Category Archives: Guest Posts

How to Find Stronger Opponents

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Posted by on April 19, 2009 – 11:43 pm
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You now have been playing the game of chess for a few months against your family and friends. You are noticing more and more that you are beating them all and usually for you it no longer requires you to do a lot of thinking and planning on your part when you challenge them to a game.

Congratulations, you are now moving past the point of being a beginning player and now are moving towards the intermediate level of chess. But to keep your interest in chess and continue to increase your skill level, what can one do? Where are other chess players with the same or even greater skill-set as you? The following are three places or areas where you can visit to find a higher caliber of chess player.

For most casual chess competitions, one doesn’t have to look further than their own public park. Many parks offer concrete chessboards, all you need to bring are your own chess pieces. While at the park, other people will want to challenge you. Take them up on it. Many chess masters have gotten their start due to the exposures of varying style of chess play with the different players available. If no chess areas are available at your local park, check your phone book for chess clubs and / or organizations in the surrounding area. Getting in touch with these local chess clubs will help you and introduce you to many other chess lovers in your own vicinity.

When you finally decide that you are ready to try your hand at chess tournaments, always remember if there are any certain “rules” that you need to follow and watch for, as well as paying attention to certain etiquettes associated with the tournaments. One of the most common forms of chess tournament rules is the use of the chess clocks. During a tournament game, players cannot think about their move forever, so types of time limits have been installed to ensure a quicker game play. Using a time clock, a device that contains two clocks will keep track of the amount of time for each player during his or her turn. Typically in tournament play, a player will have a maximum of 30 minutes to finish the entire game. If either player exceeds his or her allotted time, then he or she forfeits the match.

The third way a player can go about and find better opponents is through the internet. Many sites, such as Yahoo, will offer a place on their site where chess players from across the world can meet online and challenge one another to an exciting game of chess. The chess players meet in the “game” section of the website. From there, they click on the link for chess, and they are ready to begin. Playing online has become one of the fastest ways to increase one’s knowledge and tactics for chess. You can literally have a chess game anytime you want—twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. You finally now can have a chess game that finally fits your schedule.

The Top Five Chess Strategies for Beginners

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Posted by on April 19, 2009 – 11:37 pm
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Many people feel intimidated by the game of chess. They feel that it is a game for intellectuals; however, chess is one of the fairest games out there. There is no dice used to leave the game up to “chance,” and there is no referee involved to possibly “throw” the game. Yes, chess is a thinKing person’s game, but you do not need to have a Calculus degree to master chess. You are the one that calls the shots of your chess pieces. You are the one that can learn various approaches and tactics. The chess game itself is very easy to learn, and could possibly take a lifetime to master with all of the different strategy books available. As a beginning chess player, follow these five simple strategy steps. These steps will provide you with techniques to help the player win the game.

  • 1.Slow down your moves by thinKing things through. Often times, beginners are in such a hurry during their turn, they often overlook better vantage points. Also they can overlook obvious mistakes and could quite possibly lose the piece that they just moved.


  • 2.Castle your King wherever possible. When you ‘castle’ your King, the unmoved King will either move two places to the right or move two places to the left. Immediately following the King’s move, the unmoved Rook closest to the moved King will then “jump” over the King and will land on the immediate open space next to the King. When you castle your King, you must make sure that there are no pieces, either yours or your opponents, on any square between your King and your Rook. Also, once the King has moved, that piece can no longer castle the rest of the game. That is why you are only allowed one time during the chess game to castle the King.


  • 3.Plan your strategy and tactics by at least three moves in advance. Doing so will open up more strategies for you in the long run. By planning ahead during the chess match, this tactic will also help you anticipate your opponent’s next sequential moves and will then possible lead you to a decisive victory.


  • 4.Do not attack your opponent prematurely. Doing so may have you losing a few key pieces you will need later on in the game. Always think before you act; weigh out all of your options that are available to you. By avoiding these types of attacks, time will be on your side for the overall long term strategy of the chess game.


  • 5.Never sacrifice a piece worth more than one of your lower pieces. Many times beginners will think it is natural to sacrifice a Queen for a Knight. Will that sacrifice of a higher piece really give the upper hand in the chess match?

These top five beginning chess strategies and tactics should be taken as sound advice to build your chess game on. There are plenty of other more advanced tactics available, but for the beginning chess player, these five are the most beneficial for them.

Increase Your Tactical Skills by Learning These Important Three Steps

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Posted by on April 19, 2009 – 5:42 pm
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It is common knowledge in the game of chess that a “tactic” is a series of short term maneuvers which have specific goals in mind. All players, beginners to grand masters, need and use different types of tactics that will help them win the game. Typical tactics will fall into patterns you can recognize in many different varying positions. The three basic types of tactics you need to learn are the fork, pin, and skewer. These three tactics are for everyone to use, especially the beginning chess player, as these three prove to be the most useful. Once you learn and understand these three basic tactics, you will be able to easily see and anticipate them from your opponent—you will be able to use them to your advantage.

The “fork” tactic is when a single chess piece of yours is able to attack two chess pieces of your opponent at the same time. For example, one pawn piece of yours can either attack one of the two opponent’s pieces within the pawn’s attack range. Also, when an attack is against two enemy pieces at the same time by two of your pieces, it is called a “double attack”.

The next of the three tactics you need to learn is the “pin” tactic. The “pin” tactic is when you attack an opponent’s piece, and that targeted piece cannot move without revealing another piece behind it to capture. You essentially are “pinning” the first piece to the piece behind it. The only pieces that can pin other pieces are the rook, bishop, and queen. However, if you are ever a victim of a “pin” from your opponent, follow these four tips to escape the “pin”.

1.Block the pin by moving another piece of yours between the piece being pinned and the pinning piece.

2.Move the piece that is being pinned by your opponent’s pinning piece.

3.Capture the piece that is doing the pinning.

4.Attack the opponent’s piece to force your opponent to move it away.

The “skewer” is very similar to the “pin” tactic but this time, you attack your opponent by forcing the targeted opponent’s piece to move away in order for you to capture the more valuable piece behind the “skewered” piece. To some chess players, this is also known as the “bully move,” where you have your piece bully its way on the board to make your opponent decide which piece they will need to give up to you.

Continue to practice to recognize and memorize these tactics in order to win your opponents pieces that you target during the game and eventually the “checkmate”. The key to becoming a better chess player is to understand these aforementioned tactics. The beginning chess player should always remember that the back row of your pieces are critical in winning the game, so by moving them out at a first chance is critical. The quicker those pieces in the back row have been moved out, the quicker you can apply your own tactics and strategies that will help you gain a checkmate against your opponent.