Chess: Simply Play Better Improve your game in no time $ooe > A collection of patterns to boost your game immediatly 37 diagrams with square highlighting Simple explanations and bullet point lists Easy and intuitive learning No chess notationPage 1| Dedication Dedication This book is dedicated to my sister Maria and my girlfriend Anne, who have played chess with me to overcome hard timas, | thank you both for sharing your time and hearts with me. Dedication |P age 1Page 2[ Contents Contents Introduction. Gaining Positional Advantages Control the center... Rooks to Open Lines. Knights off the Boundary. Moving Pawns Late ....ocnnnewnn Activate Pieces.... Mutual Defense States Diagonal Threats... Avoiding the Bishop. ..ne.ano Pattern Recognition... Reading the Knight... High Value Forks. High Value Pins... Sensitive Spots... Efficient Development Quick Castling. Prevent Blocking Multi-Purpose Moves........ Strategic Sacrifice Pawn Sacrifice..... Lure the King. Contents | Po ¢e 2Page 31 Contents Breaking Defensive Structures... Rejecting the Offense... How to Further Develop Your Game... Efficient Training... sates sccaatetaraanea wouussAT Recommended Openings. i 48 Additional Material... 0.nneraennenn . 49 Match Evaluation Checklist... Contents |P a0 3P eee 4 | Introduction Introduction Dear Reader and Chess Enthusiast, Welcome to my compact chess strategy starter guide, which will provide you information on how to improve your game efficiently in the shortest amount of time, Ever since | have played chess | have been looking for an extensive set of tips to quickly boost my skills and give me access to a more intuitive understanding of the game, but | couldn't find anything that matched my requirements. Therefore, | have decided to create this book with a collection of my favorite strategy patterns. These patterns will be most helpful for players who are just starting to play chess and would like to advance quickly without the need of reading complete chess books or game analysis, which is usually time consuming, quite exhausting and often more efficient for advanced players and professionals. Within this book you will find diagrams associated with bullet point lists. Each page contains one diagram at most. All diagrams are made available in a large size with highlighted squares of interest for best visual interpretation. Chapters will open with a short introduction and « quick overview on what is ahead. I have decided for this structure and layout to assure a very visual presentation with focus on clear facts. You will not find elaborate essays, but rather precise suggestions on what you may try to develop your game to a new level in just a short amount of time. | appreciate any feedback via email to martin pluta@martinpluta.eu Of course, | am looking forward to read your opinion or suggestions for improvement. you like this book, please provide a positive rating on google play. Personally, I wish you great success and most of all alot of fun with your future chess games. Greetings Martin Introduction | Pa ge 4Po ee 5| Introduction Gaining Positional Advantages This chapter will introduce you to some basic concepts, giving you a short or long term positional advantage in almost all your chess games. The more of these rules you can apply to your game, the more likely you will win. Is it really that simple? I'd say yes, but you may want to try it yourself. When going into more detail, the evaluation of positional advantages and disadvantages can quickly become a complex topic. Being capable to quickly analyze a position and react on changes based on simple criteria can be a game changing skill, especially for starters and intermediates. The following diagrams and notes will point out a set of rules for positional analysis and strategy, which are easy to understand and have a huge impact on the game development at the same time, Introduction | age 5Page 6| Control the center Control the center + Controlling the center squares (d4, d5, e4, e5) is one of the main keys to win a game + Most of the occurring "traffic will pass the center ~ Pieces placed on the center squares will also control surrounding squares and a large proportion of the board ~ Controlling the center squares as early as possible usually is a strong advantage since it suppresses the opponents development Control the center | Pace 6Page 7| Control the center + Occupying the advanced center squares with a pawn in the opening period is likely to delay the knight development of the opponent ~The temporary motion incapability of the knight may delay the castling, which can have a huge influence on the game development 4 The only disadvantage is the missing protection of the center pawns, compared to a more defensive set up with a pawn on e3, for example + Additional protection