10. Jackie Chan vs Hwang Jang Lee

Snake in Eagles Shadow

If you like old school kung fu flicks this movie is for you. I am really not a fan of Jackie Chan movies but this movie in particular has always had my attention. You have two grandmasters of opposing fighting styles battling it out. Siu Tien Yuen, grandmaster of the snake fist style chose a disciple and trained him in the snake fist technique. I have got to tell you this scene is awesome.

9. D Day Normandy Invasion

First off — I must give thanks to all the soldiers that are serving and have served in Americas armed forces. The operation was the largest amphibious invasion of all time, with over 175,000 troops landing Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships arrived on the frontline. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and materiel from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. Hitler knew this day would come and tried to convince Mexico to declare war on US. But Mexico was smart knowing US would use nuclear means to quickly end the war between US and Mexico.

8. Rock Lee vs Gaara

Naruto

Both Rock Lee and Gaara are badass fighters. These fighters are taking a chunin exam to earn the next higher ninja rank (chunin). Although these fighters are not compatible with each other it turns out that this one he11 of a fight. With Rock Lees incredible speed and Gaaras pure taste for blood makes these fight jaw dropping. If you watch this video you must watch the whole thing and I assure you — you will not be disappointed.

7. Leroy VS Sho’ Nuff

The Last Dragon

The last dragon was produced by Barry Gordon so you know this is a good film. He did a very good job of on the final fight which is the fight above. In the movie Leroy goes on a quest to attain the “final level” aka the last dragon. When a martial artist reaches the last level his body will glow which means he is the greatest fighter alive. For Leroy to reach the last dragon he must face Sho’Nuff.

6. The most beautiful fight

House of Flying Daggers

Set in a similar time to Hero, the plot revolves around the mysterious House of Flying Daggers, a group of assassins leading a rebellion of sorts, against the rulers of their land. News has reached the local military captain Leo (Andy Lau) that the leader of the House can be found plying their trade in the local brothel. Sensing that this could be the key to ending their resistance he sends one of his men, Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro), to infiltrate the establishment posing as a customer.

5. Jet Li vs. Billy Chow

Fist of Legend

By now everyone knows Jet Li. But this film and in particular this scene is a rare one by the one and only Jet Li. I hold this scene as Jet Lis best fight of his career. If like this video you will love the video of him in the beginning of this movie fighting black belts in a dojo.

4. Itachi VS Sasuke

Naruto

Itachi is BAMF. Very few people in the naruto series can take him on equal ground. His little brother Sasuke is determined to kill him after itachi single handedly destroyed the whole Uchiha clan leaving only Sasuke alive. Sasuke trains for years preparing for a fight against his brother. When Sasuke and Itachi finally meet all he11 breaks lose and it is one of the beautiful fights in any anime.

3. Sing vs The Best

The choreography in the scene is spectacular. You also must see the previous fights in this film too. They are really awesome

2. Yamamoto vs Allon

Bleach

No one can test Yamamoto power in the whole series of bleach except probably Aizen but I kinda doubt that. This is a rare occasion that we actually see this guy fight and when he does fight he really goes all out.Even when standing against a powerful enemy such as Allon — Yamamoto just slices him up effortlessly. Truly, amazing.

1. IP vs 10 Black Belts

IP Man

IP is one of the few top ranked Kung Fu grandmasters in china. As the trainer of Bruce Lee he stands up against the top Japanese general that invaded and killed many chinese citizens.

Parents need to be extra vigilant now, not just about what their kids watch and read, but what they’re playing too.

Just a few short years ago though, before modern technology allowed the creation of super realistic characters and scenarios, that suck even adults into their fantasy worlds with the hyper realism they display, there were simpler game stations, like the SNES, or Super Nintendo.

In the nineties, when the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was release, most games were kid friendly, although there were a few that were targeted at an older audience. Parents, however, had lots of options for their kids, and didn’t have to search through racks and racks of games about criminals, horrors or other grown up material to find one or two they could safely buy.

