All The Elements Of Chess

For the audience reading the game analysis category; your here because you know a lot or want to learn more. Here is my analysis on chess and all the elements that I believe there are. It might be more than you realize.

The Main Two Elements.

No it's not Black and White. It's On-Board and Off-Board. These two elements are the most basic elements but also the most complex. Most of you have at least a bried understanding of On-Board. But some of us. Didn't even know consciously their was an Off-Board. Time to elaborate.

The Off-Board Element

The trickiest element of chess to master. (In my opinion.) Your chess pieces are not your only weapons. And your king is not your only weakness. You can use your actions Off-Board and Demeanor to your advantage. Not in online chess but in f2f (face2face) games. Size, Age and even race can be used to your advantage. Seeing that chess has a psychological elements in it; you can use your enemies way of thinking to your advantage.

 By portraying that your unskilled (kind of a hustlerish thing to do), scared, exicted, etc. You can help control his way of thinking and get a hold of his confidence. His confidence most definitely effects his gameplay. For example: If you are happy or arrogant he'll think you've got something up your sleeve or you are dumb. Both feelings which can be used to your advantage.

A better example: You play the game very quietly, very intense on the board like a machine. This chills your enemy and possibly gives him an emotion such as fear which can strengthen him (make him more cautious), or weaken him (he allows fear to consume him fogging his judgement). Movements such as lining up his captured pieces in a certain way can also effect him. In conclusion: Just about anything you do Off-Board can be too your advantage. Play your Off-Board game as well as you can. Because your opponent could be doing the same to you...

The On-Board Element

This element is simpler than the Off-Board but harder to explain. Most of you get this. Attack/Defend and so on. But let's dissect that a little. The first concept your using when you enter a game is your Opening. Most openings from what I've seen Use only these four pieces to start with. The pawn directly in front of the King and/or Queen. And knights. This said you can prepare for almost any attack by learning a few counter-openings.

From guides I've seen which always seem unrealistic they portray people playing like machines. We're not machines. And most people don't have a ready counter for any possible move your opponent makes so let's be realistic. Out of all the people you play depending on their skill level they will most likely do a variation of a few openings. By looking for the common ones out of the crowd; you can create a series of custom counter openings to successfully shut down any common opening.

~ I don't know a lot about middlegame strategy so I'll leave that out though there are certainly elements there. But I will touch Endgame.

THE ENDGAME

This is the finale. Pretty obvious. But some of us don't realize how crucial this is. We view only our own endgame most of the time and don't realize our opponents. Endgame is not a scheduled event. It can occur in the middle of middlegame and even lurk in your openings even. Main idea of this section: "Recognizing Death and when its coming." Every good player never gives up unless they feel its absolutely hopeless. Endgame is the approach of the possible end or conclusion to the game. It's not just your plans for the end; you must account your opponents. Making endgame a grim reaper waiting end second to rear it's ugly head. End Game is where it is MOST crucial to pay attention. Any slip up can change the total outcome of the game no matter how crucial you played. Look for these oppurtunities in your opponent. And try and prevent these oppurtunites in your moves. There is probably so much more I could ramble on about. But this is too long already and I'll save those for another day.

I hope you've enjoyed this piece. I understand it might not be in the right place on the website.. But I wanted to get this out. You may have been daunted by the size and skimmed but I hope you learned something. May all become better in their chess skills article or not. :)

MOON_KNIGHT OUT!

Man, I've got to try that myself. This advice is gold.

Dang

 Most definetly! I only speculated what I know/noticed! xD There could be a scientific study on this kind of thing! It's that deep!

Thanks! Some of it is just try to observe the off board element when you play. I'm 15 and was playing chess in a bar with some strangers. They didn't take me seriously and all got whooped. They were decent players by my standards but the Off-Board element was most definetly their downfall. I played three of them. The last being the hardest and most entertaining.

They let the fact that their buddies were getting beat by me go to their heads.. I'm not as good as a player as they made me out to be.......or am I? ;D

OFF-BOARD ELEMENT FTW!

 LMAO! That would definetly get to  me! (Where can I buy these hats?) Their are so many twists, turns and weaknesses in the Off-Board Element that sometimes it makes you if there's a winner at all!

One thing is for sure though. Knowing about the Off-Board Element definetly puts you closer to winning it. Lose the On-Board win the Off-Board. As long as you had fun. Because that is what this "game" is about. :)

A book pubished in 2006 was titled, "The Immortal Game: A History of Chess," wherein the author, David Shenk, discussed chess throughout its history on and off the board in a very entertaining way.

From the Indians and the Persians to the English monarchy, from a pastime game to an instrument for illusrative analogies to social lessons for Knighthood during medieval times.

For those who are interested, I highly recommend it either in book or audiobook form.