A game of chess is a battle of two minds, fighting for control over the 64 squares that make the playing

board. This article is aimed at sharing some insight into chess strategy and tactics that can give you an edge over your opponent. Mastering this game is an art and there are no beaten paths or tricks here. The strategy that I expounded here, is by no means, the only way to play the game. However, they certainly are sound ideas, that have been tested over time, perfected and wielded by masters of the game. Read them, but don't follow them blindly. Take these tips as suggestions, test them in your own games and then follow, if you find them to be useful. I say this because learning to think on your own is important in chess, as in life. If you look into the history of this board game, you will know that its origins can be traced back to the game of 'Chaturanga', played in India. This ancient game was developed with the intention of teaching use of battle strategies and tactics to Indian princes of those times. The modern game of chess, though largely changed in form over the centuries, still remains a training ground for mastering the deployment of strategy. Playing this game is a way of channelizing our aggressive instincts and learning to take control. Mastering it is all about learning to take control over the three elements important in warfare and chess, which are: Control over Pieces Control over Tempo/Time Control over Position/Space Chess lessons can only be gleaned from playing it and gaining experience through play. It is your own understanding that will ultimately guide you. Chess Strategy and Tactics for Beginners The objective of any game of chess is, capturing the opponent's king. The beauty lies in how creatively and simply you can do that. I assume here that you know setting up of a chess board and are familiar with basic rules. A game can be broadly divided into three stages: Opening Middle Game End Game Strategy can be divided according to their application in these three stages. Though they are divided broadly for ease of understanding, the strategies in each stage follow or flow out from previous stages. Sound execution in each stage, makes the next one easier. Strategy is a long term plan of action and tactics are applied strategy. Opening Strategy Volumes could be written on strategy for opening moves. Here I give you some very basic strategy

gleaned from my limited experience. Here are some tips on opening strategy. Center Control Whatever be your opening moves, let your focus always be on controlling the center. If you control the four center squares, you gain tempo and space over your opponent. Develop Knights and Bishops to Strategic Positions Developing the knights and the bishops at the start, is of paramount importance. If you bring them into play earlier, you can get a better hold over the game. Knights and bishops can exert control over the center without occupying it. They help in protecting the forwarded pawns. A knight developed to the central squares is most potent in that position. Compact and Strong Pawn Structure The amateurs squander their pawns, while the masters look at them as potential queens! Focus on creating a strong pawn structure which acts as a bulwark and an effective offensive mechanism. Castle and Safeguard King Castling is an effective way of taking the King out from the vulnerable position at center, to the more protected position in flanks. An early castling on the king's side or queen's side is a good precautionary move. It also brings the rook from the last file, to a more central file, where it can play a more active role. Middle Game Tactics and Strategy Here are some tips to improve your middle game play. Exchange Wisely Opportunities for exchange arise quite frequently in the middle game. If you cannot gain advantage through an exchange, avoid making one. The advantage through an exchange might be a material one, a positional one or it might gain tempo for you. Bring Rooks and Queen into Action Middle game is more spread out than the opening game. This is the best time for the development of the queen and the rooks as they have a long attacking range. Rooks doubling up on a file backed by the queen on the same file can be a deadly force. Attack the opponent's king aggressively. Look for Combinations! This is a time which is ripe for springing combinations. Identifying combinations and pulling them off is something which requires a trained eye. Combinations make the game interesting and make it beautiful. A lot of tactical maneuvers can help you trigger a

combination. Have a look at the important tactical maneuvers that I have listed at the end. For combinations to happen, you need to place your pieces in strategic positions! Protect Pawn Structures As mentioned before, protect pawns as every one of them is a potential queen. Keep the pawns connected in the middle game. Guard isolated pawns. End Game Strategy and Tactics Here are some tips to gain greater control during the end game. Promote and Protect Pawns! The end game is all about promoting pawns. This is the time to press your material, temporal and spatial advantage. If you have worked hard in the middle game and have a rich stock of connected pawns, your chances of winning are certainly brighter. Start promoting your pawns with king's backing. King plays a stronger role in the end game and actually becomes a fighting force. Create as many 'Passed Pawns' as possible. Ensnare Opponent's Pawns Gobble the opponent's pawns at the slightest opportunity. Each pawn taken, hurts, even greater at the end of the game, as it is losing a potential queen! Beware of Stalemate! A stalemate is a draw which arises when the opponent's king has nowhere to go, neither in check, nor does he have any other piece to move. It is a disastrous ending and is very frustrating! Avoid it at all costs. Learn to calculate future moves. Important Tactical Maneuvers Here are some important tactical maneuvers that you can use throughout the game when opportunity presents itself. You should practice all these tactics and enrich your arsenal. Discovered Attack This is a move which unmasks an attacking piece. It can be used as a doubly attacking move, whereby, the moved piece can spring an attack as complementing the attack from the unmasked piece! Pin! The Pin is a move whereby a piece of the opponent is threatened and pinned to a position, as moving it is either not allowed (as it could put the king in check) or may cause ruinous loss of material. This is a frequently used tactic throughout the game.

