This is great, thank you - can you reccomend 2x Black openings that don't require a lot of theory?
@1
"What tips would you give to a beginner to improve?" ++ Analyse your lost games.
"What mistakes in learning have you made that you would not repeat?"
++ Losing time and effort on opening theory
"What, in your experience, are the best learning methods/materials you've used?"
++ Study grandmaster games.
What tips would you give to a beginner to improve?
What mistakes in learning have you made that you would not repeat?
What, in your experience, are the best learning methods/materials you've used?
1. Play a lot of rapid games and read a book on strategy plus a book on endgames. Solve a lot of puzzles.
2. I would play more rapid than blitz and bullet combined. I would ignore openings unless it's knowledge picked up from playing over annotated GM games (playing over the whole game not just the opening).
3. Books and post mortem analysis after tournament games were responsible for my periods of rapid improvement.
Play chess. That’s something I didn’t do much when I first learned chess.
What do you mean by your first tip about puzzles? Are you saying take your time on each one?
To not have a life and study 25/8
Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell
What are the books you recommend for a beginner?
This is great, thank you - can you reccomend 2x Black openings that don't require a lot of theory?
@12
"books you recommend for a beginner?"
Chess Fundamentals - Capablanca
Start your chess study with the endgame, second priority middle game combinations, third priority openings theory
To not have a life and study 25/8
I agree with most of what was written here, except I don't think watching GothamChess is necessary.
Also, analyze the games you lose and win.
I'm not 2000+ but as tips to get out "big noob etc."
First the chess game in itself has a flaw it's the playing time and according to the playing time we play the reality is not the same. If you are interested in the game in 5 minutes you understand that the advice to make Kotov's trees, before playing the move check that it is not a mistake, Silman's books I suppose, the openings don't matter just take the time to calculate the tactical variants... well, all this is more or less bad advice.
Short for 5 minutes :
a : play against opponents of your level (not too weak not too strong) .
Against human normally you don't have to touch anything it is programmed to orient you against opponents with a supposedly similar level.
Against bot on chess.com play against adaptive levels, on many chess programs you have an elo of the program against opponents controlled by artificial intelligence so good at the same level.
Then you have to take into account that bot doesn't have the same capacities as a human and therefore there is a moment when the bot level is too strong for you to progress without doing any anti-bot technique and to win with an anti-bot technique is like not having won, it's like winning with a cheat code or by exploiting an anomaly in the program.
b : tactic but not with AI method. First of all, you have to understand the tactical themes such as the double attack and why it works. If, for example, you have a book with tactical exercises, don't waste too much time with the difficult ones and concentrate on the easy, medium ones. A bit like languages or communication, maybe take the time at the beginning to understand well etc. but you have to face it, at some point you have to know how to do it other than at a snail's pace otherwise your level is always worth 0
c : Play some of the same openings, don't try to learn them, try to learn some plans and strategic ideas that go with your openings.
d : Never try to make artificial progressions like gaining time in very losing positions, play normally "not like a crook" .
For psychological reasons we can do it but it's not great.
e : Do the game review, play the position against the AI in tester mode to understand (don't look at the display of its calculated lines, just the first move telling you what the AI would have played) or to see the tactical lines.
f : Do not waste your time analyzing your positions when they are losing for you.
g : Don't sell the bear pelt until you've killed it.
h : The clothes do not make the man.
Try to make fun of the elo display, play the position, don't tell yourself for example that your opponent must be a noob so if I play that he will blunder or vice versa he must be strong so there's no point in playing this good line of attack because anyway he will refute it.
What tips would you give to a beginner to improve?
What mistakes in learning have you made that you would not repeat?
What, in your experience, are the best learning methods/materials you've used?