Chess

One of the most easiest games to learn, but the most challenging and tough one to gain expertise and master is none other than the game of Chess.

What is there in the game of chess that makes it unique and tough to master?

Well. Chess is a thinking game. It is recognized as a sport for its competitive element. Chess is an art in that it is the breeding ground for innovative ideas, creative strategies and tactics and out-of-the-box thinking. In a way, the game of chess is a science, as it challenges the mind and provides tons of problem-solving puzzles. A large number of theories have been developed, tested and proved in the past 15 centuries.

Chess has gained much recognition thanks to the contribution of the technology, the computer and the Internet. One of the oldest games has become a fascination and challenge for the technology in that innumerable algorithms are being tried out by computer professionals to master the game with the assistance of the computer. As of now, the efforts have not yielded the desired results, reinforcing the superiority of the human brain over the computer. Learning the game of chess, practicing the game with different kinds of players and learning new things has never been so easy than before, thanks to the concept of Online Chess, the new buzzword in the world of chess. Now, anybody having a basic understanding of the game and a passion for taking up the challenge to the mind can play the game of chess online with a partner in a virtual chess room provided by online chess website, and improve his percentage of victories in the game.

The turn-based game played between two players across a square board having a 8 x 8 grid filled with alternate colors calls for serious thinking and application of logical analysis on the part of both the players. A chess player is not expected to make mistakes in the game as the mistake committed by one player will be the passport for other player’s victory. The only possibility for victory in the game, which starts with a premise of draw, is a mistake from one of the players.

It thus becomes clear that as long as one avoids making mistake, he can be rest assured that he will not lose the game and the probability of accepting a draw or a victory by accident are quite likely.

Making mistakes does not confine to planning a correct strategy and executing that strategy. One should also be alert enough to spot the wrong moves of the opponent and should immediately take advantage of such a mistake from the opponent. The game demands that one should require skill and concentration of the highest degree to win at chess consistently.

A strong understanding of the game is a major prerequisite for a person to gain expertise in the game. It is not a big deal to learn and understand this game. All one needs to do is to make a note of the mistakes he makes in the game, which leads to loss, recollect the reasons for such mistakes and eliminate those ones from next games. A loss is a better teacher than a victory in a game of chess.

The second thing that one needs to bear in mind is open-mindedness. You should have a broad idea of the capabilities of the pieces, the relevance of positional importance of the pieces and the relative merits and demerits. You should be open to think out-of-the-box and be innovative in attempting new strategies and tactics. You should not be afraid to face losses, but be prepared to learn from the losses.

By following these simple rules, one can definitely avoid making mistakes in the game, and thereby avoid losing the games. If the number of losses in proportion to the number of games played gets reduced, it is possible to maintain or improve the % of victories in the game of chess.

The unique feature of the game of chess, the King of Games, is that there is no involvement of luck or any other divine intervention in the game. Chess is a thinking game. The game between the two players starts with the premise that the logical conclusion for the game will be a draw. How a draw is turned either to victory or a loss depends on the players themselves. If you, as a player, make a mistake, then you are giving away the opportunity for the other player to say “checkmate” to you and vice versa.

It is clear that you lose the game when you make the mistakes. The ideal way to learn the game of chess is to learn from the mistakes and try to rectify the same. This approach will pave for success and help you gain expertise.

How to rectify one’s mistake? It is simple. Recollect the moves of the game that you lost now and try to find out where you went wrong. It is in this context the recording of the moves or notation, as it is called in chess parlance, becomes handy?

Recording the notation of the game and analyzing the same is essential for a person to gain expertise. As soon as you completed a game, where you unfortunately lost, you could do one thing immediately.

Just try to recollect the positions in the game and the important things that you learnt from the game. It should be done in less than an hour after the conclusion of the game, or else, you might forget the exact things.

When you could successfully recollect the position or the move that determined the fate of the game or the mistake you committed, put that in writing in your own words as you can understand, and review it frequently. In this way, what you can achieve is that the same mistake will not recur yet again, and if faced with the similar position in another game, your chess instinct will guide you to the correct move.

Compare your game and the position with similar games played by grandmasters or others by referring to the database of games available in the computer or in chess books. Using the prowess of the computer and the Internet is the best option available to the people now for improving their skills. It has been proved beyond doubt that a chess player, armored with the assistance of computer, Internet and the unique feature of Online Chess, can develop his skills in a relatively faster pace than the one who does not have these facilities.

Yet another useful way to improve the skill set is to play over your own game, with the help of notations, and try to highlight the important turning points in the game. Also, try to spell out your ideas, plans and the reasoning behind those ideas as part of your analysis of the game. While doing so, it is possible that you can find out the flaws in your line of thinking or can come up with some new ideas or possibilities. Make sure that you jot down those new ideas or possibilities and play them over. By analyzing your own games in this critical way, one can definitely improve his skill set and more importantly beware not to commit similar mistakes. The lesser the number of mistakes you make, the more the probability of saying checkmate to the opponent. As you start winning the games, your level of confidence will get a boost and you will evince more interest in the game. The interest and the joy of victory will result in increasing the love and passion the game, and you will find a marked improvement in your skill set as you develop the passion for the game.