The Fork! The fork is a move by which two pieces of the opponent are simultaneously attacked by one piece of yours. Usually, the knight does this job really well. The fork could be executed well by the bishop or the queen as well. Skewer! Skewer is similar to a pin maneuver, but here a piece of higher value is pinned in front of a piece of relatively lesser value. Zugwang (Forced Move)! Zugwang, which is German for forced move, is a great tactic, whereby the opponent is forced to make an undesirable move. This move commonly occurs in the end game when few pieces are on the board. The Toughest One: Sacrifice Sacrifice is a tactical move which can trigger a combination. It is giving up a piece of higher value for a significantly lower one with the hope of getting tactical advantage. Sacrifice is a calculated gamble and is executed by the masters. Only masters can execute a sacrifice because only they can see it! It takes years of experience and a willingness to experiment, that can lead you to see a combination, triggered by a sacrifice. Chess is all about imagination, and sacrifice is a piece of art. If you do not know how to play this game, I suggest you learn and discover a great and enriching pastime activity. It will not only help you pass your time happily, but also teach the value of patience and planning. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/chessstrategy-and-tactics.html Chess is a brain stimulating game played between two players on opposite sides of a board having 64 squares of alternating white and black color. Each player controls an army of 16 pieces which comprises: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns. The two sides on which the armies are positioned are denoted by letters (a-h) and the other two sides are denoted by numbers (1-8). The ultimate aim of the game is to checkmate the king by following basic rules of chess and different chess techniques. Setting up the chess board, evaluating chess positions, fixing goals are some strategies that need to considered before playing the game. But above all these, starting with the best opening chess moves helps to mobilize the pieces to the most useful squares, where they will have maximum impact on the game.

Best Opening Moves in Chess Since the first moves of a chess game or opening moves are extremely important and should be taken carefully, here are some common chess strategies that are highly effective and will make winning the game much easier. Ruy Lopez Opening The Ruy Lopez move is named after a Spanish priest who introduced this move in 1561. It is considered to be one of the most popular chess moves, which can be used at all levels of the game. Its starting position is 1. e4, e5, 2. Nf3, Nc6 and 3. Bb5, in which white creates a pin of d-pawn or the Knight and attacks while trying to castle. Then it focuses pressure on the black e-pawn and prepares for a pawn on d4. In response, black will reply with a6 and attack the white bishop, as a result white will have to back up or exchange pieces. Giuoco Piano Opening The move starts as 1. e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bc4 Bc5 in which the white plans a silent and unexpected attack on the black bishop. Also known as a quiet game, in this the opponent plays d3 after you start or will play b4 by offering a pawn in exchange for the powerful center. Sicilian Defense This is most powerful black defense move in which e4 is played. When the white plays c5, black will defend for the center and attack d4. As a result, an asymmetrical position is formed which may lead to many complicated positions, hence this move should only be used by experts in the game. In this any side can win, therefore both the players have to be careful. The Dutch Defense This move is easiest to learn and starts as 1. d5 f5. It is considered to be an aggressive counter play by black in which it moves toward the white's kingside with the objective of crushing the white. Even though it is a good move, it weakens the black's defenses and does not help in developing pieces. The Caro-Kann Defense The move starts as 1. e4 c6 in which d5 is prepared to challenge the white e4 pawn. It is a solid move in which black avoids to block his King's bishop but has to play c5 i.e. black will allow white to control the center while it tries to get a pawn at d5. The sequence goes as 1. e4 c6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nc3 dxe4 in which black eliminates white's central pawns and develops his own pieces. For beginners or people new to the game, these moves might seem to be intimidating. To best utilize these moves, you will need to learn to play chess proficiently.

