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Terms of Use wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Learn why people trust wikiHow How to Get Better at Chess: Essential Skills & Tips

Download Article International chess master Vitaly Neimer covers the best ways to improve Written by Vitaly Neimer | Edited by Eric McClure

Last Updated: March 13, 2026 Fact Checked

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Fundamentals of Chess Knowledge

Key Chess Strategies to Master

Improving & Analyzing Your Games

Getting Practical Experience

How to Become a Grandmaster

Chess Help

Video

Tips

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This article was written by Vitaly Neimer and by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure. Vitaly Neimer is an International Chess Master and Certified Professional Chess Coach with over 15 years of training experience. He has been a part of the United States' Webster SPICE national chess champion team and is also a two-time Israeli national chess champion. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 913,060 times.

Chess is the classic example of a game that’s easy to learn and difficult to master. The gap between a new player and a seasoned grandmaster is monumental, but that also means that there’s tons of room to improve your game! As one of the most popular games in the history of humanity, there’s no shortage of resources out there to help you improve. In this article, we’ll break down the core fundamentals and advanced strategies that will elevate your game to the next level, with expert tips from international chess master Vitaly Neimer and chess grandmaster Sahaj Grover.

How to Improve Like a Chess Master

International chess master Vitaly Neimer recommends trying these strategies if you want to improve as a chess player:

Practice by playing as many games as possible.
Analyze your games to see where you can improve.
Complete puzzles to test your situational awareness.
Memorize a few strong openings and endgame patterns.

Steps

Section 1 of 5:

Fundamentals of Chess Knowledge

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1 Learn the essentials of a few key openings. Grover says that mastering the common openings will get you ahead of the game. Opening theory (also known as “book moves” or “theory”) refers to the predetermined sets of moves that players can make at the beginning of the game to get ahead. These openings have been studied and codified through centuries of research and practice, and learning the key openings will keep you from getting rolled over early in the game.[1] X Expert Source Sahaj GroverChess Grandmaster Expert Interview
- Perhaps the most popular opening today for white is the London system. It’s a great opening for newer players because white can ignore a lot of black’s opening moves.[2]
- Popular offensive openings include the queen’s gambit, the Ruy Lopez (or just “Lopez”) opening, and the Scotch game.
- Key defensive openings include the French defense, the Sicilian defense, and the Caro Kann.
- How many openings should I learn? Grover says you don’t need to memorize all of them (there are hundreds of them), but that you should know roughly 15-20 openings. That’s 7-10 for white, and 7-10 for black.[3]
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Vitaly Neimer is an International Chess Master and Certified Professional Chess Coach with over 15 years of training experience.

Sahaj Grover is a Chess Grandmaster, World Champion, and coach, who attained his Grandmaster title at the age of 16.
2 Read chess books to improve your game knowledge. Neimer says that studying the game will take you from intermediate to expert. Chess is one of the few games out there where reading is more valuable than playing at a certain point.[4] X Expert Source Vitaly NeimerInternational Chess Master Expert Interview Here are a few good recommendations that are popular in the chess community:
- The Mammoth Book of Chess by Graham Burgess and John Nunn.
- Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev. It teaches you how to attack the king in the king pawn openings and how to play positional chess with the queen pawn openings.
- Think Like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov. This book explains how to analyze variations so that you can play the middle game at a much higher level.
- Judgment and Planning in Chess by Max Euwe. A classic book that explains how to judge a position based on space advantage, combinations, endgame advantages, king attack, and pawn structures.
- Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess by Bobby Fischer. A classic book that teaches chess tactics for the beginner.
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3 Learn the advanced rules. You can’t improve if you don’t know how to play first! If you’re just getting into chess, learn the basic rules. Grover says you must memorize the move patterns for all of the pieces if you haven’t already. Figure out how you take pieces or checkmate your opponent.[5] X Expert Source Sahaj GroverChess Grandmaster Expert Interview Don’t forget the unique rules beginners often forget, such as:
- Castling: If you haven’t moved your king and rook, and there’s nothing in between them, you can move the king 2 squares in either direction and set the rook on the other side.
- En passant: When a pawn moves 2 squares in a turn, the very next move an adjacent pawn makes may be captured by moving at an angle in front of it.
- Material stalemate conditions: “Insufficient material” refers to a board state where it is physically impossible for either side to make a checkmate. In this event, the game ends in a draw.
- Repetitive move stalemate: If you and your opponent end up in the same exact board state (i.e. all the pieces are on the same squares) 3 times, the game automatically ends in a stalemate.

