Tricky Chess960

Chess960 is an interesting way to train your chess. There is no opening knowledge to rely on so both sides need to be creative, develop pieces and play chess from move 1. The different kind of starting positions can also cork up some unusual problems early on so you have to be tactically alert from move 1. Imagine white starting with a bishop on h1 and he opens the game with 1.g3 now...again imagine that b7 is undefended and that there is a rook on a8. This means that a careless move by black loses a pawn and an exchange on move 2 to if Bxb7 is allowed!! Once I had a queen on g1, I opened 1.f4 and my opponent lost his undefended pawn on a7 on move 2.

In the following fragment my opponent wasn't alert and lost material by force on move 3!! Give 960 a try to sharpen your tactical focus and board awareness! But only use it as a training tool and for fun....regular chess is always #1 and isn't going anywhere ;-)