Forums

Im asking for an advice

Sort:
mohammadghanem

Hello all, i started playing chess a few months ago and it became my passion. Today im rated somewhere around 1400 and im looking to raise that number to somewhere around 1800. what would you recommend me to do ?? what books could i use ?? and what softwares could be of use to me ??

JackieMatra

Master "basic" tactics.
There have been many books on the subject. I think that "Chess Tactics for Champions" by Susan Polgar is outstanding.Then you should learn common middlegame , and opening, checkmates. "The Art of Checkmate" by Georges Renaud and Victor Kahn is the old classic text on that subject.

Then you should practice a lot. You have a choice of the ChessOK software, "Chess Tactics for Beginners", "Intermediate Chess Tactics" and "CT-Art", or more ChessBase Renko CDs. The ChessOk CDs get rave reviews by people who seem never to have actually gone through them, as no one ever mentions any of their errors and other shortcomings, while the ChessBase CDs get ignored. I like the ChessBase Renko CDs much better. I would suggest that you start with "The Great ABC of Tactics", and "Intensive Course Tactics I" and "Intensive Course Tactics II". If you get to the point where you can solve all of those exercises fairly quickly, you will be considered to be quite a marvel in most chess clubs.

mohammadghanem

on what subject should i read first ?? i mean i have never read a book about chess. shouldnt i be reading about the openings at first, since its the firts phase of the game ???

baddogno

That's great progress for playing only a few months.  A while back chess.com decided newcomers to the site deserved a solid introduction to chess that could kick them all the way to intermediate if mastered.  These free courses were the result, and they are some of the best written courses in the ChessMentor.  Don't be afraid to do them over and over again until you can 100% each lesson.  I think after you do the section on Opening that you may find it's all you need for awhile.  Good luck with your chess.

http://www.chess.com/blog/webmaster/free-chess-mentor-courses

JackieMatra

I repeat. Master "basic" tactics.

No. You definitely should NOT be reading about openings. That's what all of the patzers do. That's all they ever study, and years and decades later they play just as badly as when they started. Once their games depart from the openings that they've memorized, the level of their play immediately descends to that of the fish they are because they can't see a basic tactical "trick" for anything, and usually can't calculate even one or two moves ahead.

I remember when I first started playing chess. The players at the chess club that I joined informed me that I was "pretty good" but that I had to "learn openings". I followed the recommendation of these experienced sages and bought and thoroughly studied "Modern Chess Openings - 10th Edition", and my rating plummeted 300 points. That's what I rightfully got for taking the advice of a bunch of D, C, and B players. I would recommend that you not do likewise.

JackieMatra

Ideally you should play the opening of a game just the same as you play the rest of the game. Use your own head.

baddogno

I'm with Jackie on this one, and MCO would probably be about the worst book in the world for anyone to study.  Tactics are critical; until you increase your board vision to the point that you're not dropping pieces and missing obvious opportunities to better your position, you don't need much else.  You do need opening principles though or you'll get killed on the board and the free CM courses that I recommended cover those as well as basic strategy.

All beginners seem to think opening study is the key to their progress because it comes at the beginning, right?  The problem is that your opponents at this level won't stick to book and after a few moves your memorized theory won't do you any good.  OTOH if you should choose to ignore our advice, at least get an opening book that explains the ideas behind openings and doesn't just give you lines to memorize.  Paul van der Sterren's Fundamental Chess Openings is pretty much the gold standard for one volume opening encyclopedias because of his robust explanations.  He'll sometimes take a paragraph or more to explain one move.  It should EVENTUALLY make it's way to your book shelf, but probably not now.  Go tactics, go!

JackieMatra

In 1970, MCO-10 really was the best opening book in existence, in any language, too.

baddogno

Yes, in it's time MCO was a Godsend.  Alas it's time has passed as it has been supplanted by databases on one hand and a newer class of opening encyclopedias like FCO and Chess Opening Essentials that actually explain the logic and history of opening theory.  

JackieMatra

Basic Opening Principles in a Nutshell

Play sensible moves.

Does your move contribute something to getting your pieces into more active positions then they are at the start of the game, does it contribute something to your control of the central squares, does it not waste time, does it keep your king safe or make it safer, does it not blunder material or get mated, and does it not overlook a mate or win of material? If so, then it's a good opening move, (and very likely a good move, period).

JackieMatra
baddogno schreef:

 

You do need opening principles though or you'll get killed on the board

The "principles" that I gave above should suffice.

Here are three examples of tactics being much more important, even in the opening of a game. All three are the openings of games played by Kenneth Regan, a remarkably good young tactician and calculator, in the 1970s, all of which he won thanks to his tactical acuity and in spite (or even possibly with the help of) his terrible openings, as he quite outcalculated his opponents in all three games.

(Real) GM William Lombardy - Kenneth Regan   1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5?

Kenneth Regan - Yours Truly   1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.b4?!

Yours Truly - Kenneth Regan   1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d5?

P.S. I'm not actually recommending any of Regan's openings above, as they all violate my previously stated "principles", but the point is that the "better player" (calculator and tactician first and strategist second) is who usually wins a game, rather than the greater "openings expert".

mohammadghanem

i appreciate your advices. thank you, both of you. im willing to do anything to be better at chess. i dont believe im going to say this, but i think chess is a way of life. its not only about a game, it teaches alot. im thankfull for your advices, thank you :)

baddogno

Glad to help.  One more resource that you may not be aware of is chess.com's own study plans (last item under Learn in the top green ribbon).  You won't be able to access all the material since you're not a premium member, but at least you'll be able to get an idea of what chess.com thinks you need to do to make progress.  Have fun!

jambyvedar2

Try to get Chess Tactics for Champion by Polgar for Tatical patterns, and Winning Chess Strategy by Seirawan.