I don't study openings very much but when I read through a game, I will try to follow the variations in my head. If I get lost, I might set up a board and play through the variation to see if I can figure out why the line is considered bad.
Some people study openings by setting up two boards. Follow along the main line with both and when a variation comes up, follow it on the secondary board. When done, set it back to the original position and continue.
I play through the main line, and when I meet something new in my blitz games, I check it and add some notes
I look at the variations, picture them in my head, then get out my board and play them out. It's an easy way for me to remember them. It also helps to look how what variations of the openings can be played. This would require you to put down your book and think of new ideas by yourself which I consider to be incredibly healthy for chess players who are starting out.
Reccommend the book, "Improve Your Opening Play" by Chris Ward. It shows you most of the important openings and why they're good. The diagrams are easy to see and it even has a few exercises in it to help you develop your chess mind. Unfortunately, it does not go into the Bird, Gluk, Polish, or the "left-knight opening." But seeing as how those are rarely played, don't worry about that too much.
Also, stay away from blitz if you want to get better. It doesn't help you improve if your main focus is the amount of time on your clock. Try a 15/10 game or a 30 minute game. I do these controls all the time and I have been progressing a lot more quickly because of it. If you want to know how long I've been doing this to compare it to your time, I've been doing this since July starting at 580. Having this knowledge, I'm sure you can progress as quickly as I did, maybe even quicker if you keep working at it everyday and stay away from blitz.
Hey everone,
I have a question about your own personal ways of reading chess books. I am reading a beginners book on openings (by Yasser Seriwan) and am charting my own way. For example, he will tell you the opening to the Kings Gambit in bold (1. e4 . . . e4) but then, sometimes in brackets, or sometimes in a new paragraph, he will say ''but e4 is bad because if e4, then black plays h4, than you have to play qe2) and this sometimes will go on with ten varaiations.
For a beginner, I was wondering what you all do with that. Do you study the side comments as intensely as the ''main stuff'' or, etc. I tried to myself, but then I get so overwhlemed, or I'll forget what the actual opening is, etc. But, I have just started playing 2 months ago, so maybe this is a case of beginners anxiety.
I'm just curious to know how you all read chess books and go about studying them.
Thank you all.