need help getting better

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Wukaszz

I am 13 years old and wanting to get better at chess, my rating goes up and down between 500-800, i make really big mistakes in game. Any tips?

snoozyman

I went and looked at your last 2 recent games and on both games you blundered your queen twice. Here's some quick advice for players in your rating:

 

  • Try not to move your queen too early in the game, because your opponent is going to bully your queen and you might lose your queen. In this example, black tricked white and captured queen.
 
  • Develop your pieces by activating the bishops and the knights, then try to castle, and finally try to connect your rooks. 
 
 
 
  • Before you capture your opponent's pieces ask yourself "Is it safe to capture this piece?" If not, do not capture it. In this example, white took a pawn but lost his knight.

 

 

 

  • Ask yourself, is this a safe square to move to? If not, do not move your piece there. In this example, white bishop moved to an open square protected by black queen and lost bishop.

 

  • Make sure your pieces are protected. That means, if your opponent captures your pieces, you can capture them back. If your opponent is attacking your piece TWICE you must protect it TWICE. If you don't protect your pieces, your opponent will capture it for free. In this example, knight moves to unsafe spot because bishop captures knight and if bishop captures bishop queen captures bishop and nothing can capture the black queen. Black wins the exchange because black captured 2 pieces and white only captured 1 piece.

 

In summary:

1. Don't move queen too early

2. Develop your pieces

3. Don't capture unless it's safe

4. Don't move to unsafe squares

5. Protect your pieces

nklristic

https://www.chess.com/blog/nklristic/the-beginners-tale-first-steps-to-chess-improvement

Here are some general tips on how to improve.

Marvin-The-Assasin

solve puzzles and study the solutions

MarkGrubb

I mainly study from books so will make two recommendations. Chess Tactics for Students by Bain and Logical Chess by Chernev (try and find an algebraic edition). Logical Chess is a collection of GM games selected and annotated to teach basic principles. Play through each game a few times, note down some ideas or take home points and try them in your own games. For you tube, try John Bartholomew's Chess Fundamental Series. I found it very helpful in signposting the sort of stuff a beginner should be thinking about and working on.