Mastering the Game: Tips to Win in Chess

Are you looking to up your chess game and start winning more matches?

This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about the game of chess. From the basic rules and strategies for winning to common mistakes to avoid and tips for improving your skills, this article has got you covered.

Whether you’re a beginner looking to learn the ropes or a seasoned player wanting to take your game to the next level, read on to master the art of chess.

What Is Chess?

Chess is a two-player strategy game played on a highly symbolic 64-square grid game board with light and dark squares. Each player begins with 16 pieces of 6 different types (King, Queen, Rook, Bishop and Knight, Pawn) on their side of the board. The objective is to checkmate the opponent’s king, which means the king is in a position to be captured (in check) and cannot escape capture which ends the game.

What Are The Basic Rules Of Chess?

The basic rules of chess include the following key elements:

• Objective: Win by checkmating the opponent’s king when it cannot escape capture, known as a stalemate.
• The board: Two colors, 64 squares that alternate color, with the arrangement of pieces as shown earlier in this article.
• Players: Two, one who plays white with the other playing black.
• Time control: Short, long, etc. times allocated for moves, commonly used in tournament play.
• Sequence of play: White moves first; play alternates between the two players until the game ends.
• Check and Checkmate: Moving the king into a position where it could be captured by the opponent’s pieces is called a check. When a king is placed in check and cannot escape capture in any legal move, the position is called checkmate and the player having the turn to move is said to have lost the game instantly.
• The Outcome: Win, lose, or draw are the possible outcomes of a chess game.

A draw in chess may occur by the Threefold Repetition Rule of the position, the Fifty Move Rule which states that fifty consecutive moves were made by both players without any pawn being moved or attacked by sounds, or if the player having the turn to move has no choice other than to place their king in a position where it could be captured without ending in no other result than a draw. Known as a Stalemate.

How To Set Up The Board

Setting up the chess board to start a game involves placing the chess pieces carefully in their respective positions from left to right. It is always best to have the rooks just inside the outside edges of the back row and the kings and queens in the middle spaces on the back row.

To set up the chess board to play, simply place your back row pieces into positions based on the given below list (k or king, q for queen, r for rook, n for knight, and b for bishop). A simple way to remember all the positions of the white pieces is each piece starts from a on the left of each row and b on the right. Make sure that each player places his or her dark color piece in the d8 or c8 space and light color piece in the c1 or d1 space. If the kings and queens are not in the correct squares, then your rooks will also be in the incorrect squares.

The exact position requirements to set up the chess board are as follows (capital letter abbreviations refer to types of chess pieces). ‘1a1 R 1b1 N 1c1 B 1d1 Q 1e1 K 1f1 B 1g1 N 1h1 R
2a2 P 2b2 P 2c2 P 2d2 P 2e2 P 2f2 P 2g2 P 2h2 P
3a3 3b3 3c3 3d3 3e3 3f3 3g3 3h3
4a4 4b4 4c4 4d4 4e4 4f4 4g4 4h4
5a5 5b5 5c5 5d5 5e5 5f5 5g5 5h5
6a6 6b6 6c6 6d6 6e6 6f6 6g6 6h6
7a7 p 7b7 p 7c7 p 7d7 p 7e7 p 7f7 p 7g7 p 7h7 p
8a8 r 8b8 n 8c8 b 8d8 q 8e8 k 8f8 b 8g8 n 8h8 r

How The Pieces Move

Understanding of how the pieces move is fundamental to being good at chess. The image above summarizes how the various pieces move. For the unfamiliar, pieces each move and capture in different ways. For instance, a rook moves vertically or horizontally across the squares of the board, as can a queen, but she can also move diagonally where the rook cannot. Get to know how the pieces move before applying it in a real game.

Special Moves

1. Castling: Castling is a special chess move that involves moving the king two squares towards a rook on its initial square followed by simultaneous moving the rook to the square the king crossed. But castling cannot occur if castling will put the king in check. The king or rook has already moved, or there are other pieces in the way of the rook.
2. En passant: En passant is French for ‘in passing‘. This special move allows a pawn that has reached the 5^{th rank} to move diagonally past an opposing pawn on the 6^th rank.

What Are The Strategies For Winning In Chess?