While no one would ever dream of suggesting a return to the bad old days of the Atari (heaven forbid!) with its giant pixels, monotonous theme songs and stilted game play, older machines line the Super Nintendo do still offer lots of great options for kids, that won’t leave parents panicking, and here are our top ten favorites:

10. Rock ‘N Roll Racing

One thing you can’t go wrong with, when choosing a game for kids, is a racing game. Whether it’s bikes, cars or imaginary vehicles, the thrill of racing is great fun, and you’re usually guaranteed no outright violence or other questionable elements. Just make sure your kids understand that while they may be the masters on the console, taking your car for a joy ride is a definite no no.

Rock ‘N Roll Racing is a track racing game, set in the future, with a pretty unique viewpoint – you watch the action from an isometric angle, giving it a more three D feel – not behind or inside your car, as usual.

It’s got a soundtrack of rock classics, like “Bad to the Bone” so it lives up to its name, and aside from racing, there are other things to do, like set traps or oil slicks up to foil your competitors, or even fire lasers or rockets at those in front of you. Rest assured though – it’s harmless and innocent, with no gore, so it’s perfect for kids!

9. Earthworm Jim

It’s a classic theme, that’s been used for years – immortalized by the Mario Brothers, and followed by many others. Ordinary guy needs to rescue princess from evil monster / boss.

Of course, in this instance, it’s not a guy, but an earthworm, called Jim, who finds a robotic suit that gives him some pretty special powers. Still, he does set off to rescue Princess What’s-Her-Name from Queen Slug-For-A-Butt…

Aside from being based on a classic, can’t go wrong gaming story line, it’s got some really cool cartoon style graphics, and nice, smooth animation, making it fun to play. Besides, what kid wouldn’t enjoy the prospect of getting to be an earthworm with super powers for a while?

8. Super Mario All Stars

I don’t think there’s a person alive who grew up in the eighties or nineties who didn’t play at least one of the Mario Brothers’ games. I mean, come on, they made a movie out of the game, so it’s gotta be one of the top games ever right?

Of course, no Nintendo would be complete without Mario and Luigi, so with the SNES, they’ve obliged by packaging all three together, remastered and with updated graphics and sound. Plus, they’ve added a few “lost levels” and the “real” Mario Bros 2, previously only available in Japan.

It’s a fantastic game for kids, but be warned, hearing the classic theme tune and seeing the games again might have you jockeying for a chance to play. Can I get a “but it’s my tuuuuurn…?”

7. Kirby Superstar

You had to love the old games. In Kirby Superstar, you were the same lovable little pink bubble guy, and even when you fired at the bad guys, there was never much more than a fire ball. No blood, guts and other horrors like there are in newer games at least!

This one came out on the game boy, and the NES, and was recreated pretty much the same as the originals, with a few new twists. There are 8 mini adventures on the game, with five actual adventures, and three games. One of them, the Great Cave Offensive, is actually a big world to explore, gathering treasures.

When it comes to good clean fun for kids, you can’t do much better than good old Kirby.

6. Super Mario Kart

Again, the Mario Brothers were the stars of this classic. Unlike the other Mario games, this one was on the race track, and was actually the precursor to all other kart racing games.

Dating back to 1992, this little racing game quickly become one of the best selling SNES games, because it was just so fun to play! Racing each other in two player mode, around the track, tossing turtle shells and collecting invincibility stars was a blast. Other features, like the lightning bolts that shrunk other players, allowing you to ride over them, squashing them and gaining time.

For such a simple concept, this game really is addictive, and you, and your kids, are likely to spend hours playing against each other, just as we all did way back in the nineties.

5. Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2

For their time, the Donkey Kong Country titles boasted some world class, 3D like graphics. They were also a lot of fun to play!

