9 Chess Strategies For Beginners

Once you have learned the basics of chess, it is time to tackle strategy. Chess strategy is more than just simple tactics; it involves bigger goals and plans that help set your game up for success. Whether it's where your pieces should be focused during different parts of your game, or how your king should be used in the endgame, chess strategy will be what you focus on and hone for the rest of your chess career.

Opening Strategy: 1. Control the Center

It may not be obvious at first, but your pieces are strongest when they are toward the center of the board. Why is this? A piece's strength comes from its potential. A piece that can quickly travel anywhere on the board and be exactly where you need it is very strong! That’s why our strongest pieces, particularly the queen, are also our most mobile pieces. Because of this, we want our pieces and pawns to control the middle of the board and take space in the center. 

Ways to Take Control of the Middle

Usually, your chess opening starts with either e4 or d4. These are the two most common opening moves. In fact, the only other piece, other than a pawn, that can be moved on the starting turn is a knight. That is the other reason that we want to move a pawn at the start of the game into the middle, because by doing so we open up our other pieces, our bishops and our queen, to enter the game.

2. Developing Your Pieces

Pieces are only as good as they are active. After placing a pawn in the center of the board, focus on developing your pieces. How do you do this? Move your knights and bishops from their initial positions into active spots on the board. Keeping your pieces on their starting squares is almost like not having them at all! The real advantage of your material only shows when you actively use it. Your pieces can help in the position once you have “woken” them up off the back row. Activate your pieces as soon as you can if you don’t want to fall behind early in a game.

Piece “Activity”

What does it mean to have an “active” piece? You may have heard chess coaches or chess books say this before, but what does it mean? Active pieces can reach more of the chessboard quickly. A piece in the middle of the board can reach whatever part of the board it needs faster than if it is sequestered on the side. That means a piece can join an attack when needed or defend when needed. Keeping your pieces active helps keep them ready to use however you see fit.

3. Castling: An Important Chess Strategy For Beginners

Once you've developed your pieces and moved them to the center, you can safeguard your king by castling. Castling is when you move your king over two squares, and your rook goes on the other side. Simply castling your king can elevate your game over other beginners. If the middle of the board opens up and pieces are attacking, the player with the safe king will likely prevail. Castling your king moves your king out of the dangerous middle of the board, but it also helps to activate one of your rooks as well. If you aren’t sure what to play and you haven’t castled yet, the goal of castling can be a great guiding strategy for your next couple of moves.

Middle Game Chess Strategies for Beginners

4. Making Your Pieces Happy

In chess, certain pieces perform better in certain situations. Your rook at the start of the game, for instance, is not an “active” piece, and isn’t even able to move. Same with the bishops. A bishop stuck behind pawns is not a very good piece because it can’t affect very many squares. When looking for a strategy in the middlegame, it can help to look for ways to improve your pieces. Figure out where they want to be, and where your pieces will be happiest. So if a piece isn't in a good position, look for ways to improve it. That can be as simple as moving it off of its starting square, or maybe moving it to an open diagonal or file.

5. Put Bishops on Open Diagonals

Bishops like open diagonals and open positions. A bishop trapped behind blocked pawns isn't an effective piece. If you find yourself in a middle-game position and are uncertain of your next move, consider whether you can improve your bishop by relocating it to an open diagonal or by breaking open the middle to better its position. Fianchettoing your bishop is a common way to improve it. That means putting your bishop on one of the long diagonals.

6. Move Rooks to Open Files

Rooks are often used after developing other pieces, but placement is important. Rooks prefer open files, which are vertical columns on the chessboard without pawns. If you aren’t sure what to play in a position, and you have an undeveloped or underutilized rook in the position, moving it to the open file will often be a good idea in the position. This is true late in the opening and in the middlegame, but also in the endgame. 

Taking Control of the File

Rooks like to take control of files. You must be the first to capture an open file and then maintain control. Finders keepers with open files, so act fast and get your rook to the file. When you control a file, you control access points into your opponent's position. This is a good strategy for beginners, because often it doesn’t require much calculation; it's just about putting your rook on the file and taking control of those squares.

Chess Strategies For Beginners: 2nd and 7th Ranks

As you improve, strategies for controlling open files will also shift toward controlling the 2nd and 7th ranks. Rooks need to access open files to dominate the 2nd and 7th ranks. Once in position, rooks can capture opponents' pawns, and if you have two rooks working together, maybe even checkmate an unsuspecting opponent. The key is to get your rooks onto open files first, double them up if possible, and then put them into the enemy position.

7. Move Knights to the Center

If bishops like open, long diagonals, and rooks want open files, then how should we be improving our knights? Remember this saying: Knights on the rim are dim. This might be a familiar adage, but it’s true! Keep your knights away from the edges of the board. If possible. They attack half as many squares. Remember how important controlling the middle of the board was? Knights improve when they are toward the center of the board. Knights also like to have outpost squares. Put a knight on a square defended by a pawn in your opponent's territory where it can’t easily be scared away, and watch your opponent squirm.

Endgame Chess Strategies for Beginners

The endgame in chess is the culmination of all of our strategy! Nothing is worse than reaching a winning position and being unable to convert your advantage into a win. After all the work it takes to gain an advantage, don’t throw it away with a careless move, or even worse, because you don’t know how to checkmate! The endgame itself is full of new, complicated chess strategies for beginners, but let's focus on a few that will help you win and keep you from frustrating losses.

How to Learn Endgames

I recommend starting with online resources that let you practice basic endgames repeatedly. Chess.com’s endgame trainer is a great tool for this type of fundamental improvement, which can easily boost your rating by hundreds of ELO points. Other books also cover essential endgame positions. Understanding fundamental endgame strategies can also help you reach technically winning positions more effectively.

8. Use Your King In the Endgame

One mistake that beginners make is that they use their king in the endgame the same way they did the rest of the game. They keep it tucked away in the corner. Once most pieces have been traded away, especially if there are no queens left on the board, the king can actually become a very useful piece! Bringing your king toward the middle of the board and into the action can be a vital step to winning tough endgames!

9. Promote Your Pawns

If you are going to win an endgame, you have to understand the idea of pawn promotion. I'm continually surprised by how many players could secure a winning endgame simply by advancing their pawns rather than shuffling their pieces. Pushing a pawn to the end of the board is a key strategy in most endgames. A passed pawn — one with no opposing pawns on its file or nearby files — can be a formidable advantage. 

Using Your Pieces in the Endgame

Similar to the start of a game, ensure your pieces are on active squares. If your queen is stuck defending a pawn, look for a better way to utilize it. Especially when you're ahead on material and aiming to convert, use that advantage. I often see students obsessively trying to checkmate with only their queen when they also have two rooks still on the board. Remember to make the most of your material!

The Best Chess Strategies For Beginners

Implementing all of these strategies in one game will be difficult. Remembering more than one new idea at a time is a struggle for anyone. So, how do you get better? How do you use all of these new strategies? You have to play lots of games. Pick one of these ideas, like developing your pieces, for instance. Play a game and focus most of your energy on that idea. Make sure you bring all your new pieces into the game. You won’t get better if you try to completely overhaul your game overnight. It’ll take time and consistency. But if you play a hundred games, each one focusing on one of these strategies, they will quickly become habits of your play.