At Mind Mentorz, we help children get better at chess and develop a study routine to be followed for every student. It is important for everyone to have the desire and willingness to get better before one decides to become a professional chess player. Here are some very useful tips that can be adopted into your daily chess routine.
Tip #1: Look for forcing moves
Forcing moves are usually checks, captures & threats. Basically, a move that forces your opponent's response.
Tip #2: Consider making sacrifices
Sacrifice is a great example of a forced move. It usually leads to an attacking combination that helps you achieve a greater goal after giving up material. The outcome of a sacrifice is usually to win greater material later on, or conclude with checkmate.
Tip #3: Look for the most common Tactical patterns.
Most tactics are made up of patterns that are understood from an intermediate level and can be applied in various scenarious. Some of the most common tactical motifs are:
- Pin
- Fork
- Back Rank
- Skewer
- Double Attack
- Discovered Check
- Removing the Guard
- Interference
- In-Between-Move (also known as zwischenzug or intermezzo)
Tip #4: Always look at the whole board.
We often focus on only one area of the board which makes us miss out on a large chunk of tactical opportunities. This is a common problem for amateurs and even GMs. We tend to focus our attention to the part of the board where the action is, and can easily miss something on the other side. That's why it's important to always look at the whole board.
Tip #5: Practice solving chess tactics! Use chesskid.com!
Don't stop practicing your chess tactics! We at Mind Mentorz support you with a Gold Membership on chesskid.com. The intention of the membership is to have unlimited tactics to train with, and a large collection of videos categorized within a perfect study plan that suits your learning needs