I listed the biggest mistakes in chess below. Study them and improve your chess.

Moving the same Piece more than ONCE in the Opening

Moving with the same piece more than ONE time in the opening of the game loses development time and may lead to an inferior position right from the start.

Just thinking about your own Moves

Just thinking about himself without considering the chances of the opponent is a vital mistake. This leads to falling into traps of all kinds, like forks, double attacks, checkmates etc.

Neglecting Development of Pieces

No development of pieces is a fatal mistake in chess. (pieces are bishops, knights, rooks and queen, NOT pawns) Don’t keep pushing pawns, but get your pieces out fast and castle early.

No Center Play

Many players put their pieces on bad squares where they don’t control important center squares, diagonals, or files. Some players put the knight on the edge of the board. If you do this your opponent will get a lot of power in the center and runs you over.

Pushing too many Pawns in the Opening

This weakens important squares and diagonals and the opponent can penetrate with his pieces which leads to loss of material and the game. Fact is, that every pawn push weakens squares. It is a matter of evaluation which pawns should be pushed and ask yourself if the weaknesses created are less important than the advantages you will get. Everything is relative in chess. When you push a pawn in the opening you could have developed a piece instead which is far more powerful than “developing a pawn”. Simple logic.

You should push just one or two pawns in the beginning of the game to get your bishop out and to be able to castle. Bishops can’t jump over pawns, so you must push a pawn to get a bishop out. That’s all!

Queen moves out too early

Getting out too early with the queen is senselss. After this, the queen gets chased around by the developing pieces of the opponent. This loses valuable development time. Finally the opponent has developed all his pieces and has gained a big advantage.

Attacking too early

Attacking right from the start without sufficient development of pieces makes no sense whatsoever. If you do this you run into an open knife if the opponent keeps developing his pieces properly. He has done nothing wrong so there is no weak spot where you could attack and gain advantage. An attack is silly if the opponent has made strong moves right from the beginning of the game. If you still attack this means you must invest time and move twice or more with the same pieces. This neglects your development and you finally will run behind in developoment time.

Pushing Pawns without Support

Pushing pawns in the middlegame or endgame without support creates weak pawns. If you just keep pushing pawns, but have no chess pieces developed, your pawns become weaker and weaker as they move ahead into the enemy camp. They get attacked and you will not be able to protect them as your pieces are misplaced. This results in the loss of pawns and the game.

Underestimating your Opponent

Your opponent deserves respect. Underestimating the opponent can lead to disaster. If you think that you are the better player your brain will go asleep. You lose concentration and focus. This leads to big blunders. One big blunder is usually enough to get a losing position.

No Discipline No Honor

If you touch a piece, you must move it. Never take a move back, even if you lose your queen after this. Resign and start a new game. Never accept that moves are taken back.

If you let your opponent take a move back, then, later on in the game, if you make a big mistake yourself you want to take your move back yourself. But what happens if your opponent does not let you. This will start endless discussions. “I let you take a move back before. Now let me take back this move, where I lose a piece..”

This is just ridiculous. If you can’t lose in chess, then don’t play this game. If your opponent can’t accept losing and always demands to take a move back when he loses a piece, or a queen, then find another opponent.

Using Chess Software while playing in a Chess Tournament

You might find this funny but some players do use some kind of hidden software until they get caught…After this they have lost their good name and reputation in the whole chess world, because everybody will know your name. You can’t hide in the chess world as a rated player. Simply impossible!
But the ones who do cheat with software, don’t care. They should not be chess players in the first place, as they don’t even comprehend this simple fact.

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