how to improve at chess for beginners

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Coded24
I have been playing chess from few years casually but I had played for around 1 year regularly but haven't improved, my elo doesn't increase, any tips to improve for beginners?
Josh11live
Opening are useful, but don’t learn too much or else it’s just time wasted. You should learn 1 opening for each response of the opponent which are most common and the openings that are not common just develop and don’t be greedy. But openings are not what’s needed to progress alot only GMs need openings to progress and no one here is a Gm that I know. You need to know the middlegame strats or else you lose every game. What you need to practice are positional play, attacking, defending, and weak squares, and tactics. Positional play is where you make your opponent have bad pieces by putting your pieces on your opponent’s position or choking them with no space to move their pieces, and attacking are pawn storms and sacrifices, defensive play is defensive, and tactics which are from puzzles. You need to also practice your endgames by putting it on an analysis board and practice and see how it’s done or search endgames online with “endgames 101”. My recommendation of channels on youtube are “Remote chess accademy” and “chess vibes” to get you tips for 1800.
SKYE_2025

https://www.chess.com/article/view/principles-of-chess

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening

https://www.chess.com/terms/chess-strategy

HeckinSprout

I can do more of a deep dive later. But if you are serious about improving, I'd recommend stop playing blitz and bullet. You aren't going to learn anything. I know plenty of people who actually get worse after falling down the blitz rabbit hole and playing hundreds of games of it. You will pick up bad habits. To improve, play rapid time controls, or longer, and study all of your games.

badger_song

Common, bro, put some effort in.

LieutenantFrankColumbo
Coded24 wrote:
I have been playing chess from few years casually but I had played for around 1 year regularly but haven't improved, my elo doesn't increase, any tips to improve for beginners?

The usual problems. All you play is speed chess. You dont give yourself time to think.

HeckinSprout

I looked through some of your games more closely. You play the wayward queen attack in many. You need to stop playing it. Bringing your queen out on move 2 might occasionally work against a 400-500 elo opponent, but it will not work against higher elo. And if you stick with it, you will not be able to improve. Get developed, castle, and blunder check before each move - checking to make sure you don't have hanging pieces but also seeing if your opponent has hung a piece that you can grab. Once up in material, your middle game plan should be looking for equal trades and trading down into a winning end game.

LieutenantFrankColumbo

The only thing you need to know about openings for now:

Opening Principles:
1. Develop your pieces.
2. Castle.
3. Connect your rooks.
Premature attacks are a very common mistake before completing the opening principles.
Pawn moves are only good if they help develop your pieces.

How To Calculate:

You should try and find attacking moves first.
Attacking moves force the opponent to go back and defend.
Calculate forcing lines first.
Checks.
Captures.
Threats.
Use Principle of maximum activity, piece activity and attack.
Maintain the tension.
At the end of each forcing line, we need to evaluate and remember the final position. Then decide which line is best.

How to find attacking moves:
Dived the board in 2 and find any piece move that goes onto the opponents side of the board that takes or attacks something.
Usually there are just 1-2 possibilities.
If you cannot attack:
You need to increase the activity of your pieces or decrease you opponents activity.
Principle of Neutralization:
If the opponent has a piece on your side of the board you should attack it, exchange it or force it to move back.
Calculate all forcing lines even in they look bad.
After your opponents move, You need to ask yourself: “What is my opponent trying to do?”