5 Ways To Be A Better Chess Player

Have you taken an interest in chess and want to be the best you can be? Here are five ways to sharpen your skills. 

Study the Game

There are plenty of books, tutorials and videos for beginner through advanced players. You can use these study materials to learn about common moves and traps or to learn more about the best strategies for each piece on the chess board. 

Keep Your Mind Fit

Focusing on chess itself isn't the only thing you can do to get better at chess. Keep your mind active and fit in as many ways as you can. If you love to do crosswords, Sudoku or other types of mental puzzles, these are great at strengthening your critical thinking and helping you develop speed. It's a great way to take a break from chess when you are tired of looking at a chess board but still want to keep improving your skills. 

Play Against the Computer

You can play an endless number of games without a live opponent by downloading a chess game on your computer. That gives you unlimited amounts of games to practice your skills and learn the repercussions of different strategies. When you are a beginner or intermediate player, you can learn a lot this way. Just getting familiar with the game and the different potential moves will be helpful, but learning to move faster (based on a combination of intuition and experience) will also improve your game. 

Take Live Chess Lessons

Of course, there is no substitute for an actual, human player who can take into account more variables. Consider live chess lessons with someone you admire. They will be able to tell you why specific moves were a bad idea and what you could do differently. With a computer opponent, you're missing valuable input on your own strategies. A chess master will help you improve your game much more quickly by helping you examine your own tendencies and weaknesses as a player. 

Get Into Tournaments

Finally, getting out there an playing chess against a variety of opponents is a great idea, even if you think you're not ready. Each player will have slightly different set of skills, which means that you can learn something from everyone's style of play. And there's nothing to motivate you to get better, quite like the social pressure to improve and win more matches against other players. 

For more information, contact companies like Chess Teacher.