Chess school forum

What to do to study/improve at chess.

First things are opening which guide you through both the opening and the midgame because your plan from the opening goes in connection to the midgame. Next is the midgame where the game is mostly decided at where maybe endgames take 2nd place in where most games are decided at. In the midgame you need to learn about these things in order of most important to least important(this is my opinion on the order so share ideas if you think this could change or things I could add). Stop blundering pieces/tactics, positional play, attacking play, and defensive play. Stop making mistakes is the 1st one and a way to reliably stop making these mistakes are removing/trading off anything that can punish you for a mistake and do puzzles everyday, and 2nd is positional play with correct positioning of the pieces, choking your opponent of space, weak squares and controlling them, and putting pieces to the most forward squares available and 3rd is attacking with, pawn storms, bring the pieces into the attack, and sacrifices and 4th defensive play is where you trade off the attackers, counter attack, and keep a steady pawn structure around the king. Endgames are the finals where some games are decided and the games you should mostly study are Rook endgames and pawn endgames, but you should also spend some time into other endgames. 

If you have any particular question/s then feel free to ask here and we can help you in your chess journey and please make sure that you don’t ask questions that are not related to chess learning/about chess here.

I’m also at 1200

But thx 🙏

You’re welcome.

Here are some things to get you started or ready with endgames. With rook endgames protect your 2nd rank because if the opposing rook infiltrates there then most of your pawns are going to get targeted there and you may lose some of them and check to see if you can infiltrate on the 2nd rank from your opponent’s perspective to attack a bunch of pawn and remember to take control of the open file and always remember to bring the king to pawn weaknesses and practice the Lucena and Philidor’s position in rook endgames. For pawn endgames you should bring your king to the weak pawns of your opponent’s perspective meaning doubled, tripled, isolated pawns are targets. For Queen endgames you should protect your king while at the same time bring it to an active position and if you are winning the queen endgames watch out for perpetual check from the opposing queen. In a N vs B scenario and you are in the side with the knight you should put all your pawns on the opposite color of the bishop and don’t put your pawns on the color of the bishop and if you can’t do that then protect them or if you can sacrifice them to promote and if you are in the side with the bishop try to block the opposing knight with pawns or bishop and limit it’s movement and once again the king is important here. In a different colored bishops against each other endgame you should put your pawns on the opposite color of the opposing bishop and the king will be used here again. In an endgame with same colored bishops the thing to do here I think you can guess, putting your pawns on the opposite color of the opposing bishop , but now it is more drawish and then what happens next is if either one of you will lose on time or agree on a draw and remember the king. If you need more detail on the things I talked about check the youtube channels “Remote chess academy” and “chess vibes” on to youtube.

Key imbalances and how to adjust your strategy according to them. Imbalances are when one side has something the other does not, but with the things the sides have that the other does not is equal in evaluation against each other like Q vs 3 minor pieces, R vs 2 minor pieces, pawn structure, B vs N, and more. Imbalances will count also if there are other pieces on the board like if there is a R+B vs R+N then it is a B vs N scenario and this is included for all imbalances. Please note that if you hear a rule that does not mean you should always obey it, because at some point the optimal move is breaking the rule.