To this end, one can opt for undergoing chess lessons, which will teach you more than just the basics of the game. Since these common chess opening moves are time tested and proven to be successful, mastering them will increase your confidence in the early phases of the game. They are the best opening moves for chess which gives a better protection of the King, control over an area of the board (specifically the center), greater mobility for pieces, and possibly opportunities to capture opposing pawns and pieces. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/chessopening-moves.html How to Win at Chess Following are step-by-step instructions to execute 3 short moves that will help you to defeat your opponent with such an ease that they won't know what has actually hit them. In your first step, move your pawn forward right in front of the king by either one or two blocks. Though, you can choose any, it is better to take one block, especially if you are playing against an experienced player, because he might try to reverse this strategy on you. If your opponent in his turn leads out with queen's knight, move your queen three blocks diagonally towards right, next to your pawn. By this your opponent will not be able to anticipate your next move. Now if your opponent moves his pawn forward by two blocks in order to apply pressure to your queen, and would expect you to get worried about your queen, move your king's bishop four blocks forward. As your opponent in his turn moves the pawn in hopes of taking your queen, you should move your queen by taking the opponent's pawn and placing the queen in front of the opponent's queen bishop. By this step you will checkmate your opponent. Chess is believed to be an ultimate game that needs skill, strategy, and an ability to think smartly before taking the next move. Being alert, following the basic rules of chess, knowing your position, taking possession of maximum blocks, protecting your king, avoiding time pressures, eliminating chess blunders, and confidence, are some basic chess strategies or tips that will help you to win the game. I hope by knowing the above mentioned steps, or 3 move win in chess as it is also called, you will be having a fair idea now of how to win at chess. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/chessstrategies-how-to-win-at-chess.html

Chess Openings: The Bishops Opening There are many different possible chess openings, some more popular than others. The Bishops Opening is one of the less popular openings, particularly among very experienced chess players and enthusiasts. However, it is an interesting opening to study and can have advantages in certain situations. Each game of chess is complex and unique, and between two evenly matched players it is often very difficult to predict who will be victorious until the very end. Players can attempt to take the lead early in the game by choosing how they play the opening, or the first few moves of the game. Chess enthusiasts study the theory of different possible openings, but which openings are the best is largely a matter of personal style and interpretation. One of the more controversial chess opening strategies is called the Bishops Opening . The Bishops Opening The Bishops Opening is an uncommon opening , particularly among novice players, but has been used successfully by chess grandmasters and has even been championed by several chess theorists as the best opening for white. In algebraic chess notation, the Bishops Opening is as follows: 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4. In case you dont understand this notation, heres a short description of the opening: First, white moves its king pawn forward two spaces. Then, black moves its king pawn forward two spaces. Then white moves its kingside bishop to c4 (the file occupied by the queenside bishops). Those three moves, and only those three moves, constitute the Bishops Opening. Advantages of the Bishops Opening For white, there are some advantages to playing the Bishops opening. First, and most immediately, the bishop attacks blacks f7 pawn. Although the bishop cant immediately capture that pawn, the pawn is only defended by the black king, which makes it a weak square. Later, if white can attack the pawn with another piece in addition to the bishop, white can safely capture the pawn without being recaptured. For example, depending on blacks next move, white could move its queen to h5, creating a potentially powerful attack. White gains an advantage with the Bishops Opening because black is forced to deal with this threat. The Berlin Defense Despite the small advantage for white, the Bishops Opening is easy to respond to, and black has several good options. The most common response is 2. ...Nf6. This move has two advantages. First, it prevents white from moving its queen to h5 and attacking the f7 pawn,

