Attitudes and Mindsets: What It Takes to Learn and Play Chess

What makes chess games so fascinating is that you will employ a myriad of moves for the win. The catch: When one strategy works for one tournament, there’s no telling that it will work on the next! Needless to say, one of the most effective techniques in chess is to add your personal signature to your favorite generic strategy. A personal style for the game can be established with the age-old trial and error method. Your playing style may be a combo of several techniques.  Irrespective of the different techniques a player can use, some points are imperative for a good chess player throughout the tournament.

One critical element is the player’s ability to focus. When you underestimate its value, you’re likely to lose. There are some player who obsess what trick they will pull next that they fail to observe their adversary’s moves carefully. In fact at times, even an opponent’s move is over looked or ill considered.

As you probably know, intuition commonly accompanies a great level of concentration. It helps to have a vision of the kind of technique you will employ in the match. But this doesn’t mean that you should stick to the plan completely, as circumstances vary.

Each move of the adversary should be analyzed and the reasons behind the move should be ferreted. Smart players always position their pieces for a reason. If you have the slightest idea of what your rival is planning, then you have achieved some advantage already for yourself. This also gives the player a a cool mindset while the opposing player is reduced to complete bewilderment!

The next important point is to appreciate the value of the pieces on the board. Every piece in Chess is assigned a rank on the basis of its value. The Pawns are the least costly with 1 point each. Knights and bishops are ranked higher, and each is allocated 3 points. They are tailed by the rooks with 5 points. The most powerful position, the queen, has a value of 9 points. You will definitely be using these values to formulate your strategy. For example, the queen may be allocated with 9 points, but if you keep both rooks in the game, the duo is collectively worth more points than the queen. The deciding piece is the king, whose movement is restricted to only a square per turn. Some games necessitate sacrifices to be made, and this means allowing the opponent to seize some of your most powerful pieces – except your king, of course. Now, here it is important to analyze which piece can be sacrificed.

The payoffs of thinking ahead are for the long term. For example, between a knight and a bishop, the latter can move more squares across the board. However, situations differ from time to time so if you think the knight will contribute more for your victory, then sacrifice the bishop. There are so many things that can happen in the game. Good chess players know how to react smartly and deal with each situation as it comes along. To level up, you must couple interest with regular practice. However, if a player includes these teachings into his|her game, there shall be, without question, a visibly great improvement.