Master Chess

Master Chess Tips

Play against the computer or against friends in this challenging chess game. And really stretch your grey matter, because the faster you pass the checkmate, the more points you get! We recommend that you learn the basics of chess before playing online.

This game is one of the most popular mobile memory games. Why don't you give it a try? Just click on the big play button and you're ready to go.

Challenge a friend in two-player mode or play against the computer in one of three difficulty levels. Move your pieces around the board and try to bring your opponent into a checkmate to end the game. Perfect game to practice your chess skills online.

Chess is an exciting game and easy to learn. It is played on a board with 64 squares and 32 pieces. It is won by checkmate, that is, capturing the king. Although the king is the most important piece, it is not the strongest. The king can move to any square that is right next to it: up, down, sideways or diagonally.

The pieces

The king is the most important piece in chess, but the queen is the strongest. The queen can move forward, backward, sideways and diagonally just like the king, but unlike the king, it can move not just one square, but as far as it wants. The only thing the queen cannot do is jump over other pieces.

The rook, like the queen, can move forward, backward and sideways. Unlike the queen, however, it cannot move diagonally.

The bishop, like the queen, can move diagonally. Unlike the queen, it cannot move forward, backward or sideways. Each player has 2 bishops. One is on a white square and one is on a black square.

The knight is the only piece that does not move straight ahead. The knight moves two squares in one direction, turns and then moves one square to the right or left. For example, a knight can move 2 squares forward and then one square to the right or left. But he can also move two squares to the right and then one square down. But it always follows the pattern that looks like a big L. Also, the knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.

Normally, pawns move forward one square on each move. However, pawns have some special features. On its first move, a pawn can choose to move forward one or two squares. Also, pawns capture differently than they move, namely diagonally rather than straight. And then pawns are the only pieces that can never move backwards.

When a pawn reaches the other end of the board, it is transformed into another piece. You can choose between a knight, a bishop, a rook and the queen. Since the queen is the strongest piece, this is by far the most common choice.

7 golden tips to get better at chess

1. make sure you know the rules.

It doesn't matter if you don't know the rules intimately, or if you think you already know them. If you are not already a serious chess player, it is a good idea to review the basic moves of the pieces and the specific rules of chess.

2. play many and many games of chess

You can't get better at anything without lots of repetition, and chess is no different. Take every opportunity to play a game of chess - on the road, on the computer, or at home.

3. review your games and learn from them

Playing without checking your games is not the best way to improve. Every game contains many mistakes and opportunities. To improve, you must learn from playing as well as from reviewing!

4. practice with chess puzzles

Chess puzzles are small, bite-sized chess problems waiting to be solved. They represent real game situations where you have a chance to win. It's like playing chess, but skipping the good part where you're already winning!

5. study basic endgames

Surprisingly, most chess games don't end quickly, but after many, many moves and after most pieces have been traded away. Then often only kings and a few pieces and/or pawns remain. This is the "endgame", which usually involves turning one of your pawns into a queen. If you learn to master the endgame, you can win many games.

6. don't waste time memorizing openings

Many chess players make the mistake of spending time laboriously memorizing sequences of moves (the "opening"). The problem is that most players don't know very many openings, and even if they do, the likelihood of playing your specific lines is very low. Just learn good opening principles from the start and don't stress about memorizing a bunch of "book moves" and chess theory - this step can wait until later.

7. double check your moves

One of the most important aspects of playing better chess is avoiding bad moves. Most games are lost because of mistakes. So before you move any of your pieces, always make sure that your king is safe and that you are not giving away a piece.

Strategy and chess tips for beginners

Center control is crucial in all phases of the game

Control of the center is one of the most important chess strategy tips for beginners. The center is the most critical section of the board, as your pieces have access to the entire board when properly placed in the center.

This is why this strategic principle is so important. The best chess players in the world have proven this time and time again. These players always try to keep their pieces, which increases the pressure on the center.

This strategy will serve you well throughout your chess game. Moving your king to the center is one of the best ways to activate the king.

Central control is crucial in all phases of the game

Remember that with short-range pieces like knights, if they are placed in the center, they can reach other areas of the board faster.

