Mistakes are something from which we learn and experience in order to success or a way towards our desired goals. They are proof that we are learning and not giving up.
All the chess players just want to improve from their mistakes and eventually get better and better to get to their desired level.
Man learns from the mistakes he makes and the good news is there is always a room for improvement 🌸.
But it takes a keen observing power, lots of work and patience in order to earn from them and make sure the same mistake shouldn’t be repeated again. Because mistakes are always there, hovering above the head that makes the moves, waiting to be made.
A mistake for beginners is something common issue but the real difference is not in the no.of mistakes, but in the kind of mistakes that are made.
While beginners will watch their opponent capturing all their pieces move by move, its the kind of mistake that an experienced player makes will more likely be related to creating a weak square or pawn, to name a few examples.
So, the conclusion leads us to the decision that the mistakes made by chess beginners are the ones to be solved and taken serious, but in this
Content we will try to put a highlight on the most common mistakes that one should avoid.
1)Not controlling the Centre.
Centre control is essential. Imagine the middle of the chess board like a hill, whoever is the king of the hill has a better view of the board and can easily transfer the pieces from one side of the board without any issues. When you don’t control the centre, you lose control of the board.
Again for more advanced players there are other strategies that forego control over the centre for other advantages. For any beginner player, it’s too risky, control of the centre is absolutely essential.
2)Not protecting the king.
It is probably heard that about 3 stories every week of a beginner chess player losing a game in an under 1400 tournament by falling trap to gambits while forgetting about protecting the king, leading to a very early checkmate.
If you’re just thinking about gaining material without seeing the big picture, you will fall trap to a better player. By the time you see the trap you’ll have to put your pieces or pawns in a suboptimal position or maybe even lose a piece. Leaving your king unprotected can be a motif for losing a chess game very quickly.
3)Not developing your pieces.
I know some of the beginners read certain advanced chess videos and strategies that focus on sometimes delaying development in favour of setting up a particular attack. Don’t listen to them. There is a good chance your opponent will see your tactic, defend against it, and then be way ahead in development while you’ve been wasting your time moving the queen and your pawns around. For at least your first 6 moves every piece you’re moving should be development out of your 1st and 2nd rank and if possible defending other developed pieces and aiming for control of the centre.
If you don’t have men fighting in the battlefield it is relatively hard to win. Developing is essential because it gives you mobility, dynamic play and a possibility to attack, whoever is behind in development is most likely going to suffer later having a hard time to find good squares for their pieces. Save the multi-move setups for your attacks for later on.
4)Copy catting.
Copycatting implies copying exactly what your opponent does without any idea of what you are trying to do; this gives your opponent the time to have initiative. It's a dead-end road to a forced mate. That’s not to say that sometimes copying your opponents move makes sense, just think about when, where and why.
5)Moving your queen out early in the game ( in order to gain a quick checkmate).
Most beginner players will look on YouTube for chess tutoring videos to the likes of “how to checkmate in 5 moves” and other such garbage. They will then find videos on the Scholar's mate, which is a checkmate that implies moving your queen early in the game. Don’t try to do the scholar's mate, no one will fall for it, your queen will get attacked
The real problem about moving your queen out early in the game is the fact that your opponent can develop pieces while attacking the queen. If your Queen moves to h5, then black can play Nf6 attacking your queen. Moving your queen will make you fall behind in development, which will cause problems with your position. Again this also plays into the previous mistake on “lack of development.” Time you’re spending moving your queen around is time your opponent is spending developing.
6)Moving the same piece twice in the opening.
Every turn in chess is called a tempo, and every tempo is essential, some games of chess are won or lost from a one move difference, it is essential to not waste tempos at the beginning of the game to maximize your control of the board.
Imagine I move a bishop two moves in a row during the opening, we can agree that we lost one tempo because we could have played the bishop to b5 in the first move while the opponent developed 2 pieces. In the move in which I moved my bishop twice I could have developed another piece causing me to be behind in development.
Think about these errors in the middle-game too!
If you’re thinking about this list in your middle game, then my job is done. Always remember an opening strategy is ALWAYS valuable for the mid-game. Sure the opening is the time to make sure you don’t fall victim to these mistakes but if you still realize your mistake later on, you can try to make up for lost time and tweak your strategy accordingly.
A closing note.
So you can tell all the mistakes here really tie into one thing, development. You will lose development by making bad moves, by moving pieces twice, by moving your queen out too early and by copying your opponents move blindly. Don’t rush for a quick strategy, you’ll have your chance to develop your brutal attack later on; just keep on controlling the squares and you’ll be setting the stage for a good game!
Let us know in what way these ideas have helped you in improving your chess game!