I'm still very much a beginner but I am, IMHO, improving. I still lose all the time against this advanced player I play against regularly. However, it was mentioned that I'm becoming increasingly challenging and tougher to beat. Attention is increasingly warranted when playing against me.

My problem is that, as I play somewhat aggressively, I can put my opponent into a tight spot - get the king on the run so to speak. However, I can't seem to clinch a checkmate; usually at this stage, we both still have queens, at least one rook, and perhaps bishops and/or knights (or some combo thereof). And some pawns on the table. So, perhaps maybe sort of a late middle game....?

Anyway, while I have the king on the run, my opponent is simultaneously defending well and somehow manages to put me into checkmate - usually quite eloquently in my mind.

How to get past this? Get checkmate and avoid getting checkmated myself? I know the particulars matter but is there some general rule or concept or strategy that I should consider here?

Think further ahead on your moves and your opponent’s potential moves which prevent his check. As you think through this, be cognizant of where your king’s defense will be.

I can think about four moves ahead, some times.

I play chess but its been a long time. Every time you play the situation is different so it hard to give an exact answer.
I like to put pieces behind other pieces so when you make a move the stationary piece will put the king into check and then force the king to go in an area I want.
Sorry a little hard to explain.

On a side note, I am much better at blitz chess then sitting and waiting on moves.

Haven’t played in decades.
My memory is, you want your moves to control what your opponent does, right from the start. Once you’ve played someone enough, you get a good idea of their typical strategy. Reverse engineer the game to the point where you could have won, meaning you’re one step ahead and really control the game.

IMO, this is normal development for a new player. Offense is picked up easier then defense simply because offense is what you are thinking about doing while defense is trying to figure out what someone else is thinking about doing.

I don't know what to tell you except to keep playing and maybe watch some of the other matches to see how other players finish. You might get more out of it because you can focus on what they are doing without having to concentrate on your next moves.

quote:

Think further ahead on your moves and your opponent’s potential moves which prevent his check. As you think through this, be cognizant of where your king’s defense will be.

I can think about four moves ahead, some times.

This is what I would suggest. Look for opportunities to defend and attack simultaneously. You need to make moves that stifles your opponents advancement. Don't move your queen too soon. Castle early. Utilize your pawns, they are stronger than you think. Play different people.

I endured many ass beatings at the hands of the person that taught me how to play. I learned his moves and would actually sketch out on grid paper strategies to counter his moves. When I finally beat him, and I actually mopped the floor with him, it was incredibly rewarding. That was 30 years ago.

When you have your opponent's king on the run, try to drive him into an opportunity to fork, and/or a "discovered" check to increase your materiel advantage. It has been a long time since I played, but this was a popular strategy for aggressive players.

Depends how you're playing. Casual, untimed - check each move your opponent can make once you make yours. Competition, timed - study hours of previous games and commit them to memory so board layouts become automatic recall. In both instances you're playing 4 moves ahead.

My suggestion is to note all the movements of a game. Afterwards replay the game, examine each move and look at different situations and how you could have played a different way. Takes some of the pressure off and gives you time to reflect on other possibilities.

Damn I got spanked today. I couldn't think even 1 move ahead it seems. One game was so bad that I couldn't even get queen side pieces out in play.

I don't know what it was - one day I played tough. Today I just couldn't make any move without it being a mistake.

This is natural.

The initial "climb" of the "new hill", is easy, because of your first awareness and relating the new thing to things you already know.

Then you hit a "ceiling" and it often leads to frustration and confusion of why you feel like you know anything about the new thing.

This is the "patience, grasshopper" stage. And you will be in this for a while as you learn to actually understand the game/moves/strategies more intuitivly.

Just do as people stated, of learning the moves of every peice, and then how to develop strategies of the combined effect of the moves of various pieces, concentrate of say, two pieces and how they combine until you can use them in about every combination (then "change" one piece for another in the "pairing" and work the strategies for that pair.


"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of Global Thermonuclear War??"

Thanks guys.

I see, I'm in one of the natural phases of development. Definitely feels like I've hit a ceiling that I can't break through.

Okay, I'll exercise the patience due. I hope my opponents will be patient w/ me as well. Sometimes they give me tips on what a good vs bad move is. But I feel it's out of frustration because I'm taking too long to move (but I try to limit it to about 2 min max; average about 45-60 sec to asses possible moves, a few moves forward and some possible moves my opponent may make). Time flies very quickly. But I don't feel too bad; my opponents sometimes takes a few minutes too.

I'll try to focus on a pair of pieces and have them work in tandem. Maybe bishop/bishop or bishop/knight and/or queen/rook and/or rook/rook. But basically have some sort of buddy system and see how that works. That may help me focus on tactics. I still don't really have a strategy except for something like - attack the king side of the board or something high level like that.

I am getting better at the online chess puzzles (opening and midgame puzzles) as evidenced by more green checks in series than red.

It's like riding a bike, you have to learn to walk before you can fall down, or sumthin'...

But once you learn how, falling off is much easier next time. Or maybe that's horses.

Lol. this kind of sounds like the more I learn, the worse off I'll be.

In my opinion, you have a wrong understanding of how to win. Usually, when the other king is “on the run,” winning the game is inevitable. That you “can’t cinch a checkmate” tells me your assessment of the situation is incorrect.

That you still have queens, one rook, and knights or bishops doesn’t paint a picture where anyone’s king should be on the run unless he’s making you chase him intentionally as part of his strategy.

I’m teaching a 13-year old boy chess but I’m also incorporating life lessons. I’m writing the lessons and giving him and his mother copies. I’m teaching him what I wish someone would have told me when I was his age. I think I have enough material to convert it into a book and I’m planning to do so.

Anyway, there are three elements to chess (four if you use a clock): tempo, territory, and material. You win when you’ve amassed a sufficient amount of the three elements. Because white has the first move, he has an advantage of one tempo. White’s objective is to increase his tempo while Black’s objective is to catch up and gain tempo. You gain tempo when the other player wastes a move especially by moving a piece once then back again to where it was. Every move has to: 1) make the other side lose tempo, 2) gain control over valuable squares, or 3) develop your pieces so you can put them in play, or 4) gain material. If all you’re doing is chasing the other side’s king or queen, that’s not necessarily doing any of the three things. You might be losing tempo or positioning your pieces such that you lose control of territory or even material.

The important territory to control are the four middle squares. You control it by either having pieces occupying those squares while having the occupying pieces protected or having enough pieces aimed at those squares that guarantee you material advantage with any exchanges should an enemy piece land on those squares and you capture it. Why is the center more important? Because if you control the center squares, you control more squares beyond just those four squares. You use fewer moves to go to and fro when you control the center because you just go through the center squares. If you don’t control the center squares, you have to go around them to get from one side to the other and that means more moves and you’re losing tempo.

Material advantage should be easy to understand. With your king, you need a bishop and a knight or two bishops, or a rook, or a queen to force checkmate. Two knights can’t force a checkmate.

Gaining on those three elements are what you should aim for.

And I don’t understand your characterization that you play “aggressively.” You should make the best move each time that maximizes your position and minimizes your opponent’s position. Playing the best move isn’t being aggressive, it’s the only logical move to make.

There are different playing styles - open and close. Players who prefer open positions want exchanges to happen early on. They want to simplify things as soon as possible so that they can take advantage of opportunities. Close players delay exchanges. They want to make the chessboard as complicated as they can for the other side. If the other person doesn’t know how to play accordingly, they waste moves and lose tempo.