How to Actually Get Better at Chess No-BS Guide

0:00So, you want to get better at chess and

0:02you're tired of the same generic advice

0:04like analyze your games and do puzzles.

0:06A ton of puzzles. Yeah, puzzles are

0:09super important because they help you

0:11spot patterns and get faster at finding

0:13tactics. But they're not the only thing

0:15that'll level up your game. In this

0:17video, I've put together eight

0:19strategies that helped me break 2,000 on

0:21chess.com, and you can start using them

0:24right away to actually improve your

0:25play. Whether you're just starting out

0:27or you've been stuck at the same rating

0:29for months, building an opening

0:31repertoire. When you're starting to

0:33build an opening repertoire, you don't

0:34need to memorize every single line out

0:37there. Trying to cram all that info into

0:39your head will just mess you up. What I

0:41recommend is way simpler and actually

0:44works. Just prepare responses to the

0:46most common moves your opponent might

0:48play and stick to those. Playing the

0:50same lines over and over helps you build

0:53practical experience because you'll

0:55start recognizing familiar positions and

0:57know the right plans more naturally. As

0:59white, you've got a few options like 1

1:02E3, 1 G3, or 1 C4. But the most popular

1:06openings are 1 E4 and 1 D4. Usually 1 E4

1:11leads to more open games, while 1 D4

1:13tends to create more positional setups.

1:16So try to go with an opening that fits

1:18your style. Let's say you go with one

1:20E4. At that point, the most common

1:22replies from black are E6, E5, D5, C6,

1:27and C5. The main idea here is that you

1:31should already have a go-to plan for

1:33each of those defenses. If your opponent

1:36plays E5, you could go into an Italian

1:38game. If they play D5, maybe switch to

1:41an exchange variation, and so on. If

1:44they play something weird or a line you

1:46haven't studied, no problem. Just keep

1:48developing your pieces and controlling

1:50the center. You don't need to memorize

1:5220 theoretical moves to survive the

1:54opening. All you really need to

1:56understand is the logic behind those

1:57moves, which can be summarized in three

2:00main points. Control the center, develop

2:02all pieces, starting with light ones,

2:04and castle within the first 10 moves.

2:07Just following those three simple rules

2:09can get you into solid positions against

2:12most players. Now, let's talk about what

2:14not to do in the opening. Don't move the

2:16same piece multiple times. Don't push

2:18too many pawns. Don't take the queen out

2:20too early. And don't make pointless

2:22moves. Always ask yourself what your

2:24opponent is threatening. One of the most

2:27common mistakes is only focusing on your

2:29own moves without thinking about what

2:31your opponent is trying to do. After

2:34every move your opponent makes, you

2:36should always ask yourself, what is the

2:38purpose of this move? Maybe they're

2:39setting up a pawn break, or maybe

2:41there's a tactical threat coming. If you

2:44can figure out their plan, you'll be way

2:46better prepared to deal with it and

2:47avoid nasty surprises. So, let's say

2:50your opponent opens with one E4. You

2:53reply with one E5. Both of you develop

2:56your pieces and then they suddenly play

2:58queen to H5. If you don't stop and ask

3:01yourself, why did they bring the queen

3:02out so early? You might ignore the

3:04threat and you get hit with the scholars

3:07mate. And obviously, you don't want

3:09that. Don't trade your bishop for a

3:11knight without a good reason. In chess,

3:14every piece is given a standard value.

3:16Both a pair of knights and a pair of

3:18bishops are usually valued at six

3:20points, but it really depends on the

3:22position. In very closed positions,

3:25knights can be more effective because

3:26they can hop over pieces and create

3:28threats in tight spaces. That said, a

3:31lot of grand masters agree that compared

3:34to a pair of knights or a mixed pair,

3:36having both bishops is basically like

3:38having an extra point. That's because

3:41bishops control more squares from a

3:43distance and especially in the middle

3:45game. When the center starts to open up,

3:47they become a powerful weapon. So avoid

3:50trading off your bishop early in the

3:52game. Do it only if you're taking out a

3:54really strong piece sitting on a key

3:56square. If the position is super close

3:58or if the trade gives you an immediate

4:00tactical advantage. Master clock timing.

4:03Ever lost a winning position because you

4:05ran out of time? We all have. In chess,

4:08even the most brilliant idea is

4:10worthless if you don't have the time to

4:11play it. Whether you're in bullet,

4:13blitz, or rapid, bad clock management

4:16turns winning positions into

4:18heartbreaking losses. So, how do you fix

4:20it? Start by not overthinking the

4:22obvious. Play your openings quickly. If

4:24you've studied your lines, trust them.

4:26Utilize opponent's turn to think about

4:29your strategy and save the deep

4:31calculation for the middle game. Learn

4:33the coordinates. Every square on a

4:35chessboard has a specific coordinate.

4:37The files are labeled A through H and

4:40the ranks go from 1 to 8. Pretty simple,

4:42right? But the vast majority of players

4:45underestimate how important it is to

4:47fully internalize this system. The goal

4:49is to recognize squares instantly.

4:52Knowing that this square is C5 and that

4:54one is F4 is crucial because it boosts

4:57your spatial vision. Spatial vision is

4:59what helps you keep track of where all

5:01the pieces are and visualize potential

5:03threats. How many times have you lost a

5:05piece just because you forgot about the

5:07bishop sitting in the corner? That kind

5:10of mistake happens when your spatial

5:12skills aren't sharp yet and your mental

5:15map of the board is still incomplete. A

5:17simple way to train this is by using the

5:19free coordinate trainer on Licious. Just

5:22pick one of the two training modes,

5:24click start training, and you're good to

5:25go. counterattack and don't be passive.