The strategies for winning in chess include anticipating the opponent’s moves with deep understanding, maintaining flexibility with multiple patterns until the middle game ends, attacking only when all moves are in place, maintaining material balance while keeping in mind the game’s long-term development, acknowledging the importance of pawns in the most successful formations, maintaining a central position, visualization, recognizing both simple and complex threats by the opponent, and playing lightning-fast speed chess to practice concentration skills.

The perfect chess strategy would anticipate the opponent’s exact moves from the very beginning of the game. As this is impossible, players must be able to do this with an ever-decreasing variable space as the game moves on. Although unsolvable in its entirety, players must understand the overall pattern strategy as a framework to which they can adapt against any opponent along with all other types and levels of strategies.

Controlling The Center

The center refers to the four squares in the middle of the board. These squares allow your bishops, knights, rooks, and queen to have a maximum range of movement. Any noncenter pawns could potentially control the center if excess central attack is answered. Attack and defense are easier near center, as all pieces can be placed aimed near center squares. Controlling the center allows for flexible movement to provide attack/defense and to provide space for all pieces.

Developing Your Pieces

Developing your pieces is the typical next step to castling as it helps create a powerful strike in the center and activates your pieces. Each piece on the back rank needs to be developed, as it allows the player better control over the center of the board and also allows the player to utilize the piece in a broader scope. Start by fianchettoing bishops and attacking the center with pawns to develop queen, knights, and rooks.

Castling

Castling is a rule that only comes up in the endgame and it is one of the most unused rules. White wins slightly more than black, and there are three primary components of chess that both white and black attempt or try to prevent when castling: it moves the king to safety, it can get the rook into action, and because it can be initiated by moving only two pieces, it quickly connects the rooks, which can lead to a coordination of all major pieces against the enemy.

Because castling moves both the king and a rook at the same time, it is required that neither piece has moved previously during the game. Castling is prevented temporarily if the square on which the king or the square through which it passes is attacked by an enemy piece.

Protecting Your King

Having a safe home square throughout the opening, middle, and end games is most essential when thinking about how to win in chess. Here are three main ways the king’s home square could deteriorate under attack:

1. Opponent’s pawn structures are too advanced such that the opponent’s pawns infiltrate your side of the battlefield, with the potential of breaking any pawn framework protecting your king and with the potential to expose checks/attacks out of your control.
2. The center of the battlefield, especially the opponent’s territory has not been controlled, and the opponent’s pawns could easily attack your king laterally or vertically from a secure location.
3. You make too many pawn moves to repel your opponent’s attack which weakens the structures around your king via creating holes and opens new lines of attack by advancing your pawns.

Attacking The Opponent’s King

Attacking the opponent’s king directly is known as kingside attack. It is a tactical mode where the attacker builds up offensive material around the opponent king to eventually win the end game by forcing a checkmate. Toward the end of games, it is often particularly worthwhile to find moves that add to the attacking pressure.

Famed US player Bobby Fischer, in his 6th match game of the 1972 World Championship, demonstrates the effectiveness of this mode of play. During the match, Fischer made an excellent tactical play with his 42 Ne8+ move. The move drew a surprising resignation from Spassky. Fischer utilizes this move to create a highly dangerous mating net for Blacks’ King. Fischer’s position is already superior and still threatening. Fischer played it safe by forcing Spassky to play until checkmate played.

As the position was at move 42, Fischer had two central pawns and passed a-pawn and un-passed b,c,d,e, and f pawns. Spassky’s King side, started with a fair number of pieces, but as the Kingside attack materialized the King and Bishop were lost. Likewise, some attacking material was lost. However, Fischer’s passed a-pawn provided sufficient material to develop a strong attack and protect his King’s position. He kept applying the pressure which ultimately led to a forced checkmate.

Using Tactics And Combinations

Tactics are low-level decisions made to take advantage of temporary opportunities. Tactics range from eliminating the opponent’s pieces to pawn breaks to exploiting a strategic weakness. Combinations are two or more specifically forced moves that almost always result in a material gain, checkmate, or flawless defense. Tactics are an essential part of chess and every strong player ensures he is aware of existing tactics and creates tactics and combinations on a regular basis during the course of a game.

