Chess is a game that is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time. To win at chess you need to put your thinking skills to the test and spending more time practising and thinking through your moves before you make them can really pay off.
Chess improvement can only come through carefully deciphering your opponent’s next move and observing your opponent’s pieces with a careful eye before making a move of your own.
What you need to remember is that chess is anything but a game of chance, so you cannot simply dive into playing chess without a clear strategy. You also need to keep an eye on the pawn structure and take note of any strategies your opponent is using to win games.
Let's look at some top tips you can use to help improve the game you play.
1: Practice, practice, practice
The secret to playing a good game of chess is to practice lots every day. Since winning chess is based on using tactics and strategies, you should spend plenty of time each day practising different strategies and analyzing your own game.
2: Boost your critical thinking skills
Problem-solving skills are critical in chess if you are ever going to out-manoeuvre your opponent. You can boost your memory skills by doing fun and challenging puzzles and problem-solving tasks to help you out-think situations.
3: Find a comfortable style
You find that a lot of seasoned chess players tend to have a favourite style of play, whether that is aggressive or defensive or just plain sneaky. No matter what style they favour, they will tend to win using a style that they are very comfortable with, so if defence is your thing, or you feel your best while on the attack, identify your style of play and work on steering the play in that direction.
4: Get competitive
While you may really enjoy your games and treat them as a bit of fun while playing with friends and family, to improve your game you need to step up and find more competitive opponents and become more competitive yourself. Joining a local chess club can help you here.
5: Emulate the Grandmasters
The key to success in life is to find someone you admire and copy what they did to become successful. By studying Grandmaster Games you get the chance to analyze the games of those that are most proficient at chess. This can give you valuable insights and manoeuvres that you may never have figured out by yourself.
6: Watch your Queen like a hawk
Your Queen is a precious chess piece and you need to keep your eye on her. Don't be tempted to move her out to attack too soon, instead give your opponent the chance to place their pawns before you engage your Queen in battle.
We hope these tips have helped on your quest to improve your chess game. Remember that chess games can constantly change and evolve where one single move can shift things immediately. A good rule of thumb is to spend 20% of the time on your opening, 40% on Middlegame and 40% on Endgame and you should see yourself triumph!