Chess960 strategy - tips, hints

Dear teammates, I have noticed there are some good Chess960 players in our group. I think it would be very useful and interesting to talk about Chess960. Since I am quite new to it please take the below as an opening low-quality post that will be hopefully followed by better strategy tips. When I play Chess960 I usually follow a couple of general "rules".

1. Develop your Knights first

Opening is a very important part of every chess game. It is not easy to play it when it comes to 960. As far as I know there`s no "opening book" and we have to really think of every single move from the beginning. I found out that the best thing I can do is to develop my Knights first. They seem to be more powerful in 960 openings and they can usually prevent some awkward opponents` moves (traps) that can lose the game in first 3 or 4 moves.

2. Watch your opponet`s Queen and Bishops

Either Queens or Bishop(s) are often placed on squares like a1, b1, etc. which means they can attack our (often unprotected) pieces as early as on move 2. I`ve seen and played quite a few games where a player didn`t notice such a threat and their opponent gained decisive advantage during first few moves just by capturing pieces that couldn`t be protected.

3. Castling

When I play standard chess I usually try to castle by move 8. I think castling is the most complicated thing to get used to in 960. It is too easy to forget my opponent can still castle when their King and Rooks are not where they "should be". When I look at the below position my mind tells me White must have moved their King and Rook(s) and thus may not castle.

Castling often changes the course of the 960 game completely. Since I am always happy when my opponent castles early in the game (I don`t have to keep in mind they can literally move their King under attack many squares away) I don`t castle unless I have to to protect my King or such a move supports my attack considerably. I would say castling is like my secret weapon I use to "surprise" my opponent who sometimes forgets as the game goes on.

4. Get to a standard-chess-like position as soon as possible

It is much easier to say such a thing than to achieve it. I simply do my best to move my Knights and Bishops to the center of the board for the center allows more mobility for the pieces, as well as easy access to all parts of the board. Although it is something we all try to do when we play standard chess I am surprised to see many players neglect it in Chess960.

Just to thank you for taking the time to read the above I post a Chess960 puzzle. Although it is quite easy to find its solution I think it belongs here for you can see the very first Chess960 (team match) game our team October won (960 of October #1 against Chess-0-Matic).

Thanks for your advice. 

 whoa, that mate was really nice. Thank you for sharing Chess_Addict.

This is a chess.com blog about chess960, who's interested can read it.

Learn How to play chess: The Rules of chess960 (also called Fisher Random)

Thanks for your tips.

THanks for the info.  Chess960 adds a different twist to chess.  I am always looking for pointer.

When thinking about castling, it is useful to remember where the king and rook will end up.  They will end up on the same squares castling kinside as in normal chess - K at g1 and R at f1 for White.  On the queenside, same thing, K at c1 and R at d1.

Will pay attention to your advice!  I have lost several games by forgetting the other person could castle still.  Yep.. you are so right about it being a "forgotten trump".  Thanks!

Thanks for the pointers.

Thanks,Wish I would of found it sooner.I know it will help in the future

Also watch out to not castle into trouble!

As the pieces are initially arranged differently. With the knignt not in the usual spot the a-file and h-file will be easier to attack if one would so choose to castle to that side.

I'm about to play a 960 team match.  So thanks for the tips!

I fear castling in Chess 960 but at the same time it is quite interesting. The king can move 4 to 6 squares a time when castling :)

Nice puzzle, I had to scratch my head a while to see it! Great advise! Here's some other things I've learned:

* Bishops or queens that are already along a diagonal can be quite powerful.

* Center control is still very important!

* Sometimes, pushing a pawn with a took or queen behind it is good.

* In some positions (and unlike regular chess), the queen has to be developed.

* Some calculation should be done to determine a way to develop all your pieces (especially bishops and knights) so that none of them are blocked in. This can be tricky sometimes.

* Mirroring your opponent the first 2-3 moves is good sometimes.

* Use pawns to box out our opponent's knights and block in their bishops, while giving your bishops open diagonals.

That's what I've learned so far. Definitely more challenging and exciting than regular chess.

Also, I'm starting to take a liking to postmodern openings for black, where pawns are only pushed to the 3rd rank, knights are pushed to the 2nd, and there are eventual (Sicilian-like) c file strikes.

My strongest weapon in chess960 is identifying the weakest pawn on the opponent's side and targeting to attack it with my queen and bishop, then concentrate all your forces there and attack aggressively

Cool

The puzzle is called smothered mate, where the king is in check and the king has nowhere to go, I recomend that all players do the lessons program where all these type of mates are comprehensively explored

1. look at board, see position

2. move the pawns in order to activate queen and bishops.

3. activate the knights

4. rooks must have connection to each other.

do not forget to defense first !

Great tips thanks!!!

Thank you