Even long-range pieces like bishops become more powerful in the center because they control more squares in more diagonals.

Always develop all your pieces as quickly as possible

Developing your pieces quickly is also an important tip for beginner chess strategy because your pieces are like your army; they are the ones that help you dominate the board, attack the enemy, and ultimately help you win the games.

If you don't develop your pieces quickly, this can be a serious mistake. By not developing your pieces quickly, you may allow your opponents to take more space on the board.

If you are wondering whether to play a pawn move or move a piece in the opening, place a higher priority on piece movement. Pieces control more squares than a pawn and can cover the squares behind them.

Develop your pieces, move your king to safety and connect your rooks, this is what you need to focus on much more than pawn moves in chess openings.

The combination of chess strategies leads to a powerful game

One of the most important chess tips for beginners is to remember that a chess game is a mixture of different strategies. Constructing a winning position means using all the ingredients that go into a good position.

Try not to move the same piece several times in the opening

Not moving the same piece multiple times in the opening is consistent with the concept of developing your pieces quickly. Moving the same piece multiple times allows your opponent to develop multiple pieces much faster.

A good idea in beginner chess is to practice "One and done!" in the opening. One move and I'm done with this piece unless it's attacked.

There are occasions when you need to move the same piece several times to avoid losing the piece or something else. However, always keep this principle in mind.

Learn the value of time in chess strategy

An excellent chess tip for beginners to learn the value of time is to play or learn games with opening gambits. Look for games with the King's Gambit, the Danish Gambit, or the Scottish Gambit and see how strong chess players use their time efficiently.

If moving the same piece twice takes time, a good strategy is to play moves that force your opponent to move his piece again.

Lock early whenever possible

One of the essential rules in chess strategy, especially for beginners, is to always keep your king in a safe position while trying to create weaknesses around your opponent's king whenever possible.

For this reason, you should always castle your king as quickly as possible. This way it moves away from the center, the area of the board where most of the action usually takes place. It also helps you get your rooks to the center faster.

However, you don't want to lock into an attack. In general, it's usually safe to castle on the same side as your opponent.

Delaying castling means developing pieces or moving your pieces closer to the center while you wait to see which side of the board he will castle. Sometimes you can delay castling to opposite sides and launch an attack.

When studying an opening, make sure you have the right time and side for castling. Black can play it safe with a short castle in the French Defense Variation or spice up the game with a long castle.

When is your king safe in the center?

One way to determine if your king is safe in the center of the board is to look at the pawn formation. A blocked center makes it almost impossible for your opponent to attack your king.

Sometimes your king is safe when the center is more open, but only when you have such excellent control of the center does your opponent have no counterplay.

Yes, you get control of the center by moving your pieces quickly toward the center and not wasting time moving your pieces more than once. Chess becomes much easier when you incorporate a solid strategy, or several solid strategies, into your game.

Don't move your queen too early

Not moving your queen too early in the game is an important chess strategy tip for beginners. Most beginners try to move the queen too early to create mate threats on f7 or f2.

These threats are usually not real, and the player who moved the queen usually loses several tempos while trying to return the queen to a safe square.

You've probably heard this many times before. But "don't move your queen too early in the game" is a rule you can sometimes ignore. For example, if your opponent makes a big mistake that you can punish immediately by launching an attack with your queen.

As with any chess move, it is important to know the purpose of your move. It is a valid reason to bring your queen out early if you can gain material.

Another valid reason for developing the queen early is to force your opponent to put his pieces on bad squares. If Black develops with ...Lf5 or ...Lg4, then Db3 is often a good move for White.

Db3 attacks the undefended b7-pawn and forces Black to defend the pawn. Note that it is not easy for Black to attack the queen on b3.

Black could reply with ...Db6, but since it is an equal piece attacking the white queen, White can ignore the threat and allow the exchange, saving himself the loss of tempo.

Connect your towers and place them on open and half-open files.

The towers are usually the most difficult figures to activate. The reason is that they can only move horizontally and vertically. It is not easy to move these heavy pieces when there are no open files.

This is one of the reasons why it is very important to castle your king early. It will help you move one of the rooks closer to the center of the board.