Donkey Kong Country 1 was a Mario Bros style platformer, with Donkey Kong and his sidekick, Diddy Kong, off to retrieve the banana horde back from the Kremlings (crocodile looking baddies!) There are lots of bonus levels and little surprises in this one, making it ideal for endless hours of fun!

Building on the success of Donkey Kong Country 1, and released just a year later, Country 2 achieved what most sequels attempt, but fail: it was actually better than the first! Bigger, with better graphics and really cool levels like pirate ships, mine shafts and amusement parks, it’s a super fun romp once again, where you lead Diddy, and Dixie, his girlfriend, on a quest to rescue Donkey Kong from the Kremlings.

Both of these games have become classics, and offer some really enjoyable game play, that kids and grownups will love. As with the best games out there, they’re not too easy, but also not impossible, and combine thinking with action, so you’re constantly stimulated.

Then again almost as long as there have been video games, there’s been Donkey Kong. Innocent, but fun, these are perfect games for kids.

4. Secret of Mana

This little role playing game starts out like most – a boy, destined to be a hero, yada yada yada. Then it gets more interesting. As you travel through the game, you meet a girl and a sprite, who become your companions. Instead of being just an ordinary slash and chop type adventure, where you indiscriminately make your way through the baddies on your quest though, they’ve made it interesting, by adding a power meter.

As you use up your power, it depletes, giving you a weaker attack, and making it tricky to navigate through the game. Your quest is to save the world from being over taken by an evil empire, and despite being a well used theme, it’s got enough originality in it to still make it fun.

The game is long, giving around twenty hours of uninterrupted play, and extra things like spells you can learn, and being able to name your own player all add to the uniqueness. Plus, there is a three player mode, so you can play with a couple of friends – always fun! You will need a multi tap adapter to take advantage of that feature though.

Since there’s no real violence, as with most SNES games, and since it’s got all these little extras, and is actually quite an interesting little quest, it should keep kids occupied for days on end.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

When talking classic games, The Legend of Zelda will almost always come up. Realizing this when they created the SNES, there was absolutely no question that another Zelda title had to be brought out, and this is it.

With a similar look and feel to the original Zelda, this has the improved graphics of the SNES, and gives Link two worlds to explore, plus loads of new features, items and game elements. In this game though, an evil wizard is plotting to take over Hyrule. Link has to find the Master Sword to stop him. His quest takes him from Hyrule to the Dark World, where the scheming wizard lives. Portals, magic, the fight of good versus evil, and the winning Zelda graphics, updated for the SNES all combined to make A Link to the Past one of the best SNES titles ever – whatever your age.

Classic adventure, fantasy and intrigue, all packaged with nice graphics, and perfect for kids.

2. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Not surprisingly, like most cult classics, the Mario Brothers got a prequel, and this is it. As Yoshi, your quest is to reunite baby Mario and baby Luigi, who has been kidnapped.

Yoshi runs through the game gobbling up enemies with his long tongue, and laying eggs. He throws the eggs at his enemies, but, if he misses, baby Mario gets knocked off his back, floating in a bubble as a timer runs. If you don’t catch him in time, he floats off to baby Luigi, locked in the dungeon.

A really cool game, with some nice graphics, it’s entertaining enough to keep kids, and grownups, busy for a long time, and with virtually no violence, apart from the egg throwing, parents can rest assured that it’s kid friendly.

1. Super Mario World

Yup, yet another Mario title, but being Nintendo, and being for kids, that’s to be expected! This was the game that the Mario Brothers introduced Yoshi for the first time though. Similar in many ways to Mario 3, with a cape that let you fly like the raccoon suit did, and a map system, that this time allowed you to travel back to world’s you’d already visited, it also has the most hidden levels and alternative routes, making it a big game, that’ll keep you busy for a while.

The reason the Mario Brothers games did so well, with kids and with parents, is that they combined fantasy with adventure, gave you a concrete goal: save someone from the bad guys, and packaged it all in a colorful, non violent, kid friendly game. If only modern game manufacturers would take a leaf out of that book, there’d be a lot more titles that are kid friendly on the shelves today.

