First off, be careful about moving your queen out too early. Unless you know exactly what you are going to do with it, and unless you know that it will be absolutely safe, don’t engage with your queen. The chances of losing your queen increase dramatically once it is out in the open, and your odds of winning decrease rapidly when your queen gets captured. Also, don’t forget to utilize your knights. Did you know that knights are often used to set traps? They are effective in this way because of their erratic style of movement.

It is more difficult to see pending danger from a knight unless your opponent is a more seasoned veteran who has learned to watch for it. Also, don’t underestimate your pawns. They might be slow, tiny, and seemingly worthless, but they can help to barricade your enemies pieces in, thus rendering them useless. Use your pawns to  support your bigger pieces, and also use them to threaten the big pieces on your opponents side while you protect them with a castle or with your queen.  This works well because your pawn is the one in pending danger, and if your castle has to move, all you are losing is a pawn. This is better than losing a castle or a rook.