By Barry Newton

Have you watched any tennis or snooker recently. How many times have you seen the players stop dead before the serve or take a shot because someone in the crowd has coughed or flashed their camera. All these years practicing and a small noise can put them off so much that they refuse to play until the noise has abated. What has this got to do with chess strategies? Well I do not condone trying to put your opponent off but I have studied psychology at university and know that very small changes in behaviour can have a detrimental effect on your opponents concentration. And to me this is all part of the chess strategies we can use.

Here is an example. I played the other day against a player I know all to well. He attacks with his bishops, usually both on the same file and this can be devastating against an opponent. Now if you have read my previous essays you will have noted that I go against the grain and like to take at least one of my opponent’s Knights out when I get the chance as I hate playing against 2 attacking knights and my opponent knew this as well. Nevertheless, 6 moves into the game and I changed strategies and exchanged his Bishop for my Knight. He was totally perplexed by this this and I could see him trying to think of another strategy he could use which would not include 2 Bishops.

But more importantly was his attitude to the game. I could see from his expressions that he was desperate to beat me now but every time he developed a piece which looked threatening I would exchange it for one of my undeveloped pieces. In the end he made to uncharacteristic mistakes and lost the game. I had totally put him off his stride and won.

During most games I have anticipated my opponent’s next 3 moves at least. Therefore when it comes to my move I usually play quite quickly especially if I have set a trap and my opponent has walked into it. I think it is only human to play quickly straight after she has moved to show that it was a plan and you had calculated this out from the very start My advice: Don’t do it I have lost a number of games doing this where I thought I had considered ever possible move my opponent could make only to find she knew one more and scuppered my strategy. Always take at least 1 minute to go over your next move again. Now his piece is in position it will be easier to see if there is any flaws in your plan. This is using psychology as it shows you think out every move thoroughly and this can install negative thoughts into your opponent.

By the way, on the subject of taking your time over each move, it is quite acceptable to stand up and stretch your legs. Take your eyes away from the board and rest them. Think about something else for a minute then come back to the board a little fresher. Have a look at the you and your opponents position and reevaluate it. It is amazing what you will find which you may have overlooked. Walk behind your opponent and have a quick look at the board from his end. You my be surprised and what the pattern of play looks like from this angle. Do not spill hot coffee down the back of his neck this is not acceptable. Taking a long time to think about your next move does agitate opponents. Does it not agitate you?

By the way, a short walk before any major chess game will help you feel refreshed and ready to go. A bar of chocolate and a cup of coffee have been proven to increase your brain power so go for it. Back to the game.

Never show any concern or emotions during a game of chess. Even if you lose your Queen in the first few moves. Play on as if it is a strategy and tactic which you always use. Remember it is a GAME of chess. What is the worst that could happen. Get over it and get on with the game. I have lost major pieces through my own carelessness at the beginning of many games and have fought back to win. Remember, a Queen is not usually used until the middle game as it is quite dangerous to bring her at the start as she is easily trapped. Therefore, use this knowledge to your advantage. At the beginning losing your Queen will not affect the game that much apart from psychologically.

You must put it to the back of your mind and use all the pieces including the pawns to work as a unit to ultimately win the game. Take a leaf out of footballs book. How many times has a player been sent off but the team playing with only 10 men hold out for a draw or even win. This is because all the players double their efforts. the pressure is off as they are not expected to win. They work as a single unit fighting and battling for each other. Remember, your opponent is a piece up and may now be complacent. Concentrate on traps and tricks, forks and pins to get your piece back.Pounce on any mistakes she makes she makes. Try to spring an attack out of the blue on her King before she realises what has hit her.

As soon as you have made a mistake do not show any emotion but put a very slight rye smirk on your face. You want her to thing this is a sacrifice and you are willing her to take the bait. Do not say anything as this would be deemed unsporting. You never know, she may refuse to take your piece if you put on a good act.

You can do it: Use psychology

Finally, one of the oldest chess strategy cons in the book to put your opponent off. Concentrate your eyes on one side of the board while planning to attack the other side. You can learn more chess strategies at: http://www.chessstrategy.blogspot.com

The author has been playing chess for 40 years and you can read more of his tricks and tactics at http://chessstrategy.blogspot.com

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By D Swain

There are plenty of websites on the internet that offer free chess games to download. As a chess player, you should take advantage of these resources. These games are a great way to improve your play. This article will discuss why you should study free chess games.

