Best supplements to effective learning?

I know that whenever you want to learn something, the number one most important part of learning is by doing. So obviously I've gotta play a lot of chess to get better at chess. I also know that effective learning is accompanied by supplementary material and study, similarly to how strength training has to be supplemented by diet, rest and knowledge if you want to maximize muscle growth.

So, I'm kind of just looking for guidance how to supplement chess playing in order to maximize how much I learn from each game. I'm hoping puzzles are a good way because I love doing them, but I'm looking for more study material and I'm a little torn between all the options. Just here on chess.com's learn tab there's Chess.com video lessons (have watched the basics already), analysis, chessable courses, aimchess training, insights, classroom, opening studies, endgame studies and a practice mode.

It doesn't feel feasible to be doing all of these at the same time, and I have no idea which are appropriate at this point in time and which will suit my beginner skill level the best. I know chess playing is the main strength training, now I'm looking for some help to figure out the best way to supplement it to maximize my brain gains.

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"the number one most important part of learning is by doing" ++ Yes.

"I've gotta play a lot of chess to get better at chess." ++ And analyse your losses.

"supplementary material and study" ++ Annotated grandmaster games and endgames

"maximize how much I learn from each game" ++ Analyse your losses.

"puzzles are a good way" ++ Puzzles are overrated.

"video lessons" ++ Passive learning, no good.

"analysis" ++ Analysis of lost games is key. Each loss is a lesson. Take it.

"opening studies" ++ A bottomless waste of time and effort.

"endgame studies" ++ Important.

"which will suit my beginner skill level" ++ Blunder checking before moving.

I work with education, so I do know a lot about effective learning and retention, and generally passive lectures are indeed the worst way of learning. It's all a bit relative to how it's done though. Lessons can also be very active if done right, so I'm not going to entirely write off video lessons. They did teach me the basic rules, after all!
But thanks for the reply, very valuable information!

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

Yeah, for sure! That's kind of what I wanted to achieve by asking this question, to just filter out a lot of stuff so I'm only left with few enough supplementary things that I won't get overwhelmed.

Hi!

Interactive one-to-one lessons with a coach are the best supplement for effective learning. You will get customized content, training and feedback that will speed up your development.

If you are interested in improving your skills, you might check out my post:

 https://www.chess.com/blog/maafernan/chess-skills-development

Good luck!

I'm not sure if puzzles are as useful as the time spent completing them and I prefer to have a lot of games on the go and use the app to cycle through them instead of puzzles. I make a move and it automatically moves on to the next game which makes it feel like an endless supply of puzzles but in live rated games against opponents of a similar rating. The only difference is you don't know if you were right until much later.

I'm running an experiment of sorts by playing a lot of games and devoting a few hours every day. My reasoning is that by the time all the games are concluded I will have a win/loss ratio of about 50/50 so my rating isn't likely to change drastically but I will have the experience of playing all of those games and I'm already learning a lot. Concepts that novices are unlikely to be aware of like tempo, space and Zugswang. It's important to be thinking of a favourable endgame right from the start which is something else a novice is unlikely to do so you can turn a middlegame by something as simple as keeping a certain piece on the board knowing it will help you promote a pawn later on. Your opponent may be blissfully unaware of this which is where board vision is important. Thinking several moves ahead and how it changes the possibilities is a skill that grows with practice and I'm starting to see combinations through repetition.

Experiment and learn from your mistakes and repeat what works. I've been having good results as white when my opponent doesn't play e5 as the first move. This allows me to play f4 without risk of a check and my next move is Nf3 setting up a defence. The pawn on the F file is out the way so the rook can be activated as soon as castling is done and the bonus is how some opponents will then push their G pawn to defend their pawn on f4 blocked by my knight on f3. That's short-sighted of them if they are planning on castling kingside as they have just pushed the centre pawn. Protecting your castling side pawn structure is paramount. Set up lots of daily games ideally 3+ day games giving you plenty of thinking time and consider every move. Write down a brief checklist to follow and use it for as long as is needed to help organise your thoughts whenever you look at a chess position. Condition your brain to pick out all of the different aspects in the same way a pilot reads their instrument panel.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’ve been a respected chess coach and chess book author based in California for over 10 years. My website is www.ChessByLauren.com

From my own experience, everybody has their own learning style. I think some people learn better with a coach. Some people learn better by watching YouTube videos or reading books. Or maybe it's a combination.

I would try a new learning method and see if it works. If it works, continue! If it doesn't, then move on and try something else.

Explore Chess.com's video lessons.

What helped me was keeping it simple: play a bunch, then go back and analyze just a couple of my losses to see what I missed. I also mix in puzzles daily since they’re fun and actually stick in my head. Endgames are worth touching early too, since they pop up more than you’d think. Kind of like how I stick to one or two supplements like balkan pharma instead of everything at once—less clutter, more focus.

I agree with most of this post, but I'll add that video lessons can be helpful. It's just passive learning when you don't make it interactive yourself.

Also, opening study isn't a waste of time; it's just that there are other areas of chess which tends to be better use of your study time because chess opening principles is good enough for the opening stage for most; this blog post of mine shares more about that:

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

A glass of scotch and a good tactic training program is enough! if you are not of a chess family or have nothing to do with heavy study book slaves parents you need to drink before training to empty your brain from trash memories! also meanwhile you need to learn one opening by memory and to stay there until you become tough at tactics just not to be deluded!

Yes, this is a good attitude. However, there are a couple of points that are very important:

1. The WAY you are reviewing your games. The vast majority prefer the easy way: resorting to the auto game analysis, or getting the pgn and firing an engine at their computer. This is wrong, because passive learning does not work (partially, or at all) for the big majority of chessplayers. Analysing them by your own before using external aid is essential.

2. Marking your mistakes is necessary, but it is not guaranteed that you won't repeat them. Rather the opposite- we are creatures of habit, and we will very likely repeat the same mistakes. Here it is imperative to be able to act proactively during the game, and prevent your bad habit dominating your play.

Probably not the best way to become a Grandmaster, but a sure shot if you want to become an alcoholic. Making the glasses a triple would surely speed up your learning routine.