Am I learning Chess in a decent manner?

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Meet_El_Presidente

I picked up chess in April 2023 and started playing games casually on various sites for about 1.5 months straight. Fast forward to early June 2023 and I decided to take a hiatus from playing games just for the sake of it and instead to focus on improving at chess.

Currently I have been dedicating my time in the following activities so as to improve gradually at chess-

1) Solving about 50 to 75 tactical puzzles everyday

2) Learning basic endgames and the corresponding principles. I have picked up the book, Silman's Complete Endgame Course for this purpose (only focusing on the first 2 parts which deals with simple checkmates and the principle of Opposition)

3) Learning openings and middlegame ideas (the latter being my Achilles Heel). I have picked up the book, Understanding Chess Move by Move by John Nunn for this purpose. I have been following the book by trying my level best to analyze the positions given in the book OTB.

4) Watching a few chess videos on different platforms. For example, Daniel Naroditsky's Master Class Speedrun playlist on Youtube

All comments and criticisms are appreciated. Have a nice day.

ChessMasteryOfficial

Your plan looks pretty good. I would also advise following thing to improve your plan ever further:

Play a lot, analyze your games, and primarily study tactics. Your knowledge of openings, endgame, middlegame, etc. will come from analyzing your games and going over grandmaster games. Only study one of those specific topics if it is clear you are specifically losing because of that topic.

Source: https://www.gautamnarula.com/how-to-get-good-at-chess-fast/

As a coach, I can help you with any part of that process, as well as teach you EXACTLY how to think at every stage of the game. Good luck! happy.png

iCANTpeeUPSIDEdown

Doesn't look "indecent" to me.

premio53

Dan Heisman has one of the best books I have seen for someone who is an amateur. It is called "The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book." What makes it stand apart from other books is it teaches more on what you shouldn't do in a game. All the games start with move one so you aren't starting out in the middle or endgame and he strongly emphasizes how to use the clock in a tournament. The various openings are explained very well and the mistakes pointed out are common among players who aren't master level and above. He is a well-known chess instructor and of course all the games are checked by computer.

https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Most-Instructive-Amateur-Game/dp/1936277433/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1NJ6LCW6BSP8P&keywords=dan+heisman+chess&qid=1687605550&sprefix=dan+heisman%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-3