Tips To Improve Your Game Using Electronic Chess Games

Electronic Chess Games are a great way to sharpen our game, although there are many things we can do in our quest for chess improvement including:

Electronic chess games are yet another tool in our arsenal.

Image from chess.com

Let’s say there’s a specific area of your chess game you want to improve. You can read about it, or watch videos - but theory only takes you so far. The real learning takes place in the heat of battle. 

The trouble is, it isn’t always easy to find a human training partner with the time and inclination to practice the same thing that you want to work on.

However, because we live in the 21st century, we have something even better.

So long as you have a computer and an internet connection, you can play electronic chess games against the engine - a training partner stronger than any human - and you can do it any time, day or night.

In this article, we will explore three ways to use the computer to help improve your chess.

Tip #1: New Ideas In Opening Preparation

When doing your opening preparation for an upcoming opponent, you will undoubtedly look at past games and study the opening theory. This is definitely valuable.

But there is an extra step which most players don’t do: try playing against the computer in the opening you are exploring.

Best results will come if you get the computer to play with both colors. 

  • First, get the computer to play the role of your opponent in your impending game, to find the strong responses you may have to come up against - so that you can prepare for them in advance.
  • Also, put the computer in your shoes to see what it thinks are the best moves that you yourself might be able to make in your game.
Chess game in the opening stages

Of course, the goal of all this is not to beat the computer (that will be impossible!). Rather, the point is to take note of the new, unexpected moves which the computer comes up with - especially the ones which the opening books do not cover.

It will all add up to enhancing your understanding of the opening before sitting down at the board - giving you an “unfair advantage” over your opponent!

Tip #2: Improve Your Middlegame Understanding

Have you thrown away another winning position?

Some mistakes are very easy to identify in post-game analysis. If you made a blunder, or missed a winning tactic, the computer will point that out in a matter of seconds.

Related: Discover The Art Of The Middle Game.

But other times it is not so clear where you went wrong. Your position felt “winning” at some point, but you failed to find the right plan to press home your advantage. In cases like these, it was a lack of positional / strategic understanding that caused the win to slip from your grasp.

Playing electronic chess games against the computer can show what you could have done better. Load up the position and get the computer to play the color you were playing, and see what they do to convert the “winning” position into an actual win.

For example, here is a position which I had in a recent online game.

I was White, and according to the engine, my advantage is almost +5. However, rather embarrassingly, I still managed to lose. (We have all had games like this!)

Related: Polish your skill with studies on the Middlegame.

Time trouble played a role in my loss, but so did my inability to find the correct winning plan. I was trying to trade queens - but Black kept avoiding it. 

By giving the computer the White pieces and trying to play Black against it, I got to see the right plan in action: to infiltrate into Black’s position along the open c-file - the real source of White’s advantage. Pretty soon, Black finds the defense so difficult that they would be the one begging for the queen trade.

A lesson well-learned! All thanks to electronic chess games.

Tip #3: Hone Your Endgame

The endgame is an area of chess that many players find themselves to be deficient in.

Once most of the pieces have been cleared from the board, the game becomes “simpler”, but mistakes become more costly. It is often possible to recover from playing the opening or middlegame inaccurately - but one false move in the endgame can easily be the difference between a win and a loss.

Related: Discover the 4 key principles to winning in the endgame.

One reason for poor endgame technique is that most players simply get less practice at the endgame than other phases of a chess game!

Think about it: 

  • Every chess game starts with an opening.
  • Most chess games continue past the opening and into the middlegame.
  • But many chess games are over before the endgame - so we don’t get to experience them as often.

Electronic chess games can be used to get extra endgame training. 

Checkmate position on a board

Chess computers play the endgame flawlessly - so if you can reliably defeat the engine on maximum strength in a certain endgame, then a (weaker) human opponent should present no problems to you. As they say - “train hard, fight easy!”

To get you started, here are three endgame positions to consider drilling, depending on your skill level.

Related: Sharpen your endgame with the Modern Endgame Manual.

Beginners: Winning With King + Rook vs. King

Could you confidently win this position with White?

This may be trivial to experienced chess players - but everyone has to start somewhere!

If you are a beginner reading this and you are not sure exactly what to do in order to win a position like this, then you will benefit a great deal from learning. King and rook vs. king is one of the most common endgames - which means it is also one of the most useful to master.

Set up the above position against the computer in an electronic chess game. Start by giving yourself the extra rook, and try to checkmate the computer on maximum strength. If you are having trouble, then try switching sides - give the computer the extra rook, and take note of the method it employs to trap your king. 

After a little practice, you will be able to win this endgame automatically!

Intermediate: Defending The Philidor Position

Could you confidently draw this position with White?

Being down a pawn in a rook endgame is not always hopeless - but you will need to be accurate in order to stave off defeat. There are few more sickening feelings than reaching a position which you know “should” be a draw, but still losing it anyway.

The Philidor Position (sometimes called the “Third Rank Defense”) is a method for the weak side to secure the half point in situations such as the one pictured in the diagram. But even if it is a theoretical draw, your opponent is under no obligation to accept your draw offer once you reach it. They can keep playing and see if they can provoke a mistake from you.

Related: Master the Philidor Defence With GM Christian Bauer

Electronic chess games can help make sure you do not crack under the pressure. Give the computer the extra pawn, and attempt to defend the position. If the computer manages to beat you in an objectively drawn position, then you can study and learn from what you did wrong - so that the same thing does not happen when you are playing a human opponent and the stakes are much higher.

Advanced: Checkmate With Knight + Bishop

Could you confidently win this position with White?

The knight and bishop checkmate is notoriously difficult. It is also rather rare in practice. As a result of the difficulty and rarity, many chess players - even quite advanced ones - do not bother learning it. Even some titled players cannot win this endgame reliably.

But if you play chess for long enough, the knight and bishop checkmate will eventually arise in one of your games - and who knows when that may be? It might occur in a must-win game to secure your local club championship, or to score a meaningful victory over a much stronger opponent. You do not want to be found wanting in such an important situation.

Related: Explore 1001 Brilliant Ways To Checkmate your opponent.

The knight and bishop checkmate is practically impossible to figure out in the middle of a game. There is a knack to it, but you need to have studied it beforehand to have any chance of pulling it off.

Again, electronic chess games can help. After you have studied the technique (from a book, or watching a video), try to beat the computer. It will not be easy at first! You will probably have to go back and study the technique again before your next attempt. Once you have managed to defeat the computer, change the starting positions of the pieces, and repeat the exercise until you are completely sure that you will be able to perform this difficult checkmate under pressure in a game situation.

Final Thoughts: Electronic Chess Games

Having access to an opponent who plays chess more strongly than any human is incredibly powerful.

Testing your opening ideas, finding intelligent middlegame plans, and sharpening your endgame technique against maximum resistance should be tools that every ambitious chess player should employ.

Related: Discover our range of Millennium Chess Computers.

However, very few players are using the full potential of electronic chess games. This means that there is a tremendous advantage to be gained by the few who do!

So, see this as an invitation to become a member of the “intelligent minority”.

Try adding electronic chess games to your other chess training… and watch your results skyrocket!