That's good... the chess game, as a sorcerer you did very well. That had to become a lot of XP points for you and maybe for your party too for make your way to the king easier. Though maybe they didn't even know what the hell you were doing sitting there with the king.Hehehe.

I think one of the most important things for Mages and Clerks is to learn their spells very well, so the game is easier to take. When I say "learn" I mean to learn HOW to use them too... that's when a mage or a clerk are very useful in the game, otherwise they usually become useless. (Mages throwing balls of fire here and there everywhere affecting the party too...etc).

About spells I could say the basic way to take a situation is to throw balls of fire or toxic clouds where the party is far from the enemies, and when they are not just throw single acid arrows or so, and maybe defend yourself with a reflection aura or something like that.