Chess Tips for Beginners: 8 Habits That Win More Games

1. Control the centre

Move a centre pawn on your first turn. Pieces in or near the middle of the board reach more squares, so they do more work. A player who owns the centre usually has more room to attack and more ways to defend.

2. Develop knights and bishops before the queen

Bring your knights and bishops out early and keep the queen at home for now. A queen that comes out too soon gets chased around the board by smaller pieces while your opponent builds up.

3. Castle in the first ten moves

Castling tucks your king behind a wall of pawns and brings a rook into play in one move. A king left in the centre is a target, especially once the board opens up.

4. Check what the last move attacks

Before you move, look at the computer's last move and ask what it now attacks. Most lost pieces come from skipping this one step. Also ask whether any of your own pieces are undefended.

• What does that piece attack now?
• Are any of my pieces left undefended?
• Does my move leave a square or a piece open?

5. Trade pieces when you are ahead

If you have won a piece, swap equal pieces. Fewer pieces on the board means fewer tricks for your opponent and an easier path to a win. If you are behind, do the opposite and keep the position complicated.

6. Do not move the same piece twice without a reason

In the opening, every move should either develop a new piece or fight for the centre. Spending moves on one piece while the rest sit at home hands your opponent a free lead.

7. Push passed pawns

A pawn with no enemy pawn in front of it can run all the way to the last row and become a queen. In the late game, a passed pawn is often the quickest route to victory, so escort it forward when the way is clear.

8. Learn from every loss

When you lose, find the one move where things went wrong. It is usually a hanging piece or a missed threat. Then try the next level up. The Hard setting thinks several moves ahead and punishes loose pieces, which makes it a good teacher.

For a lighter board game between matches, try Carrom or Ludo. If you want to keep your brain warm with numbers, 2048 is a good pick.