learning the game

Originally posted by bucsfnatic
Does anyone know of a good site for learning how to play better?
I tried joining a clan, as someone recommended, and was not satisfied; so, looking for something else.

Go to http://Chessville.com

It is a comprehensive chess site with a ton of information for improving your play.

However, the truth of the matter is that there is really only two ways to get better:

#1: Play, play, and play some more! Play correspondence chess (such as here), play OTB, play with puzzles...just play. The more you play all aspects of the game, the better you will get.

#2: Play through the games of players stronger than yourself. It can not only be fun, it is informative as well. I am not much for reading chess books, but I always have at least one book with a collection of explained chess games to read through. I recommend Winning Chess Brilliancies by Seirawan, but there are a ton out there to choose from.

BTW: you might want to repost your question in the Chess forum.

Originally posted by bucsfnatic
Does anyone know of a good site for learning how to play better?
I tried joining a clan, as someone recommended, and was not satisfied; so, looking for something else.

go on the website chesstactics.org it exlains ideas like tactics, pins, forks very clearly.

Work through a few pages at a time and then go back over it to make sure you understood. Try the exercises to make sure you can do what they are teaching.

Hope this helps.