of the center pawns has to be established with the help other pieces Control the eenter | P= g© 7Page 81 Control the center + When opening the game, knights are best positioned at squares on line ¢ and f where they nicely take control over the center squares + This position is to be preferred over the positions on line d and e 4 Itis an important backup for your center pawns Control the center | a2e 8Page 9| Control the center + An advanced center control with a bishop may be achieved by moving the pawn on line borg + This adds an additional level of contre, which may sometimes be an advantage over an ‘opponent who is not efficiently adding his bishops to the center game Control the center | 20 9P see 40] Control the center + Later in the game, the rooks add an important part of the control over the center pieces + Make sure to develop your pieces to open the base line for your rooks as early as possible to benefit from the mutual defense + Line c's also a good position for a rook, since it is often opening during the middle game stage Controlthe center | Page 10Pa g© 41] Rooks to Open Lines Rooks to Open Lines + Rooks are best set to positions where they control open lines This prevents the opponents rooks from taking control over these lines and decreases their potential to contribute to the opponents offense + Rooks are usually more efficient in their vertical impact than horizontally The rooks provide an enormous backup to your other pieces ~ You gain additional support for your offensive strategy Rooks to Open tines | 3 pc 11P age 42 | Rooks to Open Lines + Move your rooks to lines that are likely to open soon + These are usually lines without pawns or with pawns, which are likely to be exchanged in the near future + This will give you control over the line once it is open or will force your opponent to keep the line closed and reduce its mo Rooks to Open Lines | Paco 12Pag © 13 | Rooks to Open Lines Move rooks to lines where you control the opening ~ This may be a pawn which is advanced to provoke a line opening or another piece, which is moved to open the line immediately This is a powerful strategy, which is often overlooked bby starters and gives you an. additional level of control over the game development + You can control the point of time, when your offensive forces unfold their impact Rooks to Open tines | Page 13Page 14 | Knights off the Boundary Knights off the Boundary e b c d e ' 3 h a a b © 4 e ¥ 9 h + Knights at the boundary wil coverage 4 Incontrast to long range pieces, such as bishops, rooks and the queen, the knight is likely to enter a passive state when placed at the bounclary se at least half of their efficiency by reduced square Knights off the Boundary | > ce 14Page 15] Moving Pawns Late Moving Pawns Late + Move your pawns on lines a, b, cf, gand has late as possible + Since pawns can only move ahead, their motion is irreversible ~ Keep this option to respond to the game development with your pawn moves + Of course, there are many useful exceptions, which I would even recommend, such as the Queens Gambit, the Caro-Cannes Defense and more. The main clue is: If you follow a secure strategy, move them as litle as required Moving Pawns Late | Po g0 1516 | Activate Pieces > Active pieces (green) control open space and create threats > Generally, active pieces are more effective than passive ones + Passive pieces (yellow) may have a defending role, which should not be neglected ~ To increase your position and your impact on the game development, ask yourself which pieces are passive and if they can be activated without losing important defensive structures Activate Pieces | 16Page 47 | Mutual Defense States Mutual Defense States 4 Knights and rooks may take positions of mutual defense + These positions are extremely powerful, as they allow for an increased level of defense, which adds extra value to your pieces + Mutual defertse states allow you to move other pieces into more active states, which would else be required to provide a sufficient defense level Mutual Defense States | 2 ¢.° 17P20 18 | Diagonal Threats Diagonal Threats 4 Queens and bishops can create pressure on diagonal lines + The longer the line and the distance of impact on the board is, the more likely itis that the opponent will miss the threat, especially in crowded middle games + Position your bishops close to the comers to use the long diagonal line and wait for your chance Diagonal Threats | f » ge 18P-s.s© 191] Avoiding the Bishop Avoiding the Bishop + Ifyour opponent has only one bishop remaining, you may drastically lower his offensive impact by moving your pieces on the squares of opposing color + Especially for end game developments, a single knight is likely to be more effective than a bishop due to his capability to pose threats