Section 2 of 5:

Key Chess Strategies to Master

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1 Develop your bishops and knights. Rookie players leave the bishops and knights in the backline early. Novice players move all of their pawns first, leaving their backline pieces underdeveloped. Once you’ve moved a few pawns, aim to develop your bishops and knights by advancing them. Bishops and knights are the workhorses when it comes to building a position in the mid-game.[6] X Research source
- “Development” is a term you’ll hear a lot in chess. It refers to whether a piece is meaningfully positioned and able to make dynamic moves. Think of each piece like a tool in your toolbox. Developing all of your pieces means you’re using every tool you have available!
- Moving too many pawns weakens the castled kingside and opens you up to attack. Moving too many pawns usually will also often weaken your endgame pawn structure.
2 Build and identify strong pawn structures. Aim to develop pawns in a way where they can make an impact. “Pawn structure” refers to the overall shape of your pawns on the board (or a set of pawns on the board). Neimer explains that powerful pawn structures help you gain and maintain priority on the board, so move your pawns to support one another and put pressure on key squares.[7] X Expert Source Vitaly NeimerInternational Chess Master Expert Interview Strong pawn structures include:[8] X Research source
- An outside pawn lures the opponent’s king to the other side, enabling you to gobble the rest of his pawns or advance your pawns on the other side of the board.
- A passed pawn is not obstructed by any opposing pawns and should be pushed. As chess legend Nimzovitch said, "Passed pawns must be pushed."
- A protected passed pawn is a passed pawn that is protected by another pawn. A protected passed pawn forces the opponent to constantly defend against an advance.
3 Exploit your opponents’ weak pawn structures. As you build strong structures, look for your opponents’ weaknesses. If you understand the pawn structures to avoid, you can look for them on the other side of the board. A weak pawn structure may include pawns that are awkwardly stacked on top of one another, or pawns that are out in the open for taking. Weak pawn structures include:[9] X Research source
- Doubled-up pawns that cannot defend each other and are subject to attack.
- Isolated pawns with nothing protecting them are weak.
- Backward pawns on open files (columns on the board) are extremely weak and subject to attack by rooks.
4 Master your endgame skills and tactics. A few endgame principles will help you dramatically improve. If you’re ahead in material, exchange pieces, not pawns. If you’re behind in material, exchange pawns and you can force a draw.[10] X Research source
- The king is a powerful piece, so use it to block and attack pawns in the endgame. Moving your king off the back rank is known as “activating” your king.
- Bishops of opposite colors draw most of the time because neither side can advance pawns without losing them.
- A rook, a pawn, and a bishop only draw against a black king if the bishop is the opposite color as the queening square.
- Pawns, rooks, and bishops become more valuable as the game proceeds, so play to keep them.
- In queen endings, the player who moves the queen to the center first typically dominates play.

Section 3 of 5:

Improving & Analyzing Your Games

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1 Start scorekeeping to analyze games. Learn the values of the pieces so you can assess your positions. Tracking the value of your pieces is a great way to evaluate when a trade is worth it, whether you’re winning or not, and where you’re getting an edge on board. A pawn is worth 1 point. Knights and bishops are worth 3 points each. A rook is worth 5 points. A queen is worth 9 points. Keep score while you play.[11] X Research source
- For example, it is not advantageous to trade a bishop (worth 3) and a knight (worth 3) for a rook (worth 5).
- Don't give up material unnecessarily. While a well-planned sacrifice can sometimes put you well ahead in the game, losing pieces due to poor planning can do exactly the opposite.
- Points aren’t the end-all and be-all of chess. In some positions, a bishop or a knight is stronger than a rook.
- Grover recommends downloading Chessbase. "One must also analyze their own games. Nowadays, we have this software called ChessBase...And in the software, you can comment, annotate, do everything you want, any research you want, around your game."[12]
2 Review your games after finishing them. Grover says that as soon as a match ends, assess the moves to see what you missed. If you’re playing on Chess.com or Lichess (which you should be—they’re the two best online chess platforms), click the “analyze” or “review” button after your match to see what moves you missed. Recognizing your flaws and your strong suits is the best way to succeed in chess.[13] X Expert Source Sahaj GroverChess Grandmaster Expert Interview
- There are no substitutes for Chess.com or Lichess. They’re free, they have built-in game engines, and every serious chess player uses one of these two platforms. Even grandmasters like Neimer use them![14]
- The three things to look out for in the review are blunders, mistakes, and missed wins.
  - A missed win is what it sounds like.
  - A blunder is when you lose the advantage because you overlooked something.
  - A mistake refers to a strategic error where you fail to accurately assess your position.
3 Solve chess puzzles. “I always recommend to my students to solve as many puzzles as possible,” explains Neimer.[15] X Expert Source Vitaly NeimerInternational Chess Master Expert Interview Puzzles are like weightlifting for a chess mind, so do them daily. You can use websites like Chesstempo, Chessity, or puzzle books. As Malcolm Gladwell once hypothesized, working on anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert, so imagine what a pro you'll be after solving 10,000 puzzles! Neimer suggests doing a few puzzles every day to hone your skills.[16] X Expert Source Vitaly NeimerInternational Chess Master Expert Interview
- Puzzles aim to test your ability to locate the optimal move in unique situations. This is a key skill in chess since there is always one “best” decision.
4 Memorize some masterful games. Learn the 20 top grandmaster games to see how the greats do it. Memorize at least the first 10 moves for both black and white to get a sense of how true masters begin their chess games. This will help you get a sense of not just how to succeed, but how to truly excel. It will also help you identify when it’s ideal to deviate from book moves and when it’s best to stick to them.
- You can find these games online easily at sites like chessgames.com.
- Memorize key positions you encounter, too.

