How do you beat a chess player who plays for material?

Question

I'm using the program 'Chessmaster Challenge' and I'm sitting on a ranking of 930. But, this automated player, Berry, kicks my butt every time.

What are some general principles to follow when playing an opponent who plays aggressively and plays for material?

Grrrr ... I need some guidance to beat the aggressive type players.

Answer 1

'Oh Chessmaster! Why do you test me so!'  Beating the computer can be tricky if your not alert to tactics, threats, and weak spots in your position.  Also, try analysing your games against Berry,  looking for those errors.  I bet she has made them too that you've both missed.  By being a bit sharper you can overcome this strength in her game; you might find you were winning until you made an error on defence.  In General, you should aim for closed positions against the computer as this will cut down on the amount of tactics in play.

Answer 2

Do not trade

Answer 3

This is an excellent opportunity to develop your positional play.  

Middlegame is comprised to two different themes.  One is tactical play, which is what Berry is doing to you.  Combinations, trading pieces, removing defenders etc. are all examples of tactical play.

Positional play is where you place your pieces in optimal squares that serve two purposes: first is to display some tactics of your own.  The second is to restrict the movements of your opponent.

To do this, it's imperative to know a few things about chess strategy and the various pieces:

1.  Occupy the centre as much as you can.  Generally, this task falls to the d and e pawns as well as the knights, later on shared by the bishops and possibly rooks.  Control of the centre (by the centre I mean the four squares e4, e5, d4 and d5) means that your pieces will have more mobility later in the game.

2.  Positionally speaking, two pawns in the centre is ideal.  Knights belong on the fourth, fifth or six rank, and away from the edge of the board.  From these positions, they control optimal squares.

3.  Bishops belong on long diagonals where they can control the most squares.

4.  Castle.  Castling connects your rooks.  They help support each other.

5.  Rooks should take contol of open files (open meaning your pawn does not occupy that file)

6.  Queens should be held back until all other pieces are developed and the board is opened up a little.

From there, take a look at the position of the board.  Who controls more space?  If you occupy more space, do not trade pieces.  If you occupy less space, trade pieces to give your remaining pieces more room to operate.

When trading, try to make trades work for you.  Trade with a view to improving your position (as per points above) or making an opponent's position worse.  

It will take practice, but you'll get the hang of it... good luck!