Being able to strategise is a vital skill to have in today’s world, whether you use it as part of your career, in your personal life, or financially. The good news is that strategic thinking is a skill that can be learned and developed just like any other. Indeed, one of the best ways to flex your strategic thinking muscles is to play the games you will find described below. Keep reading to discover what they are.
Chess
Chess is perhaps the ultimate game of strategy. Beautifully simple yet also endlessly complicated chess is built around the idea of war where the ultimate goal is to protect your own king and checkmate your opponents.
Played on 8×8 of light and dark tiles, each challenger has command of an army of pawns (8), a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights and two rooks. Each different type of piece has its own rules about how and where it can move, and each player takes turns moving their pieces to establish a favorable position.
Strategy is crucial to the game of chess because good chess players know that they must consider not only the move they are making but the one after that and beyond. There are several specific strategies that chess players can use when playing the game including the French Defense.
The French Defense dates back to the 1800s and is still widely used in chess today. The great thing about the French Defense is that it is a strategy that can be used by all levels of players from beginning to expert. It is also a strategy that allows the player to control the speed of the game, usually making it slower in this case. Read more about the details on how to play a French Defense here.
Other popular chess strategies include the Ruy López Opening and the Queen’s Gambit, the latter of which you can see demonstrated below:
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Solitaire
Another great game to play if you are looking to develop your strategy skills is solitaire. Solitaire is a card game that you play alone with a standard deck of 52 cards. If your pack has jokers, be sure to remove them before you begin.
To play solitaire you need to make sure you shuffle your cards well and then deal out 7 piles. The first pile from the left should hold only a single card, while the second should hold 2, the third 3 and so on until the 7th pile from the left has seven cards. When you are already playing you can turn over the first card on every pile leaving the others face down. For the rest of the cards, there should be 24 left should be your stockpile also all face down.
The game aims to create 4 piles of cards ranging from ace (high) to two as quickly as possible. The catch is that each pile must alternate between red and black cards, although the suits can change as you do this.
Your first move will be to stack any cards from your row of 7 that can be stacked. Once you have done this you can move on to using your stockpile one card at a time. If you cannot make a move with your stockpile then you can draw a new card, and the previous one goes out of play until you come back to it.
Solitaire helps you to develop strategic thinking sticks because it requires the ability to hold lots of patterns in your mind simultaneously. Indeed, the better you can become at this aspect the quicker you will play, and the faster you will win which is the entire aim of the game.
You can, of course, play solitaire with cards set out on the table in front of you. However, it’s much easier to play for free online.
Casino Games
You can also learn a great deal about strategy by playing casino games such as poker, blackjack, and even slot machines! This surprises some people as they are ultimately games of chance and probably. However, even in games of chance strategies can be used to maximize your chances of winning.
For example, in Roulette, the famous casino game played on a table grid, with a wheel and ball, several well-known strategies can help beat the odds. Although before you can use any strategy you have to understand how to play the game and win. To win in Roulette you need to successfully predict where the balls will land on the wheel.
You demonstrate your predictions by placing your betting chips on the number or group of numbers you think will come up. Indeed, you can pick a single number, where the odds are much lower and the payout higher at 37:1 or 38:1 depending on whether you are playing European Roulette or American Roulette. Players also have the chance to place bets on different sets of numbers such as street, fours, and sets. You can also place bets on the different columns on the table, and you can even place bets on whether the number will be black or red, odd or even.
Once you have mastered how to play the game you can use strategies to help you maximize your chances of winning. Many strategies can be successfully used in Roulette, including the Martingale System which involves doubling the amount you bet after every loss. This means you could make up the loss and make a small profit over time.
Then there are the D’Alembert system and the Fibonacci system, the latter you can see demonstrated below:
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Of course, the big problem with playing casino games, and gambling in general is that you are vulnerable to losing your hard-earned money. This can be especially problematic when you are a beginner player and only just learning the rules of the game. The solution to this is to avoid money games, and instead play in other ways such as with friends for matches, or with free online games.