Chess Strategy: 10 Tips to Win More Games

Opening: the first ten moves

1. Take the centre. Pawns on e4 and d4 (or e5 and d5 for Black) give your pieces room and squeeze the other side.
2. Develop. Bring knights and bishops off the back rank, usually knights before bishops. Each opening move should bring a new piece into play.
3. Castle early. Your king is safer in the corner, and castling brings a rook toward the centre.
4. Don't wander with the queen. An early queen gets chased by smaller pieces, and you lose time.

See our chess openings for beginners for lines that follow these ideas.

Middlegame: threats and plans

5. Check, capture, threat. Before each move, look at every check, capture and threat, for both sides. Most games between beginners are lost to a piece left hanging.
6. Count attackers and defenders. A piece attacked twice and defended once will fall.
7. Look for forks, pins and skewers. A knight attacking two pieces, a bishop pinning a knight to the queen: these tactics win material.
8. Use open files. Put rooks on files with no pawns; a rook on the seventh rank attacks pawns and traps the king.

Endgame: finish the job

9. When ahead, trade pieces, not pawns. Each trade makes your extra material count for more.
10. Activate the king. With the queens off, the king becomes a fighter: walk it to the centre. Push passed pawns, and put rooks behind them.

Learn the basic mates: king and queen against king, and king and rook against king. Drive the lone king to the edge, bring your king close, and watch out for stalemate: always leave the other king a move unless it's mate.

Against the computer on kawu

• Easy looks two moves ahead and often picks a weaker move: good for practising checkmates.
• Normal looks about four moves ahead and punishes hanging pieces.
• Hard searches deeper and rarely gives anything away. Play solid openings and take your time.

Use Hint when you're stuck: it highlights a good move. Play chess or review the rules.

Last updated 2026-10-19