Openings When you are just starting to learn how to play chess, you should choose a relatively easy chess opening and stick to it. Common beginner openings are the King’s Indian, Ruy Lopez, and the Queen’s Gambit. Once you have chosen an opening, you can download free chess games that feature that opening and use them to learn all of the variations. The chess opening is the most important part of the game. If you don’t play the opening well enough, you may not be in a position to put up much of a fight during the middlegame.

Middlegame After using the free chess games to work on your chess openings, you should start using them to improve your middlegame. When analyzing chess games that are played by grandmasters, you should pay close attention to the combinations. Doing so will dramatically improve your combinational and tactical play. There are plenty of combinations to learn using various pieces. Learning these combinations will improve all aspects of your game.

Endgames

Free chess games also give you a great tool to study endgames. Endgames are almost as important as chess openings. Endgames are also a very important phase of the chess game that you should study. Beginners should start out studying rook, pawn, and bishop vs knight endgames. You study download free chess games that end in these positions. After playing these endgames out for a while, you will start to learn the ideas to be used during endgames. If you have already improved your middlegame, you will soon be able to direct middlegame positions into an endgame position that you are familiar with.

Studying free chess games is a great way to improve your playing ability. When you are just starting out, you should choose an opening a analyze different games that use that opening. After that you should work on the middlegame and the endgame. You will start to win many more games sooner than you think.

Make sure to stop by Supreme-Chess.com to browse the free chess games that are free to download. Also, check out the chess tutorials that will teach you how to improve your game.

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By Lee Dobbins 

For many people they find the tactics and strategy of chess play very complicated, even computers are unable to work out the best strategy against every situation in a game of chess. As there are literally millions of different possibilities involved in each game of chess it is impossible for us to evaluate them all.

Over the years chess strategy has gradually been getting more advanced and the Chess Masters who write books about their various strategies will eventually influence the next generation of chess players to come along. It also means that being able to observe a particular player’s strategy can often make it easier for other players to work out how to beat them, despite them not knowing much about the game of chess itself.

Whilst the more advanced chess play strategies and tactics can take some one years even a life time to learn and in fact you will soon discover it is pretty much impossible to learn everything about the game of chess. However, below are 2 of the more basic moves which should help get you started.

Generally the most common move made in any game of chess is to ensure that you pin the other player’s pieces. What we mean by pinning is that you use one of your pieces to stop your opponent from one of theirs and thus allowing you to take one of their more important pieces such as the Rook or Queen. Certainly a more skilled chess player will be able to easily stop you from moving anywhere and thus controlling not only their side of the board but yours as well.

Then there is the skewer move which is very similar to the pin move, but only the other way around. So the more important piece (Rook or Queen) is at the front and the less important one is behind. Although it looks as though you are moving your most important piece into the line of fire you have actually in reality got it covered. Thus if your opponent decides to take your important piece they will then leave their most important piece open to be taken by your less important one. Because of this your opponent will be forced to move their more important piece out of the line of fine and leaving their weaker ones that are behind open to attack.

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By Lee Dobbins 

There are a number of theories available relating to chess opening play and these are practiced almost everywhere around the world although you will also find there are a number of variations to these Chess Opening plays available. Because of the large number of opening play variations in the game of chess it only goes to prove just how complex the game is. In fact there are some chess opening plays that are considered equally good for both the White and Black player, unfortunately these opening plays can not be learnt and only come through experience. It is important that you use logical and healthy thinking when playing the game of chess.

Each opening play has a name of its own so to classify any game of chess you will need to know the move which characterizes a particular opening. Unfortunately each opening play has a number of different variations to them and they also have names of their own as well. Many opening plays which are similar will lead to positions which also have similar features.

In any opening move, you can move your pawns either 1 or 2 squares forward. Before deciding which piece to move, however, you must think ahead to your main objective and how you want the game to play out. Then, move the piece that will help you move towards that plan.

The classification of any opening play depends greatly on the first move made and it can either be an open, semi or closed opening. An opening play is called Open if the white starts with the move of 1.e4 and black responds move 1.e5. Whilst a semi-open opening play is if the white starts with a move of 1.e4 but the black does not respond with the move of 1.e5. Then we come to an opening play which is called closed and this is when the white does not start with the move 1.e4.