because h5 is now guarded by the knight. Second, it attacks whites pawn at e4. This is a good move for black because it prevents the main threat created by the Bishops Opening and forces white to respond to the attack on the pawn, which gives black the initiative and thereby, the advantage. Traditionally, this response is called the Berlin Defense. Other Responses Another popular response to the Bishops Opening is called the Classical Defense. In this defense, black mirrors white by moving its bishop: 2. ...Bc5. This does not directly respond to the threat that white will move its queen to h5, but because that queen move is often considered a bad move by experienced players, the Classical Defense is commonly used. The Calabrian Countergambit involves 2. ...f5 is occasionally played, but it is commonly thought to be a mistake because it can easily result in giving white the advantage. Give it a Try The Bishops Opening is unpopular for several reasons, already noted. It is easy for black to respond in one or two established ways, sometimes resulting in black taking the advantage. Additionally, it is rarely used by beginning chess players because the rule of thumb for beginners is to move knights before bishops. However, some professional chess players have pointed out that the Bishops Opening can be a surprising move and can present an alternative to certain undesirable scenarios early in the game. The best way to understand the Bishops Opening, as with any chess move, is to try it out yourself. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/chessopenings-the-bishops-opening.html A chess game is a bloodless battle on the chessboard, between two minds. To win at chess, you need to concentrate and think ahead. If you are looking for easy chess moves to win, look else where, as winning is never easy and if it is easy, it is not satisfying! In this article, I haven't made a listing of chess moves that let win fast. The first reason for absence of such a listing is, that there are no sure fire moves, that work all the time. Second reason is my belief that chess moves should not be mugged up, but understood. Chess has been played for over hundreds of years now and millions of games have been played and analyzed world over. You might think that by now, they must have come up with one perfect combination of moves, which is an inescapable trap of moves, that will guarantee winning. No, nobody has come up with a

surefire winning combination of moves, not even supercomputers. Why is it so? That is because, the complexity of the problem is so high, that total number of permutations and combinations of moves, coupled with the typical rules of chess, make it an impossible task. That is why, chess is such a beautiful game, because it is full of possibilities and is unpredictable, like life. Tips on Playing Moves To Win Fast A chess game is divided into roughly three stages, which are, 'opening', 'middle game' and 'end game'. Here are some tips on identifying and playing moves to win fast, in every stage of the game. To win fast in chess, ideally, the game should be in your pocket by the middle of the game. Play aggressively and take no prisoners. Hope these chess lessons help you out. Opening

There is no fixed number of moves, after which the middle game is set to begin. To Win Fast, One Must Sacrifice! Sacrifices are tough to spot. Sacrifices bamboozle an opponent and confuse him. Sacrifice a piece and trigger a winning combination! Spot and Work Out Combination! Middle game is the time for combination. Try and spot winning combination. Always think two moves ahead and explore all possibilities before going ahead. Remember the Ultimate Objective is To Check Mate the King! Do not forget, that to win the chess game, all you need to do is get the opponent's king and check mate him. You do not need to conquer all his or her pieces to win! Attack the king aggressively! End Game

The opening is the beginning of the battle and every move made here is crucial. It will set the tone for the rest of the game. Here are some tips garnered from my own experience. The guy playing with white pieces has the choice to decide what kind of game it'll be, as he plays first. Look for Forks and Pin Pieces! The knight fork is always something you should look out for and if you find a piece standing in front of the king, pin it! Take Hold of the Central Squares! The age-old edict which still works is, center control! Take control of the center and the game is yours. Spot Holes in Defense and Exploit! The opening starts with pawn moves and with every move, a defensive pawn structure is created, which acts as a bulwark and launching pad for future attack. If your opponent is not careful, he'll leave holes in the pawn structure which should be exploited with the help of jumping knights, which can hop over the defenses and cause serious trouble! If Queen's out in Opening, Trap Her! If your opponent is naive enough to get his prime warrior, the Queen, out in the opening itself, tail her, trap her and kill her! Make the Opponent Pay For Every Mistake! Never let go of the opponent when he makes a mistake, make him pay for it! Middle Game

End game is the most difficult part of the game in my experience. The course of the endgame will be decided by how your middle game has gone and what is your material, temporal and positional advantage of your opponent. Keep promoting Pawns! Pawns are future Queens. Keep promoting and protecting pawns. Never Let the Opponent Off the Hook! Once you get an advantage, press it till the end. Do not let your opponent off the hook. Always have a plan! Gobble As many of Your Enemy's Pawns As Possible! Take as many of the opponent's pawns as you can, that reduces his bargaining power in the game. Chess is a game of patience to be played with a cool mind. Methodical and clinical demolition of your opponent is possible, if you plan it out and anticipate your opponent's moves. You set a trap and let him walk in to it. Best moves to win fast cannot be listed or learned, they have to be acquired only through experience. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/chess-movesto-win-fast.html