6 Practical ways to improve and become better at chess

I once read a chess article where it was stated that “learning how to play chess is easy, but playing chess really well is hard” and that is the story more than 99% of chess players including grandmasters will tell you that it is very difficult to win at chess even against slightly weaker players and there are many reasons for this. 

First consider that no two chess games are exactly the same plus that chess positions are very complex to read and analyse. It takes a lot of experience to really correctly analyse a chess position especially at the middle game phase when both sides have equal chances at counter play. Two there are no winning formulas for any chess game, although there are strategic principles to guide you when playing a game as to where to play, how to plan and what moves should be selected or rejected we still cannot sum up strategy in an auto pilot form for use in our games. Then as humans we have limited capacities for anything including acquiring and applying chess knowledge for our own advantage.

But despite of all these, it is possible to considerably improve your performance in chess games and tournaments against other opponents whether as a leisure activity or a step towards becoming a superb player you can become better at chess by any or all of the following simple tips.

Study grandmaster games

To become really good at chess I’ll recommend studying grandmaster games for at least 2 hours a day for no less than 1 year. Grandmasters are the top rated chess players who are considered very strong players able to win nearly all their games against other lower rated master players who are also considerably stronger than most of us chess players. A grandmaster according to FIDE the world governing body for Chess is any player who can achieve 3 GM norms (a GM norm is a favorable result at a tournament in which 60% of the players participating at already grandmasters) within 2 years will be awarded the title or alternatively if you can achieve a rating of not less than 2500 Elo points at FIDE rated tournaments.

Study good Chess Books

There are some great chess books I can personally recommend to an average chess player to make him/her a strong player or even graduate to becoming a master player (players who have a rating of 2100 Elo points and above). Two great books I’ll recommend you buy are Amateur's Mind and Reassess Your Chess Workbook both by Jeremy Silman both available on Amazon. They’re great books which will open your eyes on how to understand chess theory especially chess tactics and chess strategy.

Join a local Chess Club

Local chess clubs can also help improve your chess playing strength because you’ll meet with other players many of whom are better than you at playing chess. Many of them could be willing to share their knowledge with you plus playing regularly against them tends to raise the standard of your game.

Play tournament standard chess games

Playing tournament standard games (games which involve use of timers with time limit set at not less than 1 hour for each side) you’ll build a habit of thorough analysis and careful chess thinking which must have a positive impact on your move selection and overall playing ability. Do this as part of your chess training program playing against a better player at least 2 times a week in addition to studying grandmaster games and this should have a huge impact on your chess games.

Record your chess moves

Another very important thing to do when striving to improve your chess is to record your games because this enables you to understand the major causes of your weaknesses and why you fail in finding the right plans or executing the right ones you find.

Hire a Chess Coach 

A chess coach can teach you a lot in a very short time, something that could take you years to learn with the help of a good chess coach you can learn in weeks. It saves you a lot of time but is the most expensive option in this list.

How to Play the Opening in Chess for Beginners

The opening in chess refers to those initial moves you make at the start of the game which determine how the middle game would be played and eventually the endgame. Although there is no fail proof opening there are a few openings which stand out and are considered very solid for both white and black to play such as;

For White: queen’s pawn opening, king’s pawn opening, (Italian Opening, King’s Indian Attack and Ruy Lopez to name a few) Dunst’s opening to name a few.

For Black: Sicilian Defense, French Defense, Pirc, King’s Indian Defense, Dutch Opening to name a few.

The Principles of Chess Openings

There are no guarantees when you follow these opening chess principles but you can be sure of one thing – you won’t lose quickly and easily if you follow the principles well.

Control the center with pawns

The best way to control the center is to occupy it with pawns especially the king and queen’s pawns. When pawns control the center they can interfere with the opposing side’s piece development and even gain more space at the expense of the opponent. The center of the chess board consists of four squares namely; e4, e5, d4 and d5 which run through the central files and diagonals are the cornerstones of the chess board. Controlling those squares early on in the game ensures that you can adequately develop your pieces for them to fight adequately for the rest of the game.

