After struggling with Chess for about 5 years now (on and off) I think I've finally at the point where I actually have good advice to give for people who are just starting out.
Join in or attack me for what I'm about to write. 😀
1. Develop your board vision. Learn to look at the entire board, not simply the small area that has your attention. Is the square safe before you put your queen on it? :d
2. Learn some basic tactics- pins, skewers,x-rays and such.
3.Learn the basic checkmate patterns. The more you know, the more you can do. 😀
4.Do chess puzzles to learn how the tactics work, when you do them either look for checkmates, trapped queens or hanging pieces.
5.Learn basic end games (king and pawn maybe, but mostly heavy piece end-games which might fit into checkmate patterns).
I think my biggest mistake was not seeing the forest through the trees. I was so concerned about not losing the game in the first 10 moves, that I didn't really think about why. The easy thing to do is to play into easy safe openings such as the Colle, but the more important thing is to figure out why. The why is generally because you don't see what is going on.
I suppose I should add a number 6.
6. You are going to lose. Do worry about winning or losing. Don't be happy when you when. Don't get angry when you lose. Just figure out why you won and why you lost, then try to improve.
I failed at number 6 miserably. I think that is one of the biggest things that held me back.
Of course this is only beginner stuff. When you have got this down, then you'll be ready for other stuff.
7.Avoid playing blitz games if you are like me because it teaches you to move before you think. That's not a good thing. 😀
I fail miserably at number 7 too. Blitzes are so much fun. 😀
I would add understanding the importance of development in the opening. I see many beginning players neglect development and opening principles, instead making pointless moves that gift dangerous tempo to their opponent as well as a selection of targets and weaknesses to attack. Many beginners do not survive long in games, and this is the reason why.
Originally posted by MurchuI always hated the advice that I got: "put your pieces on good squares".
I would add understanding the importance of development in the opening. I see many beginning players neglect development and opening principles, instead making pointless moves that gift dangerous tempo to their opponent as well as a selection of targets and weaknesses to attack. Many beginners do not survive long in games, and this is the reason why.
What in the hell is a good square? How should I know? I suck! If I knew good squares when I saw them, then I'd put my pieces on them!
So good advice would be to develop your knight before bishop to be safe, then castle and develop your queen. GP's advice of only moving your d and e pawns and leaving the others alone would probably do well too. If you can, develop all your pieces before moving a developed piece.
If you ever open a file, try to put your rook on that file.
The simple rule for a good square is a safe square off the back rank.
The best advice is to join a club and play as often as you can.
You soon learn where the good/bad squares are.
Here is a piece of nonsense that will keep you amused for hours. It did me.
Place the Black King on it's best square.
It is allowed to stay there forever and never move.
White can have as many moves as he wants to mate it.
(Basically find the one available square where you cannot set up a White Checkmate.)
And when you join your first chess club you can show this to your new
chess chums. They will think you know all about good and bad squares
and hold you in awe.
Originally posted by greenpawn34
The best advice is to join a club and play as often as you can.
You soon learn where the good/bad squares are.
Here is a piece of nonsense that will keep you amused for hours. It did me.
Place the Black King on it's best square.
[fen]4B3/8/8/8/8/8/2Q3K1/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]
It is allowed to stay there forever and never move.
White can have as ma ...[text shortened]... ew
chess chums. They will think you know all about good and bad squares
and hold you in awe.
Originally posted by greenpawn34Nice one. Hadn't seen it before.
The best advice is to join a club and play as often as you can.
You soon learn where the good/bad squares are.
Here is a piece of nonsense that will keep you amused for hours. It did me.
Place the Black King on it's best square.
[fen]4B3/8/8/8/8/8/2Q3K1/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]
It is allowed to stay there forever and never move.
White can have as ma ...[text shortened]... ew
chess chums. They will think you know all about good and bad squares
and hold you in awe.
Originally posted by EladarMy rating has dropped lately by 100+ pts , I don't study or play through games or do puzzles but recently I've been playing blitz. Up until playing blitz I'd played 200 games in my entire life , and just on this site .My blitz rating is poor , a loss is a loss ,but I have a tendency to enjoy a glorious defeat . My point is this , any chess is better than no chess and over time my game must improve. Recently I did get a draw with Aspasia (2100+ rating), which I was quite proud of , although he does play a lot of games and could have been quite kind to me. I have realised that chess means different things to different people and levels , for me at the moment its playing blitz and throwing pieces at my opponents defences in the hope of finding some winning combination, .My games on RHP are more boring. I found that I enjoyed the game much more when I stopped thinking it as an intellectual competition.
After struggling with Chess for about 5 years now (on and off) I think I've finally at the point where I actually have good advice to give for people who are just starting out.
Join in or attack me for what I'm about to write. 😀
1. Develop your board vision. Learn to look at the entire board, not simply the small area that has your attention. Is th ...[text shortened]... s not a good thing. 😀
I fail miserably at number 7 too. Blitzes are so much fun. 😀
Nice puzzle, I've never seen it before either. I think the secret to solving it is the fact that there is only one solution - for example if the answer was a1 then there is no reason why h8 wouldn't be valid as well. In this case there really is only one square where you can put the Black king where it can't be mated.
That is the basic mating pattern for most of the board.
With the King on a White square the basic pattern is this.
and yet the solution involes the Black King being placed on a White square.
(Which one?)
The clue is in the set up.
One of the White piece is on the mirror square so there are not two solutions.
Originally posted by greenpawn34Join a chess club isn't always possible. Even when you can, not all chess clubs have people there who want to help beginners. The club that I visited a few times just met at a book store's coffee shop type place and played some games for a while.
The best advice is to join a club and play as often as you can.
You soon learn where the good/bad squares are.
Here is a piece of nonsense that will keep you amused for hours. It did me.
Place the Black King on it's best square.
[fen]4B3/8/8/8/8/8/2Q3K1/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]
It is allowed to stay there forever and never move.
White can have as ma ...[text shortened]... ew
chess chums. They will think you know all about good and bad squares
and hold you in awe.
I was able to hold my own against most of them and they weren't much help to me.
Originally posted by EladarThat sounds perfect! Keep going back there until you can beat them all. Learn how to record your moves if you don't know already and keep a record of your games. If you lose one or draw when you think you should have won, go through the game at home and see if you can work out where you started to go wrong. If you want you can plug it into an engine (plenty of good free ones available) and see what it makes of your position - it will probably point out missed tactically chances at the very least.
Join a chess club isn't always possible. Even when you can, not all chess clubs have people there who want to help beginners. The club that I visited a few times just met at a book store's coffee shop type place and played some games for a while.
I was able to hold my own against most of them and they weren't much help to me.