Fool Your Opponent in Chess

Chess is a thinker’s game, requiring extraordinary patience, concentration and strategic skill. The turning point in a game of chess usually comes when one player is so focused on planning their next move that they unwittingly leave an opening that gives a perceptive opponent the advantage. That’s why when you’re on a quest to master the game, one of the most important tactics you can learn is how to properly bait your opponent, or trick them into making a move that sets you up for victory. By following these simple guidelines, you can add complexity to your game and ensure that your opponent is taken off guard every time.

Steps

Outwitting Your Opponent

  1. Bait your opponent by a leaving a piece unprotected. Intentionally leave one of your pieces unprotected, or at least make it appear unprotected, to trick your opponent into making a rash move. Baiting is the one of the most basic strategies in chess, but also one of the most consistently successful. The "Legal Trap[1]," for instance, involves sacrificing one's queen in order to place the opponent's king in checkmate with minor pieces. [2]
    • Many of the most complex strategies and sequences in chess are sophisticated forms of baiting.[3]
    • Make sure you’ve played out every possible follow up move in your head before putting one of your pieces at risk.
  2. Intimidate your opponent with superior positioning. Even if your opponent has more pieces on the board, you can neutralize their advantage by getting your strongest pieces into clear, well-guarded positions. A good example of this type of placement is to set up one of your rooks at the "7th rank" (one row before the end of your opponent's side of the board). From there, the rook is able to keep the enemy king from escaping, all while picking off your opponent's minor pieces and being free to advance or retreat as needed.[4]
    • The "Blockade" is another fundamental defensive play that relies on cunning placement rather than capture or evasion. Setting up a blockade is as simple as blocking the path of your opponent's pieces so that they can't advance. While the opponent struggles to get around the blockade without losing valuable pieces, you can use your dominant position to lure them into danger, or escape danger yourself.[4]
    • Superior positioning can discourage your opponent from following through with their plans and force them to play the game you set for them. If you’re careful and don’t leave any obvious openings, you may psyche your opponent out and put them on the defensive.[5]
    • Controlling the board is often preferable to simply having more pieces.
  3. Think several moves ahead. It’s not enough to simply move one piece, with no thought to the consequences it could have multiple turns down the line. Winning strategies require forethought, and are often devised half a dozen moves or more in advance. Do your best to predict how your opponent will logically respond to the moves you make, and adjust your tactics accordingly. Look over the options they have as well as your own.[6]
    • Try to "X-Ray" the board. X-Raying refers to a skilled chess player's ability to see where his or her pieces may be in a good position to attack or defend along a continued plane of movement, beyond the most immediate openings. Learning to X-Ray the board can help teach you to be more forward thinking with your moves.[7]
    • Take as much time as you need each turn to decide on a move that will have the most beneficial outcome. Never move a piece without first having an attack or escape plan ready.
  4. Examine the entire board. In order to determine your best course of action, you’ll often have to look at the playing field as a whole, rather than just the squares around the piece you intend to play. A broader perspective will let you spot hazards and openings you might otherwise have missed. Pay particular attention to the position of you and your opponent’s king and queen pieces, as well as pieces they seem to be moving with clear purpose. If you’re being judicious and weighing your options, you’ll be able to thwart your opponent’s plans while carrying out your own.[6]
    • It can help to be able to identify whether a game is "open" or "closed." When a game is open, it means that many of the crucial squares near the center of the board are unoccupied, whereas these spaces reach gridlock in a closed game. Certain pieces, such as the bishop and queen, will have an advantage in open games where they have more room to maneuver. In closed games, pieces like the knight and pawn shine, as they can capture in close range and move around and in between stationary pieces.[8]
    • Chess operates on the principle of action and reaction. Analyze your opponent’s movements closely. Ask yourself what you would do if you were in their position.
  5. Be patient. Don’t get in a rush to win. This is especially critical during the final stages of the game, where you will be eager to score a checkmate but may be overlooking critical mistakes. When played seriously, chess should take a while. You should be prepared to survey the board, take inventory of your pieces and form a new plan of action every time your turn comes up. Sometimes, the winner will be the player that can think ahead and outlast the other.[9]
    • Don’t move pieces around haphazardly whenever it’s your turn. Think over your options at length and only move when you’ve decided on the best strategy.
    • If you’re preparing to make a move as soon as your opponent sets a piece down, you’re not giving yourself enough time to assess the current situation, and it could cost you the game.[10]
    • A single game of chess can sometimes take days, months, or even years to complete.

