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Strategies to Bolster One's Skill in Chess

1. Above all, be decisive. You don't have to have a perfect strategy formulated from your first move, but you should have some sort of general strategy. For example, you could decide to advance defensively and respond aggressively to your opponents advances. Or, you could decide to launch a ruthless salvo at your opponent - but remember to use caution and avoid setting yourself up for disaster when using this method. I've even tried such opening strategies as mirroring my opponents moves in the beginning UNTIL IT WAS NO LONGER SAFE ENOUGH TO DO SO. Once things begin getting interesting, adapt your strategy as you go along, following the rest of the steps to overcome your opponent.

2. Try to identify their strategy, or at least anticipate what they're planning to move next. Keep in mind that you opponent can move a certain piece for several different reasons. One could be they are after your king. Another could be they're after your other pieces. Still another could be them just retreating, or setting up preemptive defenses. Whatever the case, try to discern their motives and respond effectively. For example, if they're after you, move defensively or mount a well-executed counter-attack! If they're retreating, try if at all possible to pursue them to the point of exhasperation (on their part, not yours). If they're setting up defenses, see if you can thwart them. Also, keep in mind that sometimes it's better to continue with your main strategy than worry about trivial threat, while other times you must at all costs defend yourself and perhaps abandon your strategy for a new one.

3. Use their pieces against them! Keep in mind that the only the knights can pass over other pieces, so when possible take out those of your opponents whenever possible. Otherwise, all the other pieces can be used as "shields" to protect your pieces or disadvantage your opponent. For example, pawns can get in the way of the "power pieces" moving the full length of the board; sometimes the placement of your opponent's pawns can end up fairly restricting to them. Use that to your advantage! Attack their weak flanks (e.g. come around the pawns and attack from the side) and the pawns will stop them from fleeing too far at times - making it easier for you to capture or trap. Conversely, in cases where your opponent uses their pieces to shield their king, use that against them by maintaining (or augmenting) the orientation of your threattening piece

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