Find Out Your Chess Horoscope

You may not think that chess and horoscopes would usually intersect. Could the alignment of stars and planets really affect chess skills from month to month? Maybe. Spring is coming, everything is changing, and the world is brightening up again. Here you'll find your chess horoscope for March 2022, your lucky opening, and what you should avoid. Plus, check out a top player who shares your star sign! 

Jump to your sign:

• Aries
• Taurus
• Gemini
• Cancer
• Leo
• Virgo
• Libra
• Scorpio
• Sagittarius
• Capricorn
• Aquarius
• Pisces
• Conclusion

Aries ♈︎

(March 21-April 19)

Aries of the month: Garry Kasparov

Later in March, we enter Aries season, which is all about grabbing life by the horns (get it... Aries... horns?). This is your time, Aries! Spring brings renewal and promise; try out a new opening, look for initiative, and play energetically. Now is also a great time for you to start playing more variants and challenging yourself. Stepping outside of your comfort zone will encourage creativity in your play. And yes, this means giving the London System a break for now.

Lucky Opening: Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit

Avoid: London System

Taurus ♉︎

(April 20-May 20)

Taurus of the month: Anna Cramling

This could be a challenging month for you, Taurus. Now is a time for consolidation and endurance; with Venus and Mars in tension, you may see inconsistencies in your performance, your concentration, and your rating. Don't burn yourself out studying too many new things or grinding blitz games (unless you fancy donating more rating points than usual, in which case, call me because I need them). Instead, review the skills you think you should already have—what about those king and pawn endings you sometimes get wrong in time trouble? If you insist on diverting your attention somewhere new, make sure you focus on something concrete.

Lucky Opening: Jobava London

Avoid: Playing too much blitz.

Gemini ♊︎

(May 21-June 21)

Gemini of the month: Eric Hansen

Slow down, Gemini. And lay off the bullet chess, too. Step back. Re-evaluate. Now isn't the time for you to be rushing big decisions or changes; hold off on switching out your openings. It's unlikely you'll see the results of your hard work just yet. It's not time. Don't try to force things—that sacrifice you're really wanting to play in your next rapid game? Double-check it. There's nothing more embarrassing than seeing Bxh7?? in your game report.

Lucky Opening: Whatever you're comfortable with at the moment.

Avoid: That opening you've been thinking of learning (just hold off for now!)

Cancer ♋︎

(June 22-July 22)

Cancer of the month: Anish Giri

From March 3rd, there's a New Moon in Cancer's 9th house. This means you should be prioritizing knowledge and learning over everything else in your chess this month. While this is definitely a positive, it does mean that you have to do that really annoying thing... what is it? Oh yeah, studying... analyzing... working on your game. There's no excuse. Now is ACTUALLY the right time for you. Do you already know the two bishops checkmate? Yes? Okay, no need to brag. Hit up Chess.com Lessons for inspiration on what to learn next.

Lucky Opening: Anything you want to learn right now. Seize the day (or, uh, the theory?)

Avoid: Slipping back into old habits—the new Insights feature can help you out with this.

Leo ♌︎

(July 23-August 22)

Leo of the month: Fabiano Caruana

Everything is falling into place for Leo this month. Expect a rating boost, or clarity and improvement in an area of your game where you've been struggling. Your outlook is so good this month, I'm verging on telling you to play the Grob in your next important game. 

Lucky opening: Do whatever you want—honestly, I'm a little intimidated.

Avoid: I mean, it would be a waste to be given all this positivity and then to play the French Defense: Exchange Variation.

Virgo ♍︎

(August 23-September 22)

Virgo of the month: Peter Leko

Virgo, this is an important time for you to be letting go of the past and embracing the healing qualities of Spring. Your past blunders can't hurt you anymore, that Botez gambit from last week's classical game shouldn't be keeping you up at night, and the 150 blitz rating points you tilted late at night over the weekend will surely return to you soon. Try not to obsess over it all. Mars and Venus are joining Saturn in your 6th house; you need to focus on yourself. A little maintenance work wouldn't hurt. Do some puzzles.

Lucky opening: Shake out the cobwebs with a little 1.b4. Go on, I dare you.

Avoid: Worrying about your rating.

