200-600: How to QUICKLY Reach 1000+ Rating!
Note: If you want a reading list, or list of YouTube videos, just ask! : )
I have noticed that 200-600 Elo players tend to learn openings from the engine, etc. and then blunder checkmate/the middlegame, never entering endgame, and never gaining Elo. They lack the fundamentals of the game, and the ability to think ahead for themselves in unknown positions, both tactically and positionally.
The general advice is to train tactics until at least 2000 Elo. Studying opening is not needed until 2200+ beyond the basics. You just need to know the Ruy Lopez and opening Chess principles. Knowing an opening 15 moves deep and nothing else will lead exactly to what we keep seeing: fatal blunders and a loss in the middlegame.
If you want to jump to 1000 or even 1200 Elo, this is for you. Do not use engines; you're not good enough to understand their move choices, and they are taking away from your human game, which is exactly what is required to have a playing strength and understanding of 1000+.
Step 1: Watch Yasser's videos on the fundamentals of the game. Ben Finegold also has some good lectures and videos for beginners, dating back about 10 years. If videos aren't your thing, then I suggest finding a book on beginner Chess.
Step 2: Train tactics on Lichess (or Chess dot com if possible), and in video format if you want (lots of YouTube lectures are fun and offer a few puzzles and tactics if you pause the video and try to find them). However, lectures are slower. In fact, if you can read at normal pace, lectures are even slower than Chess books.
Step 3: Play many games with slow-ish Rapid time control, to give yourself time to think about each move.
Step 4: Train tactics more seriously each day if possible, and keep playing games. You might want to speed up the games a bit, too. More games are better, but not Bullet. You need time to actually think about what you're doing, and understand why you're doing it.
Some of you will break 1000 Elo in weeks of seriously studying, others in a year of just playing for fun but in a more solid manner, with a foundational understanding of the game. It all depends on how much time you put into it, the cleverness of the routine, and yourself as a Chess player. There is no real right or wrong answer or situation here. The only important thing is growth.
If you're still not growing but want to, you'll have to enforce a serious study plan, and review your mistakes, and record everything. This requires time and mental effort, almost like being at school. It won't be needed for most of you, though, unless you want to, of course.
Three other words of wisdom: (1) don't worry about your Chess style or copying other players. Just find the best moves you can; (2) big loses should be studied to see where you went wrong, and what you could have done to stop it; and (3) don't worry about win rate or Elo at this stage.
I want to add a note to the latter item: when you're low-rated (likely, below 1200 or even 1300), you don't want to focus on anything other than improving your playing strength and understanding. When your Elo climbs, it's more in line with your playing strength, but when your Elo is low, it's largely -- sometimes, wholly -- unrelated to your strength and your potential strength, more importantly.
Exact pieces of advice/lessons:
Lesson #1: Avoid 1-move blunders. Look at all legal moves. When you no longer need to check every legal move, check all reasonable moves. You're learning to avoid the biggest problem for low-rated players: one-move blunders. There are many types of serious blunders, including hanging a piece, missing checkmate instantly in the middlegame, missing a powerful forced line, and making such a bad move that your opponent ultimately wins. You can only solve this issue by studying tactics and patterns, and being very mindful on every turn. It annoyingly requires extra time, but soon, it'll be second nature, and you won't have to think about it as much. In other words, you might consider this the 'think 1 move ahead' rule, where you're simply trying to play non-blundering or fairly sound moves.
Lesson #2: Think 2 moves ahead. Lots of beginners make the mistake of either thinking only 1 move ahead, or trying to think 5 moves ahead. You need to slowly build up Chess ability and knowledge. And you need to avoid instantly blundering and losing. Thinking 2 moves ahead is a good way to do that in most games/positions. This is very important, and can be viewed as a kind of 'avoid 2-move blunders' rule. The problem is, once all your pieces are nice and safe, it only takes 2 moves for that to completely change.