B vs N and N vs B: for B vs N you have to block all squares that are good for the knight to go to and possibly block the knight out of the game and for N vs B you have to put all your pawns on the opposite color of the opposing bishop and if you can’t move the pawns make sure to keep them protected.
Pawn structure: for this one you should find the opponent’s weaknesses which are pawns and find ways to attack them and at the same time defend your weaknesses or not allow your opponent to put pressure on your weaknesses. A weakness is something that can’t move, has a lot of pressure against it, and something that the opposing pieces can go to and put pressure on.
Space: For this one it is very hard to use this/understand it, but I will try. Space is where your pieces can access easily and your opponent cannot and if you have space on one side then you should focus on that side because you have the advantage there. The place where you generally have space is when you have a pawn chain going to one of the side or pawns in the center. This should be used to choke your opponent of space and attack them.
Files/squares: this rule is saying to take advantage of open files, diagonals, and weak squares. Weak squares are places your pieces can go to which are controlled by you and not by your opponent and can’t be controlled by your opponent in 2-1 move/s. If you put a rook on an open file you can infiltrate on the 7th and bishops fianchettoed are good and ones with big diagonals, but not fianchettoed are good and putting pieces(generally knights)on weak squares.
Development: some people think that when they are up in development(I am saying here that you have 3 out of 8 pieces developed and your opponent has only one pieces out) they have to “fast fast fast fast”. No, you have to wait and tactics will come after you have the whole party out and start attacking after you got majority out.
Initiative: Initiative is when you get to make a bunch of threats and that the opponent can’t pursue your own plan. Use this opportunity to develop all your pieces and create an attack.
Rules to optimize the use of the bishop and knight.

they’re values are determined by the positioning.
the bishop is better on open positions where pawns don’t block them.
A bad bishop is bad when it’s own pawns or opposing pawns are blocking it while they are in a pawn chain. The bad bishop is best traded off.
bishops are strong in the endgame when there are pawns on both sides where the bishop can snipe them from the center.
Use the the bishop pair to control both light and dark squares.
Knights are preferred in closed positions because they can jump over pawns in the closed positions.
Knights are good in the center.
Put knights on outposts. An outpost is when you have a pawn that guards a square that when your piece goes there it can stay there without interference from a pawn or a trade from a minor piece. Since a knight is best put on an outpost you should trade off everything that can trade the knight off when it goes to the outpost and then put the knight there.
knights are good in endgames where the pawns are only on one side like the pawns are only on the queenside or the kingside or the center and this is because the knight takes a long time to get from one spot to another.
Remove outposts/squares from enemy knights to prevent them from getting an outpost and remove enemy knights from their outposts without weakening another square that can also become an outpost.
Don’t make weaknesses in your position.

don’t make color weaknesses: Don’t push a pawn to a square that is the same as the other pawns and that you can’t bring your bishop to defend those same colored squares or your bishop is traded off. You can attack places that will make the opponent forced to make colored weaknesses because of a huge threat and take advantage of it after. To take advantage of it you should bring a bishop of the same color or bring the queen and if you can bring a pawn to attack the weakened colored squares.
Don’t make pawn weaknesses: don’t allow your opponent to make your pawn a backward pawn. A backward pawn is a pawn that can’t move forward because it will get taken. Also don’t allow the doubling and even worse tripling of your pawns and don’t trade so much that you can’t defend your weak pawn. For isolated pawns don’t trade or else you can’t defend it with your pieces and your opponent will attack it then win it. Trade when it makes a huge weakness/damaging of pawn structures for the opponent.
Don’t make outposts for your opponent: don’t push pawns to the point you can’t guard a square that your opponent may want to enter in with a piece or a knight and make trouble for yourself. You can also try to force opponents to weakeen squares from their control and control them and their position.

[0] (don’t skip this part. It is important to see if you like this opening) I answer why the Colle-Zukertort system is my favorite d4 opening and a d4 opening recommended by me:

This opening is my favorite d4 opening for a reason. It is a system opening which means that the move order is flexible, and it combines the attack, part of the pawn structure, and the simplicity of the London system(but it is not so simple that it will be hated by chess players), the solidity and part of the pawn structure of the stonewall, but it is not so simple that it will be hated by chess players. Chessbrah has a speedrun on this opening so check it or ask me in this forum.

[1] The theory: Colle-Zukertort:

This system follows: d4, Nc3, e3, Bd3, b3, Bb2, Nd2, and short castle, and it is usually in flexible move orders. If Black fianchettoes kingside, play Be2 instead of Bd3 and c4, Nc3 and the fianchettoed bishop on b2. if Black plays Bf5 or Bg4 you should play c4 then Qb3 to put pressure on the b3-g8 diagonal and attack the b7 pawn. You can also play h3 against Bg4 as a side line. If Black plays Nc6 or creates a bishop and queen battery on the e7-a3 diagonal respond with a3 to keep your d3 bishop safe. If they play c5, play b3 to prevent c4.

