Why to Not Over Attack in a Chess Game

Series Summary

Chess is a strategy and logical deduction game between two players that is enjoyed by children and adults alike, from park benches to convention halls across the world. Though the game of chess has taken many variations over its long history, today's form involves black and white teams orchestrated by players and has even entered the digital age, as games and tournaments are played online and via email. Using a square board composed of grids and smaller squares, the game pits a queen's army against another's, and involves the use of strategic moves and techniques using the pieces to corner an opponent's queen. Using the king, rook, bishop, pawn and knight, players execute tactics to remove the challenger's pieces and restrict the queen to certain death.

In this free video clip series, our expert will explain the basic rules of the game of chess, explaining some basic moves and techniques to use when playing the game. Learn how to do moves such as the Queen's Gambit, Fool's Mate, and castling techniques. The game of chess is explained from the opening moves to the final pin in this informative online chess lesson.

Video Transcript

"Hello, welcome back. It's John Livingstone again for Expert Village. And I hope you've had some opportunity now to practice some of the things that we've discussed in the past. And in this show, we'll be going on to other important aspects of the game. And firstly, I'd like to say a few general words. One of the things I've always noticed about new players, beginners, is they seem to be obsessed with attacking. They seem to constantly attack on every move. They attack every opponent's piece that they possibly can, and they also check at every possible opportunity, even if it's quite meaningless. And indeed, sometimes it means that the opposition actually gets a better position as a result of responding to that check. But nevertheless, they keep checking and attacking. And it really is not the way to go. You have to have a bit of idea of deeper strategy in tactics and understanding of the game. And you really want to spend a little bit more time between moves. You're not playing with clocks here. You can take as long as you like to move. Just think. Just take a look at the overall situation. Just get the big picture. And remember, it's not just attack. You've got to defend as well. What is your opponent doing? What is behind his moves? Don't just respond without every time trying to evaluate exactly what the situation is at every given moment because it changes constantly. And watch out for surprise attacks. I mean nothing can be worse than when you're in a good, strong position and you think you're going to win, now what if something like this happens? So you've got a good, strong attack going, but then suddenly, low and behold, here comes a black rook, gets on your back row. It's checkmate. You can't get out of that. The game's over. You've got to bear these things in mind. Watch for these traps. Watch for your weaknesses and watch for your opponents too. And try and amplify them."