Advice for True Beginners
18 Jul '13 17:412 editsAfter 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. 😀
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. 😀
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