The system leads to either an aggressive middlegame, which is sharp and a tiny bit risky, or a positional c4 plan, which is simpler and solid. Most of the time at high level, your opponent will gain a lot of queenside space, so if you choose the attacking route, move quickly or else that amount of the loss of space will be the result of your downfall.

[2] Aggressive Style: Colle-Zukertort:

After development, play Ne5 to open your queen’s path supported by the d4 pawn and b2 bishop and play f4 after to ready a rook lift and I will leave you here because the position get too complicated to explain. I will explain this part. If Black plays Nxe5, recapture with either pawn to remove the f6 knight, making way for Qh5. If they ever move the f6 knight that’s your clue to attack (if you're ready with the pieces). One way is to open the long diagonal for the b2 bishop by trading your e4 pawn and e5 knight to activate the b2 bishop and another way is to do it is to do a rook lift or to bring the queen out. If Ne5 isn't safe, you can either rely on the c4/positional plan or even sacrifice the pawn(I will leave you alone for this line)for activity.

[3] Positional Style: Colle-Zukertort:

Now let’s shift to the positional style by focusing on pawn structure instead of pieces. After development and the c4 Nf3 Bb2 and Be2 line, after c4 make sure to remember Rc1 to take control of the c file. If your opponent trades the c and d pawns, you’ll likely end up with c4 and d4 pawns, which can become passed pawns with either d5 or c5 which is a strong endgame asset. Even early in the game, the endgame matters. You can also play a4, a5 to try to trade off the isolated pawn and the c pawn is now passed. If your opponent doesn’t trade on the sauares c4–b5, you can slowly shift into an aggressive setup. But if they do trade, you can simplify and aim for a favorable endgame with passed pawns on the b and c files. make sure you understand the plans before playing the opening. If you want to play a more flexible line then play c3 to defend the d4 pawn then decide if you want to play e4 or c4 and remember to put rooks on the file you will open. If you go for e4 be careful of your d4 pawn getting loose, so I don’t recommend e4 immediately before c3. Once again please ask any questions if you have and check the speedrun of chessbrah about this opening.

Table of contexts:

What you will learn in this game.
The opening.
When you should do a pawn storm and what I thought about it during a game.
When you initiate your pawn storm.
How to attack with or without hook pawns.
what to do after a pawn storm.
how to defend against a pawn storm.
Why I captured on g6 with 19. fxg6.
The switch sides attack.
The maintenance of the pressure.
The end of the chaos.
The tactic explained.
Endgame explained.

