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10 Tips to Become a Chess Champ

chess player looking at board

If you want to be a chess champ, it’ll take lots of learning and lots of practicing. Here are 10 tips to get you started:

LEARN THE CHESS MOVES

Each chess piece can move only a certain way. For instance, a pawn moves straight ahead but can only attack on an angle, one square at a time. A knight’s move is L-shaped. The bishop moves at an angle but can move more than one square at a time. The rook (castle) can move only in a straight line but can go forward, back or to the side. The queen, the most powerful piece, can move in any direction for any number of squares, but not two directions in one move. And the king moves at a stately pace — as a king should — one square at a time in any direction on the chess board.

OPEN WITH A PAWN

Move the pawn in front of either the king or queen two squares forward. (Only on its opening move can a pawn move two squares.) This opens pathways for your bishops and queen to enter the game. They move on an angle and can’t get out onto the field of battle if pawns are in the way.

GET THE KNIGHTS AND BISHOPS OUT

Before you move your queen, rooks or king, move your knights and bishops toward the center of the chess board. You want to get these pieces out from behind the pawns so they can attack.

WATCH YOUR BACK!

And front! When it’s your turn, always think to yourself, “What did my opponent’s last move do? What is he up to?” Is he laying traps to capture your pieces? Then decide on your own plan. Always look at all your possibilities. Look at moves that would capture your opponent’s men or threaten his king first. But always double-check your moves before you play them. Ask yourself, “Does my move leave something unprotected?”

DON’T WASTE TIME

Don’t make too many moves with your pawns or try to pick off your opponent’s pawns.

“CASTLE” EARLY

Castling is a move that allows you to move your king to safety and bring your rook into play. Once all the squares between your rook and the king are unoccupied you can move the king two squares toward the rook while the rook moves to the square on the the king’s other side. If your opponent neglects to castle, you might be able to launch an attack on his king. This is the only chess move in which more than one piece may be moved in a turn.

ATTACK IN THE “MIDDLEGAME”

After you’ve brought all your knights and bishops into the game and castled (these moves are your “opening”), the middlegame begins. In the middlegame, always be on the lookout for ways to capture your opponent’s men. Take any chess piece that your opponent doesn’t protect. But look at what will happen to your piece if you take his — will you get picked off? Always be looking for ways to move lots of your men into position to attack the enemy king.

LOSE PIECES WISELY

You’ll take some of your opponent’s pieces. Some of your pieces will be taken. You must figure out what is and isn’t a good swap in chess. Use these points to figure out whether you’re making a good move if you’re going to lose one of them:

  • Queen: 9 points
  • Rook: 5 points
  • Bishop: 3 points
  • Knight: 3 points
  • Pawn: 1 point

So is it a good idea to lose a bishop to save a pawn? No!

DON’T PLAY TOO FAST

If you see a good move, sit on your hands and look for a better one. Patient thinking is the key to chess success.

WIN THE ENDGAME

After you and your opponent swap pieces and you’re down to just a few men, the endgame begins. Now the pawns become more important. If you can advance a pawn to the farthest row away from you, that pawn becomes a queen. A big success! Let your king attack, too, as long as he stays out of reach of your opponent’s remaining pieces — especially the queen — and does not let himself to be checked.

Your king is said to be in check when your opponent threatens to use one of his pieces to capture the king on his next move. If your king is checked and you have no way to remove the threat — it can’t run away, you can’t capture the opposing piece that has him in check and you can’t block the check by moving one of your own pieces — the game is lost. Checkmate! If you checkmate your opponent before he checkmates you, then you win!

55 Comments on 10 Tips to Become a Chess Champ

  1. i love whales

  2. Thank you for your help and it’s a useful thing

  3. this is great but need improvement

  4. Thanks

  5. CLASSISFIED // October 1, 2020 at 8:06 am // Reply

    Love the tips!

  6. Wanna be expect

  7. good idea

  8. I just new in game thank you.

  9. Nice explanation new moves understood

  10. not my real name // September 28, 2020 at 12:57 pm // Reply

    no

  11. Thank u. Now I started playing chess

  12. Now I started playing chess thankyou for giving these tips

  13. I just started playing chess and this is really helping

  14. Thank you for this amazing tips gonna try this at home tanks

  15. Impressive. Thanku

  16. Imma try this. Thanks

  17. Gonna try these tips, thank you!

  18. I just started playing chess. Thank you.

  19. Nice tips

  20. Thank you i really win the game

  21. Thanks very simple to understand

  22. Nice, I liked your tips and I will use them for my win.
    thank you

  23. I think the tips are very useful

  24. Chess is amazing

  25. That’s useful thanks

  26. Nicely described

  27. Thanks a lot

  28. I want to see for medium that is know the game and want to become champion.

  29. Thanks for the tips. Good refresher.

  30. Not so useful

  31. Can you throw me off a cliff // August 7, 2020 at 2:01 pm // Reply

    Hi
    I like chess

  32. Let’s hope it works

  33. Gyanaranjan // August 2, 2020 at 10:09 am // Reply

    Tips are very useful
    Thanks

  34. Thank you now my baby brother is now a pro

  35. I think this is not working……………..

  36. thank you bro

  37. Thanks I’ll try them

  38. play good

  39. Thanks buddy… That’s some nice move you got.
    It’s helped a newbie like me….

  40. Nice tips!

  41. thanks this will help beat my dad

  42. Anonymous // July 9, 2020 at 2:30 am // Reply

    superb tricks

  43. ok not bad

  44. That is useful

  45. Supper trick very very nice trick its working

  46. What a nice trick

  47. Nice tricks

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