Chess pieces and their Uses

In the game of chess, you need to understand the value of chess pieces. Many beginners do not place much importance on the value of minor pieces.

You can intuitively understand  what are the minor fees and what are the major pieces. Queen and rook are  the major pieces while Bishop and Knight are the minor pieces

While exchanging pieces, it is better that if you understand the value of pieces. The following are the values of pieces Queen is equal to 9 points rook is equal to 5. Bishop and Knight have 3 points in value and a pawn is equal to 1 point. So if you are exchanging the rook for the opponents Bishop and Knight you have gained 1 point extra however you cannot calculate the value exactly in mathematical terms because positions in chess plays an important role when it comes to judging who is going to win the game.

Sometimes  a pawn placed at the right square can even be powerful than a Queen stuck in a corner.

Many beginners give away the Pawns so easily because they want to play with the rooks and knight this is a mistake every piece is valuable but that doesn't mean that you should not be exchanging pieces you should strive for equal exchange so what would be an equal exchange?

 If you can get two Rooks for opponent's queen then the exchange is equal or more than equal because two rooks is equal to 10 points and queen is nine points .

Similarly you can calculate whether the piece exchange is equal or not. in some cases you might even get more points by exchange.

For example if you are able to get the queen in exchange of knight then you can go ahead and exchange  as you have gained more. You can use a tactic called Pin when the opponents queen and king on the same diagonal you need to place your Bishop threatening the queen now the queen cannot move because it will cause an open check with the opponents king the only way to escape the pin will be for your opponents Queen to capture the bishop or move a piece to block the diagonal otherwise you can easily win the queen.

Likewise, there are many tactics. You can learn them by analysing games of grandmasters like Emmanuel Lasker, Alexander Alekhine or Bobby Fischer.

Next we will talk about combinations. Chess grandmasters usually think several moves ahead likewise you need to develop a capacity to think 2 or 3 Moves ahead at the beginning. Later on you can improve the skill. For this you have to develop a skill called 'visualisation' that is seeing in your mind's eye.

We need to mentally move the pieces to the squares and judge outcome of those move this comes by practice  you can solve chess problems this will also improve your combinational vision by practising combinations you will be able to turn around a losing game into a winning one.

Sometimes combinations involves sacrifice but make sure it is a position that warrants sacrifice otherwise you'll be unnecessarily losing the pieces you also have to develop lot of patience because sometimes opponent may be thinking for a long time to make his move you need to use this time to plan your moves so that you get extra time compared to your opponent.

Castling  early on in the game is  a good thing to do however make sure that your opponents pieces are not coming for a mating attack castling puts your King in a safe position after which u can concentrate on infiltrating the enemy territory.

There is no point in playing vaguely you should have a plan and work your plan the movement of your pieces should resemble the working of an orchestra everything moving in Unison executing your plan,

At the same time you have to be aware of what your opponent is planning to do. So there are two things you need to concentrate on one is executing a plan and the other one is stopping the successful execution of your opponents plan.

If you study more chess books you will come to understand chess strategy consists of three parts namely the opening strategy the middle game strategy and the endgame strategy all three are equallye important especially the opening strategy because as the saying goes 'a good beginning makes a good ending'

You should have a good mix of Strategies and tactics if you want to improve your chess game. Tactics can be improved by training with the computer or by solving chess problems. Strategy needs to be learnt by analysing games of grandmasters.

In the beginning you will find yourself employing more tactical manuvers  but as you progress in your chess career you need to become a strategic player this will help you to face variety of opponents.

You also need to pay attention to the timing because sometimes you have to think fast if your time is running out but first playing 'thinking chess' with 15 minute slot is recommended once you get the hang of it you can start playing 10 and 5 minute slots. I hope you found this useful thank you for your time

Chess Tips for beginners

 If you want to improve your chess  then you have to focus on basics  and avoid common blunders. Play with different types of opponents. Base your game on solid principles. 

One of the best books  I have read about chess  is MY System  by Aaron Nimzowitsch  if you clearly follow  the instructions laid out in that book  you can win more games  because unlike regular books  this book list out  the philosophy  of  the grandmaster.

My coach used to tell me  that I have to start observing  more games  rather than playing  with the same opponent.  Always try to  play with opponents who are stronger than you.

Practicing with the software  like Fritz or Shredder  can be helpful  however play with humans from time to time. Analyse your game  and try to find out  where you are going wrong  it is usually easy to achieve a rating  around 1200 -1300  but after that  many people face  difficulties in rising above that level .
Japanese follow  a principle called Kaizen  in which they  marginally improve  themselves on a consistent basis  you can apply that to chess.

Everyday do something  that will improve your game quality  you can do things like  solving chess problems,  guessing the moves in Grand Masters game, reading chess books  so on and so forth.

Studies show that  if a person practices skill  for 10000 hours  then that person can become a world class professional. So, if your goal is to become a chess Grandmaster  then you need to calculate  how many years (in hours)  is required  for you to go from  beginner to Chess Master.

You have variety of options available online to play chess at websites like  instant chess.com  chess.com  Internet chess club(popularly called as ICC). 

You can get a premium membership  in of those sites  so that you can improve your game  dramatically. In my personal experience,  I have found  ICC has lot of strong players  and if you like challenging  play then ICC is the best place to go 

Many Russian grandmasters  also visit  ICC regularly. Even club players in Russia  play very strongly  so you should be prepared  to meet with those kind of opponents.

There is no point in using  computer help  while playing with human opponents online. While you may win the game  you will eventually lose the  learning opportunity.

Someone once said  "You learn more by failing than by winning".

At first,  concentrate on  playing well  rather than playing quickly.

 I recommend reading  'Think like a Grandmaster' and 'Play like a Grandmaster' by Kotov  for beginners  it will give you an understanding  of how  grandmasters thinks  before they execute the move.

Since chess requires  for you to sit in front of a computer for a long time  or in front of the chess board  day in day out it is  better you have other  extra curricular activities  tennis football  just make sure your relaxed  and you can think clearly  meditation is also  a good practice.

Solving chess problems  will give you  an understanding of the patterns  appearing in chess game  this will help you to recognize  patterns  when you are playing with  human opponents  usually it is recommended to control the centre squares e4,e5,d4 and d5  in the opening  make sure your pieces  are mobile  in the beginning of the game.

Don't underestimate your opponent  and try 3 or 4 move mates  because  it might backfire  if your opponent is stronger. As I said earlier always base your game on solid principles like controlling the center, safeguarding your king, cramping opponents movement, possesing opening files with rooks, etc follow this  at least when you are starting out.

Another important thing  to discover about you,  is your personal style  every chess master has their own style for example Tal Mihail was an attacking player he would sometimes even sacrifice a Queen if it gives him attacking opportunities he was out-and-out attacker by nature whereas Tigran Petrossian  was the defensive type he would wait for the right time like a Python and crush the opponent without any chance of escape.  Gary Kasparov was a more versatile player he will mix and match attack and defense in his games.

Some chess Masters  recommend  attacking play  for beginners  it is not advisable to take a stand  as an attacking player or defensive player. 'Attack when you have to attack and defend when you have to'  is the mantra. 

However, if you want to learn attacking play  then I recommend analyzing games of Tal Mihail.
If you are more scientific in your approach  then I recommend  studying games  Michael Botvinnik  again it depends on your  personal interest  I hope you found this article useful  in the coming days  we'll be talking about  Strategies and tactics