Then again, with the explosion in grown up gamers, game manufacturers are probably following the money, but anyone who grew up in the nineties almost certainly played Super Mario World, or one of the other Mario’s, and everyone I know has fond memories. Heck, just hearing the theme song brings on a nostalgic smile. Maybe we’ll see more of these sometime, but if not, dust of the old Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and let your kids find out what we were all up to all those years ago.

Many of these games I played very frequently myself as a child growing up. Because these games are very regional, you may not recognize all the names or all the rules, but chances are that if you are around 40 years old, you will recognize most of the elements as similar to the games you played as a child.

Read this list thoroughly. I have tried to include games for all ages and both boys and girls. As the list progress’s I will begin to add more physically challenging games that may cause some minor scrapes and bruises in special cases.
This list is for adults. The reason I don’t recommend children just look at this list and pick out a game to play is because some of these games have a very physical and sometimes downright violent element to them.

As a father to 3 girls, I fully appreciate how easy it is to be a squeamish, over-protective parent. But I also recognize that my kids are missing out on some important life lessons I learned as a child. Some of these lessons sometimes come with a bloody nose and a scraped up knee. Nobody wants their child to get hurt in any way, but do any of us want our children to grow up socially stunted? I firmly believe that social skills are as important as the ability to read and write. Human interaction is simply a part of life, and these games will enhance our children’s social abilities.

10. Ambush

Preferably in a wooded area, the group of children agrees on the boundaries of a large area. The group then splits into two teams. Team “A” gets a 10 minute head start to run into the wooded area while team “B” waits.
While team “A” is heading into the play area, they must leave clues behind that will lead team “B” to them. Once at the ambush area that team “A” chooses all the kids hide and wait for team “B” to find their way there.

When team “B” hits just the right spot, all the kids from team “A” scream “AMBUSH” and 1 of 3 things can happen:
1. The kids simulate battle by Indian wrestling to determine winners.
2. All kids are wearing ‘flags’ which are removed and the team with the most flags wins.
3. When “Ambush” is screamed, the kids race back to the home area and the last person there is the representative of the losing team.
The winners start over as the ambushers while the losers are the ambushee’s.

9. Blind Volleyball

Same as regular volleyball only you add sheets over the net. This way you cannot see when or where the ball is coming from.

This not only makes it infinitely more difficult, but it will actually give a lot of people a fright when that ball suddenly appears!

Be extra careful of teammate collisions in this version of the game.

8. Bombardment

This one is like a cross between Dodge ball and Bowling.

In an area about the size of a tennis court, define a center line. Divide the kids into two equal groups. At the back of each team’s area, line up 5 pop cans or some type of “Pins”.

Each team takes turn throwing a ball at the other team’s pins as hard as they can.

As the defending team, you must block the ball in any way possible. Get in front of the ball or catch the ball. If the ball bounces off of a player and rebounds across the center line, the throwing team throws again, so watch your rebounds.
The smaller the ball, the harder the game. In most cases a volleyball is used, but the game gets a little more brutal with a tennis ball. The first team to knock down all of the opposing teams pins wins.

7. Catch, Don’t Catch

This one is simple and playful for little kids but painful for older kids.

All children form a circle with their arms crossed. One person is chosen as the thrower and stands in the middle. The thrower says either “Catch” or “Don’t Catch” and throws the ball at the torso of someone in the circle. If the thrower says “Don’t Catch” you are supposed to catch the ball, and if he says “Catch” you let the ball bounce off of you.

For smaller children, the thrower just tosses the ball. For bigger kids they can throw it harder.

Whoever catches the ball becomes the thrower.

6. Poison

This one is simple but very physical. Be careful.

A group forms a circle locking arms. In the center is a cup of water. A leader is determined and proceeds to push and pull the circle around until someone is forced into kicking over the cup of water. Whoever kicks the cup over is ‘Poison’. Everyone then runs from the poisoned person.