What you will learn in this game: You will learn how to attack with a pawn storm and how to defend against a pawn storm.
The opening: I played the King’s Indian defense/KID which I usually play against d4. On move 8. c6 I played that to defend my pawn against the queen on f3 and since I know that you might know that a bishop is better than a knight I will explain why I did the trade. 1. Because it’s theory. And 2. Because the f3 knight defends the e5 square and also I want to put my pawn on e5.
When you should do a pawn storm and what I thought about it: 9. O-O-O was the time I thought this game could be instructive for teaching and exiting because of the attack that happens.
When you initiate your pawn storm: 10. a5! The start of my attack. If you know the pattern you will immediately see moves 11-13 from black’s side because with Qc7 you want to defend the pawn and you push to attack. 13. Ne2 looks smart until you realize that you will lose the tempo anyways. 
How to attack with or without hook pawns in a pawn storm: After moves 11-13 I saw a4 then b3 supported by a pawn. If your opponent has no hook pawns(search hook pawns up) then you need to do the setup I am doing. The reason why I choose b3 and not a3 is because b3 forks 2 pawn which forces a trade and removes the pawn from the file unblocking the file and I was planning to do Rfb8, but sadly I couldn’t so because my opponent made a hook pawn. When you see a hook pawn you should attack it with a pawn which forces a trade once again and if they push(I know they can’t, but let’s just say they could) we would try to attack the weakness and open up the file that way.
what to do after a pawn storm: You need to attack the pawns of the opposing king with your new gained help from the rooks you got and use the rooks to the best of their ability and start attack the pawns of their position and pressuring all the weaknesses of their position.
How to defend against a pawn storm: If your opponent has noticed I have not been taking the h6 pawn. It is because if I did the g file would open and no one wants that. 21. Nh5 blocks the h file and a way white could have removed my knight was with their knight and trade it off.
Why I captured on g6 with 19. fxg6: I did it because the f file opened which is normally bad, but I have my own rook so it’s not that bad and I opened the file for my rook and not just their’s. You can see this happen on move 22. Rxf2.
The switch sides attack: I was attacking with the rook on f2 so I needed to find more power there so I took with 23. cxd4 and opened up my queen which could join the attack and defend my king.
The maintenance of the pressure: I did 25. Rf8 to support the rook on f2 and if I took then my attack would have been weakened.
The end of the chaos: On move 28. Qf5+ is where the queen trade happens, ending the chaos because I didn’t like the opposing queen on my territory, but still getting the pressure on my opponent with the rook which gave me material.
The tactic explained: moves 30-32. The pin on the knight was not enough to give me material in perfect play because it is not actually pinned because the rook behind is protected. Here are the other moves explained. 30. Kb2 is a mistake because now there is a pin and you can see how I punished it on moves 30-32. If any other move other than a knight or king move that does not blunder the knight is chosen then Bh6 just removes the knight’s defense and then d5. If instead of Bxd5 we see Bd3 then Nf4 wins because if you defend with the rook you will have to defend while my king goes up the board and I win.
Endgame explained: We were both low on time and I played 37. e6 because I want to trade, and I didn’t know what to do. Move 40. Rd2 states to put the rook behind the passed pawn. I was scared of there being a pawn on the b or a files so I kept watch of it. I prioritized it and if white attacked my bishop then h6 will work. When I did I 50. Kc5 I immediately saw Rc1+ afterwards and I was scared of it, but then I thought it would become a trade of passed pawns and then my h pawn would win because my f pawn would stop white’s rook and mine would stop their passed pawn, but it ended early.

Explanation: In the opening the French is what I usually play and this is what I played as black is a system that can be played against basically everything. You have to remember the c6 move to protect your pawn and the rest of the opening moves are where the pieces should be placed. 14. c4 was an explosive move trying to open up the board(did you see what I did there c4 the bomb), but my opponent with the white pieces didn’t realize that when I took the pawn their d4 pawn would be isolated so I did just that. 15. Re7 is a miss(from my perspective) because d5 was allowed and they could get rid of that isolated pawn or make it passed, but me and my opponent didn’t see that. Here in this situation(where I forgot about the isolated pawn) I should have played Nd5 so that the pawn is blocked and I can attack it later. 16. Bg3 the first big mistake giving up a pawn(my opponent is playing well for a 500). Before I played 19. Rae8 I finally remembered that Nd5 is a move, but my opponent played 20. Bc4 which ruined my plan because I would give up a pawn. 21. Nb6 is a good move because I am trying to either trade off my knight for their good bishop or put my knight on d5(I chose to trade with 23. Nxc4 because I would allow pressure on my d5 knight). In the endgame I was trying to trade everything and attack pawns to make them defend, but the 500 couldn’t last any longer and lost a pawn and lost to a fork of their king and queen, but they played well.

