5 Principles To Improve At Chess

Chess is a game of strategy. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned veteran at the game, there always seems to be some new principle to learn. Consider five principles that will improve your chess game. 

1. Understand the Harmony

Harmony is about things working together and in balance. Chess is a game where each piece works in concert with the others. They are a team.

To get the most out of your chess team, you must put them all to use. Your goal is to remove more pieces from their starting positions than your opponent. In this manner, you will outnumber the other squad when the real combat begins.

2. Don’t Block Your Pieces

Chess is a complex game, so it is easy to get to where you are blocking your pieces from moving. The key is to know how each piece can move. For example, the knight can only move in an L-shape while the bishop moves diagonally. 

Once you understand the directionality of each piece, you must look closely at the piece you are considering moving. What happens when you put it in a specific square? How does that move affect your other pieces?

Your goal is the beat the opponent. But, in Chess, it is just as easy to beat yourself if you don’t consider each move’s impact carefully, especially how it affects your pieces. 

3. Focus on the Center

Chess is also a game of real estate, and the most critical property on the board is the center, especially the four center squares:

• E4
• D4
• E5
• D5

Owning these four squares is a little like having the hill in a battle.

4. Safeguard Your King

It is common sense. If you lose your king, you lose the game. Still, when you get caught up in the game’s strategy, you can lose sight of its most important goal. Two key strategies for protecting the king is to castle it, which means moving it two spaces to the left or right. If you move it on top of the rook, the rook moves to the other side to protect the king. 

The other way to protect the board’s most important piece is to leave the pawns in front of it untouched. They sit there and guard the king. If you move them, your king is open to attack by one of the more mobile pieces, such as the queen, bishop, or rook. 

5. Develop Your Best Pieces

Develop is just a fancy way to move them from their starting spot. If you leave some of your best pieces like the queen sitting because you don’t want to lose her, she isn’t doing you much good. Ideally, you should develop your knights and bishops first because they can get you to the critical center squares. They also open space for other pieces to move. 

Chess is a game that helps you develop your higher-order thinking skills. Like all things, though, it takes practice to do well.