stuck there!

I watched this and it was super useful when I had a fischerandom tournament, I recommend it

If a bishop is in the corner, leave it there. If the queen is in the corner, get it out of there. Be extra careful with knights, as they are on unusual squares, making their routes more unpredictable.

Be careful with knight moves in the opening

Hi all, how is everyone doing?

I want to start playing 960. Is the most common time format 10|0? Is that what most players use?

What do any or all of you usually use for time format?

Hey there @RapidRook212 I’ve mostly been playing daily tournaments and some community leagues daily matches featuring Chess960 representing my own country club, but that’s just due to being too busy for attending live events atm.

Likely some other people here could share their own take and experience with live Chess960, with some further info such as quicker time controls for getting games and things like that.

May you have good games ahead! (:

For daily tournaments I have a personal preference for Quick Knockouts (1 day per move) over Standard tournaments (3 days per move). The next one is set to start May 15 and will show up under the link I specified above within ~24h max. :)

Thank you for all the information Lucas, but I’m only interested in Live 960.