Basic Chess Strategy
Guide

Beginner Chess Player? Scratching your head as to how best to get started? Have a read through the following pages in the Index, (below).

I've started with my first attempt at basic Chess Strategy, which includes videos covering each of the three Phases of a typical game of chess:

» 1. Opening, 2. Middlegame, and 3. Endgame.

Then, I move onto some MUCH BETTER strategies ... the first of which focuses on the Opening Phase (this one's credited to GM Yasser Seirawan).

I also have published other strategies, from my good correspondence friend & mentor, Ken Wilsdon, who shared them with me during our discussions about Point Count Chess, a book on Chess Strategy by Israel Albert Horowitz and Geoffrey Mott-Smith, which formed the basis of the Advanced Beginner's Chess Guide.

So, when you're ready ...

Basic Chess Strategy Index

My First Attempt at Chess Strategy (Introduction) (page 1)
When I first setup Chess-Game-Strategies.com, I considered myself to be a relative beginner. I knew of the game; I knew how the pieces moved; I knew how to setup the board. But, beyond that, I'd nothing much to shout about. This section is the result of 'what I knew' back then.
1. Objectives (page 2)
  Basically, my first stab at cobbling together a 'Plan' ... hmmm.
2. GAME: Opening Phase (page 3)
  My game was played against Fritz 12. I don't actually recall setting any difficulty settings, as I'd only just got the software and was still getting used to its features. Anyway, to kick-of my basic chess strategy, I chose the Giuoco Piano for the Opening, and set a time control of 10 minutes per player. The Opening phase lasted 13 Moves (so I judged).
3. GAME: Middlegame Phase (page 4)
  From Black's 13th Move, to Black's 21st Move.
4. GAME: Endgame Phase (page 5)
  From White's 22nd Move to Black's Win by Checkmate, on Move 32. (No need to say which army Fritz controlled, then!)
5. Post-mortem (page 6)
  My first attempt at analysing the game, picking through the debris with the so-called Post-mortem.
6. Summary (page 7)
  Additional analysis, quickly summarising all of the above.

Okay, so that was my "beginner's attempt at basic Chess Strategy".

You could call it a 'warm-up' for the main event, which starts with an Opening Strategy from one of the World's most highly regarded Grandmasters ...

Yasser Seirawan's Chess Strategy for the Opening Phase
It was a few months after that first attempt at basic Chess Strategy, that I'd exchanged some pieces of paper with the Queen's head on, for the first five books of Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess series:
I like Yasser's writing/teaching style and. so, studied his books in detail (the following sections on this website are testament to that: Chess Openings; Chess Tactics; Chess Strategies; Chess Combinations).

Anyway, during my study, across his multiple books, I pieced-together what I assumed to be Yasser Seirawan's principles for the Opening Phase of a game of Chess ...

So, that's what this article covers.

Like the Basic Chess Strategy articles? Ready to step up a level? ...

Advanced Beginner's Chess Strategy Guides

During 2011, following detailed feedback about the Chess Openings Analyzer, Beta v1.0, I was extremely fortunate to be able to pick the mind of Ken Wilsdon, who has been something of a mentor for me, as I move away from being a humble beginner, to what Ken said was more of an Advanced Beginner's level.

That initial discussion led to hundreds more and, ultimately, resulted in the creation of the Advanced Beginner's Chess Guide

You ~~may~~, nay, will definitely be interested in a the following quartet of Strategies that Ken shared with me:

How to Develop a Plan, (by Ken Wilsdon)
During our fourth Game, discussing Point Count Chess, while teaming up against Fritz 12, Ken provided a detailed explanation about "How to Develop a Plan" for your games.

7 Patterns to KNOW for Control of a Square
During our fourth Game, discussing Point Count Chess, once again, teaming up against Fritz 12 (this time at Level 50, Optimum Strength!), Ken helped set me straight on a few issues, namely: I didn't properly understand how a Pawn or Piece Controls any given square, so Ken detailed a set of 7 Patterns to KNOW off-by-heart

Ken Wilsdon's 2-Point Principle for Assessing Moves
Ken: "One principle I have always used in games, that I read somewhere, that made a lot of sense ..."