Now What?

I'm a 700. I get to a point of the game where I just go 'now what'? I get my pieces out, pawns protecting the center, castle and then wonder what to do. Do I start trading pieces in the center? How do I advance and what am I looking for?

Thanks for any advice.

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https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy
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You should learn most important principles of a chess game. That will give you a solid understanding of a chess game and you will know what to do in every position. Then, you should optimize your calculation so you don't miss tactics in your games. Your rating will skyrocket. I can help you with all of this. Message me if you are interested.

There are a few things you could do. You could try and figure a plan to attack their king. You could look for weaknesses like hanging pieces to attack, or you could try and take more space and build a stronger center. There are possibly more things, but these come to mind.

What you should be is tactical opportunities for both sides.

As an example, look at your last loss:

When white played 8. Qf5, why did he do that? Is there a threat? You did not care, just banged out e6 in 3 just seconds.

Later even though your a8 rook is doomed, you had an obvious perpetual check against the white king. A draw seems mighty nice when the alternative is to be down a rook. But instead, you let the king slip. and cheerfully traded down to an endgame, being down a whole rook.

The moral of the story is that you should not play on autopilot. Don't play random moves. Try to play good moves.

Thanks everyone. Yes, I tend to just play my game, focusing on my pieces and if it's not an obvious threat i often don't consider what my opponent is thinking, something I'll try to work on.

And thanks for the thoughts on what to look for once I'm out of the opening. Seems I rarely have a plan and just react to the situation as it unfolds.

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thx