Advice on King of the Hill strategy.

I have now got all my stats to 1700+ and all chess variants to 1600+ but for some reason, I really struggle with King of the Hill.  I don't know why I know how to play chess to a reasonable standard but I get destroyed by everyone at that game. I try all different strategies.  I build and block the centre. I run to the centre or sometimes I wait but I seem to get it wrong every time,

Any advice or websites for advice you could point me to would be really appreciated.

Thanks  

P.S.  Can anyone play a few 5 min unrated games with me and give some chat advice on what I'm doing wrong? Cheers 

King of the Hill = Normal Chess

Think of it that way... and you'll get your rating to at least 1600, if your other ratings are accurate.

Don't even try to move your king to the center unless 

(1) You'd do it in a real game

(2) You calculated that there's actually a win through that (very unlikely in the early/middlgame stages)

Punish the lazy players who rush their king in, hoping for an easy win.

King of the Hill is a rather weak variant, in that it changes little about normal chess - but the one thing it does change about real chess is simplification. Simplification is now an extremely tactical issue, and you must exchange pieces (queens especially) very very carefully. 

Thanks. 

So you should be eager to exchange or not eager. Or exchange where you gain territory and hold the centre etc?

You should exchange if the tactics work out for you - it's like asking: should I play this forcing move? Obviously it depends on the position, and calculation.

But all you really need to understand is that it's almost identical to normal chess. 

I've achieved my goal of 1600-1700 in every catergory now. Cheers for the advice it helped. I just focused on playing good chess in King of the Hill and not to worry about the lazy guys charging the King in. I even started to castle in most games. 

hahaha yeah! I love the lazy players who start moving their king into the center on like move 7, and then they lose all their pieces trying to defend. 

In KOTH, you just need to make sure you can cover the 4 central squares with at least one piece of influence, and that guarantees that you're safe. 

Just take the center like you would normally do. Some players will try to sacrifice a horse or bishop to gain control of the center( i.e., bishop for pawn, or horse for pawn), but if you feel like the exchange will weaken your position just ignore it. 

It a knight not a horse

You should move your king in the endgame or maybe when your opponet is not controling the center at all. Once, my opponet just moved pawns at the edge of the board so I simply moved my king to the center. It is best to target the center and not occupy it, because your king will occupy it at the end. 

Ye

Online chess and normal chess has the same rules? Yes?

?

sometimes, castling and checkmating your opponent who is slapping there king in the center

This blog discusses KOTH strategy:

https://www.chess.com/blog/gocapitals

I will tell you what to do,my rating is lower than yours because i am recently started playing koth on chess.com but i played on other sites.

here is what you need to know nd do:

• You have to be patient and do not rush your king towards the center,you do that on a normal game?No
• why?There are chances that you get checkmated quickly.i.e if you find some opponnts that do it,checkmate them
• when it is endgame or you have an distinct advantage go forward
• immidiately come back if you find an opponents piece controlling those squares.
• try to remove the piece of your opponents that is controlling the center,only when your king is safe

That isnt completely true tho , I played this mode right now for the first time this week , love it but i struggle compare to the real chess , many times i lose due of time (cause i play 10mins and this mode i play 3mins ) or i do lose even when am leading and their king gets in the center , and i dont play much aggresive like some people do . its less hardcore then crazyhouse but still a headache sometimes that the king manage to go in the center and win

Just try to control the center using your knights and bishops  and dont exchange them becasue you dont want to come to an endgame easily and you dont want to loosen your control  of the center .If you follow this  and their king comes charging then just check , check and checkmate

It is important to play like it is normal chess.i ofthen play with people that try getting their King in the center in move 2, but each time i take out my Queen and checkmate them. some times even with pawns.

Do gambits that deflect the opponent’s pieces from the centre work? That might be a viable strategy, but I barely play KOTH (when I do it’s on lichess)