My Diary as an Amatuer Chess "player"

Originally posted by Fat Lady
My advice is not to spend too much money on books. Find some real life people to play against instead.

I am a real person.

And would you look at that!

We're playing two games.

Good start!

Games at RHP are real enough for me! It is hard to find enough time to go down to the Club etc.

Originally posted by sydsad
What would be a wise Begginer's Approach to Opening Theory? There are tons of stuff to study before studying/memorizing opening patterns. However, I often find myself annoyed by the fact that I do not have a clear idea of how to survive/propsper during the Opening Phase.

I belive that beginners should play basic stuff and try to have a Logical reason for e ...[text shortened]... ight fall into a ton of traps but I think it will be a way towards improving.

Any thoughts??

I would like to recommend "Winning Chess Openings" by GM Yasser Seirawan. He explains basic opening principles and how they work in the major openings.

Thank you! Sounds interesting. How early do you think it is worthwhile to study such a book?

Originally posted by sydsad
Thank you! Sounds interesting. How early do you think it is worthwhile to study such a book?

All 7 of Yasser Seriwans Winning Chess Series books should be read.

There are meant for begineers to 1600ish players.

I would suggest reading them first if possible. They will give a great foundation.
Very easy to read and follow.

I have the tactics book in the Winning Chess series. It is worthwhile. No need to buy the whole set at once. It sounds like you have a lot of reading material already. Though if you are able to find it used it's probably worth it. Check ebay and amazon (or the library).

I started playing chess when I was close to 30. I have a ton of books and have studied different methods for improving your play and have found from experience that studing openings more than a few moves deep is a waste of time when you're starting out. Try to resist the temptation to load up on a large library of books. From what I've found you should study tactics tactics tactics. Most games up to Class B are lost from a tactical mistake. If you study tactics you'll increase your winnings. Bryan

I did a Playing Strength Evaluation Test with a surprisingly good result. I just might be a handfull of points stronger than expected. Still not much to brag about but it is nice to see that the Ol' Brain responds to training....

I would read "Winning Chess Openings" by GM Yasser Seirawan as soon as possible after you're up to speed on basic tactical ideas (e.g. forks, pins, skewers). After all, no one ever won the game in the endgame or middlegame if they didn't survive the opening first!

I suggest not to read opening books until your tactical and positional skills are advanced. Only once you know your strenghts and weaknesses from practice and games, you should decide which openings suit you.
Until then, you should play sharp openings in order to enhance your tactical vision.

Originally posted by sydsad
What would be a wise Begginer's Approach to Opening Theory? There are tons of stuff to study before studying/memorizing opening patterns. However, I often find myself annoyed by the fact that I do not have a clear idea of how to survive/propsper during the Opening Phase.

I belive that beginners should play basic stuff and try to have a Logical reason for e ...[text shortened]... ight fall into a ton of traps but I think it will be a way towards improving.

Any thoughts??

I would recommend going over master games (with annotations is a plus). This will show you the flow and logic of a well played game.