5:28Let me give you an example so you can

5:30see exactly what I mean. Let's say your

5:32opponent tries a lever attack. In this

5:34position, the classic response is to

5:37play pawn to D5 and after he capture,

5:39you play knight to a5 attacking the

5:42bishop. But if you want to

5:43counterattack, I suggest bishop to C5.

5:46Now, the best move for your opponent is

5:48bishop takes F7. But most players will

5:51go for knight takes F7 because they'll

5:53be tempted by the fork on the queen and

5:55rook. And that's where your attack

5:56begins with bishop takes F2. Now your

5:59opponent has a choice, capture or not.

6:01If they capture, you play knight takes

6:03a4 and suddenly they're in big trouble.

6:05They only have six legal moves and four

6:07of them lose instantly. For example, if

6:09the king goes to E3, you play queen to

6:11H4. If they grab the rook, he

6:13practically gets checkmate in a few

6:15moves. So after knight takes E4, the

6:18best move for white is king to G1. But

6:21even then, you go queen to G4,

6:23threatening mate. After pawn to G3, you

6:25take with the knight. When they

6:27recapture, you go queen takes G3. And

6:29now their only move is king to F1. From

6:32here, the plan is simple. Pin the knight

6:34to the king, push pawn to G5, then

6:37bishop to C3 check. And just like that,

6:39the dynamic has flipped. You're the one

6:41taking the initiative and going after

6:43their king. In chess, no one wins by

6:46just defending. To win, you have to

6:47force your opponent to make mistakes.

6:49And the best way to do that is by

6:51attacking. That doesn't mean throwing

6:53all your pieces forward with zero regard

6:55for defense, but being able to recognize

6:58the right moment to take the initiative

7:00and punish every inaccurate move of the

7:02opponent. Going back to the earlier

7:04position, even if white decides not to

7:07capture your bishop, you can play queen

7:08to D7. And now white has to be super

7:11careful because you're threatening to

7:13trap their queen and win the game. Use

7:15the elimination method to calculate. In

7:17chess, there are basically two essential

7:20styles of play. There's the positional

7:22style, think Karpuff, which is all about

7:24long-term strategy, improving your

7:27pieces, and controlling key squares. And

7:30then there's the tactical style, focused

7:32on sharp combinations and forcing moves,

7:35more like male tal. No matter what your

7:38style is, in every game, you'll have to

7:40calculate. Sometimes more, sometimes

7:43less. Calculating means visualizing and

7:46analyzing a sequence of moves in your

7:48head to predict what might happen. to

7:50help navigate that complexity.

7:52Grandmaster Alexander Kotoff in his book

7:55came up with the concept of candidate

7:57moves. Basically, the possible options

7:59you consider before you start

8:01calculating any variations. But as you

8:04can imagine, if you're playing rapid or

8:06blitz games, this kind of deep thinking

8:08can eat up way too much time, especially

8:11if you're considering a bunch of

8:12candidate moves. That's why a much more

8:15practical method is the elimination

8:17approach. If you see that a candidate

8:19move is weak, you can eliminate it,

8:21focusing only on the stronger moves.

8:23That way, you'll simplify your

8:25calculation process and save a ton of

8:27time. Let's go through step by step how

8:29to calculate using this approach. It's

8:32white's move. And in this position, the

8:34candidate moves you'd be looking at are

8:36knight takes on C3, castling, or queen

8:39to D5 with check. A good rule of thumb

8:41is to always look at checks first.

8:43They're the easiest to calculate, then

8:45look at captures. In this case, you've

8:48got three possible checks, but queen to

8:50D5 stands out as the best one because it

8:53not only gives check, but also attacks

8:55the bishop. Now, you just have to figure

8:57out how your opponent might respond. He

8:59could play king to F8. Then you take

9:01with check. He plays queen to A7,

9:03attacking your pawn. You check again, he

9:05plays knight to F6. You take the pawn,

9:08he pushes a six, and so on. Try to

9:10calculate at least four moves deep so

9:12you can stay a step ahead of your

9:14opponent. That's already a solid

9:16starting point. I know it might feel

9:18tricky at first, but with practice, this

9:20whole process will get way faster. Use

9:23the 20 4040 rule. When it comes to

9:25getting better at chess, one of the most

9:27underrated parts is the middle game and

9:29the endgame. A great way to structure

9:31your study time is by following the 20

9:344040 rule. Spend 20% of your time on

9:37openings, 40% on the middle game, and

9:3940% on end games. And if you think about

9:42it, that totally makes sense. Most games

9:45are decided in the middle game or end

9:47game. As for the middle game, some

9:49strategies that will help you win are

9:52connect all the pieces so that no one is

9:54left isolated. Put your rooks on open

9:56files. Try to trade your side pawns for

9:58central pawns so you can control the

10:00center. If your opponent has an isolated

10:03pawn, block it with one of your pieces,

10:05preferably with the knight. Don't create

10:07weak squares in your position. And if

10:10you're ahead, simplify the position by

10:12trading pieces. Magnus Carlson is a

10:14master at this. As soon as he takes the

10:16advantage, he practically forces you to

10:19change. The endgame is the stage of the

10:21game that begins when most of the pieces

10:23have already disappeared from the board.

10:25At that point, the approach changes

10:27completely from the opening or midame.

10:30It's no longer about developing pieces

10:32or attacking the king. It's often just

10:34about activating the king and promoting

10:36a pawn. To play this phase well, it's

10:38essential to know some typical patterns

10:40like queen versus pawn, rook endgame,

10:44stalemate situations, because

10:45recognizing these can dramatically

10:47increase your chances of winning. And if

10:50you recognize them right away, you'll

10:51play with confidence and accuracy. If

10:54you want to practice, chess.com has

10:56puzzles made specifically to help you

10:58improve in this part of the game. Let me

11:00know in the comments what your rating

11:02goal is.