Becoming a Better Chess Player
Introduction:
I have been playing chess for most of my life but I don’t feel like a very good chess player. I am currently rated 1300 and would like to get to at least 1700 by the end of 2024.
Mentors and Resources:
GM Igor Smirnov’s Super Bundle ($359 USD) Purchased December 30th 2023
Meta Lessons from Chess: What can Chess Teach us About Life?
Perception: the ability to see a situation exactly as it is with no delusions.
Discernment: the ability to see the difference between potential moves, and to identify the best one.
Commitment: the ability to stick to the best line of play.
Bravery: moving forward with one move while setting all other candidates to the side.
Iteration: reassessing the best next move each time the board state changes.
Preparation: key moves can take much time to prepare.
Delay of gratification: when you have good, look for better.
Duality: for every do, there is a don’t.
Long term gameplay / seeing the end: what will the board look like after all of the exchanges have been made?
General Principles, 90% of the game:
Material or quantity: if you can win material, do it!
Activity or quality: place your pieces on their most active positions!
Good for me / Bad for opponent
Maximum activity: move your pieces as forward as possible / Neutralization: if an opponent has a piece on your side of the board, you should neutralize it
Center: center your pieces / Sideline: shove your opponent’s forces to the sides of the board
Least active piece: while choosing which piece to move, select the least active one / Limitation: Decrease the activity, or potential moves of your opponent’s pieces
Priorities:
0. Sufficient development
1. Attacking / taking the initiative
2. Increasing own, and decreasing opponent’s piece activity
Other considerations:
which of my opponent’s pieces are weak or blocked?
which of my opponent’s pawns are weak or backwards?
Making a move; use:
Perception to see the board exactly as it is
General principles to form candidate moves
Calculation to choose the choose best move
Anti-blunder check (what can opponent do on my half?) to double check for mistakes
Heuristics:
The strongest move is the attacking one (one that forces your opponent to defend)
Take every opportunity to attack (invade your opponent’s half of the board), never let your opponent attack (neutralizing opponent’s pieces that are on your half of the board)
Develop your least active pieces to the most forward squares. develop knights before bishops
To take is a mistake (your aim is to recapture with development)
To force a move from your opponent is good
To hamper your opponent’s plans is good
Making your opponent block their own pieces is good
If you have the choice between moving a pawn or a piece, it’s usually better to move the piece
Fianchetto bishops are good for king defense
Develop your bad bishop
Control open files
Control as many squares as possible
Control important squares
Advancing pawns is good if you are an attacker, bad if you are a defender
Freeze opponent’s weaknesses in place then pile up on them
Endgames:
What are you going to do?
How exactly will I do it?
Pawn structure becomes a key factor in the endgame:
Attack opponent’s weak pawns (a pawn on 5th or 6th rank which can’t be protected by a pawn)
isolated pawns
backward pawns
advanced pawns: are good for an attack, bad for a defense
Use your passed pawns
All other plans are not good
If you can’t attack an opponent’s pawns yet - you need to force them to move their pieces to create weaknesses, fix then fix the weaknesses in place
Don’t be in a hurry to exchange pawns. You want to win them (capture them for free)
Weak squares: the squares on the 5th and 6th rank which can’t be covered by opponent’s pawns
Weak Squares:
squares in your opponent’s territory that cannot be protected by their pawns
It’s better to place your knight on a weak square
A bishop is the main defender of weak squares
If you can fix your knight on the 5th rank: stable advantage. 6th rank is a winning advantage.
Piece activity compensates for pawn weaknesses.
Trade pieces when you are cramped, avoid exchanges when you have a space advantage.
the principle of 2 weaknesses:
a space advantage gives you mobility, you can transfer pieces from one flank to another and your opponent cannot
blockages: move your pieces forward, do not let your opponent do the same. The knight is the best blocking piece.
Pawns:
Make good targets to attack if they are not protecting each other and fixed in position. Disconnected pawns:
Pawn islands (separated)
backward pawns (behind all others)
doubled pawns (stacked)
Can favor or hamper activity
You may advance pawns when you have at least equal piece activity with your opponent.
Do not move pawns when you are under attack.
While attacking weak pawns, you should trade minor pieces and leave heavy pieces.
Knights:
Move them forward and to the center
Knights need strong squares (on opponent’s half of board + can’t be kicked away easily)
Develop knights before bishops
Bishops:
the future belongs to he who has the bishops. Bishops are stronger than knights especially in an open endgame position.
a bishop needs open diagonals (clear of pawns)
put your pawns on the opposite color of yours bishops
move your pawns forward and trade them
a centralized bishop controls both flanks
a fianchettoed bishop is usually good
A bishop’s power rises in the endgame
A bishop can work from initial position
play on the side your bishop is pointing towards
If you have two bishops, you should use yours which doesn’t have a counterpart
In an endgame, the side with two bishops should:
advance their pawns
centralize their king
attack pawns on both flanks
trade 1 bishop for an important defender (when necessary)
Cons:
bishops cannot work the opposite color
how to fight your opponent’s bishops:
trade them
block them with a pawn chain. put your pawns on the same color as their bishop
fix your knight in the center
remove your pieces from your opponent’s bishop’s color
Knights are strong than bishops when a bishop is blocked by a pawn chain, or when a knight can be placed on a strong central square
Rooks:
Need open lines (push & trade pawns)
Develop them to the 7th and 8th rank
2 rooks on the 2nd or 7th rank are powerful
Put your rook in front of the queen on an open file
Keep your rooks connected
Queen:
Develop her last of all to the 2nd or 3rd rank
Develop her into the forward & center
King:
Castle him in the early game
Activate him in the late game
