Hi, I have only recently become involved in chess as a serious hobby, and I'm wondering if you guys/girls could give me some advice on how to grow and improve as a chess player.

I have already aquired the program Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition, and I found it to be a great help. I want to ask you guys/girls because maybe you could give me some valuable piece of information that you found really helped you improve as a chess player.

My future goals in chess are to join tournaments where I live, and expand from there. I plan on playing chess for the rest of my life so I'll take any advice you give me with gratitude and seriousness. Thanks in advance.

Play chess

Go through all the tutorials in Chessmaster

Play chess

Get a good book on tactics and another on endgames. Later on get a good book on openings and/or opening theory. Chessmaster will take care of your openings in the mean time. A quick look in the "Chess Books & Equipment" forum will show you what people like and recommend.

Play chess

Analyse your own games to find improvements. Analyse grandmaster games to see how they go about playing a game.

Did I mention play chess? Chess is like anything else, it takes practice to get good. You need to apply what you learn.

Do not hold yourself on memorization too much. Memorizing openenings can help you save some time on your clock if you ever play in a club tournament, but make sure you fully understand the move and the variations the comes with it.

try to recognize patterns in games!

Thanks to everyone for the advice, it's much appreciated.

Tactics Trainer (at least 15 minutes a day and Chess Mentor (at least half an hour a day).