6 tips to learn how to play chess with the help of technology

Websites, analytical programs and mobile applications for playing chess are now available to anyone. With their help, both beginners and professionals can acquire useful skills and improve their level of play.

Advanced chess technologies work on the basis of artificial intelligence. AI is used to evaluate positions and recognize game moves, and it is also able to detect dishonest athletes.

Chess engines like Stockfish allow you to analyze games and come up with the best possible move for each position. Bots are able to adapt to the style of the game of a person. And intelligent platforms for game recognition and electronic boards translate the moves on a real board into a digital format.

How to start using all this to improve in chess, we tell below.

1. Start with theory

First of all, beginners need to remember the initial arrangement of the pieces, figure out how they walk, hit and what weight they have. For training from scratch, you can use mobile applications

Magnus Trainer, ChessKids, Chess King.

Better yet, use a real board for training and play combinations on it. You can record moves from a real board using special applications - we will talk about this below.

2. Choose the right opponent

It is better if he is a little stronger than you. It will not work with a too serious opponent. You will constantly lose, the motivation will decrease, and the meaning of his moves will sometimes be incomprehensible. As a result, you can easily lose the incentive to develop further.

Playing with a weak opponent is also bad: victory will be given too easily, a habit of winning will appear due to his inattention and gross mistakes.

You can find an opponent by strength, for example, on online services chess.com, lichess.org, Internet Chess Club or Chess24. Before the start of the game on the network, you will be prompted to indicate your level. The system will automatically select an opponent according to your rating or your settings.

3. Analyze games

Analysis is important step on the way to success. When conclusions are drawn from the game, the chances of making the same mistakes decrease.

The main assistant in this matter is the chess engine. He analyzes online. One of the most popular options is stockfish. He evaluates each position and shows how profitable the move was. You can play with the analysis of the game from Stockfish, for example, on chess.com.

To automate the batch analysis process, you can use a mobile application Decode Chess, where the correct move is not only shown, but also explained by voice. Also suitable Aimchess, in which the AI ​​analyzes the player's last games and points out weak and strong points.

4. Keep records of games when playing on a real board

You can and should train online, but you should not abuse it and forget how a real board looks like. Playing on it, you will be able to better concentrate on the process. And in order not to lose your games, you can use DGT boards.

There is also an alternative solution to replace these expensive devices - a mobile application idChess, which recognizes games, saves them to your smartphone, and also allows you to broadcast games in real time.

For further analysis of games played on a real board, you can use the same Stockfish chess engine. It is built into the mobile application and shows the strongest moves.

5. Participate in tournaments

After you have successfully mastered the theory, memorized all the rules and no longer get confused in the movement of pieces, you can start playing in tournaments. With their help, you will evaluate the current level of the game, find weaknesses and understand what needs to be worked on. In addition, participation in competitions allows you to save motivation for further development.

Online services track cheating schemes and may expel a player.
For example, one of the factors may be the frequent coincidence of moves along the first line of the computer engine, incommensurate with the strength of the player.

The schedule of offline events can be tracked on chess-results.com and websites of tournament organizers. Online competitions are held on various online chess services. For example, on FIDE Online Arena, lichess.org, chess.com.

6. Solve problems

To improve tactical skills, it is important for beginner chess players to solve many problems. They allow you to consolidate the knowledge gained and serve as a good tool for self-examination. First, work out simple tricks: a capture on the aisle, a checkmate to a lone king, a “fork”. And only then move on to more complex tasks.

Training like this helps to develop mindfulness. Having met a combination of a familiar problem on the board, you will quickly figure out how to make the right move.

Popular chess services have bases of interactive tasks that can be solved in various modes: with control time or without it, competing with rivals for speed. Artificial intelligence helps here too: it automatically compiles and categorizes tasks based on positions from games played by other players on these sites.