Lesson #3: Study foundational tactics and patterns. Most importantly, I'm thinking of understanding fork problems, keeping your rooks apart so that a knight can never fork them if this is ever possible after a line in the position (it's a good idea, anyway, unless you have a clear reason to keep them at fork distance). The other is backrank checkmate. Always make luft for your king before the endgame by moving one of the King pawns (often A/H). You need to get to a place where you never make these sorts of tactical and positional blunders. You don't need to work many hours a day on this. You need to get it through your head. I suggest reviewing such puzzles, and also checking in your games. Make sure that backrank checkmate is never a possibility. The moment you have a chance to lose a tempo, create luft for the king. The other key patterns to look out for are whenever you could be pinned and lose a piece, or whenever you could be skewered, and be down the exchange, most notably. That means, for example, a bishop is attacking your queen and your rook behind it, or your two rooks. Same with the fork issue: if you be mindful of the position, and make sure they are never lined up like that, you will never fall into such tricks. This applies most of all whenever you don't have a good counter-attack or zwischenzug (in between) move which resolves the issue, or whenever the position is open, and you cannot block anything with pawns.
Lesson #4: Study endgames, and how to actually checkmate your opponent. Nothing complex or deep, just the very basics for now. You need to know if you're better in the endgame or not, which pieces are ideal, and how to force the primary types of checkmates.
Lesson #5: Study pawn structure and relative piece value. Again, just the basics. What you want here is to understand what good pawns are, where to move your pawns, and to avoid moving pawns unless you have to; and to understand that you often want to keep the bishop pair, and keep the queens if possible, as this is your great attacking piece. You also rarely want to exchange a minor piece (knight or bishop) for a major piece (rook or queen). Some beginners also are worried about losing pawns or having their structure ruined with doubled pawns. The truth is far more complex than that. Don't worry about it too much. If you can still win or hold a draw, or hope your opponent makes a mistake, then keep pushing. It's sometimes true that a pawn is only worth about 0.8 points and that a bishop pair is better than ruining your opponent's pawns (likely at least 0.3 points better, sometimes even more). Primarily, however, you must understand that the rules for Grandmasters are not the same rules for beginners. Pieces are worth different things based on how strong the defence is, and how well you can actually use the pieces.
Lesson #6: To take is a mistake, and to trade is a mistake. Ideally, you want as many attacking pieces as possible, even towards the endgame. You should only take pawns or trade mistakes whenever it clearly benefits you. However, in complex and dynamic positions, with both kings under attack and/or many pawn breaks, it's better to simplify the position. But the main issue is -- will the simplified position be a clear win for your opponent or not? This is one of the more important and difficult lessons to learn.
As a general rule, we might be inspired by Larry Kaufman, and say that you should somewhat overvalue everything, as beginners. And as you climb closer to 1000 Elo, you should start thinking 3 moves ahead for pretty much every single move. See below for piece values for below 1000 Elo.
Pawn - 1 (0.8 in the opening and 1.5 in the endgame)
Knight - 3.5
Bishop - 3.5
Rook - 5
Queen - 10
This does not perfectly line up with either engines or Grandmasters, but it's a good idea for beginners. Most importantly: keep your queen to help with checkmating if possible, and don't overvalue pawns in the opening, to the point where you might lose a piece or be simply far worse in the position. It's only to lose a pawn or two if you can create a checkmate with your pieces in the middlegame. That's why training the basics and tactics is vital. On the other hand, in the endgame, you should try to have more pawns than your opponent, and at least two attacking pieces if possible. This will force you to win most games if you have a decent understanding of the endgame. Sometimes, your opponent will simply resign, saving you a lot of time! Endgames are maybe the longest and hardest part about Chess. There are fewer pieces on the board, but every move is vital, and there are endless good-looking options, so it's a very difficult choice, even for very strong players.
Final comment: buy a real Chess set if possible. This helps with memory and learning in general. Actually play through moves in games and tactics.
