How to win more chess wager matches

Each pace rewards different skills and has its own ELO on EonChess: you can be very good at bullet and not as good at rapid. Play for a stake in the pace where your results are best and do not change pace every few games. If you are unsure, read bullet, blitz or rapid: which to choose.

Your ELO in each pace tells you who you should beat and who you should not. Before raising the stake, check how you play against the computer in the free practice, which lets you choose a level between 400 and 2800, and look at your opponent's ELO before accepting a game.

Spending time on the first moves is one of the easiest ways to lose in short time controls:

• Pick one opening with White and one defence with Black and play several games in a row with them.
• Understand the ideas instead of memorising long variations.
• If you play one-minute games, see the best openings for bullet; for 3 and 5 minutes, the best openings for blitz.

In short time controls the clock decides many games:

• Share out your time: do not spend half of it on the first ten moves.
• Decide your plan while your opponent is moving, not afterwards.
• If you are ahead on the clock, trade pieces and simplify; if you are behind, keep the position complicated.
• Use premoves, which you can enable in Settings, on obvious moves.

Bad streaks happen even to good players. Do not raise the stake after a loss, do not play tired and set a limit before each session: we explain it in how to choose your stake. If you notice you are playing to win back what you lost, it is time to stop.

Going over your losses calmly, looking for the exact moment you lost your advantage, teaches more than playing nonstop. There is a simple plan in how to improve your ELO in chess.

Playing for money involves risk and no winnings are guaranteed. For adults aged 18 and over only; games with a stake may be restricted in some countries.