1. A castled (white for example) king protectd by a N on the f3 or c3 position should be safe from early attack. One point of castling is to allow the rooks to be connected (protect each other ), and to move to an open file
2. For anyone a blocked/cramped position can be difficult to calculate. Why not go for some early exchanges...N for N or N for B to open the board up.
3. Look for tactical plays instead. Try the tactics trainer on this site or try this one http://chesstempo.com/chess-tactics.html
So I decided to start actually learning how to play chess. I'm really bad though and at times it gets really frustrating. Anyway, I know the basic principles (develop, center, castle, etc) and I've played a few games that led me to a few questions.
1. What does castling early do? I find that my King gets easily mated because it gets trapped in the corner I castle in.
2. Most games I get to develop to the center without that much problems because the opponent does the same. I end up with a board that I feel is really cramped and moving any piece (aside from the pawns on the side) will result in it dying. The transition from opening to midgame is definitely the most uncomfortable part for me. How should I approach this?
3. Currently my approach to every game is trade as good as I can, avoiding any blunders and winning at the end game. I rarely ever look for checkmates during the middle game where there are still a lot of pieces because I find it too difficult (like I said, the board feels really cramped). When I try to look for checkmates, I usually end up trading badly and end up down on pieces. How do I improve this?
Thanks!