I need a bit of help for chess... The problem mainly stems from me being unable to move my pieces around effectively. Okay, I start as white doing the usual opening and grabbing control of the middle. However, as the pawns start to occupy and control more and more space, I find myself unable to move or plan anything worthwhile without ending up on the bad side of the exchange, both position and piece wise. Then my opponent just steamrolls over me and combo attacks the middle, bruteforcing his way in and eventually securing a win.

What should I do in that situation? And what should I do when the pawns are preventing me from striking?

ADD] Oh, and because of his strong force in the middle, I leave a token force in the middle so that a) I can come out ahead in pieces, and b) so that I can wing attack with the pieces that I just came ahead with and possibly get more advantage or win the game. I usually do some wing attacks/harrassment to draw some of his pieces out, but it usually ends up being a waste of time.

[ 05-22-2004, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: Assassin ]

<font color=skyblue>I only have a minor contribution to offer. I apologize in advance.

My brother-in-law was school district champion in high school, and his dad, (my father-in-law), could easily beat him and not even have to see the board to do it. He'd be out shooting basktets while David was in the house, the only one looking at the board.

I have never heard either of them talk about strategies the way you just described it. It sounds like you and your competetors are both playing power games of fast and furious take overs. I would think that if you could learn a new strategy and practice it alot by yourself, you could go back and beat these other guys because they expect you to play the same every time. Instead, come up with a new game plan that they do not expect.

I hope my apology at the beginning was good enough to carry through. :D </font>

A good way to secure the centre of the board, and to protect pieces at the back at the same time, is to do what is called a 'pawn wall'. That is where you have pawns lined up diagonally one behind the other. This means that if he takes the first one, the one behind it can take him. To destroy your wall he would have to go round the back and take out your line of pawns one by one. However, this would be very difficult as your end would be heavily guarded by rooks, knights, bishops and a queen.

Secure a wall early on and it will greatly increase your chances of winning. And also, try to use your knights as much as possible. They have a unique movement pattern which helps a lot when you are trying to trap pieces.

Oh and by the way, try not to use 'psychological' moves. If you are a very confident player versus a comparably weak player, then by all means go ahead and watch him sweat. However, if you are against someone better than you or someone of the same skill level as you, I wouldn't risk it. They just don't fall for those tricks.

Don't worry if you still can't win. No matter how many books you read and tips you get given, a chess master is made by experience. For some, this experience is gained faster than others.

Ah and another thing: The way I usually open a match is by moving one of the pawns on the end two spaces forward. That means I can bring out my rook who can do some serious damage early on before the opponent has had a chance to bring out any other pieces stronger than pawns.

Good luck!

[img]tongue.gif[/img] No problem. The style that I play is more of 'this move looks good, why not put that piece there'. It sometimes works, and it sometimes doesn't... I usually play chess online, as in school there isn't much interest, so I always have a different opponent.

ADD]
That's my problem. Taht's what I mean by being unable to move because of pawns blocking all of the obvious moves by the strgoner pieces.



I use my knights, just not that well. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I've looked at that a bit, and I really fail to see how it could be really that effective other than in certain circumstances (ie: Queen in front of King, etc.). Why use a Rook and not your Queen?

[ 05-22-2004, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: Assassin ]

Online? What website do you play on? Maybe I can play you sometime and try and give you some pointers.... then commit ritual suicide as you own me at it [img]tongue.gif[/img]

ADD) You might need the queen to defend or keep her as a backup if your main assualt goes kaput... Well, use your queen if you want it's up to you - I just think it might be a bit too risky to accidentally lose your best piece early on

[ 05-22-2004, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: Jaradu ]

Various sites here and there. Lately, I've been trying to get Yahoo to work for me. =/ I highly doubt it if I'll beat you.

I'll be on Yahoo, Turtle Shell, name of goldrush945.

ADD] You might want to message me if you ever get on. I don't know how to work it. =/

[ 05-22-2004, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: Assassin ]

Hmmm.. Ever thought of a chess RPG?

Knight
Strenth: 16
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 17
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 15

And so on... Players take it in turn to move pieces and start combats where you roll dice and stuff...
....
..
...
...
....
...
....
...
...
Ever had a moment where you think you had stumbled across an ingenious idea, then reflected on it only to realise that it was a stupid idea and that you should be abolished for even thinking such a pointless thing? Yeah, that's what I just did...

Oh by the way, I usually play chess on flyordie.com under the nickname 'Jaradu'. You can come and fine me if you want. If you have troubles with flyordie I can change to a different game, no problem. Anyone else can play as well... Larry?

[img]tongue.gif[/img] Come to room 3 right now... I'm in as goldrush945.

good game, Jaradu.

Whew, brilliant game! That was awesome fun and I hope to play you again sometime :D

For the others reading this, Assassin totally owned me! From what he was saying, I thought I was going to be cruising through the match. However, it seems on an international scale I suck [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Great victory, Assassin [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]