The poisoned person chases all of the runners until he or she catches one and that person becomes the new leader in the next round.

5. Frisbee 500

This is a very simple game really. You may have grown up playing a version of this game with a baseball and a bat and everyone has a baseball glove.

Get a group of kids (Ideally 5 or more) and take them and a Frisbee to a field. Determine who the first Frisbee chucker is. Eenie-meeny-miney-moe is generally used.

That person throws the Frisbee as hard as he can out to the field of other players. The first person to retrieve the Frisbee off the ground gets 25 points. If the Frisbee is rolling and someone catches it before it stops, it is worth 50 points. If someone catches it after it “Skips” off the ground but before it hits again it is worth 100 points. If you are lucky enough to snatch the Frisbee out of the air before it touches the ground at all, you get 150 points.

The first person to reach 500 points becomes the ‘Frisbee Chucker’ and the game starts over with everyone resetting to zero points.

4. Capture the Flag

This one is one of those games that you can teach a bunch of 5 year old children to play and they will have a blast playing it, but as they get older, the game seems to grow with them getting harder and more challenging to play.
There are of course several different variations on how this game is played. I am going to explain how I played it in my younger years growing up in Toronto Canada.

Most of the rules can be changed slightly in one way or another to better suit both the ages of kids, and the area in which you have to play.

In this game “The more the Merrier” truly applies. A good game will consist of at least 10 kids, but I have seen as many as 40 kids play.

First you must determine the play area. The boundaries are determined at the start of the game and are respected and adhered to by every player. Any variation on this rule causes a loss to the respective team. The overall area is then split into 2 separate areas, Opposing and Defending. Think of a football field with houses in it. The neutral line is the 50 yard line.

Split the kids into 2 equal teams. Each team places a flag (usually a bandana) in the back of their area in a way that every single kid playing can see it and grab it easily.

We would usually set a pre-determined time as to the game start. For example: Teams are chosen at the center or the neutral line of the area, then at the word “GO” you have exactly 10 minutes to get your team back from the dividing line to the back of your area and post the flag in a fair and visible place, determine where “Jail” is, and also huddle to discuss your strategy to capture the opposing teams flag.

The general objective is to cross from your defending area into the opposing team’s area, grab their flag and bring it back to your own area without getting ‘tagged’ by members of the opposing team.

If you are ‘tagged’ by the opposing team, you are escorted by the person that tagged you to the defending teams ‘jail’. You must stay in this area until another person from your team comes and touches you. At that point you must run across the neutral line into your team’s area before you can attempt to “Capture the Flag” again. However, the player that performs this ‘Jailbreak’ is allowed to then continue on and attempt to capture the opposing team’s flag.
This is a tough game to explain. But hopefully I have explained enough that you can get the concept down and get a game going in your neighborhood.

I like to think of it as real life chess with real life kids. The strategies are endless, and every game is different.

3. British Bulldog (Red Rover)

This game goes by several different names but the game itself has been played by several generations in several different cultures and countries.

I knew this game as “British Bulldog”. My wife remembers the game as “Red Rover”.
The basics are the same. Get a group of people together and split them into 2 teams fairly. This game is best played by at least 10 kids.

Each team links arms together the best they can at least 50 feet from the opposing team that is facing them.
Team ‘A’ calls for a member of team ‘B’ to come and get some. The kid that has been called must run as fast and hard as he can to break through the human chain of the team that called him. If the kid succeeds in his mission of breaking through the human chain, he then gets to choose any member of that team to join his own. If that kid fails to break through the chain, he then becomes a member of that team.

2. Salad

This game is brutal. It hurts no matter how good you are at it. I played this at every lunch break in my junior high school with a lot of young men and women that were far more athletic than me. The better you get at this game, the better your chances are to get your ass kicked…Literally! My school outlawed this game, but we played it every day anyway. We were like a bunch of adrenaline junkie inmates craving our next hit. We went to great lengths to hide the fact that we were playing this inherently dangerous game.

