The best study material at your level is surely enough well annotated classical games. Plenty of sources for them.
Advice needed from good players.
Ok, thanks very good advice. I have nobody to teach me. And am low on cash, so I am doing what I can. I can tell that after doing tactics for a week my daily rating has gone up. I just usually play unstandardized oppenungs. Is that ok??
I can help!! I am a good teacher. Talk in my notes about it
I look at some games played by pros and have no idea what to do. If someone could point out what is wrong with my oppenings that would help. I have no probs with mates. I can cmate quickly. But my midgames and oppenings are a big problem I believe.
I look at some games played by pros and have no idea what to do. If someone could point out what is wrong with my oppenings that would help. I have no probs with mates. I can cmate quickly. But my midgames and oppenings are a big problem I believe.
I am good at openings but bad on endings... so want to help each other?
if you think you're going to lose just try and make your opponent's king fall over. Technically, they have to resign. Works every time. ![]()
I just usually play unstandardized oppenungs. Is that ok??
Ideally you play either 1.e4 or 1.d4 as white and go for a classical opening
As black 1.e4 e5 and 1.d4 d5. Spanish and queen's gambit declined.
It doesn't matter that you don't know all the variations. I don't either and I've played them for years. In classical openings it's easy to guess reasonable moves, but you do need experience. Play a lot and look at a lot of GM games. You don't have to understand every move a GM makes. Play over 1 or 2 games a day, really painless, but over time it builds up. You can do this for free e.g. www.chessgames.com
By the way these are not only beginner openings, they're played all the time at the highest level, including world championship matches.
Are classical openings the only way? Of course not, but nonstandard stuff tends to be one dimensional or only playing for gimmicks and traps. You'll be playing the same thing over and over. Classical openings will give you experience in lots of different types of positions... even better, because they're classical they're easier to understand (control the center with pawns, centralize your pieces, castle, play a pawn break to open lines, infiltrate to attack their king and/or weak pawns).
I look at some games played by pros and have no idea what to do.
Imagine trying to be good at a sport, or musical instrument, or some craft but you've never seen a professional play or preform. Pretty silly right?
Chess definitely feels more confusing than listening to a world class pianist, but over time your brain absorbs chess stuff. I don't understand every move a GM makes either. That's not the point. Just play over a game or two a day. A month later, a year later, you'll be glad you did.
If a game is really frustrating, just think of the basics. Ask yourself which area of the board did white (or black) play on? (queenside, center, or kingside). And how did they do it? (pawns or pieces?) Why did they pick that area? (usually because they had more space, more pieces, and/or opponent had weaknesses). In other words even if the individual moves are confusing you can understand the general flow of the game.
Every game that you feel had something interesting or instructive bookmark it to go over again later. For example maybe Alekhine attacks the enemy king but the attack is totally confusing. Ok, but once you've saved 50 games like that, you can spend a month going over 2 games a day from your 50 attacking game collection. At first it will still be confusing, but suddenly you'll start noticing recurring themes and ideas.
You can also post games and ask questions on chess.com's analysis forum to get ideas from other players.
Ok also good advice. But I need to improve in rapid in a few months for the NSPCL so I need to work on rapid for some time.
I assume your tournament will be on a real board.
So be sure to do some training on a real board, at least a little every day, because if you only look at the computer screen it will be disorienting to suddenly play on a real board the day of the tournament.
Google search for themed tactic puzzles (pin, fork, discovered attack, removing the defender)
And if you can't solve it off the screen in 30 seconds or less, set it up on your board and solve it from there.
Go over a few games a day on a board (not on your computer screen). Pause at interesting moments and do your own calculation. After that move the pieces to check if you were visualizing clearly.
If you watch videos online, do the same thing. Pause the video at interesting moments.
Some people said not to play online, but I disagree. I think live games are important. Rapid and even blitz games with longer time controls (like 10 minutes). Don't play blitz all day, but I think it's important to play at least 1 game a day if you're trying to improve. If that game's time control is 10 / 0 then that's fine.
Daily games are more like study than play. In a tournament game you're under the pressure of the clock and sometimes you have to make simple moves quickly.
But of course I agree that in general blitz is not good for improvement (and bullet is just completely silly).
I prefer Kings pawn oppenings. And yes the tournament will be over the board. I play over the board here and there. I play better over the board of course.
But I would like it if some of you look at my blitz games. And tell me what you thibk. I need some things that will help me but that do not take too long.
Here's a link to the most famous game of chess ever played
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1233404
Here's a link to the opening principals
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening
In these four games you completed development on move 20, 18, 17, and 19 which is very late. You need to do this faster.
Completing development means getting all your minor pieces (bishops and knights) off the back rank, castling, and moving the queen (usually not far from her starting square) so that your rooks are connected on the back rank. Once that happens development is complete and then you can start trying to win the game by attacking your opponent.
In some grandmaster openings and attacks happen early, but in these cases development simply becomes a tactical process instead of a mundane positional one. For example when there is a choice in defensive moves, the players will choose the one that help development the most. When they attack it's to disrupt the opponent's ideal development. At your level just focus on the opening principals (linked above).
Ok, thanks very good advice. I have nobody to teach me. And am low on cash, so I am doing what I can. I can tell that after doing tactics for a week my daily rating has gone up. I just usually play unstandardized oppenungs. Is that ok??
Reread what i have under #5