Chess is mainly pattern recognition, so naturally the more patterns you expose yourself to the better. That is one reason chess puzzles and tactics are really useful in improving a lot. Especially when first learning though, I would also focus on:
-Learning basic checkmates like Queen vs King, 2 Rooks vs King, pawn vs King etc.
-Learn opening principles: develop your pieces early, castle early if you can, control the center squares e4, e5, d4 and d5 and so on; these principles are right 99% of the time and it is easier to sense the exceptions with experience, but with lack of opening knowledge, you will rarely go wrong following the fundamentals.
-Also practice helps a lot. I wouldn't recommend faster time controls though. 10 minute games are certainly the quicker end in my opinion. Playing faster games well is easier once you have more patterns and lines known, but for now it is instructional to take your time and think about the position. Simple things like checking for blunders before you move or not dropping pieces can help a lot at the earliest levels of chess.
(I wouldn't recommend opening study or other complicated topics yet. Chess book notation is usually too boring for beginners, but some beginner books do exist).
p.s. Perhaps sometime we could play some unrated chess games and I could give you my thinking process post-game. I find this exercise beneficial for even the highest levels of chess players; even chess grandmasters often times do chess analysis with fellow players; hearing other ideas and chess thoughts helps add more patterns to your recognition and memory - which makes you more likely to find better moves in your games.
Chess is mainly pattern recognition, so naturally the more patterns you expose yourself to the better. That is one reason chess puzzles and tactics are really useful in improving a lot. Especially when first learning though, I would also focus on:
-Learning basic checkmates like Queen vs King, 2 Rooks vs King, pawn vs King etc.
-Learn opening principles: develop your pieces early, castle early if you can, control the center squares e4, e5, d4 and d5 and so on; these principles are right 99% of the time and it is easier to sense the exceptions with experience, but with lack of opening knowledge, you will rarely go wrong following the fundamentals.
-Also practice helps a lot. I wouldn't recommend faster time controls though. 10 minute games are certainly the quicker end in my opinion. Playing faster games well is easier once you have more patterns and lines known, but for now it is instructional to take your time and think about the position. Simple things like checking for blunders before you move or not dropping pieces can help a lot at the earliest levels of chess.
(I wouldn't recommend opening study or other complicated topics yet. Chess book notation is usually too boring for beginners, but some beginner books do exist).
p.s. Perhaps sometime we could play some unrated chess games and I could give you my thinking process post-game. I find this exercise beneficial for even the highest levels of chess players; even chess grandmasters often times do chess analysis with fellow players; hearing other ideas and chess thoughts helps add more patterns to your recognition and memory - which makes you more likely to find better moves in your games.