Section 4 of 5:

Getting Practical Experience

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1 Play as many games as you can. Like anything in life, practice is essential to improving. In the end, Grover says that the best thing you can do to get better is play as many games as you can. If you're truly committed to being a better chess player, always seek out games against the most competitive opponent available.[17] X Expert Source Sahaj GroverChess Grandmaster Expert Interview
- Again, try not to get too fixated on the exact number. Just keep in mind that playing chess as frequently as you can against real opponents will ultimately help you improve your skills.
- You don’t need to play a ton of games, either. A lot of players think you need to jam dozens of games every day to improve, but that’s not true. It’s probably better to play 2-3 games and analyze them in-depth than it is to mindlessly churn through a bunch of games.
2 Join a local chess club. Meet other players who also want to take their game to the next level. If you don’t have other great players to play with, find some! If you really want to improve the quality of your game, surround yourself with those who are just as passionate about the game as you are.[18] EXPERT TIP
Vitaly Neimer
International Chess Master Vitaly Neimer is an International Chess Master and Certified Professional Chess Coach with over 15 years of training experience. He has been a part of the United States' Webster SPICE national chess champion team and is also a two-time Israeli national chess champion. Vitaly Neimer International Chess Master
If you can’t hire a coach, try joining a chess club. Local chess clubs usually have tournaments in which you can play. If you don’t have a club, try reading books, watching videos, or playing chess online to analyze the games and see what mistakes you’re making.
3 Start playing competitively. Neimer recommends joining local tournaments or leagues to play at a higher level. Just get out there and play. You can run practice games with your club or friends all you want, but a real competitive environment will seriously put your skills to the test. Don’t worry about your rating or skill level, either. He says most organized tournaments have separate brackets for newer players.[19] X Expert Source Vitaly NeimerInternational Chess Master Expert Interview
- Use the US Chess Federation’s online search engine to find tournaments near you.
4 Find a mentor to get help from an expert. Ask a player who is better than you to show you the ropes. One of the best things you can do to get better at anything is to talk to someone who knows the game and is good at it. It can be a relative, a grandmaster, or even someone who keeps beating you whenever you two play.[20]
5 Try out different styles of play. If you aren’t having success with one strategy, change things up. There are many different ways people play chess. Some prefer aggressive playstyles and are quick to launch attacks, play gambits, or offer sacrifices. Others prefer quiet positional play where they spend many turns building up a strong position before launching any attack. Try out various playstyles and find what you prefer![21] X Research source
- For example, do you want to play more aggressive gambit openings in white, or do you like playing a more conservative four knights or four pawns opening? Perhaps you want something super balanced, like the London system. There are no right or wrong ways to play!

