5 Mistakes Beginners and Intermediate Players Make

Mistake 1: Automatically Castling

Your chess teacher probably has taught you to castle in the opening, but that’s not always the case. The reason you have to castle is to keep your king safe, because everybody knows that if your king gets checkmated, you lose the game. But what if you actually castle into danger? Imagine you’re white, and black’s queen and bishop are aiming at your h-pawn. If their queen takes your pawn, you will get checkmated. Even if you push you g-pawn to block the checkmate, there is still a chance that your opponent will checkmate you on the kingside. Please don’t go auto pilot when castling. Also, if you really want to castle in this situation, why not castle queenside?

Mistake 2: Going for easy traps

You saw a video in the Lichess video library that explains the scholar mate. But when you try it out, your opponent is just too smart to fall for that trick. They quickly attack your queen and bishop while developing. Nothing works, but you haven’t studied that line. What should you do? That’s why you should always study the other lines, just in case your opponent is too smart...

Mistake 3: One move thinking

Some people see a tactic, and use it on their opponent. What they didn’t know was that their opponent might’ve been prepared for this. When you see something good, don’t play it immediately. Look ahead, and see if your opponent has a move better than you. A famous quote from Emanuel Lasker was: "If you find a good move, look for a better one." If they do, save your good move for later, and defend yourself. For example, your knight attacked your opponent’s queen, but they immediately forked your knight and king, and unexpected move. Now you’re down a knight. That’s why it’s always important to look ahead. Even when you have a good move, who knows? Your opponent might have something better.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Opponent’s Attacks and Defenses

You see a great sacrifice, and really want to play it. But your opponent has several defenses you didn’t notice. When you sacrifice, you just realized that your plan won’t work. Now, you’re down a piece. Another example is when your opponent attacks you. What does that conclude? You should always look at your opponent’s defenses.

Mistake 5: Not Looking at your Opponent’s Last Move

This is similar to the last one, but you should always look at your opponent’s last move. This can help you defend yourself and even help you attack your opponent! Many people blunder a piece or a checkmate, all because of this mistake. Even I have done this before! That’s why you should always look at your opponent’s last move.

Tilt

You won many games in a row, and you’re very happy. You play another one and lose. Now you’re feeling a little down. You play another, hoping to win but still, you lost. And again, and again, and again. Now you want to quit this game, and earning your high earned rating was worth nothing. You should always take a break so you can have a fresh mind when you come back. If you play too many, you might, and probably will lose focus and concentration, even if you've won or lost many games.

Thank you everyone for reading this! Please feel free to share you thoughts in the chat!
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