Building Habits and Chess Improvement

I'm having success with the Building Habits series as streamed by GM Aman Hambleton. I gained 70 points playing 17 games in 5 0 blitz today. My brain is shot! It's a simple set of rules to follow and helps one stay focused during play. I'm playing more in the center, getting both rooks much faster into play and looking to open the position. My pieces are more active and coordinated and I'm getting in less trouble. 

There are four levels, four sets of rules to take players from 400 to 2000. I find myself playing much faster, playing mostly  "high percentage" moves while staying ahead on the clock. It's a great style of play for blitz. 

I enjoyed that series too.

Me too. I really enjoy Aman’s humour and fun style of teaching. It’s having fun and laughing but doesn’t feel like a grind when you are learning.

I think that applying a set of rules and explaining his actions worked well for the 500 to 700 range and 700 to 900 but he started losing on time and by the end, when he neared 1900, he had given up on explanations and he had gone "full grandmaster".

1800+ is really good chess. Much better than where I am at. GM's need to play good chess to beat those guys. I stopped watching the Naroditsky Speedrun after around 1500. The explanations were much more helpful under 1500, especially under 1000, where I have holes in my game, even though my rapid peak is 1250. 

What I liked most about Hambleton's approach was that it was more realistic. It was how games would look against two players of similar ratings and seeing how the rules can help. Naroditsky, even though he played very basic openings at the lower levels, he was always playing at full strength, as he told his viewers. 

I very much liked Naroditsky's tips, his explaining his thought process and asking his viewers what to play at the under 1200 range, and I want to watch those lower rated runs again and write down those thoughts of his and tips. 

I bit....lol I still don't know what a chessbrah is..

I barely know how to play. My chess journey is, so far, typical. Join chess.com...play against a few bots, discover I don't know how to play, complete the lessons sequences, search youtube, read a few "how to play" paperbacks, etc.

In none of this did I experience anything like an "aha!" moment. Then I stumbled upon the youtube series "building habits"...GM Aman Hambleton...replays of his twitch streaming. Then I found a way to play chess and learn from those other sources. AND...enjoy it.

The Chessbrah team have a youtube channel called "chessbrah" and an alternate channel called "chessbrah extra" where they include a playlist of the full length recordings of the "habits" series. These are edited down some, but are more complete than what you'll find on their primary channel. You can also find the recordings on their twitch channel.

The "habits" rules are a temporary thing. Aman discusses this. It's a script for beginners who don't know how to play. The rules develop over time. And they're not absolute.

The full length episodes series is great fun. Best thing on "television".

Could you post the four sets of rules

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/chessbrahs-fundamental-principles

Also see:

https://www.chessjournal.com/chessbrah-habits/

Im going to have to give the series a watch

I highly recommend the youtube channel "chessbrah extra"...as opposed to their primary channel, which is just "chessbrah". The videos are longer and have more complete explanation of why particular moves are sound or why they can cause you trouble. And even if you feel you are higher ELO than the first episode, you should begin with the 400 level to understand the concept of the chess move rules. As you progress, the rules are expanded to include more chess move options.

And Aman Hambleton is pretty funny. Sometimes really irreverent.

Agreed.