When I play chess I always take one of two roads which both lead to defeat.
Either I play very carefully, leaving my opponent open to all of the attacking. With carefully I mean I only move important pieces to spots which are defended.
Or I play too recklessly which makes me lose important pieces to the stupidest of decisions. Seriously, I lost tons of queens to spots which were very clearly defended.
Either way I always lose. So:
Does anyone know of: tactics, videos, rule of thumbs, anything. Which can help to find a good balance?
Also: When should you start strategising about check-mating the king?
I’ve found that doing a metric ton of puzzles has greatly improved my tactics when I’m playing “recklessly”. It helps your board vision and you’ll generally have a better feel for what you can safely attack.
As far as playing too defensively, maybe finding an opening that leads to a natural attacking plan would be helpful. I’ve been really enjoying Queen’s pawn openings that point all of your pieces toward the opponent’s castled king, so even though I’m playing “safely”, I’m still creating threats.