1. The Opening: the KID/King’s Indian Defense is what I usually play against 1. d4 and I forgot about the c5 move which I could have done than e5, but e5 is fine too.
2. The queen trade at 14. Raxd8: when my opponent did this I was happy because I could infiltrate the 2nd rank and attack a bunch of pawns.
3. The midgame plan after 16. Rab1: I played 16. Ne4 to try and trade off the dark squared bishop after g5 and try to ruin their structure and remove their bishop pair, but I failed to realize that the open file could cause problems for me in the future.
4. 21. e4, the start of my pawn related problems in this game: 21. e4 make the opposing e3 pawn stuck and can’t move and since it’s on a dark square my bishop which is also on a dark square so I could attack then, but then I realized that I couldn’t position my bishop to attack their pawns and their bishop could attack my pawns now on their color of bishop and combined with the open file I created I have many problems to deal with and even thought stockfish might say it’s equal it’s very hard to play as black.
5. 28. Be6, the start of their pawn related problems: now after the forced trade their advantage of a bishop is gone and some of their pressure is gone and my active rook has alot of threats and stockfish says it’s winning with an easy game for black.
6. the endgame: with my advantage of alot of passed pawns and my king ready to defend against their passed pawns, I have an easy game and my opponent resigned

I had the black pieces here and the opening I chose is what I usually play against d4 which is called the KID/King’s Indian Defense and the setup my opponent played challenges my opening because of the pawn storm that’s about to happen. 7. Bg4 was a mistake according to stockfish because I had Bxh6! Qxh6 Ng4 Qh4 d5! To trade queens and remove the defender of f2 which is the queen and I would win a pawn with center space with d5. 10. exf3 is a mistake in my opinion because if gxf3 then the g file is open and white can just go with the h pawn and win by opening up the whole file. Remember when you’re doing a pawn storm, remember to always try to get tempi on pieces with your pawns, not push pawns in front of your king, and always remember to remember your goal in doing a pawn storm which is to make an open file for your rook to attack the opposing king. You may think that finding 18. Rxa2+ is hard, but one way I find out is too see the circumstances of the position and see if I have to do my attack fast and if I need to do my attack fast because my opponent is also attacking, I will consider sacrifices.

Here I had black and this was a 10min game with no increment and I played against my friend a 1900 and won again and for some reason the games that I won against them are instructive because all my other games against them is just me blundering a piece, but I went all in! My opponent played the Spanish which is very complicated to play, but with my knowledge of the Spanish by study and online vids talking about white playing the Spanish I somehow remember it, but I took some stops to make sure I remember so I lost some time, but not gamechanging. Move 13 is pretty much the end of theory and the start of the middlegame and since I know white’s plan I tried to stop my opponent from playing Nf5 and considered g6, but I was too scared about weakening my king so I went with Bc8 instead. On move 15. Nh4 I remembered about the quote “if you’re opponent attacks on the side, then attack in the middle, but then after the game stockfish didn’t like it, but stockfish will always see these crazy things so I didn’t care. On move 16. d4 I didn’t care about my bishop because it’s not active and I can trade it for my opponent’s good horse. On move 20. Nc6 was played because of supporting the d4 pawn. I can’t explain 21. Kh1 other than trying to attack by bringing the rook to g1. All the moves that were before move 22 and above and some moves after move 22 that seemed useless were useless because we’re playing random move to not lose on time. On move 24. Rf1 my plan was to put my knight on f4, but didn’t see f4 and I was scared of their counter play. On move 26. Bb3 In my analysis I thought that c4 would be good, but after Bc2 white is fine. On move 30 I felt attacked and was scared of their attack and tried to defend by attacking back a amazingly coordinating my pieces in an accidental manner. 36. Bxb4 was played because of low time, but I’ll still discuss if they didn’t play it. If they didn’t sac any piece or no big blunders then the weaknesses of e4 d3 and b2 will fall because my knight is nicely placed and my pieces are good and if my knight and bishop was traded here then I probably would have lost. I also sacrificed to keep the position simple, but on move 62. Qxh3 was played in time pressure.