HELP! How to progress efficiently as a beginner.

Just started playing chess and while I am trying to learn, there is just an over whelming amount of chess information I need to learn and I am well... overwhelmed. I want to progress and not stagnate. How should I approach this? I want to be at a steady 1400 rating. I am trying to figure out and people say do more tactics while others may say focus more on learning opening and endgame principles rather than tactics? Could one of you kind people make a step by step program for me? What I mean by that is where should I focus my learning right now as a beginner to progress the fastest? I don't want to get ahead of myself is what I mean. How should I approach learning chess seriously?

like a 1. 2. 3. list would be helpful.

Ex. 1. Openings

2. Types of tactics

3. How to avoid hanging pieces

etc... ^ That's quite vague and probably not how I should approach it but hopefully you get what I mean. Also should I be focusing on practicing tactics or should I focus on that later?

Opening Principles:

1. Control the center squares – d4-e4-d5-e5
2. Develop your minor pieces toward the center – piece activity is the key
3. Castle
4. Connect your rooks

Tactics...tactics...tactics...

The objective of development is about improving the value of your pieces by increasing the importance of their roles. Well-developed pieces have more fire-power than undeveloped pieces and they do more in helping you gain control.

Now we will look at 5 practical things you can do to help you achieve your development objective.

They are:

1. Give priority to your least active pieces.

• Which piece needs to be developed (which piece is the least active)
• Where should it go (where can its role be maximized)

2. Exchange your least active pieces for your opponent’s active pieces.
3. Restrict the development of your opponent’s pieces.
4. Neutralize your opponent’s best piece.
5. Secure strong squares for your pieces.

 

Don’t help your opponent develop.

There are 2 common mistakes whereby you will simply be helping your opponent to develop:

1. Making a weak threat that can easily be blocked
2. Making an exchange that helps your opponent to develop a piece

 

Pre Move Checklist:

1. Make sure all your pieces are safe.
2. Look for forcing moves: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) as this will force you look at, and see the entire board.
3. If there are no forcing moves, you then want to remove any of your opponent’s pieces from your side of the board.
4. If your opponent doesn’t have any of his pieces on your side of the board, then you want to improve the position of your least active piece.
5. After each move by your opponent, ask yourself: "What is my opponent trying to do?"

General Ideas.

1. Stop playing blitz, and bullet.  Play longer time controls of at least G45, or longer.  
2. Follow Opening Principles:

• Control the center.
• Develop minor pieces toward the center.
• Castle.
• Connect your rooks.

1. Study tactics...tactics...tactics.  One of my favorite quotes is this: "Until you reach Master, your first name is tactics, your middle name is tactics, and your last name is tactics”.
2. Double Check your moves.  Before making a move, ask yourself: "Are my pieces safe?"
3. After your opponent moves, ask yourself: "What is my opponent trying to do?"
4. Analyze your games WITHOUT a chess engine, then have someone stronger go over the games, or post them online for review.
5. DO NOT memorize openings. Learn and understand the pawn structure, and piece placement for the opening you wish to learn.
6. Learn Basics Mates:

• K vs. KQ
• K vs. KR
• K vs. KRR

1. Learn Basic King and Pawn endings.

• KP vs. K
• Opposition

1. Have Fun!

"there is just an over whelming amount of chess information" ++ That is right: there are more books about chess than about any other subject
"people say do more tactics" ++ Those are right, chess is 99% tactics. at lower levels and faster time controls even more.
"others may say focus more on learning opening" ++ Those are wrong, openings are least important
"and endgame principles rather than tactics" ++ Endgames are important, but less than tactics
"Could one of you kind people make a step by step program for me?"
Step 1: eliminate blunders from your play: always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it
Step 2: tactics, solve tactics puzzles until your puzzle rating exceeds your desired play rating. Solve at the same time per puzzle as you play a move
Step 3: endgames, especially rook endings as these are most common
Step 4: openings, 4.1 as black against 1 e4, 4.2 as black against 1 d4, 4.3 as white

Also do some additional practice on solving different positional chess problems. Just make sure that you really concentrate on a given problem. Dont hurry, take your time before moving a piece. After some practice you will begin to see moves and threats quicker.

If I were you I’d first focus on learning all the opening principles- YouTube/google has information on that. Learning specific openings won’t do you good you want a more universal approach right now that’ll help guide you in every game, every position. Later you will want to learn specific opening theory.

I’d learning all the tactical motifs available in chess. Again google/YouTube can assist you. Then, practice finding them in puzzles. There are plenty of available sites and books for free/cheap to do this. It’s important to solve as many puzzles as you can because 1) you train your mind to see patterns and put them to memory 2) you learn how to break positions down to solve for right moves and calculate 3) if you can’t solve positions that you know has a good idea, how do you expect to find good ideas in unknown positions?

I would use google/YouTube to learn and master the basic checkmates king and queen v king, king and rook v king, how to promote a pawn with a king against king and how to try defending against that, as well as the endgame principles of opposition, triangulation, square of the pawn, pawn majority/minority, and pass pawn.

Now I’d start using the above information to play games. Longer time control better. Daily games here are excellent, but if you play live chess nothing less than 15|10 games- you need time to think through your moves. Analyze all games you play for mistakes, try to notice trends in your mistakes and work on them. Ask others for help with this process.

That’s how I would self learn for now. Later, a coach could be a great option if you really want to learn chess. You’ll likely learn it faster and more completely with a coach, but obviously you’d have to dedicate time and finances to that unless you luck out and find a free coach. I would avoid spending a lot of money initially while you learn the basics however, including books- they often only help those already familiar with chess and some of its theory, beginners can learn a lot for free and through playing.

Have a great chess journey!

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber based in California: 

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

 

I'm glad that you want to improve your chess skills!  I love to help beginners out.  Therefore

I have tips and resources to help you improve your chess skills so you can win more games.  

-I  offer a  free beginner’s free eBook on my website, www.ChessByLauren.com in case you are interested. The book is about asking questions before each move.  

-Learn basic tactics such as the fork, discovered attack, pin, and more.  I offer interactive puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php  

-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?”

I hope that this helps.  

Now you gotta play them games... You don't even have a single game or puzzle done aon