Develop your pieces to control central squares

Developing your pieces means playing them to control the core central squares (e4, e5, d4 and d5) at the beginning of the game, the idea behind it is to rapidly gain a foothold in the game and seize the initiative. The opening and middle game phases depend heavily on the initiative which is the best way to force your opponent into inferior positions and to create superior fighting chances for your pieces to win the game.  

Castle as soon and as safely as possible

The safety of your king is the most important factor to consider in the opening and middle game because your king can be easily checkmated if uncastled or exposed to attacks from enemy pieces. So once you have the chance to castle and it is safe to do so don’t hesitate do it.

Complete your development

The fourth strategic goal of the opening is to complete your development whereby all your pieces play a role in controlling the center of the board. At this stage the king is usually castled with only the two rooks at the back rank with it while the queen is developed to either second or third rank.

Notes

Most chess games are not that simple. Sometimes your opponent might deliberately play unusual and aggressive moves such as an early pawn storm which could interfere with your piece development but just keep these principles in mind when you play the opening so that you can devise plans to stop your opponent in case he’s already frustrating your opening plans.

Free Chess lessons for Beginners and Intermediates

Welcome to my blog. I’m Paul Onwueme a professional chess instructor and coach with an above average knowledge of chess theory and practical chess play. I don’t have a FIDE rating but my playing strength is in the region of 2000+ based on my performance at local tournaments in Nigeria against rated players.

I started teaching chess professionally in 2008 with the Candy Kids Chess Academy in Lagos before relocating to Abuja in 2011. After a 2 year break I resumed teaching chess in 2013 with the Pio Chess Academy which is my business venture. I currently employ 2 part time chess instructors and run my chess in schools project in 6 schools in Abuja. At the moment 3 of my schools are among the best ranked schools for chess in Abuja with brilliant individual players and talents discovered.

My Services

I teach chess professionally both privately at homes of some of my clients and in various schools in Abuja, that notwithstanding I also train personally by analyzing grandmaster games and building up a solid base of chess positional and tactical knowledge which I intend to share with my readers on my blog. My teaching style emphasizes clear and practical lessons with puzzles and case studies of grandmaster games. All of these have a way of impacting the playing strength of my students and so far is working for me as well.

So if you want to grow in your playing abilities and become the strong chess player you have been wishing for a while – assuming you are an intermediate player – I’m only too happy to teach you and show you how to improve your play in tournaments.

This blog is divided into 3 sections namely; tutorials, coaching and recommendations. You’ll get free chess lessons from the tutorial segment to improve your knowledge of the game while the coaching aspect is designed to help you achieve improved tournament results and performances. The recommendations are books, chess software and advanced training classes I suggest to my readers, so depending on what you wish to get out of this blog feel free to navigate and grow in knowledge.

To your success and mine

Yours Sincerely,

Paul Onwueme

Chess Lessons/Tutorials you’ll get out of this blog

1. What are Open lines?
2. Active Pieces Versus Passive Pieces
3. Passed Pawns
4. King Safety
5. Pawn Play
6. Weak squares
7. Good Squares
8. Pawn Structures
9. Space
10. How to Attack
11. How to defend
12. Common Chess Tactics
13. How to select Candidate Moves
14. How to Analyse Chess positions
15. How to visualize a chess board
16. How to play with your bishops
17. How to play with your knights
18. How to play with your rooks
19. Outposts
20. How to play the Endgame in Chess
21. How to create and exert pressure in a chess game
22. How and when to exchange chess pieces
23. How to carry out combinations
24. Sacrifice
25. How to improve your position
26. How to carry out a mating attack
27. How to calculate chess variations
28. How to play the chess openings
29. What is counter play?
30. Middle game strategy
31. The art of planning in chess

Some Chess Coaching Tips and Insights to look out for

1. How to improve your chess games
2. How to plan
3. Common causes of blunders in chess games