Chess Strategies

The modern game of chess is a board game that is played between two players with a chess board. The chessboard is square-shaped and contains 64 squares arranged on an 8 by 8 grid. Each player during a chess match starts with sixteen different pieces. Each player has one king and queen, two rooks, knights, and bishops, and eight pawns. Every unique piece on a chess board has unique ways of traveling up and down the chessboard. Both player in a game of chess has the goal of using the pieces to checkmate the opponent’s king.

Chess strategies for each piece can be easily broken down. But since chess is a very dynamic game, one must understand that the role of each piece may change, depending on how late the stage of the game is. For example, the pawn is the most dynamic piece on the chess board. Not only does its moves change depending on what position it is in, they are the only piece that may be promoted and have very specific capturing rules. The following is a basic overview of each piece’s chess strategy:

Pawns:
Pawns are perhaps the weakest and least important in a chess game, though the chess strategy of a pawn drastically becomes vital during the endgame. For instance, a ‘passed pawn’, one which cannot be stopped by another opponent piece has a likelihood of being promoted and will pose a valiant threat to an opponent. Pawns often decide the game as it comes to a close.

Knights:
Knights are most useful when they are placed in holes in the opponent’s defense. Since they can easily be attacked and chased away by pawns, they are primarily focused on exposing holes in an opponent’s line. Usually, a knight that is on the fifth square can be a valuable asset. If a knight is on the sixth rank, its value goes up even further, giving almost the same amount of power as that of a rook. Also, it is important to place the knight toward the center of the board so that it can control more squares (as the saying goes, “A knight on the rim is dim.”)

Bishop:
The bishop is a unique piece because it always remains on the colored square from which it started on for the entire duration of the chess match. It is a good chess strategy to use the long range capabilities of the bishop, especially in the endgame. In the endgame, chess strategies for a player with a bishop gives him or her an advantage over a player with a knight.

Rooks:
Rooks are useful in high-rank squares because they can take out opponent pawns if they are not properly defended by other pieces. As it states in many chess strategies, an piece behind a pawn is more powerful than in front of it. The rook is considered a more powerful piece than the bishop and knight because of its greater ability to checkmate a lone king.

Queen:
The most powerful piece, as they can move any distance in any direction, they are capable of threatening an opponent’s king at any sport on the board. It is best to develop a queen strategy after bishops and knights have been positioned.

King:
The king is often best protected in the middle game when it is behind a set of pawns. It is a common chess strategy to allow an “escape square” for a king so that it does not get trapped by an approaching rook.