Section 5 of 5:

How to Become a Grandmaster

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“Grandmaster” requires a FIDE rating of 2500 or better and more. FIDE is short for “Fédération Internationale des Échecs” (International Chess Federation in English). Every registered tournament player gets a FIDE rating based on their performance. To become a Grandmaster (the highest title), you must maintain a FIDE rating of 2500 or better. You must also maintain “norms,” which refers to high-level performances in major tournaments. For Grandmaster, you must have at least 3 norms over 27 games.[22] X Research source
- Neimer recommends getting a coach if you’re serious about becoming titled. “If you want to become a master or a world champion, you probably want to get a coach; that's probably the smartest thing to do because they will guide you through the process.”[23]
- Grandmaster isn’t the only title. Grandmaster is the highest-rated title, but there are others below it. Players typically work their way up from Candidate Master. Here are the major titles & requirements:
  - National Master (NM): FIDE rating of >2200 (no norms) (not a FIDE title)
  - Candidate Master (CM): FIDE rating of >2200 (no norms)
  - FIDE Master (FM): FIDE rating of >2300 (no norms)
  - International Master (IM): FIDE rating of >2400 (three IM norms)

Chess Help

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Question How do you castle in online chess? Community Answer To castle, move your king two steps towards the rook. It will automatically move the rook. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 18 Helpful 79
Question For me chess is impossible. For whatever reason, I never win no matter how inept my opponent is. What can I do? Dieyun Ding Top Answerer Chess is a game where players have to look at the bigger picture. Sometimes, it just isn't worth it to move a single piece that can capture a lot of pieces in the beginning -- in the opening, your only goals are to control the center and defend your king. Employing tactics such as forking and pinning will help you gain material later on -- and never make a move without seeing if the opponent can directly capture, fork or pin one of your pieces after the move. With every move, ask yourself how the move will help you. If every move can do more than one thing for you, it's as good as being able to move twice every turn. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 16 Helpful 103
Question Should I sacrifice a rook or a castle to stop an opponent's pawn from promoting or demoting? Community Answer Since a promoted pawn typically becomes a queen, sacrificing a rook makes sense. (There is no such thing as "demoting.") Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 16 Helpful 83

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Don't be afraid to experiment with openings and other new ideas. Even if you lose a few games you can learn from your experimentation. Thanks Helpful 13 Not Helpful 1
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References

↑ Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview
↑ https://www.chess.com/openings/London-System
↑ Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview
↑ Vitaly Neimer. International Chess Master. Expert Interview
↑ Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview
↑ https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-10-most-common-mistakes-among-chess-beginners
↑ Vitaly Neimer. International Chess Master. Expert Interview
↑ https://thechessworld.com/articles/endgame/7-basic-pawn-structure-you-must-know/
↑ https://thechessworld.com/articles/endgame/7-basic-pawn-structure-you-must-know/

More References (14)

↑ https://thechessworld.com/articles/endgame/7-most-important-endgame-principles/
↑ https://www.chesscentral.com/pages/learn-chess-play-better/chess-notation-keeping-score.html
↑ Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview
↑ Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview
↑ Vitaly Neimer. International Chess Master. Expert Interview
↑ Vitaly Neimer. International Chess Master. Expert Interview
↑ Vitaly Neimer. International Chess Master. Expert Interview
↑ Sahaj Grover. Chess Grandmaster. Expert Interview
↑ https://www.chess.com/blog/raync910/should-you-join-a-chess-club
↑ Vitaly Neimer. International Chess Master. Expert Interview
↑ https://thechessworld.com/articles/training-techniques/10-steps-for-getting-good-at-chess-fast/
↑ https://chessklub.com/what-type-of-chess-player-are-you/
↑ https://support.chess.com/en/articles/8557897-how-do-i-get-a-chess-title-grandmaster-im-etc
↑ Vitaly Neimer. International Chess Master. Expert Interview

About This Article

Written by: Vitaly Neimer International Chess Master This article was written by Vitaly Neimer and by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure. Vitaly Neimer is an International Chess Master and Certified Professional Chess Coach with over 15 years of training experience. He has been a part of the United States' Webster SPICE national chess champion team and is also a two-time Israeli national chess champion. This article has been viewed 913,060 times. 1 votes - 100% Co-authors: 74 Updated: March 13, 2026 Views: 913,060 Categories: Chess Article SummaryX

To become a better chess player, start by developing your bishops and knights, because using too many pawns tends to open up your king to attack. Then, learn which pawn structures are powerful, such as the outside or passed pawn, and which ones are weak, like doubled or isolated pawns. If you’re behind at the end of the game, you can exchange pawns to force a draw. However, if you’re ahead, exchange pieces to draw out your opponent’s pawns and go for the win. For tips on how to find opportunities to practice as a beginning chess player, read on! Did this summary help you?YesNo

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Written by: Vitaly Neimer International Chess Master Co-authors: 74 Updated: March 13, 2026 Views: 913,060 100% of readers found this article helpful. 1 votes - 100% Click a star to add your vote

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How to Improve Like a Chess Master

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Fundamentals of Chess Knowledge

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How to Become a Grandmaster

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