Advice for a beginner needed

Has anyone got any advice that they could give someone whos new to the game?

I'm not looking for any magic pill that will make me a GM by next week, I'm just wondering if there's anything better than just "play more games" :)

Also if anyone is up for a few games of correspondance chess just let me know. 

Chess.com has study plans for beginners (and intermediates) that can be found by clicking on "learn" , then "articles", the "chess.com Help".  Not all of the resources that they mention are available unless you're a premium member, but the articles are written well enough to at least give you an idea of what you should be studying.  Most people will tell you that studying tactics is the quickest way to improve and they are probably right.  All of the forum threads are archived by the way, so if you put "beginner advice" in the search box (upper right hand corner), you will come up with dozens of previous threads and probably a couple of hundred posts.  Bound to find something worth reading in there.  Good luck.

If you can build a strong, robust chess thought process, you should see an increase in your level of play.

At the top level, starting at the moment that your opponent has made his move, you want to update your understanding of the position. Scan for created threats - look at the piece moved, and evaluate what it threatens, where it could go next, and what lines have been opened for other pieces (ask yourself if your opponent could play a free move, what would he do?). After that, identify the weaknesses created and establish how you can take advantage of them (his threat created may not need to be met if you have a bigger threat). Every move creates a weakness - the piece may be open to attack, other squares are no longer defended, or mobility may have been hindered. Scan through your potential candidate moves, shortlisting the ones that have potential to be powerful. Work through the shortlist and analyse your opponent's responses (enough moves deep) and the associated pros and cons. When you have selected and played your move, think about your plans and objectives, how to get your pieces to the postion needed, and how to ruin the plans of your opponent.

Moving down a level, to the tactical considerations, you want to pay special attention to forcing moves - mainly checks, captures, and threats (and then to look at strategic moves that increase/hinder activity, etc). By doing so, you will be in control of the game and hold the initiative to carry out your plans - whoever has the safest and most active pieces will be the one who can carry through with his threats.

With safety, there are 5 ways to make a piece safe:

- Move the piece to a safe square

-Guard the attacked piece

-Capture the attacking piece

-Block the attack

-Counterattack

To determine piece (or better yet square) safety you need to practise counting. This means you simply compare the number of attackers on a square to the number of defenders. If there are at least as many defenders as attackers, the square is safe for occupation (depending, of course on the value of the pieces and the order of which they are in). If there are more attackers, the square can be taken. Keep in mind you don't need to carry out exchanges to the end.

With every move made, update your "safety table" for the squares of importance. This is probably the most important, but most overlooked aspect of chess for novices.

Also, make sure you are familiar with general chess guidelines (eg - develop all of your pieces, rooks on open files, how to take advantage of your opponent's pawn structure with an outpost, blockading, central control, and so forth) as well as the more advanced tactical schemes (pins, forks, common mating schemes, etc). It is important to not just be familiar with these, but also to understand them so that you know how to take advantage of them, and when other principles are more important.

On Chess.com take advantage of the Chess Mentor courses, some of the beginner one's are excellent, and if you work through them you won't be wasting your time. 

Watch the videos here on pawn structure, famous games, and spend some time with the "Live Sessions" videos both for the entertainment value and to see how a strong player thinks during a game.

Use the tactics trainer. Lots of folks use the one here, but many feel that chesstempo.com is better. They only do tactics, and so they've been able to focus on that one thing. 

Play lots of slow games.

Read the articles of Dan Heisman http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/Articles.html

Do all that for about a year and you'll be a solid club player. 

Ah thanks a lot everyone, I can't say I was expecting such an in-depth response!

You can also try picking up a few chess books, preferably used if possible such as 

Common Sense in Chess by Dr Lasker

1001 Checkmates and 1001 Winning Combinations by Fred Reinfeld

The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played and Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev.

Look around for them at used bookstores, eBay and amazon for the best deals.

You should find an OTB coach that can help you.

one bit of advice is to annotate games afterwards.

join a local club. check out cleveland chess website. your nearest is elmwood.

I've been looking at the CCA website actually, but until I learn to drive I doubt that'll be an option. I'm surprised these clubs are open so late, that's some hardcore chess playing!

clubs in cleveland tend to be 7pm to 10pm weekdays.

whats preyom? its an expression i have never heard.

another one ive heard is to play with an opponent just above your own chess strength.  chess computers and programs are also useful. correspondence chess as you mentioned earlier could also be useful. playing through games. asking questions eg why did white resign ? etc

Analyze your losses. Don't find just the mistake that led to a loss, but look at every move and see if you can find better moves both for yourself and your opponent. Don't use a computer for this, but do check your analysis with either a stronger player or a computer when you're done. 

    You just need to understand how to think. It is actually not that hard.75% of the information you need to find a good move is on your opponent's move while the next 25% maybe a combination of planning or tactics.Despite what many might say nothing of these is especially hard.Chess is actually a simple game , but understanding it's simplicity is not simple and it's that what makes it look more complicated than it is.

   Message me if you want  and maybe we will have the chance to talk more about it and show you what I mean.

Russian word for the best move for a given position, discussed a lot in Soltis's Studying Chess Made Easy (he spells it priyome).

From chess.com's own study plans:

http://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-for-beginners-bringing-it-all-together2#yourowngames

Figure out why you lost, and do your best not to repeat it.

in mid game look at every move and ask your self what will happenif i do this move ? Calculate everything what your oponent can do at your move here. Watch videos at this site has good startegy videos with good explanation when to trade , good/bad bishops and other things

another bit of advice is looking for whats wrong with a move. we often over evaluate our position.  and under evaluate the opponents position. try to look for major weaknesses in a move.