to both colors 4 Make sure to exchange pieces for end game situations accordingly to profit from this strategy Avoiding the Bishop | Ps ge 19© 20 | Avoiding the Bishop “a Pattern Recognition Pattern recognition is an important skill to increase the speed of your personal in-game analysis and your development of strategies. It reduces the time you require to find weak spots of your position and options for offensive actions. Seeing pattems on the board is usually more efficient than building up vast strategies. It is similar to reading road signs. Seeing a stop sign, does not require you to read the letters on it. Just one single look at the sign will tell you what it means by its color and shape. You just recognize it. The same effect applies to chess games. Pattern recognition will strongly improve your chess skill and give you advantage over players with a smaller repertoire of trained patterns. Avoiding the Bishop | ? = c= 20Pa ge 21 | Reading the Knight Reading the Knight 2 » < a © 1 ° h ‘ | c 4 e One of the most important patterns to train, are the squares that are accessible by the knight at the next move + These squares will always be of opposing color to the square the knight is placed on ~ Allof these squares will be aligned in a circle Reading the Knight |? acc 24Pe 22 | Reading the Knight oO . 7 7 i_ . 5 Ss _mbe . 2 a % Additionally, recognizing the squares which will be inaccessible may be very important, allowing you to move your pieces where the knight cannot reach it at the next move + The inaccessible close squares are the ones horizontally and vertically surraunding the knight + They form a cross shape + They have the opposing color to the square the knight is placed on Reading the Knight | ° 2 ce 22P 2 ¢© 23 | Reading the Knight a © < d e ' 9 h 7 7 5 5 4 | 4 3 3 2 2 e f 9 h ++ The middle distance squares which are inaccessible within one move of the knight are places two squares away from the knight in diagonal direction and opposing color % They form a square shape Reading the Knight | 2 2.© 23Page 24 | Reading the Knight + Inaccessible far distance squares form a circle-like shape in a 4 field distance of ‘opposing color ~ Use these patterns to move your pieces out of threat, whenever you have the choice between a variety of targets for your pieces 4 Since the three pattern distances cover almost alll the board range, they may be taken. into account for almost every move you make Reading the Knight | P's c° 24Page 25 | High Value Forks High Value Forks a 6 ©€ ¢ e Ff gi ot Cz . 6 6 : 4 Y | 4 3 2 2 2 « d e f 9 ~The fork is usually performed with a knight, bishop or queen by posing threat to at least ‘two pieces at the same time 4 The knight is especially valuable for this purpose, since it can threaten pieces shielded by others + The knight-king fork forces the king to move, making this type of fork inaccessible. It allows to win the second piece under threat High Value Forks | ° 2 ¢.© 25Pa. 26 | High Value Forks ~ The knight-queen fork forces the queen to move and allows to win the second piece under threat + Itis escapable by giving chess or threatening the opponents queen with one of the pieces under threat High Value Forks | 2 6° 26Pace 27 | High Value Forks 4 The knight-rooks fork allows to win one of the rooks 4 Itis escapable by giving chess or threatening the opponents queen with one of the places under threat High Value Forks | ? se © 27Pape 28 High Value Forks ~ Forking with bishop or queen is possible in various ways % Attention to diagonal forking patteins is likely to be neglected by the opponent, especially for long range forks High Value Forks | P 2 ¢© 28Pe ge 29| High Value Forks a b ¢€« ¢€ ee ££ g oh 8 8 7 ? 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 . ae | | a b ¢€ db e@ ff gg bh + Pawns may be used to fork two rooks with one square distance to each other + This fork is often not recognized by the opponent, due to the wrong assumption that the lowest value piece, which is strongly limited concerning motion and range, is incapable to pose such a strong threat High Value Forks | ° oe 29Page 30] High Value Pins. High Value Pins + A queen may be pinned to the king by a rook to force an uneven exchange and win a queen fora rook High Value Pins |? 2 ¢ © 30Page 31] High Value Pins 4 A queen may be pinned to the king by a bishop to force an uneven exchange and win a queen fora bishop High Value Pins | > 2 © 31Page 32| High Value Pins eoees ‘A bishop can pin queen and rook The opponent will lose one of the two pieces In most cases the rook will be the piece that is won The pin is escapable by giving chess with one of the It is escapable by giving chess or threatening the opponents queen with one of the pieces under threat High Value Pins | ° 2 ¢ © 32Page 33 | High Value Pins ~ A bishop can pina rook to a rook to win one of them + tis escapable by giving chess or threatening the opponents queen with one of the pieces under threat High Value Pins |? 