Employing Basic Strategies

  1. Rely on your most versatile pieces. Some pieces can move further or in more directions than others. These should be the ones that do most of the legwork on the board. The rook, for instance, can traverse an unlimited number of squares either forward, backward or to either side in a single move; the bishop can do the same in a diagonal direction. Knights can move across two spaces and up one, allowing them to navigate out of tricky situations and capture pieces in surprise attacks. The more movement options you have, the better able you’ll be to pull off the strategy you’ve laid out.[6]
    • Train yourself to think of playing pieces in tandem with one another. Use your turns to set them up, then make it so your opponent has no way out.
    • Remember that while some pieces have abilities that others don’t, they are each useful under different circumstances. Not every piece is meant to be played the same way.
  2. Use pawns to protect valuable pieces. Position pawns around pieces that you can’t afford to lose to keep them from being taken. One of the advantages of pawns is that they have strength in numbers, making them ideal for defensive blocking. When enemy pieces approach, you can either capture them with your pawns or hold your position until your opponent makes a mistake, then follow up by mobilizing powerful pieces.[11]
    • This is why it’s not a good idea to recklessly sacrifice your pawns. Inexperienced players too frequently sacrifice pawns, leaving their important pieces less protected.
    • Pawns are also capable of being promoted to rook, bishop, knight or even queen pieces when they reach the opposite side of the board.[12]
  3. Take control of the four center squares. As soon as the game starts, jockey your pawns to take as many of the four center pieces of the board as you can. You can then begin to move your other pieces in the center as the game progresses. The center position of the board is key to controlling the game, as it allows the most mobility, especially for versatile pieces like the knight and queen.[13]
    • Controlling the center gives you more freedom of movement, but it also puts you at more risk of being surrounded by a veteran player.
  4. Protect your king at all costs. Never make any movement without first considering whether it endangers your king. The game is over when either you or your opponent's king is cornered and can no longer escape. For this reason, the royal pieces, the king and queen, are without question the two most important in chess (the queen is the most mobile as well as the most evasive, and forcing the king into a checkmate is the key to winning the game). Use carefully considered positioning and offensive moves to defend the king while deftly whittling away your opponent’s pieces.[14]
    • While the queen is the most versatile (and therefore the most powerful) piece on the board, losing your queen puts you at a terrible disadvantage unless you manage to promote a pawn to new queen piece. Be cautious with your queen and do whatever you can to keep her on the board as you enter the endgame (the final stages of the game when the kings come into play).
    • One basic defense strategy is to “castle” your king by moving it over two squares and “jumping” it with a rook that’s in the same rank, so that the rook is placed beside the king. This gets the king out of harm’s way while putting the rook in position to intercept an opponent’s threat.[15]

Familiarizing Yourself with the Board and Pieces

  1. Know the layout of the chessboard. Study the board itself and get an understanding of how the playing field is configured. There are 64 squares on a chessboard: exactly twice as many as there are pieces. These squares are arranged in columns (known as “files”) and rows (known as “ranks”) of alternating dark and light colors. Getting used to the layout of the chessboard will improve your spatial awareness and allow you to better capitalize on openings.[16]
    • Most beginners and casual players take the chess board for granted—they see a jumble of squares and pieces and aren’t able to look past the chaos to the significance behind each point of positioning. For this reason, the casual player is never able to develop a winning strategy.
    • The chessboard can feel pretty cramped in the early going if you don’t know how to properly mobilize your pieces.
  2. Acquaint yourself with the way each piece moves. Chess is played using 32 game pieces—on each side there are 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, a king and a queen. Each piece type has a unique pattern of direction that it must follow to move and capture other pieces. Be aware of what these patterns are, and how they are best employed in different parts of the board. Using your pieces in the areas where they’re most effective will keep the game in your favor.[17]
    • You might already have a passing knowledge of how chess is played, but unless you’ve learned the capabilities and limitations of each piece like the back of your hand, your game will be lacking.
    • There are no “good” or “bad” pieces in chess. Each piece serves a unique function and has advantages that the other pieces don’t have.[18]
  3. Make use of the space you have. Once you know how to move each piece, you can begin formulating a game plan using the space you have on the board. No two games will proceed in exactly the same way, so the pieces will always be arranged differently. Look for clear paths to move your pieces along that will put them closer to your opponent’s vulnerable pieces or get them out of harm’s way. Movements should be made decisively, with a clear motive in mind, rather than at random.[19]
    • Lure your opponent into sections of the board where you can outmaneuver them with pieces in key spaces.
    • Don’t be afraid to sacrifice a piece if it’s absolutely necessary to protect your king or lend you a significant advantage.[20]

Tips

  • Take note of your opponent's tactics when they deceive you and learn from your mistake.
  • Always get your pieces into strong positions before attempting to capture material.
  • Constrict your opponent's options by laying traps from multiple angles. Experienced players will most likely suspect a ruse, but if you can distract their attention with an obvious trap, it's possible to catch them off guard with a more subtle move.
  • Don't despair if you have fewer pieces on the board than your opponent. Every time your opponent captures one of your pieces, it makes their subsequent attacks less effective and frees up room for you to better defend and evade.
  • Matching wits with superior players is a guaranteed way to get better.

Warnings

  • Don't get so focused on setting traps for your opponent that you fail to notice the ones they set for you.
  • Losing focus or getting impatient can cost you the game.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.thechesswebsite.com/legal/
  2. ↑ http://www.chess-game-strategies.com/types-of-chess-openings.html
  3. ↑ https://www.chess.com/blog/BadGambit/traps-traps-and-more-traps
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa03k01.htm
  5. ↑ https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-evaluate-a-position
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 http://www.uschess.org/content/view/9111/28/
  7. ↑ http://www.chess-game-strategies.com/x-ray-attack.html
  8. ↑ http://www.thechesswebsite.com/open-vs-closed/
  9. ↑ http://beginchess.com/2016/01/09/chess-tips-patience/
  10. ↑ http://montessoribatavia.com/chess-club/
  11. ↑ https://www.chess.com/article/view/strong-and-weak-pawns
  12. ↑ http://www.chessvariants.com/d.chess/pawnfaq.html
  13. ↑ http://www.chesscentral.com/pages/learn-chess-play-better/chess-strategy-for-chess-openings-and-chess-principles.html
  14. ↑ http://www.justchess.biz/king.htm
  15. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fugD6_-ynsI
  16. ↑ https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/extragear-games/knights/board.html
  17. ↑ https://www.chessusa.com/chess-rules.html
  18. ↑ http://www.gamecolony.com/chesspieces.html
  19. ↑ http://www.chess-game-strategies.com/space_page-1_principle-of-space.html
  20. ↑ http://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/590/how-can-i-tell-when-to-sacrifice
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