The rules are simple. Get a bunch of people together in a concrete or paved area with one tennis ball and a nearby wall. The game starts with everyone at least 10 feet from the wall.

Drop the ball and the game is on! Everyone kicks the tennis ball at everyone else with one goal in mind…Get it between open legs. If you are able to kick the ball through the opening of two legs of any player, you scream “Salad!” at the top of your lungs and every player gets to kick that player in the butt until they can make their way to the wall and yell “Home!” as loud as they can.

We would make the game incredibly tougher by altering the rules so that if you got “Salad” called on you, you had to make it to your locker to get everyone to stop kicking you in the butt. My locker from 7th through the 9th grade was always on the 3rd floor of my junior high school…I still have bruises on my rear today.
It is a tough game. And you have to be tough to play it. If not, you will become tough while you play it. In the end, I believe it helps to make a teenage boy a man by playing ‘Salad’.

1. Red Ass (Jackass)

This is the most painful and most satisfying game I ever had the pleasure to play with my peers. It is brutal and barbaric, but leaves every young man with a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie that most other activities could never hope to accomplish.

You need a tennis ball, a tall wall and preferably a half pavement and half grassy area to play in.
This is another game where the more kids that participate the better. You will need at least 5 kids.
You establish “The Line” approximately 20 feet away from the playing “wall”. This is best served by a 20 foot high wall that has about 20 feet of concrete or paved ground from its base out to a dirt or grassy area, that way you have a definable ‘line’.

The person that has the ball throws it as hard as they can at the wall with the objective of the ball bouncing off of the wall and past ‘the line’ without touching the ground. If your throw hits the ground inside ‘the line’, every kid will run towards the wall and you get a letter and the last kid to touch the wall gets a letter and has to be the next ‘thrower’.
If you are not the person throwing the ball you have two choices. Catch the ball, or run towards the wall.

If you catch the ball, you get to throw the ball as hard as you can at the other kids running towards the wall. If you hit a kid, they get a ‘letter’ and are the next ‘thrower’. If you miss, the last kid to reach the wall gets a letter and is the next thrower.

If you are not in an area where you can catch the ball simply don’t be the last kid to touch the wall once the race towards the wall starts. The race always starts when the ball lands (past the line) after it bounces off the wall. False starters are given a ‘letter’ and are next to throw.

If nobody catches the rebound from the ‘thrower’, every kid must run towards and touch the wall after the ball has rebounded off of the wall and lands past ‘the line’. The last one to reach the wall gets a ‘letter’ and also retrieves the tennis ball and become the next thrower.

Remember, every throw at the wall starts with every kid behind ‘the line’. Sometimes the thrower may “fake” a throw and cause someone to cross the line prematurely. In this case the ‘false starter kid’ is given a ‘letter’ and becomes the next thrower.

By ‘letter’ I mean you are issued the letters required to spell “Red Ass” or in other regions “Jackass”. Once you have received enough ‘letters’ to spell out either “Red ass, or Jackass” you then go up to the wall, bend over and grab your ankles exposing your rear end to every other player who stands at ‘the line’ and gets one free throw at your butt! When this happens, your letters reset to zero but nobody else’s does. That way everyone eventually gets to grab their ankles and experience “Red ass”!

Some of these are literally ‘tricks’ you will probably never get the chance to use, like two move check-mate, others are more a general way to play the game. Hopefully they will be as useful to intermediate players as well as beginners. So here we go:

10. A Fools Mate – Two Move Checkmate

Lets get this one out the way. There is a three and four move checkmate that will happen more often, but most people get so dizzy when they hear about a two-move checkmate, (if you can imagine anyone getting that excited over a board game), that I thought I’d share this one first. In order for it to work your opponent either has to make a mistake. But then again, mistakes are probably the best way to win at chess, that, and making sure you take advantage of them.

