How to Improve Your Chess
Chess is not inherently a simple game. Most people, even those who play regularly, will fail to make expert or master strength. Obviously, there are many mechanics and concepts that must be understood in order to be a better player. I will try my best to explain a simplified way of improving your game, referring to my experience and some of the best advice I’ve obtained.
I have personally played chess for about 12 years now. I started in high school, and at that time, my rating on Chess.com was 1100, equivalent to a beginner. Now I am 2200 blitz and rapid on Chess.com, 99th percentile of all players on the site, and my official classical rating is 1800. I particularly enjoy faster time controls, since I tend to be a very intuitive player who sees the board fairly quickly. I would say my issue is not being concrete enough when evaluating more complex and maneuvering positions, but I see the board clearly.
My experience as a player has been largely influenced by the increasing quality of my calculation over time. There is something to be said about a chess player’s depth of thinking — what you are looking at, whether what you’re seeing is correct. You can’t possibly improve as a player if your moves are constantly making weaknesses, throwing away pieces for free, failing to recognize enemy threats, wasting time, and so on. There is also the understanding of positional evaluation, wherein you must make some mental note of who stands better and why. If, say, you have no pawn weaknesses, and your opponent has 2 or 3, that is one variable; if you have a safer king, and more time to attack the enemy king than your opponent, that is a very important variable; if your moves are bringing pieces close to the enemy king, that is very good, since the goal is to achieve checkmate. Every move must have a purpose, that’s for certain.
Since the progression of any chess player is relative to them, one must play the chess that they’re comfortable playing. Some players prefer to attack and sacrifice, while others are more positionally oriented and solid. Though there is not necessarily some objectively best ‘style’, my understanding is that the best players in history, especially the world champions, always surpassed their peers in positional understanding and tactical ability. It is particularly important to learn positional chess — assessing pawn structures, the quality of one’s pieces, and the safety of one’s king is a good way to start. Another thing, which is more subjective, refers to our nerves, how we control our emotions, and whether we are overconfident in our assessment of a position. Chess is like any sport, in that it demands a very high level of detachment to be done well. Also, it is an activity that always has some correct answer.
In order to play chess well, say on a level above 1500 classical, one must know some basic ideas: 1. Try to control more of the center than your opponent 2. Try your best not to give away pieces or squares for no good reason 3. Get your king safe by castling, usually kingside, and have at least two pieces around your king, usually a knight and a bishop. 4. It is best to start playing actively once you have developed ALL your pieces, including your queen and rooks. 5. Defending is often necessary before starting your own attack. 6. When you want a specific square, try pushing a pawn to challenge it. 7. If you don’t know what to do, improve a badly placed piece. 8. Don’t push too many pawns around your king, unless it’s definitely safe to do so. 9. When evaluating a position, think about what every piece is doing and what it can do. 10. When you have less space, trade, and when you have more, keep pieces on.
Principles alone won’t help us improve, however. We must also be able to actively find good moves, over and over again, which is why chess is difficult to get good at. If you’re playing a particular opening often, for example, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6, you’re probably playing a lot of the same positions — you are likely to encounter the same moves, and are therefore able to research some ideas. It is the same in positions of 1.d4 d5 2. c4 c6, or whatever it may be, because these openings are popular and well-researched. If you’re interested in faster progression, I suggest analyzing positions with a chess engine — Lichess.org offers free analysis by Stockfish. Lichess is also excellent because it has good instructional articles, as well as puzzles, studies, and a forum. Another way to improve is by watching videos — the best instructive chess videos on YouTube, in my opinion, come from Ben Finegold, Daniel Naroditsky, Hanging Pawns, ChessNetwork, and iChess.net.
Please check out the game that was played in the Chennai Chess Olympiad today, Gukesh vs Caruana. Gukesh is a 16 year old Indian grandmaster, and he’s 8/8 in the Olympiad. He beat Caruana, who is one of the highest rated players in the world, and has reached a rating of 2720.
Playing chess well is like creating beautiful art — truly, it demonstrates mathematical symmetry in a visual form. If you are ambitious, and have time to learn, I would certainly recommend thinking over some of the principles I’ve outlined. If you are just looking to play chess for fun, you can certainly do that too, but I think it is more fun when you begin learning how to play it well. In any case, I hope this article has helped you in some sense. Chess is a profound mental activity. Good luck with your progression!
Thank you.