Libra ♎︎

(September 23-October 22)

Libra of the month: Levon Aronian

Now is a pivotal time for you, Libra. The decisions you make this month will impact your entire year. What does this mean for your chess? It's time to develop healthier habits, like maybe cutting back on those 1 a.m. bullet binges. It's time to restructure. The changes you make now should be oriented toward your long-term growth and happiness. It's very difficult to imagine the French Defense bringing someone long-term happiness. Just something to think about.

Lucky opening: Play around with one or two new openings before settling on your new favorite for the rest of the year.

Avoid: Simplicity and stagnation of all kinds—don't be bored before you even click the "New Game" button.

Scorpio ♏︎

(October 23-November 22)

Scorpio of the month: Vidit Gujrathi

Oh Scorpio, now is the time to get a little bit introspective. Really, why do you play chess? Is it just for fun? Do you want to get a title one day? Do you finally want to beat that friend who you really love but is SO annoying because every time you get a good position they somehow swindle you? Find joy in the little things this March—that one win after a losing streak means so much more than the +5 to your rating. Slow progress is better than no progress, and it's easy to improve in chess without knowing it, or without it being shown in some tangible way. But that's okay, just keep chipping away at studying and analyzing—one day you'll need to know that Philidor position or that Lucena endgame. One day.

Lucky opening: Keep things solid with a Caro-Kann or Slav Defense.

Avoid: That tricky Najdorf or any kind of Sicilian where you get confused as soon as you're out of book.

Sagittarius ♐︎

(November 23-December 21)

Sagittarius of the month: Hikaru Nakamura

Hey Sagittarius, you know that opening trap your friend showed you that you've been trying to make happen in a blitz game ever since? Give it up. It's time for you to take charge—stop following others. Everyone's playing the Catalan and so now you have to also? No. None of these paths will pay off for you in 2022—take what you enjoy and where you thrive more seriously. That's what's going to pay off. 

(If you have a coach, this is NOT a sign to stop listening to them. Be good. Do your tactics homework. Coaches, please don't send me hate mail.) 

Lucky Opening: The one your heart is drawn to, even if it's the Benoni Defense. I won't tell.

Avoid: Whatever your friend Matt is playing. Seriously.

Capricorn ♑︎

(December 22-January 19)

Capricorn of the month: Nemo Zhou

Capricorn, your main focus this month should be balance. Work too hard and your progress will actually halt—burnout is lurking, so you need to be careful. Have you been working on those chess resolutions you made in January? That plan to become a FIDE Master by 2025? Yeah, it's all, kind of... a lot. It's not what you need right now. Stay busy, but lighten up. Challenge a friend to a blitz match. Not a super competitive one—the loser has to buy pizza for the both of you. Remember why you like chess and hold onto that rather than the goals you got caught up in along the way.

Lucky opening: Go back to your roots, what's the first opening you ever played? For even more fun, go check out the first five games on your Chess.com profile. You're guaranteed to cringe. 

Avoid: Anything with too much theory. Lay off the memorization.

Aquarius ♒︎

(January 20-February 18)

Aquarius of the month: Vera Menchik

Venus and Mars are connecting for the second time in 2022, this time under Aquarius. This is a moment of calm—take a break from all the hard chess study you've been doing (or saying you're doing) and brag about your rating to your friends for a while instead. Actually, maybe don't be that person. Sit back, play what you know, and don't overextend—in pawn structure or in effort.

Lucky opening: London System

Avoid this: Accelerated Dragon

Pisces ♓︎

(February 19-March 20)

Pisces of the month: Vasyl Ivanchuk

Jupiter is in Pisces until early May. What does this mean? There's going to be a shift in focus toward generosity. Consider donating some additional rating points this month by playing risky gambits and under-analyzing your piece sacrifices. Just kidding, but you could consider helping out some of your friends with their chess. Explaining ideas can often help to reinforce them in your own memory, so it's a win-win and it scores you some serious positive karma. 

Lucky opening: No specific opening, it's actually better for you to focus on your calculation skills and middlegame strategy right now.

Avoid: Trying to climb your rating this month.

Conclusion

The beginning of Spring is always a turbulent time. Don't forget, change is good, and adaptation to change is fundamental for you to grow and succeed. 

Chess imitates life... right? So, look for harmony between the two whilst external changes are occurring.

Let us know what you think about your chess horoscope in the comments below, and be sure to check out Lularobs on Twitch!