Today, I’m going to give some practical chess tips that I think you’ll find handy – especially during a tournament.

Tip #1: Don’t Analyse Unnecessary Tactics (DAUT)

The reason why I keep telling you that tactical training is important is because tactical analysis is hardly ever error-free (unless you’re a machine like Fritz). Overlooking one small move can drastically reverse the result of the position. Wherever possible, you should make your move on a positional basis because it’s quicker and more reliable.

As I said, there are some situations where you HAVE to calculate accurately in order to deliver the final blow, otherwise you may have missed the only opportunity to earn a point (remember what Steinitz said?)

I’ll give you an example of DAUT (all of the following examples come from John Nunn’s Secrets of Practical Chess – which I highly recommend you getting):

In this position, black’s pieces seem misplaced: black’s knights are no longer protecting the king and black’s bishops are either not attacking anything or can’t attack anything! So at this point, your chess ‘sense’ should be telling you that there is a possible assault that you can launch against the enemy king. But the question is, is it possible? However …

1. Neg5 was the move played in the game – a positionally good move that continues the plan of attack without getting into complications (this move threatens the h7 pawn and a potential fork on e6). The other moves were:

(1. Bg5 Qe8 2. Re1 Nde5 3. Nxd4 Bxh3 4. gxh3 Bxd4 5. cxd4 Nf3+ and Black is a little better off )

(1. Qd3 Nce5 2. Nxe5 Nxe5 3. Nf6+ Qxf6 4. Qxh7+ Kf7 and Black holds)

(1. Bb3+ Kh8 2. Nfg5 Qe7 3. Ne6 Nf6 4. Nxf8 Qxe4 5. Re1 Qh4 6. Ne6 dxc3 and the position is unclear)

(1. Nfg5!  was the technically correct move but there are 4 sub-variations and none of them are forced combinations – so you really have put yourself into your opponents’ shoes to play the tactic out correctly)

The game continued 1… Nf6 2. Qd3 g6 3. Nxd4 Nxd4 4. cxd4 d5 5. Nxh7 and White had a decisive attack.

So the lesson is DAUT because the 2nd best move may be good enough to still retain your advantage, without giving you a headache.

Tip #2: Don’t Get Into Time Trouble

Time trouble is a term in chess used to describe players who get into ‘trouble’ when they’re short on ‘time’. Sometimes you see them doing injustice to the clock and sometimes they’re playing very calmly, even during the final 10 seconds.

But in either case, both are most certainly going to make tons of mistakes and the evaluation can swap back and forth so much that chess has become a comedy of errors.

So to avoid these awkward situations, don’t spend too much time over your decisions. You may be inaccurate at first but over time, with practice and with study, you won’t regret being able to play quickly.

Also, DAUT. This can also take a huge portion of your time and if you end up making the move you initially thought of, then you’ve really wasted your time. So, in that case, you should learn to trust your intuition more.

And finally, if you don’t already do this, arrive to your game on time. This is the most obvious and simplest way of saving time – you have no idea how many players turn up late for their game (and how much trouble they get into later on!)

Tip #3: If your opponent sacrificed to attack, you can always defend with a DEFENSIVE SACRIFICE in return

This trick doesn’t usually cross the mind of beginners or developing players. They see a position that they’re being crushed in and it turns out the only way to defend is to give some material back, but due to their demoralised spirit, they overlook this saving move.

Or sometimes, the opponent can find a clever counter-attack due to an unexpected sacrifice but there was only a need of a defensive sacrifice to prevent this.

Here’s an example:

This position has occurred several times in the past and it’s very clear that white has a strong attack. Black seems to have a counter attack BUT: 1. White has more defenders surrounding his king and 2. White’s attack can be achieved faster. However, it white were to immediately start an attack …

1. Rg4?! bxc3 2. Rh4 cxb2+ 3. Bxb2 Qxe4! 4. Rxe4 Bxe4 and it is white who is trouble since c2 is weak and black can open lines by pushing the a-pawn.

But white DOES have a winning attack, so what is the right move? This was later found by GM James Howell and it was the amazing …

1. Nd5! (black can no longer sacrifice his queen on e4 – so the counter-attack is prevented and white’s attack can’t be stopped) exd5 2. Rd3 Rfc8 3. c3 and black has no reasonable reply to the threat of Rh3 followed by a kingside breakthrough.

And white eventually won the game.