There are wide variety of opening play open moves around from the Italian game through to the Spanish, Scotch, Four Knights Game to Phillidor’s Defence the Russian Game, Bishop’s Opening and King’s Gambit. Whilst such games as French Defence, Caro-Cann Defence, Scandinavian Game, Alechkin’s Defence and the Sicilian Defence are the more common semi-open opening plays used. Then finally there are the closed opening play moves used in such games as Queen’s Gambit, English Game, King’s Indian Defence, Dutch Defence and Slav Defence.

However any good player should know about all openings and be able to play them accordingly, it is important that you should gain experience and knowledge about these opening plays. Remember each opening play possesses a key idea and this becomes easier to implement once you are able to understand it.

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by Richard Stooker

Chess is a game of substitute war, so you will win more chess games by taking advantage of the ancient wisdom distilled from the art of military strategies. This includes a collection of strategies compiled in China at least 1,500 years ago.

These strategies are taught to school children all over China, Japan and probably much of the rest of Asia even today.

If you think Chinese children learn the 36 Strategies as “classic literature” the same way American children must read Mark Twain . . . you are too foolish and naive to be allowed near a serious chess tournament.

You also should never try to do business in Asia, but that’s another article.

You must first of all understand that the essence of warfare is deceit. This is challenging in chess, because both players can see the entire board and all the pieces.

You must learn to make moves that advance your strategies and tactics without revealing them to your opponent until it’s too late. Of course, this is easier to write than to pull off in an actual chess game.

And it does require you to work, study and plan.

Your opponent can see the chessboard — but not what’s going on inside your mind.

You must learn to use that to your advantage. It requires a mental attitude and preparation which studying the 36 Strategies can help you acquire.

Some of the strategies to adapt to your chess game include:

Surrounding Wei to Rescue Zao — do not attack your enemy where and when he is strong. Avoid direct confrontation. Aim for their weak points.

Make the Enemy Work While You Wait at Leisure — when you are in a weak position, delay the confrontation.

Watch the Fire Burning Across the River — Exercise patience and allow favorable events to progress.

The Plum Tree Sacrifices for the Peach Tree — this is an ancient stress tactic. Sacrifice a piece for the greater good of your game.

Walk the Sheep Home Just Because It Is There — take advantage of all opportunities to gain an advantage.

Trade Your Brick for a Piece of Jade — if you want to trade pieces to your advantage, convince your opponent your brick is worth more than their piece of jade.

Pretend to Be a Pig to Eat the Tiger — make your enemy believe you are weak so they will attack and fall into your trap.

Be Wise But Play the Fool — make your enemy underestimate you.

Provoke Strong Emotion — upsetting or angering your opponent can encourage them to make mistakes. You must learn to remain calm so that you don’t fall into this trap.

The Empty City — when you are in a weak position, emphasize your vulnerability, to confuse your opponent.

Chain Links — this simply refers to using a chain of interlinked strategies to attain your goal.

Of course, real chess masters apply tactics against their enemies away from as well as on the chess board. Boris Spassky was reportedly a master at keeping a poker face during games, so that his opponents didn’t know whether he was feeling good or bad about his moves, his position or his plans.
However, Bobby Fischer made so many demands during their famous tournament that he was able to Provoke Strong Emotion.

In MORTAL GAMES: THE TURBULENT GENIUS OF GARRY KASPAROV Fred Waitzkin relates how during one of his world championship tournaments against Anatoly Karpov, Kasparov’s business partner Andrew Page played a “dirty trick” to upset Karpov.

They were all flying from New York City to Lyon France. The tournament organizers had given First Class tickets to both Kasparov and Karpov and Economy class tickets to their trainers. Page bought Business Class tickets for Garry’s grandmaster trainers, paying for them out of his own pocket. Karpov’s group was made to feel angry and resentful of their inferior accomodations.

Later, Karpov may have gotten a blow of his own in. Gata Kamsky proposed that their chess organization change the rules so that defending world championships would have to compete to play in the world championship tournament just like all other contenders, instead of simply defending their title against the winner of the playoffs.

It was designed to make defending champion Kasparov angry, and one of his people told Waitzkin the idea probably came from Karpov who was friends with Kamsky. Gata was a teenager at the time and not likely to propose such a major rule change on his own. But if Karpov had proposed it directly, it would just have made him look bad, since he was the world’s number two player and would therefore most benefit from it.

Bottom line: learn the 36 Strategies if only to recognize when your opponent tries to use one of them against you.

c 2006 by Richard Stooker
Read more about the world’s greatest game at Richard’s Chess Games blog

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