Important Tips…

What parts of the body do you

use when you play chess?

You use your HANDS to make the

move.

You use your BRAIN to think about

the move.

You use your EYES to look at the

board.
The Correct Way is….

You use your EYES to look at the

board.

You use your BRAIN to think about

the move.

You use your HANDS to make the

move.
FIRST, you use your EYES to look at the board. Look at EVERY
PIECE and see where it can go.

Most importantly, LOOK AT YOUR OPPONENT'S LAST MOVE.

Ask yourself why the move was played.

THEN you use your BRAIN to work out what's going on and decide
on your move. OK, you've thought of a move. Do you play it?

NO! You stop and ask yourself IS ITSAFE? IF I GO THERE WILL I

GET TAKEN?

Only then, when you are certain you've found the best move, do you
use your HANDS to make the move.

DON'T pick up a piece and wave it round

What do you do before you
cross the road?

You STOP,

LOOK BOTH WAYS,

LISTEN and only cross if

it’s

ALL CLEAR.
You should play chess the same way that you cross
the road. You've already seen how easy it is to lose
very quickly.

 So, it's your move. What do you do?

 You STOP.

 You LOOK AT YOUR OPPONENT'S

LAST MOVE.

 You LOOK IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

But what sort of moves do you
look for?

C HECKS…

C APTURES…

T HREATS…
Checks… Captures… & Threats…
 The object of the game is to get CHECKMATE so the first
moves you look at are CHECKS.

 Not all CHECKS are worth playing, but ALL CHECKS are
worth looking at, just in case one of them might be
CHECKMATE.

 If you have a stronger army than your opponent you are more
likely to get CHECKMATE.

 So you should try to get an advantage in MATERIAL, in

POINTS, in PIECES.

 Remember how much the pieces are worth: Pawn, 1 point,

Knight and Bishop, 3 points each, Rook 5 points, Queen 9
points.
Checks… Captures… & Threats…

If you can't find any good CHECKS.

 So you must look for CAPTURES. Can you CAPTURE
a piece for nothing?

 Can you CAPTURE a stronger piece with a weaker

piece? If you can, it's usually right to do so.

 Look for your opponent's CAPTURES as well. If your

opponent wants to CAPTURE one of your pieces you
must do something about it:

 MOVE, DEFEND or BLOCK if you cannot capture it

yourself.
Checks… Captures… & Threats…

• If you can't find any good CHECKS or

CAPTURES try looking for THREATS.

• Moves which THREATEN something.

• Can you THREATEN CHECKMATE?

OR

• Can you THREATEN your opponent's

Queen?

• Can you THREATEN two pieces at once –

A FORK or any other tactical motif’s.
Checks… Captures… & Threats…

If none of these help you find a good move, look for a

piece (not a pawn) which isn't doing much and try to
get it into the game.

One further piece of advice. If you are a general in

command of an army of 1000 men and the other army
has 999 men, there's not a lot in it.

But if your army has two men and the other army has
one man you're twice as strong.

So: IF YOU’RE AHEAD ON MATERIAL TRY TO EXCHANGE

PIECES, IF YOU'RE BEHIND ON MATERIAL TRY TO AVOID
EXCHANGES.