You can only do this if you are playing black and it goes a little something like this:

White 1: Your opponent moves the Pawn in front his bishop; it does not matter if it is one or two spaces. (This is the bishop closest to their King)

Black 1: You move the Pawn in front of your King, again either one or two spaces.

White 2: The other guy moves the Pawn in front of his Knight, the next one down the line. (This move has to be two spaces.)

Black 2: you move your Queen as far as it can go diagonally, as in the picture, and say ‘check mate,’ sweetly.

9. Control the Center of the Board

This has to be one of the best pieces of information you can get about winning at chess. We all know that most warfare can be demonstrated as a development of flank tactics. (Don’t we?). Sure. But in chess the best way of winning is to fight for, and win, the center. It doesn’t seem to offer you much in the way of actual strategy, and that’s probably for the best, if you had to remember a bunch of moves and board codes then you probably wouldn’t learn as you played. But keeping that in mind it is best to move the Pawns in front of your King and Queen first and bring the Knights and Bishops out to support them in a tight square. Most often you will not be able to complete this square before you are already responding to the other player, and of course there are other ways to fight for the center. But trying to control this area early brings the focus of the game where you are and gives you a chance to fight on your chosen ground.

8. Castling

Castling is the only instance in which the King can move two spaces. The King does this by moving towards his Castle, either left or right, when there is no other piece between them. The King cannot move through check, (through a space covered by an opponent’s piece), and only if neither the castle nor the King has moved before. The King cannot castle to get out of check, or checkmate. The King moves two spaces, either left or right, and the Castle he moves towards ‘jumps’ over him and lands in the next space. It is worth mentioning because sometimes you might not be sure when to castle. It is best to castle as early as possible, as a general rule, because there are so many provisions for the move and it ties up the Rook while you wait. Castling early also puts you in a strong position because it leaves your King in relative safety and lets you move ahead with the game. Also it is often a good idea to move a Pawn out one space after Castling because this can make it more difficult to break the security of the King’s defense.

7. Develop your Pieces Early

The best way to plan a victory is to develop your best pieces as quickly as possible. You can do this by bringing out your Knights before the bishops on the same flank, and always try to develop your central Pawn’s first. (See tip 9.) It is important in chess to take note of the other person’s moves, a lot of beginners get to focused on the opening and miss things. Try to ask yourself if a particular Pawn is worth saving, or taking, in regards to the over all game. Try not to move a piece twice in the opening, but keep an eye out for what the opponent might be trying to do. Don’t get caught in two/tree/four move checkmate!

6. Four Move Checkmate

Okay, it’s time for another ‘move’ check mate. You can do this as either color. Most beginner’s benefit from learning the four-move checkmate because they will be able to get something like it further into the game. But again the chances of you getting four-move checkmate are slim. The thing about four-move checkmate is that your opponent can make any number of moves to let you in. In fact the only necessities are that they move the Pawn in front of their King, and they don’t move the Pawn in front of their Queen. You might also want to make sure they don’t bring the King’s Knight out to cover the Bishops Pawn. But these are the moves you will need to make four-move checkmate like the picture:

White move1: You move the Pawn in front of your King forward any number of spaces.

Black move 1: Brings the Kings Pawn out, any number of spaces.

White move 2: Bring the bishop next to your King out three spaces.

Black Move 2: Moves the Queens Knight out in front of the Queens Bishop.

White move 3: Bring the Queen out four spaces diagonally.

Black Move 3: Bring the King’s Knight out in front of the Bishop.

White move 4: Bring the Queen in to take Pawn in front of King’s bishop.
Say ‘check mate,’ to wake the person up.

For this checkmate black could do these moves in any order. The main thing to see is that you can get checkmate by using a piece, the bishop in this case, to hold a square next to the King. Then you just have to let the King get trapped.