9 5° 33Page 34| Sensitive spots Sensitive Spots + Squares at b2, b7, 92, 97 are sensitive to attacks targeting the rooks in the opening stage ~ These spots are usually threatened by bishops or the queen 4 If the opponents knights are not developed and the bishop is mistakenly moved to leave the spot undefended, the bishop or queen can win the rook, since itis tied ta its position Sensitive Spots | 2 ¢ 34Pee 35 | Sensitive Spots 4 The squares at c2 and c7 are vunerable spots for a knight-king fork + Assecond piece may be required as a backup, covering the knight on its move to the forking position Sensitive Spots | age 35.Page 36 | Sensitive Spots ‘+ Squares at f2 and {7 are weak spots due to their early accessibility by queen and bishop ‘+ Leaving these spots unprotected can result in a quick check or check mate ‘+ Pay attention to early bishop and queen moves of your opponent and double check if a threat to these spots is being prepared Sensitive Spots |?.o 2 © 36Page 37| Sensitive Spots £ Efficient Development Throughout the opening stage of the game, it is severely important to prepare the position of your pieces in the shortest amount of time possible. At the same time, delaying the development of your opponent can be a crucial factor, driving the success of your offensive strategies in the middle game Best moves are those contributing to your development while delaying the development of your opponent at the same time. Sensitive Spots | og © 37Pape 38) Quick Casting Quick Castling + A quick castling ensures that the king is moved to a covered position before any pins or other threats can be applied by your opponent + Moving bishop and knight early is essential 4 Missing the chance to castle early, may result in a loss of tempo for you in the middle game Quick Castling | Pa g0 38Page 39| Prevent Blocking Prevent Blocking ~ When developing your pieces, make sure to av blocking your pieces and transferring them into a passive state, which is mostly done by pawn moves, ++ Undesirable pawn positions are those limiting your bishops, queen and knights in their motion range + Do not black your knights or bishops with other pieces as it will seriously delay your development Prevent Blocking | P 2s ° 39Pag © 40| Multi-Purpose Moves Multi-Purpose Moves Prefer moves which will fulill multiple purposes to enhance your development while protecting your pieces or threatening your opponent © If the king is under threat by a bishop as pictured above, move your bishop to protect, the king and force the exchange, which wit! even help you develop your knight ar queen asa response 4 Your opponent loses tempo, while you gain tempo, which makes it double efficient Multi-Purpose Moves | P 2 ¢ 40Page 41 | Multi-Purpose Moves A Strategic Sacrifice ‘An element of the game that is often neglected is the strategic sacrifice of one or more of your pieces. The only questions of interest are: + At what stage of the game do you sacrifice a piece? ~ What do you gain by the sacrifice you make? The correct timing of the sacrifice may be crucial for its effectiveness and is hard to be trained. The feeling for the correct timing may be based on intuition and experience. The intention of a sacrifice may be the distuption of the pawn structure of your opponent to open the middle squares of the board or the protection of the opponent's king. It may also be Used to distract pawns during the opening stage or to induce a drastic, unexpected change on the board to destroy the offensive strategy of your opponent in a critical position. Multi-Purpose Moves | fo g.© 41Page 42 | PawnSacrifice Pawn Sacrifice ~ Anice example of a pawn sactifice is the Queen’s Gambit opening, where the pawn on ¢4 is used to distract the opponents pawn fram the center By moving the pawn on line e, the bishop on f1 will then threaten the opponents pawn oncd Pawn Sacrifice | Po ge 42Page 43| Lurethe King + This results in a good center contro! by the white pieces and a desteoyed pawn structure for the black pieces Lure the King ~ Sometimes a bishop or knight sacrifice can force the king to leave its position ~ Thereby the casting can possibly be prevented and the king will be exposed to the potential threat of other pieces Lure the King | 9 c0 43Po ce 48 | Breaking Defensive Structures Breaking Defensive Structures + The bishop may be used to break the defense at the king’s side + The lack in the kings defense can then be used to give early chess and build up pressure As typical for sacrifice moves, this often comes unexpected and may be a game changer Breaking Defensive Structures | F ago 44P26 © 45 | Rejecting the Offense Rejecting the Offense ~ If there is strong offensive pressure on your king side, it may be the right time to play a sacrifice move 4 Inthe pictured situation, the black pieces put great pressure on square g2 with a potential checkmate at next move 4 Sacrificing the bishop at b3 is a potential solution for the white pieces, which will force the black king to move and is likely to open the chance for a fork to win the bishop at c6 and thereby releasing pressure Rejecting the Offense | age 45» 46 | Rejecting the Offense How to Further Develop Your Game Developing your game is a constant challenge. Of course, there is one rule that is pretty obvious: The more games you play, the more experience you yain. But quite certainly, you may enhance your chess skills more efficiently, if you combine various learning strategies. At the very beginning, studying complex game analysis may not always be the quickest way to achieve your goals. In the following | will provide you a set of suggestions on how to continue from here on your own. Rejecting the Offense | ag © 46Page 47| Efficient Training Efficient Training You may now ask yourself: 4 How do | train efficiently to develop my skills? 4 Who is the best opponent for me at my current stage? 4 How do | find opponents at all? ~ How often should | play chess? Here are some notes you may use to find answers to your questions: + Play as much as you can, but not more than you enjoy + Play opponents of all types: starters, intermediates, experts or even champions if you get the chance 4 Have variation in the choice of your opponents + Fun and success should be in balance with challenge and required failure + Play games online and review your games from time to time, especially those you have lost ~ Play chess with a clock and a low time limit, to enhance your intuition and play lots of games to gain experience, which is important for starters Use mobile apps to find opponents from around the world and of all classes ~ Always keep having fun, since this is the best motivation to continue playing and to become better with every game you play Efficient Training | ° 2 g0 47P25 © 48 | Recommended Openings Recommended Openings For the starter | would recommend to focus on two of the classical opening strategies, one for each color you play. It will take enough time to lear all the variations of these two openings. Leaming more than these, will in most cases delay your progress drastically. In future, | will provide a da detailed insight on the openings. For now, please use other resources to inform and train yourself coneeming the following openings. Queen's Gambit (White Pieces) The Queen's Gambit is one of the prettiest openings, which comes with a lot of advantages for the white player. Responding it is often not trained good enough and many casual players will have extreme difficulties trying to answer a skilled player who plays the Queen's Gambit. If properly played, the Queen's Gambit almost always allows to control the center, Caro-Canies-Defense (Black Pieces) To reject the standard king pawn openings, {recommend the Caro-Cannes-Defense. This defense must be well trained, especially for the modern version of the white advancing pawn on 5, but if played correctly, itis one of the most robust and often also unexpected openings, which has also been played by lots of chess champions. An Additional Option: Delayed Queen's Gambit (Black Pieces) Of course, a good trick for playing black pieces may be to induce a Queen's Gambit yourself, whenever the opponent plays the queen's pawn but doesn't play a gambit. This way you can take the chance to play Queen's Gambit with your black pieces, although this will of course mean, that you have a lack in tempo compared to the Queen's Gambit you would play with the white pieces. Nevertheless, this option is good, since you know the Queen's Gambit already and you know the developments of the game, including almost all threats and chances. Recommended Openings | 2g 48280 49 | Recommended Openings a Additional Material This last section of the book contains material you may use to monitor your progress or support your learning ambitions. constantly grow. the release of future versions of this book, this chapter will Recommended Openings | P » «P ae S0| Match Evaluation Checklist Match Evaluation Checklist D Control the center Apply quick eastling Do not block own pieces during the opening Rooks control open lines Keep knights off the boundary Move pawns late Activate pieces Use mutual defense states Create diagonal threats with bishop Avoid the opponents bishop in the end game Defend sensitive spots Attack sensitive spots Apply high value forks Apply high value pins Apply multi-purpose moves 1 Successfully use a sacrifice move onNagononocnooooancaGG ‘Match Evaluation Checklist | F a ge 50