Endgame Techniques

Endgames are the final phase of the game, occurring when a large portion of the major and minor pieces (such as queens, rooks, bishops, and knights) have been exchanged. They are the final phase of the game and as they develop require different strategies based on the material present. Thus, it is important to be aware of the endgame ideas to continue a game after forced exchanges.

King and pawn endings: Middle game plans aim at creating passed pawns for the endgame. Make sure to promote the passed pawn after checking the king. Protect your last king’s pawn so as not to get checkmated when it becomes a queen. Knight versus Bishop endings: Bishops are stronger than knights in endgames which are very open or widely spread. Rook endings: Keep your rook active and ensure your opponent’s rook remains passive. King and two pawns against a king in the endgame is normally a draw in the leisurely game, but it can be won and lost because of the difficulty of making exact moves.

What Are Common Mistakes To Avoid In Chess?

• Not controlling the center: Failure to control the center can lead to cramped positions which hinder your offense and defense.
• Failing to develop the pieces: Leaving pieces on the first rank is likely to make them poor defenders and diminish their flexibility.
• Making too many pawn moves in the opening: Whereas space is important for quick and effective deployment, over-extensive pawn moves can create weak squares.

Moving Pieces Without A Plan

Moving pieces without a plan (a minute or two spaced-out central moves are okay as long as they do not damage the position overall) over and over again is one of the most frequent mistakes by beginners. Identifying the most important squares at the start of a chess game helps to prevent moving pieces without a plan.

These critical squares are the central four that separate the two sides. Insuring the long-term control of the pieces is by staking a foothold in the center is a strategic advantage all of chess theory is built around. The most critical failure I see in beginners is a fear of occupying the center. They instead castle quickly and get pieces off back ranks quickly because they think their king might be caught in middle. Center control is too vital to ignore. So plan to get your Queen or Knight and Bishop out in the next two to three pairs of moves. If you can’t think of a better plan, secure long-term control of the center. But don’t just do what your opponent is not doing, there must be a benefit driving each and every move you initiate.

Ignoring Your Opponent’s Moves

Ignoring your opponent’s moves means not reacting in your mind or on the board when your opponent makes a move that you did not have on your list of anticipated moves. Not reacting in this case means actively trying to ignore your opponent’s attempt to deviate from the plan you have devised by not overreacting to their move, thereby throwing off your entire game plan. This is another form of board and piece awareness which requires identification of the best forks, pins, and discovered attacks to take advantage of this kind of thinking in top chess players.

Here is Carmen Linnea Vajland’s winning game against Lilit Galojan at the 2021 FIDE World Rapid Women’s Championship where both sides were playing well, and all but one move was the optimal one. In the 35th move of the black side of the game, Vajland expertly directs momentum on the board to win the game unexpectedly within the next two moves of the game.

Leaving Your Pieces Unprotected

Another common beginner’s mistake is leaving your pieces unprotected. There may be times during the game when leaving a low-value piece unprotected may be a strategic ploy by a more advanced player, but as a starting rule, if a piece is undefended on a move, try to move it to a defended square. A player’s pieces are the building blocks of the rest of the board, and playing without any piece protection opens you up for easy chess moves from the opponent.

Not Utilizing Your Pieces Effectively

A key problem for newer players when asked how to win in chess is that they don’t know how to develop pieces effectively. This follows from their early and inexplicable exchanges, where they prematurely trade useful pieces for worthless units, resulting in a decrease of power and utility.

Avoiding piece exchanges is the first step. The second step is conducting exchanges only when they benefit you. The combination of these two steps results in more developed, centralized, and powerful pieces. Utilizing your pieces effectively does not always have to mean attacking the opponent’s pieces.

Strategic movements in chess, such as strengthening the center in the opening, long or short-term pawn structure changes, opening and closing lines or diagonals, are just as important aspects of effective piece utilization.

How To Improve Your Chess Skills?

To improve your chess skills you need to learn and understand the rules of chess, study basic strategies, specifically in openings, middlegames, and endgames, practice versus various levels of opponents including those much stronger than you so you can learn from them, practice identifying tactical and strategic problems so you can solve them, and stay in a calm mindset during games.

Here are the general guidelines for how win in chess which, when you implement them, will help you improve even against stronger opponents.

