Originally posted by 7ate9there is a point learning endings first, but I doubt it has any real significance. you could just as well learn them when you get to a point where you start needing them. that is, when you reach the level where your opponents don't drop pieces. - sure, there will be that odd game where your opponent draws or even wins from a 'lost' endgame, but in most games you won't reach the endgame. not with even material anyway. learn to walk before you try running.
..learn the end game, then the midgame, and finally the openings??...
similar applies to the openings, -what use is getting an opening advantage of a fraction of a pawn, when pieces are still being dropped in virtually every game? after you're not dropping pieces, the games will more often be decided in endgame (or middlegame forming that endgame), but still almost never in openings.
on the other hand, endings teach you how the pieces work when every single move counts. and you'll probably have to learn them eventually.
it's probably best to learn some endings and openings, but not focusing on either of them heavily. concentrate on middlegame, and especially on tactics. put your money where it counts. find the bottleneck and work on it until it stops being one.
I think concentrating on endings is a great idea for the beginner-to-average player. Understanding endgame advantage allows you to figure out what to plan towards in the middlegame, and endgames in themselves can be full of tactics.
Capablanca's Best Chess Endings is still one of my favourite books. I think the really instructive thing about it is that it includes the full games, so you can see where the endgame positions come from and what positional transformations Capablanca chose to get there.
Other than that, I think beginners should find good playable opening lines without dedicating too much time to them, and find a suitable way to regularly hone their tactics. There are quite a few good tactics sites on the web, and there's always puzzles to keep your eye keen!
I think that endgames and middlegames have nothing to do with it. A beginning chess player should first learn piece positioning and how to move and use your pieces. What pieces can counter other pieces and which pieces can "dominate" others... for instince, a bishop or a rook or a queen can dominate a Knight if positioned properly, and yet a Knight attack all those pieces safely if it is positioned properly. Once you learn positioning then I think pawn structure should be learnt and how to incorporate the two together. From this, an understanding of openings can be grasped. Finally, tactics! Lots of them! Understanding how tactics work and develop is crucial to winning the middle and endgame scenarios, also, in order to employ tactics you must understand piece positioning, and in order to achieve solid positioning you must understand pawn structure! this is why I feel it is important to first learn piece positiong and pawn structure before openings or tactics.
Originally posted by davidmaccI agree!
I think concentrating on endings is a great idea for the beginner-to-average player. Understanding endgame advantage allows you to figure out what to plan towards in the middlegame, and endgames in themselves can be full of tactics.
Capablanca's Best Chess Endings is still one of my favourite books. I think the really instructive thing about it is that ...[text shortened]... e quite a few good tactics sites on the web, and there's always puzzles to keep your eye keen!
Originally posted by ChessJesterAnd the simple way to do that is with endgames. not just reading about them. playing them.
A beginning chess player should first learn piece positioning and how to move and use your pieces. What pieces can counter other pieces and which pieces can "dominate" others...
They don't have to be "proper" endgames. you can play R v 4 pawns,
Q v 8 pawns, no kings. the objective for the pawns is to get the back rank, the objective for the piece is to take all the pawns.
with Kings, play
R+pawns v B+pawns
R+pawns v N+pawns
R+pawns v R
and so on
Openings are full of theory, or which much of it is duboius, and holds no certainty -- whereas many of the tactical motifs found in endgames should be considered facts, over 'mere' theory. (i.e "the opisition"😉
i think the Best thing beginer can do is simply not to neglect any part(s) of the game, and learn several aspects at the same time -- once you have reasonable profeciency and ability to reach an endgame (in a good/equal position) is when you start to learn & understand the finer concepts of the endgame.
The key is to keep a balence -- If you excel in Tactics yet lack position understanding you will only improve your game once you have remedied your weakness.