Now
that your eyeballs have dried out from reading pages and pages
of chess rules, we can provide you with a couple of strategic
tips.
Know
the values of the chess pieces
Some
pieces are better than others because they can do more stuff.
Queens, for instance, do a lot more than bishops. So follow this
guide to know the value of each piece: pawn-1, knight-3, bishop-3,
rook-5, queen-9, king-1,000,000,000.
Knowing
these values are important, because now you know that if you have
to decide between losing a pawn or a rook, you're better off losing
the pawn. Trade-offs happen all the time in chess, so knowing
the values give you a better sense of what is worth losing (it's
often worthwhile to lose your bishop to get your opponent's rook).
Get
control of the center squares
The
middle four squares on the board (d4, d5, e4, and e5) are the
most important squares on the board because they let you control
everything that's going on. So grab control of these squares.
Don't
expose your good pieces too early
You
don't want to risk losing a queen or rook early on. They're
too darn valuable. So take your time in taking them out of their
homes
Knights
are good for attacking
Because
knights can jump over pieces, they make for good attackers. So
don't be shy about bringing them out early. They're
usually the first major pieces that a player will bring out of
the back row.
Cheat
Just
kidding. Don't cheat. Unless you know you can get away with
it.
Think
teamwork
Don't
just move a piece for the sake of moving it. Have a plan, and
think about the repercussions of moving a particular piece. Will
it make other more valuable pieces vulnerable? Will it actually
do any good? The secret is that very rarely will a piece do anything
by itself. Always think of your pieces as being part of your team.
So don't just start moving pawns randomly; move them so that
they protect each other (if your opponent captures your pawn,
you have a pawn that can capture the capture-er).
Practice
It's
very important that you practice as much as possible, as well
as read as many chess books as possible. Once you've started playing
enough, you'll naturally start to see patterns emerge. You won't
even have to think about how a piece moves.
Illustrations provided by Julie
Yu Chin Liu and are © 2000, SoYouWanna.com, Inc.
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