The game of chess can get pretty complicated once you learn the basics. There’s the opening game, the midgame, the endgame, special moves, positional play, chess strategies, opening sequences, laying traps, pinning, forking – and many other themes of importance when it comes to a simple game of chess. It comes as no surprise that chess is frequently compared to real-life warfare – as in chess you take command of an army, and you try to outwit your opponent that has an identical army such as your own.
How to improve the game
So, how can you improve in chess? After all, a single game a month with your buddy simply isn’t going to cut it. But if you play a game a day – then this is a start. The point is, if you wish to get good at chess, you will have to practice. Typically, the more you practice, the better you will get at the game. Luckily, in modern times we have the benefit of using the internet whenever we feel like it. And on the internet, we can find thousands of players from all around the world that we can play chess with. Even the greatest grandmasters in the history of humanity haven’t had this luxury, so make sure that you take full use of it.
And there are multiple ways of practice – not just by playing chess games. You can also create your own unique positions and practice playing them out. For example, you may have issues with mating your opponent’s king in the endgame when you have a king and a rook. Then you can set up the chess board in this way, and you will be able to practice this position until you know it by heart. And the best thing about this is that you can practice the position on your own – you don’t need another player to play along with you. In fact, arguably the best chess player in human history, Bobby Fischer, practiced on his own for days on end before important tournaments.
You need to learn theory as well. There are a lot of resources for this purpose. You can find books by grandmasters rather easily and you can buy them for a cheap price. Of course, it’s not easy to learn theory from a book. You will have to develop your skill of visualizing moves – you will need to know the algebraic notation by heart if you are to be efficient in learning chess in this way.
Find a high-level player
And finally, for whatever question you may have, you can find a person that knows the answer. If you have a certain friend that’s a high-level player, then all the better for you. But the truth is that you could once again use the power of the internet for your benefit, as you will be able to ask your questions on chess forums, gamerules.org and people from all around the world will be able to answer your questions.
If you use all of the aforementioned methods in attaining chess skills, then you will undoubtedly experience a tremendous rise in your understanding of the game of chess.