For the opening:

1. Control the center of the board using pawns and knights
2. Develop pieces as quickly as possible
3. Attempt to castle before launching any attacks
4. Connect the rooks
5. Develop other pieces that are not knights or rooks

For general play outside of the opening:

1. Select a move that introduces the threat of checkmate within 2-3 steps
2. Avoid walking into a checkmate
3. Open files for your rooks
4. Make efficient, forward moving queen moves

Study Chess Openings

To win in chess you must study a variety of chess openings, as they are the beginning of your game. The goal of the opening phase is to control the center, develop your pieces, get your king to safety, and connect your rooks. If you fail to do this, you will likely end up playing defensively for most of the game which will rarely result in a win.

When memorizing chess openings, you will need to know the names of each and important moves. Develop NNs or National Names to connect with strategies that will likely present themselves during the game when playing an opponent who is similarly experienced.

It is easiest to break down the study of openings into written texts because of the wealth of information available.

Solve Chess Puzzles And Problems

Chess puzzles and problems are fast tactical tools to help you understand how to win in chess by training your patterns. There are three types of drills you can use to solve chess puzzles and problems:

• Endgame studies
• Classic game replays
• Tactical puzzles

Endgame studies: You put yourself in an actual or theoretical position with the goal of solving the puzzle and finding a forced win. There are the classics, such as Pal Benko’s chess endgame studies column in Chess Life. For newer versions try the website Tim Krabbé’s Chess Records.

Classic game replays: You follow the thought process of chess players throughout classic chess game replays. This is an indirect method to gain insights into the classic game rationalizations which could set you up with results-based thinking in the future. Try Winning in the Chess Opening for solid opening advice using classic game replays.

Tactical problems: Solving tactical problems on sites such as Tactics Trainer on chess.com using GM games or databases will improve your tactical skills and make you win more games.

Techniques to solve problems should include:

1. Write the solution down
2. Retain concentration
3. Keep it balanced
4. Keep track of your time

Chess.com has over 50,000 tactical exercises in its tactics trainer, all of which are taken from real games. This provides an excellent repository to hone your skills and prepare for improved winning chances. They are grouped by difficulty, so one can begin at the level that they are good at, and gradually increase difficulty.

For example, if you always notice tactical possibilities, but fail to calculate for every move, then select exercises of intermediate or low difficulty that all begin with a tactic. If the problem is that you rarely see tactical opportunities, do the opposite and work on solving tactics exercises that include the solution as a variation on an earlier, much inferior move. Move up in difficulty only when you feel that you are too good at the prior level.

Analyze Your Games

Post-game analysis is the most effective way to improve your skills in chess. Game analysis may be performed using a chess engine (such as Stockfish, Komodo, Rybka, or the Leela Chess project) or a chess coach at a club or locally. Chess coaches will engage with players to identify in-game decisions that were incorrect, and will suggest alternative moves based on that assessment.

Practice Consistently

Consistency in practicing chess is essential in order to improve one’s skills in chess and to eventually win in chess. The famous chess champion Garry Kasparov has been quoted as saying, “The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts”. This can be extended to the games of chess and patience. Sunil Weeramantry also suggests practising patience – after all, if you’ve learned to wait for the opportunity in chess then you’ve learned to better wait for those moments in life.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Win in Chess?

What is the ultimate goal of chess?

The ultimate goal of chess is to checkmate the opponent’s king, which means trapping it in a position where it cannot escape capture.

What are the basic strategies for winning in chess?

Some basic strategies for winning in chess include controlling the center of the board, developing pieces quickly, and creating pawn chains to limit the opponent’s movements.

What are key pieces to focus on during a chess game?

The key pieces to focus on during a chess game are the queen, as it is the most powerful piece, and the bishops and knights, as they have the ability to move in unique patterns.

How can I improve my chess game?

You can improve your chess game by studying openings, practicing tactics and puzzles, and analyzing your own games to learn from your mistakes.

Is it important to control the center of the chess board?

Yes, controlling the center of the chess board is crucial as it allows you to have more space to maneuver your pieces and attack the opponent’s pieces.

What is the best way to approach a chess game?

The best way to approach a chess game is to have a plan in mind, stay flexible and adapt to your opponent’s moves, and always be on the lookout for potential threats to your pieces.