Thomas Willemze is an International Master from the Netherlands. He is an experienced trainer of amateur players of all levels and has been the National Youth Coach of the Dutch Chess Federation. New In Chess has published his books The Chess Toolbox and The Scandinavian for Club Players, both of which very well received by reviewers and customers alike. Not all of your winning positions will involve the endgame. Sometimes, you’ll be ahead by a piece or exchange in the middle game. Understanding a few general principles should help you turn those winning games into won games.

There are many strong players and coaches who advise against studying the opening at the beginning stages of one’s chess development. I understand the reasoning of this advice: Chess tactics for Students by John Bain. Again, seems to be a well rounded puzzle book, organized be themes, with about 450 puzzles. A typical puzzle book wich puts direct in action without long explanation of what are pins etc.. (not saying it's a bad thing!) When studying games played by masters, count the value of exchanges and see “who won” each one. Do this when studying your own games as well.You don’t have to spend a lot of your time on openings. However, some focus in your selection of openings and consistent use of Chessable in addition to your other chess studies will strengthen your game immensely. #6 Don’t Give Up (Bonus Tip) kt>xf3 tt:le3! , White had no choice but to resign, as the knight move makes the prevention of 3. . . h2 and subsequent promotion impossible. Pawn promotion can involve many different

diate 1 .1t>e7? is a blunder: after 1 . . . ct:Jc6+ the queening square is controlled) 1 . . . ct:Jxa6 2.1t>e7 Learning openings helps you conserve your energy for the middlegame and endgame. Setting up a playable position in the early stages of the game will give you a fighting chance later in the game. Without a clear opening plan, you will spend much of your middlegame fixing the problems you created in the opening.ti:le7+ c,:i:,>h8 2.l"i:xh7+!! c,:i:,>xh7 3.l"i:h4# 5 1 6 - 1 .l"i:xc6+! decoy sacrifice 1 . . .�xc6 So you’ve learned the basic moves of chess and have played a bunch of games, and you’ve decided that you want to get better at this beautiful game. Where do you start? Chess tips for beginners of course! Try to find out what your opponent needs to do to win, and try to pose as many problems for him as possible. There is a danger of spending too much time studying opening variations that will never show up in play, and thus a beginner may be wasting a lot of time.