1. Not having a plan

I firmly believe that it is not necessary to know much of opening theory when you’re a beginner. But this is not to say that you should play random moves. You should always follow opening principles or at least you should have very good reasons when you want to violate them. Moreover, you should play openings having the middlegame in mind. The squares you develop your pieces should be compatible with your plans about what to do next. And this is why it is so important to having a plan instead of just playing what ‘feels right’ and taking things move by move.

2. Getting greedy

Every player loves being up in material. An extra pawn or two are welcome by everybody. But when your opponent offers you a pawn for free, you should always check whether there is a trap nearby. And even if you’ve checked everything and there’s no trap, you should ask yourself before accepting the ‘gift’: ‘Will taking this pawn delay my development or put my pieces in bad positions that I will pay for later in the game?’. It is no coincidence that gambits in the opening are the most frequent ingredients of impressive victories involving attacks against the enemy King: The side that gives away the pawn(s), finishes development early and is ready to launch an attack against a usually ill-prepared opponent.

3. Delay castling

Castling early is one of the basic principles of most (but not all) openings. Spending one tempo to move your King to safety and simultaneously develop your Rook into an active square is almost always considered a natural and good choice. You can then focus on finishing your development and getting ready for the battle in the middlegame. Of course, there can be exceptions to this rule. There are openings where early castling is discouraged or openings where not castling is considered advantageous, but these are pretty rare.Start attacking too early

4. Start attacking too early

Most of chess players love attacks. In the old ‘romantic’ era of chess, attack was the name of the game. Brilliant wins involving sacrifices are what made chess popular back then. Even today, it is much more likely for a game to be featured when there is a win due to a mating attack rather than a slow squeeze in the endgame. Therefore, it’s no surprise that most players like to attack and enjoy being in the driver’s seat. Nevertheless, apart from attack, there is also defense. Today’s era is much more about defense and computers have taught us that even seemingly hopeless positions often have secret defensive resources. In any case, attacking without the necessary preparations in place can often lead to burning bridges. And it is often the calm defender that wins the game.