You should also always try to anticipate which files are most likely to be opened during the game, so that you can be the first to use the opened files with your rooks.

Towers are excellent at defending central pawns

Although rooks can be extremely powerful in open lines, don't discount their effectiveness in defending important central pawns or supporting other pieces. Sometimes it takes time to open files, and you don't want your rooks to sit idle for long.

An excellent use of your rooks is to support pawn advances that give you space. The most commonly played space-gaining pawn moves are the b- and f-pawn moves.

In the English and Reti openings, White often plays Tb1 and b4 to gain space on the queenside and create weaknesses in the black position. This strategy works well with the engaged bishop on g2.

We often think of open files when considering where to develop our rooks, but rooks can also make good use of ranks. You will often hear of "the rook wielder" using the third or fourth rank to get a rook to attack the king.

Moves like a4 and f4 are helpful not only to gain space, but also to bring the rook into play on the third rank.

Think twice before moving your pawns because they can't move back

As you already know, pawns can only move forward. For this reason, this is a basic chess strategy for players of all skill levels, not just beginners.

Another important chess strategy tip is that pawns are the pieces with more limitations in mobility. So, pawns are always very important in determining the type of position and plans that each player should follow.

Memorizing theory is a bad way to learn an opening. The biggest problem with this approach is that your opponent may not remember the opening and may have played a move you never learned.

It is not uncommon for chess players to choose an opening because it gives them the opportunity to enter unfamiliar territory. Some players accept a slightly worse position in return for taking their opponent out of the book moves.

It's important to know the advantages and disadvantages of your pawn structure

Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of pawn structures will help you find the right chess strategy for your game. Learning how great players of the past have used this chess strategy will save you time.

Understanding the pawn structures that result from the opening will help you find the best moves in the middlegame and endgame. You will know the best squares to place your pieces on and why these are good squares.

Not only will this be helpful with your chosen openings, it can also help you if your opponent chooses an unfamiliar opening.

Instead of being rattled, you can focus on achieving a familiar pawn structure where you know the best strategy. Strategic understanding of a position is more helpful than memorizing theories.

Pawns leave empty squares, which is great for developing your pieces. However, this also makes squares deep in your position available to your opponent.

When advancing your pawns, be especially careful that your opponent cannot use outposts near your king. Pawns are excellent for limiting the power of your opponent's pieces, especially the bishop with the fianchetto.

The b2, c3 and d4 pawn chain is exceptionally effective against the black bishop on g7. It is so effective that the bishop "bites granite."

If you have a bad piece, try to exchange it very quickly

Recognizing when a particular piece does not have a bright future is an important aspect of chess strategy at all levels. Knowing how to recognize good and bad pieces is what separates beginners from masters.

When a bishop is blocked by its pawns because they are on squares of the same color as the bishop, the bishop is usually considered a bad piece. It is a wise decision to exchange it for another piece of the same value if possible.

Bishops are usually better pieces than knights when the position is wide open. Knights are usually better pieces in closed positions, since they are the only pieces that can jump pieces.

Remember that a bishop, even if blocked by its pawns, is not always bad.

Sometimes the bishop performs a crucial defensive task, supporting a pawn that secures your king.

If your opponent is stuck with a bad bishop, avoid trading it for one of your pieces. A simple strategy in the middlegame, when your opponent has a bad piece, is to exchange all your other pieces.

Conclusion

Don't be fooled into thinking that these strategies no longer apply if you are not a beginner. Even the strongest chess players in the world are penalized for ignoring evolving pieces.

The sooner you learn to apply these chess strategies to your game, the sooner they will become good habits.

An excellent way to practice is to choose a chess strategy as the theme for your game. Play each move with this chess strategy in mind.

You might decide to make centralization your chosen chess strategy and move all your pieces to the center. Or you might decide to develop your chosen strategy quickly and play gambit openings.

If you are an ambitious chess player, if you want to constantly improve your chess and train systematically, if you want to prepare for your next opponent - whether for a club match, for an Open or for a top tournament... if you are a trainer or chess teacher and want to find training material, if you want to play through the best and newest games with the latest opening trends or enter and analyze your own games... if you have any interest in chess at all, you simply cannot do without Master Chess.