Chess Basics

By nicholas leas

1. Develop your pieces quickly

Get your pieces off their starting square while at first, this may be obvious it is also a vital part of chess for example if you move a knight off of its starting square Chess at the higher levels is a highly complex game, one way this is shown is that in the first 4 moves of the game, there are over 288 billion possible moves. To a beginner, this may seem daunting but since most of these moves don’t follow the few principles in this article we can lower that number by a significant amount. If you instead decide to memorize the perfect move to every move, while highly unlikely it is just useless as Grand Master Robert Hess said "Merely memorizing moves is the first step to forgetting how to play chess. It is more essential to understand the nuances of structures than to rattle off opening variations." that being said let's get into the basic principles of chess.

 then immediately move it back you are A, wasting a turn this is called losing a tempo, and B undeveloping a piece to a place where it is entirely useless. See how on the first two moves the nights come out into a useful spot. Segway into the next principle.

2. Control the center

If you control the center then you will have the most options in any given game. When they are in the center of the board they are threatened more often but they are also most threatening there. Like with the picture above the pawn is controlling the other side's center squares so if they move a piece there it will be captured. I can also mix this one with another rule which is to put the pieces in the most options. In the picture to the right, you can move to 8 different squares but if it was on the edge of the board it would only have 4 squares.

3. Assume your opponent's move is his best move.

This while not a basic rule of chess is something you should always do because it will push you to play your best move. When you think someone will play the best move they can, you have nothing else to do but play the best move in return.

4. Ask yourself, "Why did he move there?" after each opponent’s move.

This is a very important part of winning because if you can predict what he will play next you can preemptively strike and prevent them from going there and carrying out any plan that they wanted to do previously.

5. If you must lose a piece, get something for it if you can.

If you exchange pieces even of lesser value then you can at least lower the gap in material instead of just losing a piece. 

6. When behind, exchange pawns.  When ahead, exchange pieces.

You want to exchange pawns when behind because later it will be a pain for them if they don’t have pawns it will also open up the board so their pieces will be vulnerable. And you exchange pieces when you head because it is a way to keep them down. For example, let's say you just took the opposition’s queen you should trade your pieces with their pieces so you will have a queen in the end game.

7. Everyone blunders.  The champions just blunder less often.

This one is more for inspiration but it is good to keep in mind because it shows that anyone can become a champion and be just as good as them.

8. Always play for a win but if not then draw.

When you play for the win you will gain elo or points that show your rating. When you draw you don’t lose or gain any elo. But when you lose, you will lose elo. To preserve your score and rating you should always try to win or at least draw.

9. Do not focus on one sector of the board.  View the whole board.

When you get tunnel vision it will leave you open to attacks from the opposite side of the board and severely limit your options later.

That is the last rule I have I wish everyone the best they can on their chess journey, and I hope you found some of these useful