How do you get better at chess?

Question

I just started to play chess and I'm not very good. I know all the rules and stuff but is there anything more than just playing to get better.

Answer 1

I'm assuming that you know chess notation... if not, learn it..that's the first thing.

I'll repeat some info that i have in another answer a few days ago...

The best way for a relative beginner or novice player to improve is to learn tactics. Also, study endgames.

People who advise you to "learn some openings" mean well, but you do not need to "learn" openings to become a decent player.

Openings, in fact, are the LAST thing you need to learn to become a good player.

However, you WILL need to learn good opening PRINCIPLES...that's a must... basically, the opening should accomplish the following:

1) Bring your King to safety by castling

2) Develop your pieces toward the center so that they'll be ready for middlegame action

3) Control the center of the board either by actual possession or by short-range and/or long-range action of pieces and/or pawns

The reason that endgames should be studied before openings is that it's MUCH easier to see and learn how different pieces work together if there are only a few pieces on the board (as is the case in endgames).

The reason you need to learn and study tactics is because virtually all games between "class" players (i.e. players who's skill level is below that of an expert) are decided by tactical ability, or lack thereof.

Knowing "openings" doesn't matter at the beginning level because lower level players make too many tactical mistakes during a game for the opening to have any significance at all.  

It is only when you get to an Expert Level where the openings you play take on any significance in terms of creating an initial advantage.  Don't worry about that at this point.

Yasser Seirawan has a good series of learning books out, each of which deals with a particular aspect of the game. The books should be read in the following order:

1) Play Winning Chess (this explains the rules of the game and addresses the aspects of a game/position that you have to be aware of (space, time, force etc)

2) Winning Chess Endings

3) Winning Chess Tactics

4) Winning Chess Strategies

5) Winning Chess Combinations

6) Wining Chess Openings

(Winning Chess Brilliancies can also be studied prior to the Openings book).

Even if you don't use Seirawan's books, you should still study the aspects of the game pretty much in that order.... but don't worry about "learning" openings, just study good opening principles.

For openings, I'd recommend "How To Play Good Opening Moves" by International Grandmasater Edmar Mednis... I got that book years ago when it was in "descriptive" notation (i.e. P-K4, etc).. but it's also available now in algebraic notation (so I got that one too).

There are a lot of excellent tactics and endgame books out...check out Bruce Pandolfini's "Chessercizes" books and his "Endgame Course" book.

Jeremy Silman's "How to Reassess your Chess" and "The Amateur's Mind" are also outstanding.

For a good one-volume book, check out "Win At Chess" by Ron Curry... Curry is an excellent teacher and the 250 page (roughly) book covers all areas of the game...the section on tactics is outstanding. It's Published by Thinker's Press, Inc. and I'd highly recommend getting the book, even sight unseen (i.e. if you can't find it in a store, go ahead and order it online, you can't go wrong with this one!)

Curry has an excellent section on how to analyze a chess position, making note of the following aspects of the position:

1) King Safety

2) Material Status

3) Possible Tactics

4) Piece placement and mobility

5) Pawn structure

6) Control of important squares

7) Tempi (moves)

Also, when playing, ask yourself the following questions before every move:

After each of your opponent's moves, ask yourself:

1) What is the threat

2) What has changed?

Before your own moves, ask yourself:

1) Does this move improve my position?

2) Is this move safe?

I'm basically giving you an outline which will very likely improve your game substantially.

Simply telling you to "practice" doesn't do any good for obvious reasons... if you have bad chess habits, then "practicing" is only going to instill them even deeper. You need to know what it is you're looking at.

"Practice makes perfect" is not necessarily true if what you're "practicing" is not the correct way to do something. It is true that "perfect practice makes perfect", but you need to know that what you're practicing is correct.

Another thing you should do is record the moves of your games, and then try to analyze your games afterward. If you lost, try to figure out where you went wrong. You can learn much more from games that you lose than you can from games that you win.

You can use a software like Chessmaster or Fritz to analyze your games as well, and then try to learn from what those programs tell you.

Susan Polgar has a couple of excellent beginner/intermediate  books out... the first is called "A World Champion's Guide to Chess" and the second is called "Chess Tactics for Champions"..    I'd highly recommend those two for your library.

At this point, avoid "My System" and "Chess Praxis" by Aron Nimzowitsch... these are recommended by a lot of people, but in reality, they're too advanced for a beginner....Even grandmasters such as Seirawan himself have admitted that they didn't understand those books the first few times they read them.

Although Eric Schiller has a lot of books out that are geared towards novice players, his books contain a lot of errors (either typos or Schiller's own mistating of historical facts, etc).   I'd avoid anything by him.

Good luck to you!!

Answer 2

I would agree with most of Alan Turing's answer.....

....but say the beginning of it a different way........

Losing to a superior player is the way to continuously improve your game. I mean watching your opponents, teaches more than books.

Learn the basics of Openings and then don't feel bad when you lose a game, learn from it.

Seeing the same strategy a second, third, or Fourth time from opponents lets you see the weakness in your play and in theirs...

Play often and enjoy. The strength of your skill will follow.

Along the way, read on "openings" etc....

If you teach someone, they will lose to your five move checkmate, only two or three times. Then you will need to change your strategy. The lessor (or newer) player learns from your play, as you will learn from others.

But you need to play players at or above your level.

Think of it as a video game, start over and over til you win.

And, like video games, your brain is saving every game to help in the next.

Answer 3

Play a lot of games with people better than you.

Also learn the basic openings.  You should know the English, Most of the King's and Queen's Pawn openings, and the Sicilian Defense.

Don't play the Bird Opening, which is weak, or the French, which is too difficult for beginners.

Don't be timid in the center of the board.  And don't move pieces to the edges of the board as you reduce their power.

Never move your queen out early on.  Develop the other pieces first and castle the king usually within the first ten moves of the game.

Yahoo has chess players on its board games.  Some are pretty good.  Avoid playing blitz or fast games that take less than ten minutes to play.

Answer 4

Try

http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/lear...

Answer 5

ask someone experienced and ask like about some strategies and stuff. then practice and you will be good in no time