Most Important Fundamentals for Beginners

I'm looking to see what you think are the most important fundamentals for players of any level (looking for 3-5 max).

I am only two weeks into the game and I'm really enjoying it. One of my goals for 2021 is to improve my rating to 1200.

I'm just starting to put together a learning plan for myself to improve, but I like to approach learning things in a specific way each time:

I try to find the most important fundamentals of whatever I'm learning and practice them so much that they become muscle memory, or rather that they don't require as much energy to perform.

Then I like to find the most difficult parts of whatever I'm learning, break them down into chunks, and drill those chunks repeatedly to improve the overall level of whatever I'm learning more quickly.

So, all that said, what do you think are the most important fundamentals for any chess player?

I am curious as to what your learning plan is?

The plan so far is to develop really strong fundamentals and then start stacking skills on top of them. For example, rather than memorizing openings or end games, I feel I'll progress more quickly in the early stages by learning how pieces cooperate and work well together first. So by learning how pieces cooperate first (fundamentals), it will make subsequent skills / tactics / strategies easier to stack and more effective as I play against progressively better players. I'm probably overthinking. But I just want to know what everyone thinks the most basic building blocks of good players are so I can try to develop a solid foundation before jumping (too) head first into the dizzying amount of information out there.

Beginners Advice.

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.

3. 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”.
4. Double Check your moves.  Before making a move, ask yourself: "Are my pieces safe?"
5. After your opponent moves, ask yourself: "What is my opponent trying to do?"
6. Analyze your games WITHOUT a chess engine, then have someone stronger go over the games, or post them online for review.
7. DO NOT memorize openings. Learn and understand the pawn structure, and piece placement for the opening you wish to learn.
8. Learn Basics Mates:

• K vs. KQ
• K vs. KR
• K vs. KRR

9. Learn Basic King and Pawn endings.

• KP vs. K
• Opposition

10. Have Fun!

Opening Principles:

1. Control the center squares – d4-e4-d5-e5.
2. Develop your minor pieces toward the center – piece activity is the key. Centralized piece control more squares.
3. (King Safety)
4. Connect your rooks. There should be no pieces between your Rooks.

The objective of development is about improving the value of your pieces by increasing the importance of their roles (Piece Activity).  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 move: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) 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?"

Thanks so much for all the info. This seems basic enough to develop some really strong skills before getting into more technical things.

For me, an all-protein diet is essential.

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

You will suffer as long as you have weak board vision and are unaware of possible tactics which is why training with tactics puzzles are so important. You should do puzzles as least an hour a day if you want to improve, but any amount of time will help.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I've started digging into some of the resources mentioned above.

I've also started doing as many puzzles as possible, as that seems to be a common suggestion. 

Some good advice. Think I will try some of these.

Tarrasch and Capablanca both advised beginners to start with endgame study. With just a few pieces on the board it is easier to see how the different pieces can be used most effectively, and you can work out the problems to a solution with just a little time and thought. Do not look for the most difficult problems, just see how to handle common positions, especially king+pawn and rook endings. After seeing how to effectively use the different pieces, try some tactical puzzles--again, not famously-difficult posers but ones more likely to occur in real games. Almost every beginners chess book will explain the basic opening principles, and you can choose a couple openings to learn a bit about so you're not caught in traps right out of the box. Finally, be prepared to lose a lot of games as you become more proficient.

A rating of 1200 or more within one year should be a perfectly feasible goal, if you are willing to put in the effort.

"putting in the effort" here means: "Can i play nothing but speed chess, eat some magic beans, and become a GM?"

Ha ha!