Beginner Tips

For the opening, try to follow opening principles.

1) basically try getting one of your pawns on E4/D4 if playing white and E5/D5 if black. If opponent allows it you can also occupy the centre with two pawns.

2) defend that central pawn and/or attack the opponent’s central pawn with your minor pieces and the other pawns you have. However be careful when moving the pawns because they can never come back. Try not to move the pawns on the side you plan on castling.

3) develop the rest of the minor pieces (knights and bishops) and try to get them on active squares. Knights usually more on the centre of the board and bishops on open diagonals. At least try not to block your bishops with your own pawn chains.

4) try to castle for king safety

5) finish development with rooks and the queen

6) you are now in the middlegame, try not to blunder so avoid hanging your pieces and always check for checkmate threats you or your opponent might have and maybe try to create a situation where you have more pieces attacking an enemy piece than they have defending it so you can take that piece and win material

7) look for tactics, avoid blunders and try to end up with a material advantage

8) if you manage to get a material advantage, carefully trade down to a winning end game but make sure you do not lose the material advantage in the process. Also watch out for opponent’s passed pawns so they don’t get to promote

9) win the endgame with a checkmate and make sure you do not stalemate it

10) analyse the game, do some tactics puzzles, watch a couple videos, take a lesson here on this site, read a book or something else

11) play another game and repeat

As black, control the center with e5. If not, play e6 (The french)

Hi Shelby,

well, as beginner I give my two cents...

The game is beginning with the opening, and the next 5 or 6 moves are very important for your game. You can read lots of tips in the beginner forum and I give you my credo  "I shall develop pieces and not pawns and I swear not to move the same chessman twice in the opening. I will try to let the horses out before the bishops celebrate a large Mass. And like the good Shepard I will ever protect my pieces. No one shall be abandoned, and I always look after them!". 

If you do so, you will  start with a good beginning in the next phase of the game. It's significant for us beginners to SEE (and not to look) on the board. Own hanging pieces? Protect them. Hanging pieces from your opponent? Beat them. Have a look at the foreign bishops, sometimes you overlook their mighty power through the diagonals. They can reach you in your own backyard...

Maybe you make a walk to your local bookshop, you find here in the forums so many suggestions for good tactic books for beginners. Even if the game starts with the opening, your first book should not be a fancy "The Bible Of The Caro-Kann-Fantasy Variants Through The Ages", possibly you have a look closer at books from Jeremy Silman or John Nunn specially for kids (not kidding, these books a much easier to understand). And: If you read a chess book, have your chessboard next to you. It's so comfortable to read and play on the board – much better than on the PC/Mac/Tablet whatever.

If you play on chess.com, never ever play bullet or blitz, people like us need more time to think about the next move. Try 30-Minute games and always make the analysis, it helps you to see blunders (mostly hanging pieces and overseen threats).

Two things that helped me to concentrate on my games. Firstly enabling then playing in focus mood - that way you don't look at your opponent's rating or how many points you'll win/lose. Next is disabling chat. Most opponents don't chat during games. Some do and are nice; others are rude and tell you to hurry up, but both types of chat can be distracting.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber who helps beginners out : 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q

Here’s some ideas to help you get better.  

-I recommend two books for you: “50 Poison Pieces”   and “Queen For A Day: The Girl’s Guide To Chess Mastery.”  Both books are available on Amazon.com.  Both books are endorsed by chess masters!  

-If you are serious about chess, I highly recommend you hiring a chess coach to help you.  

-Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side. Always as, “If I move here, where is my opponent going to move?”. Do this for every single move!  

-Play with a slow time control, such as G/30 so you have plenty of time to think before every move. 

I also offer 500 two-choice puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php

-For opening strategy, control the center and develop your knights and bishops out toward the center in the opening!  

-I’ll be happy to analyze one of your chess games for free for my YouTube channel, since I love to help beginners out.  This is a great way to improve your chess game.  

😊

For opening strategy -- invest 8 minutes of your time on this video:  Chess Basics: Opening Principles

For people new to chess, I'd recommend learning basic tactics (tons of lessons here at chess.com).  I'd also strongly recommend Peter Giannatos, Everyone's First Chess Workbook.  It's highly recommended for those rated under 1000 OTB, or 1300 on-line.  I have the book, but it's also on chessable.

https://www.chess.com/blog/KeSetoKaiba/opening-principles-again 

but post #2 in this thread was really good too

The only training you should be doing at first is tactics using repetitive cycles.