Best Chess Strategies For Beginners
24/07/2023
In chess there are two main factors that are present in all the games we play, these are tactics and strategy.
The tactics are those accurate blows that occur in a few moves and end up giving an advantage to one of the two sides, while strategy is a long-term plan to improve our position little by little.
Knowing when to think strategically and when it is time to start calculating tactical moves is very important and will save a lot of time on the clock.
That is why before knowing the best chess strategies for beginners we must identify when it is a tactical position and when it is a strategic position.
This would be a tactical position, the easiest way to recognize them is that there are many forced moves (moves with few answers) such as checks, captures of pieces and threats.
Strategy position
On the other hand, in the strategy positions there is not so much contact between the pieces, there is nothing to do tactically, we only need to create a plan to improve our pieces as best as possible, and then launch an attack against the opponent's king.
In this position the two sides are completing their developing their pieces, without creating any threat yet.
Combination of tactics and strategy
Many times the positions in chess have not only tactical or strategic characteristics, in those cases it is better to pay attention to the threats that our rival has on us and we have on him (tactics), since it does not matter much the strategy if our rival has much material advantage over us (our rival has captured more pieces, than we have captured him).
Best Chess Strategies For Beginners
Now that we know when to use strategy and when to use tactics. Let's see what are the best chess strategies for beginners in each phase of the game (opening, middlegame and endgame).
Strategy in the opening in chess.
Before we look at the best chess strategies for beginners in the opening we need to know what our goal is in the opening. Our job in the opening is to develop our army as best as possible to then start launching an attack against our opponent.
Strategy #1 in the opening: Develop the pieces.
We don't just have to move the pawns, it is also important that we bring out the most powerful pieces to play.
Let's imagine that we want to cut the grass in our house and we have a state-of-the-art lawn mower, but instead of using our best tool, we use rusty grass shears. It makes no sense to have a powerful tool if we do not use it, the same happens with our most powerful pieces, they are there for us to make use of their powerful movements.
Remember: We have to get all our pieces to play, they will help us to achieve the victory.
Strategy #2 in the opening: Control the center of the board.
All the pieces are much stronger, the more in the center of the chessboard they are, since in the center they control a greater amount of squares and at the same time we take those important squares away from our rival.
Strategy #3 in the opening: Do not move the same piece more than once.
Remember that in our turn we can only move one piece at a time, that is why it is so important that we manage our moves well among all our pieces. If we move the same piece several times the other pieces will be left without playing and we will be too far behind in our development.
Remember: The development of all our pieces translates into greater control over the board and control, gives us greater possibilities to attack our opponent and to defend against his attacks.
Strategy #4 in the opening: Give security to our king.
Let us remember that the king is the most important piece in chess, if the king is caught we lose the game.
It is very important that we castle so that we take the king out of the center of the board and move it to one of the sides of the board, away from the central fight.
Strategy #5 in the opening: Do not develop the most powerful pieces too early in the opening.
The last pieces we should put into play are the most powerful of our army (queens and rooks). It might seem contradictory that we reserve the most powerful pieces for the endgame, but if we take out our queen very early in the opening, our opponent's minor pieces will start to harass our queen, forcing us to move it again and losing important time while our opponent can develop comfortably.
Strategy in the middlegame in chess.
Once we have our pieces developed, the middle game begins, where our mission is to look for good squares in the opponent's territory for our pieces. Now let's see what are the best chess strategies for beginners in the middlegame.
Strategy #1 in the middlegame: Exchange pawns to open diagonals and columns.
A very good strategy is to exchange our pawns for the opponent's pawns to open the way for our bishops and rooks on the enemy's territory.
In the case of bishops what we want is to exchange central pawns to open new diagonals and squares where to look for better diagonals.
Strategy #2 in the middlegame: Create weak squares.
Weak squares are those that cannot be defended with pawns, for example, if we manage to place a piece on that weak square, no pawn can bother our piece.
Strategy in the endgame in chess.
In the endgame in chess, we realize the power of the pawns and the king. In this phase of the game they become very important, they are the pieces that will help us to achieve victory.
Let's see some of the best chess strategies for beginners in the endgame.
Strategy #1 in the endgame: occupy the king as an attacking piece.
In the endgame there are very few pieces that can threaten our king with checkmate, so the king can move around the board freely, he no longer needs the security of his pieces, now he is a piece that accompanies our pawns to crown or threatens the opponent's pawns to be captured.
Strategy #2 in the endgame: Create passed pawns.
A passed pawn is when it has no rival pawn in front or on either side. These are the most dangerous pawns since they have no rival to stop it on the way to the coronation, only the rival king can stop it, forcing it to be aware of that pawn.
Strategy #3 at the end: Take it one step at a time.
In the end we have to be patient, securing our advantages and not letting our opponent take advantage of theirs, it is not necessary to rush to win quickly.
In the endgame we usually have to improve our pieces little by little, advancing our king while it accompanies the pawns or interposes itself so that the rival king does not enter our territory where it can disturb our pawns.
How to improve chess strategy?
The strategy unlike tactics (how to improve tactics and strategy) is improved with experience, so as we play more games we will gradually understand the strategy and when one is better than another.
We have to keep practicing without fear of losing by testing a new strategy, putting them to the test in our own games is the most effective way to really learn them and become a master strategist.
Did you know some of the best chess strategies for beginners?
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