Chess advice for a real beginner?

I know all the rules of chess (I've been tought as a little kid).

But I haven't played for years and just got back to chess about a couple or so weeks ago. I've been on a real losing streak. Any advice?

Keep playing.

Read all pages of all chess.com threads and then decide to quit

After each move, look at the new squares your opponent is attacking.

Pay special attention to both your pieces that are undefended and an uncastled (or otherwise open) king.

Here's a few examples with commonly missed attacks for beginners.  They involve long line threats (attacks for a far away piece) and uncovered attacks.

You should also know some fundamental things like the realtiave value of the pieces.  This gives you a quick reference to know if a trade is favorable or not.  For example a knight for a bishop is an even trade.  The values are:
Pawn=1  Knight=3   Bishop=3   Rook=5    Queen=9    These values are based off of mobility and so are called relative because in certain positions where a piece is stuck, or is very active, the value might go up or down.  Good to remember although that's a bit advanced for right now.

The next level of basics are elementary tactics, mates, and how to open a game.  You can wiki/google tactics, specifically you want to know what a fork is, a pin is, and a skewer is.  The basic idea is if you can attack two enemy pieces (or create two threats in one move) then you will win something because your opponant has only one move to meet your threat with.

Basic mates are king vs king & queen on an open board, K vs R+R and K vs R  (each time those being the only pieces on the board).

These are easy to learn, again you can google or wiki it.  Here's a basic ladder mate though for you to see.

The must know basics of opening a game are 1)  Bring all your pieces out as quickly as possible (if you try to attack your opponents entire army with 1 or 2 pieces it will fail).  Note also pawn moves don't count as development.  and 2) king safety (this means castle to a side of the board where the three flank pawns have not moved).

Not as obvious, but very important, is how the center help you develop smoothly.  Center space is more important than flank space because the area is consolidated and in general allows easier maneuvering in all 3 areas of the board (queenside, center, and kingside).  Pawn moves aren't development but they do stake out space.  This is why beginners are told to open with a center pawns, two moves forward (not only for beginners, but world champions as well).

There are other openings which may seemingly violate this, usually a counter-punching opening, but this can be difficualt and more imporatntly uncomfortable to play if you're new.  Stick to clean fundamentals (control the center, develop your pieces, castle to safety) and your games will be stronger and more fun too.

At your level you need to watch out for simple tactics - like forks, simple mates, discovered checks - you can't learn to avoid it overnight but the more you play the more simple puzzles you solve - your familiarity with this positions will increase.

Find an OTB coach that can help you.

What is an OTB coach?

It's an Off Track Betting coach.  When you want to place a wager on a horse race, but it's not necessarily sanctioned.  You gotta know the right people getting involved with this sort of thing, and a coach can help.

Get a good tactics book for a refresher course on the elements there are many but I'd suggest John Nunn's learn chess tactics very cheap $12 the book is systematic the step by step approach he uses in his book makes sure that each concept is crystal clear and tested before moving on to the next one.

I also also recommend getting a good exercise book with plenty of problems  always solve them directly from the diagram inside the book avoid setting any of them up on a real chess board or with a computer you'll train yourself to move the men through your "minds eye" with some practice you'll be able to solve problems and find the right moves in any position fairly quickly.

Hi asianjonny,

Three years ago my dad told me the basics. Then I bought a chess book for beginners (with chapters on basic tactics, different check mate patterns, first thoughts on strategy, introduction to endgame positions, same on most common openings etc. ... ). After i had got half way through I stood a little test for beginners organised by the German Chess Federation. After I passed that I went kiebitzing in tournaments to get to know chessplayers and in order to find a club, that is offering training sessions to it's members. I've joined such a club 1 1/2 years ago, and I've started to go to tournaments. That got me really going! I'm sure you have the same options in the States.

Good luck to you (( - : And be really diligent if you want to improve. Once you are in there, it will be rewarding.

Concentrate and do not hang your pieces to one move captures. That alone will take your rating 100-200 points higher.

If you want to seriously improve, study tactics, play higher rated opponents in slow time controls and analyze all your games with a good engine.

That's an advice people are looking for! Not stupid spamming like most here.

I would say get a good basic book like "Winning Chess" by Yasser Seriwan.  It covers basic principles for newcomers pretty well.

In the opening DONT at this point try to memorize a bunch of named opening lines.  Start with either the e pawn or d pawn, and play by good general principles.  Try to control the center of the board, develop your pieces quickly, get the king to safety by castling, don't start an attack until you have developed your army and concentrated it toward the part of the board you want to attack in.

Lower level games nearly always are won and lost on tactics.  Spend some time on basic tactical ideas like pins, forks, skewers, etc.  Train yourself to start looking a move or two ahead each time you consider your move.  Is the piece safe on that square?  Could it be captured?  If so, can you capture back, making for  an exchange?  Learn the relative value of the pieces so you know when its a good idea to exchange material and when its not.

Play frequently, and play the longest time controls that you can fit into your schedule.  Blitz and bullet are fun, but probably don't help nearly as much as long games in terms of learning.

Look over your games once you are done.  If you won, try to figure out what the other guy did wrong.  If you lost, try to figure out way.  Do your best to avoid the mistakes and repeat the good stuff next time.

Once you get your head around basic tactics and stop dropping material for free, get a good basic endgame book.  Having some endgame skills gives you a huge advanatge, particularly against lower level opponents who often neglect that part of the game.

And above all, have fun.  Chess can be hard work to improve at.  Make sure you are having fun along the way.  If it becomes homework you are missing the whole point.  Its a hobby to be enjoyed.

 :) thank you

Asianjonny,

Have you seen the articles on this website? - Open menue "Read", then open "articles", then scroll down and open "After the rules, what should beginners study next?" by IM Jeremy Silman. Brilliant for your purpose! Not only giving you general advice, but with lots of puzzles introducing first tactics, checkmatepatterns and so on. You can work out on them online.

There are 202 articles rated "for beginners". Go for 'em and have fun.