7 Common Chess Mistakes among Beginners

As the famous quote goes- ‘We learn from mistakes, not from failure.’ Be it a novice or a grandmaster, everyone makes mistakes. The only difference between the two would be, the kind of mistakes made. Hence, it is good to make mistakes. But it is very important to identify your mistakes, learn from them and implement too.

Let’s take a look at the top 7 common mistakes made by beginners in chess-

1. Placing the King and Queen in the wrong squares

At the beginner’s level, many make this common mistake of misplacing the king from its initial position by placing it in the queen’s square and vice-versa. In the online chess classes for beginners, we help you to remember the rule- White king goes in the black square and the black king goes in the white square.

2. Playing without a game plan

Most of the beginners frequently make a mistake of playing without a game plan. Due to which they end up touching a piece without intending to move it (the “touch-move rule”). One should be aware that touching a piece and not moving it, is illegal. This kind of mistake is mostly made at the beginner’s level but few make at the intermediate level too. Secondly each move should have a logic behind it. Hence learn chess online to play with a game plan.

3. Moving the queen too early

In the game of chess, the queen is a very powerful piece. Not only in the beginner’s level, but many in the intermediate level, as well as the advance level too, move their queen out in the open too early. This kind of mistake could put the queen under the attack of the enemy pieces. To save the queen, we tend to move around in such a way, that it is not captured by the opponent. In the bargain, the opponent goes on developing their pieces leaving us behind, saving the queen. Hence, it is said that before moving the queen too early, better develop knights and bishops first.

4. Weakening the Castled Position

We castle during the opening, in order to safeguard our King. In the castling, three pawns are involved. If these three pawns remain on their original squares, then the castling position remains sturdy. But even if a single member of this trio advances, then the defender is headed for trouble. We avoid doubling the pawns in the castling too. We must always keep the defending trio close. This will keep the castling safe, in case the opponent pieces approach to initiate an attack.

5. Leaving pieces and pawns undefended

Leaving the pieces and pawns undefended sounds like something only a beginner would do. But that’s not true. This mistake is made in all levels- from beginner’s level to advanced level. And sometimes in masters level too. While playing, beginners tend to constantly leave their pieces and pawns floating on the winds and many a times their opponents to do the same. Our pieces and pawns should occupy square where they are active and preferably from where they can take joint actions. Keeping the pieces undefended would help the opponent to take advantage. It is impracticable to expect our pieces and pawns to defend each other. Learn online chess to understand this better with live examples.

6. Not getting rooks into play

As the game develops, we need to bring our major pieces like the queen and rooks into play. During the game, look for a good square to position the queen such that the rooks are well coordinated. The mistake made here is leaving one of the rooks in its original square and forgetting about it. This way, it won’t be able to participate in the game. In our online chess classes for beginners, we teach them how to keep the rooks in open or semi-open files. In the middle of the game, when the pawns are traded, leaving some files empty, we should try to use them, to operate our rooks.

7. Not activating the King and making mistakes in endgames

The King can play an active role in the endgame. Many a times, we concentrate more on castling and forget that the King too can make threats and play a main role. During the endgame, fewer pieces are left on the board. Thus, less chances of attacking the opponent’s King. Sometimes in the beginner’s level and intermediate level, beginners miss to activate their King and thus end up with a totally inactive King.

Whether a beginner or a professional, the most important unsaid rule, is of knowing your basics thoroughly. At Wisdom Chess Academy, we use flawless techniques to teach the principles of chess, that lead to better endgames and also to bring tough position games to a draw. In our online chess classes for beginners, we use techniques which include teaching with examples. Understanding the principles of chess, is very important. If you know the principles well, then you can completely turn games in your favour. The more thorough you are with your basics, the better player you will emerge to be in every battle.