5. Sending a scout – what to do with him

Often players will test each other by sending a piece over the middle of the chess bored to see what they will do. The best advice in this situation is to threaten the adventurous piece. For one thing it is not a good idea to leave your opponent with an attacking piece to build around in the future, even if they don’t have a plan for it now. For another thing it means that if they want to save the piece they will have to retreat or play a holding move. In either case you have helped develop your own position and they have lost the momentum. If they choose to trade the pieces the worst that can happen is that they lose an active and threatening piece. So try to threaten them with pieces you wouldn’t mind trading. Equally you might want to keep you pieces from going across the center of the board in the beginning of the game so as not to lose the momentum yourself.

4. Leave your Queen Behind

I know a lot of these tips are focusing on the opening part of the game, and there’s a reason for that. To start with it is hard to give advise about the middle of the game, past tip 9, because without delving into gambits and time honored moves it is hard to predict with any certainty what you might face. But there is also some truth in the idea that a good start will most often lead to a good end. While a game of chess can see the balance of power sift several times, the essential thrust of a victory is to gain the momentum, and keep it! To start strong then, is an obvious advantage, and it will become clear that many of the tips here will also help out in the middle and end games the more you play. To this end it is important to keep the Queen at home. Most openings last around 6 moves, and for this time the Queen, often considered the most valuable piece by beginner, is more of a liability then an advantage. Okay, you can get two-move checkmate, but it is extremely rare and in the mean time a threat on the Queen can take your attention away form anything else, often causing you to break with your plan and start moving pieces more then once, which stunts your opening.

3. When to Exchange

By and large it is a good idea to keep your pieces safe, right? Yes. And to every rule there is an exception. In the case of exchange you have to be careful and sure that you are getting what you think you are. To often when a person exchanges a piece, say a Knight for another Knight, it reveals a concealed protector, say a bishop, and you end up losing two pieces for the price of one. The again, mistakes happen, and there are some times when you might want to consider exchanging pieces. It is a good idea to exchange pieces when you are under attack. If you can get an equal, or close to equal trade you effectively slow your opponent’s attack and lose pieces rather than the game. It is also worth exchanging pieces if for some reason you have not been able to open as well as these tips have suggested and you find your self in a crammed position. In short it is better to lose a piece, for the price of another, then to be too restricted. Finally it is generally a good idea to exchange pieces if you are in a better position then your opponent. If you eliminate the Queens when you have more pieces then the other player.

2. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Pawn’s

While you shouldn’t go around saving Pawns for the price of a Queen or Rook, you should also not take them lightly. In the opening moves it is best not to move more then two Pawns, (the ones in front of your King and Queen), but Pawns play a central role in a winning game. For example, if you look, a lot of chess guides will explain that to win without Pawns you must be ahead by at least a Rook or two other pieces. That’s no mean feat for a Pawn! Pawns can tie things up, they can work as a surprisingly tough defense screen, they can be exchanged for you fallen pieces, and they can check mate a King (something two Rooks can’t do!) But you should be as mindful of your own Pawns as you are wary of you opponents, and try not to let them get double filed, (one Pawn in front of another), this not only makes them relatively useless but it serves to complicate your defensive line and leaves an opening for your opponents bigger pieces to get through.

1. Play Someone (a little) Better then you

You are not going to learn much when the person you play beats you in 5 moves or less every time. You may be able to learn a lot from that type of player but when will you ever get the chance? It is equally difficult to develop you game and learn how to win games of chess if you only play someone worse then you are. If you beat them every time, even if it does last a while, there is a limit to the things you can learn because they will not challenge you to come up with new ideas. The tip is to try and find a player, or players, that are better then you, but not by too much. You will likely still get beaten a lot but you will find that your game develops quickly and that your understanding of how you are getting beaten improves dramatically. Eventually you will find that you are winning around an even amount of games, and then you will start to develop together as you try different tactics and ideas to beat each other. Or you will have to find someone else to play. In the end the only way to develop experience and improve you game is to be challenged, but not too much.