How to Improve in Chess?

I was wondering if anyone had any good tips on how to improve your rating as a beginner? Like below 1200, how do you get to be a stronger player?

     I'm curious to see your ideas.

Opening Principles:

1. Control the center squares – d4-e4-d5-e5

2. Develop your minor pieces toward the center – piece activity is the key

3. Castle

4. Connect your rooks

Tactics...tactics...tactics...

Pre Move Checklist

1. Make sure all your pieces are safe. 

2. Look for forcing move: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) this will force you look at, and see the entire board. 

3. If there are no forcing moves, you then want to remove any of your opponent’s pieces from your side of the board. 

4. If your opponent doesn’t have any of his pieces on your side of the board, then you want to improve the position of your least active piece. 

5. After each move by your opponent, ask yourself: "What is my opponnet trying to do?"

Middlegame Planning

1. Expand your position:

a. Gain more space.

b. Improve the position of your pieces.

2. Decide on what side of the board to play.

a. Queenside: a-c files.

b. Center: d-e files.

c. Kingside: f-h files.

Compare, space, material, and weakness(es)

Play where you have the advantage.

3. DO NOT HURRY.  Regroup your pieces, and be patient.

Possibly of interest:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm

A master told me once: "My pieces are my friends, I'm having a party and I want all my friends there".

how i can know all opening and improve my opening

"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)

"... For beginning players, [Discovering Chess Openings by GN John Emms] will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

Two other introductions to openings are Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf

and Winning Chess Openings by GM Yasser Seirawan (~1999).

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf

Ideas for choosing openings:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/picking-the-correct-opening-repertoire
http://chess-teacher.com/best-chess-openings/
https://www.chess.com/blog/TigerLilov/build-your-opening-repertoire
https://www.chess.com/blog/CraiggoryC/how-to-build-an-opening-repertoire
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-perfect-opening-for-the-lazy-student
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9035.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627110453/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen169.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9029.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/has-the-king-s-indian-attack-been-forgotten
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7277.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9050.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627104938/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen159.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627022042/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen153.pdf

About learning openings:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/learning-an-opening-to-memorize-or-understand
https://www.chess.com/article/view/3-ways-to-learn-new-openings
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-understand-openings
"... Once you identify an opening you really like and wish to learn in more depth, then should you pick up a book on a particular opening or variation. Start with ones that explain the opening variations and are not just meant for advanced players. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
"... To begin with, only study the main lines ... you can easily fill in the unusual lines later. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... For inexperienced players, I think the model that bases opening discussions on more or less complete games that are fully annotated, though with a main focus on the opening and early middlegame, is the ideal. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)
"... Everyman Chess has started a new series aimed at those who want to understand the basics of an opening, i.e., the not-yet-so-strong players. ... I imagine [there] will be a long series based on the premise of bringing the basic ideas of an opening to the reader through plenty of introductory text, game annotations, hints, plans and much more. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055734/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen38.pdf
"The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)

First and foremost, always be mindful of opening principles....

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-10-most-common-mistakes-among-chess-beginners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ugDFOoevyI

https://www.chess.com/video/player/everything-you-need-to-know-2-the-opening

For a book devoted specifically to the clarification and application of opening principles I suggest.....

Discovering Chess Openings by John Emms...

https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Chess-Openings-Building-Principles/dp/1857444191/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520316525&sr=1-2&keywords=discovering+chess+openings

IMO it's the best book for learning the fundamentals of opening play.

Beyond opening fundamental principles, the next step in learning any opening is to study and focus on its themes, plans and strategies, as opposed to memorization of specific lines and variations.   This study should take place within the context of complete games, so that how the opening affects the fabric of the entire game can be discerned.  So one should try to study resources which teach the openings within this framework. 

To this end I have found the following two opening repertoire books by Vincent Moret to be exceptional in this regard.  The books provide a complete opening repertoire targeted to beginner-intermediate players, where the focus is on aggressive but sound openings for which understanding the typical plans and strategies are more important than memorization of myriad lines and variations.  You will also learn a lot of chess in the process of reading these books as his explanations of the why's and wherefore's - principles, themes and plans - are exceptionally well presented, from the perspective of the amateur player.

My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White....

https://www.amazon.com/First-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-White/dp/9056916335/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515364956&sr=1-3&keywords=vincent+more

My First Chess Opening Repertoire for Black...

https://www.amazon.com/First-Chess-Opening-Repertoire-Ready/dp/9056917463/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515364956&sr=1-1&keywords=vincent+moret

Introduction to Moret's White repertoire...

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf

More on Moret's White repertoire...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f41ZbPq9OpE

https://www.chessable.com/opening-book/my-first-chess-opening-repertoire/7543/

See my mini review of Moret's White opening repertoire book here (search Moret)....

Good Chess Openings Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-openings-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

Introduction to Moret's Black Repertoire...

https://www.chess.com/blog/IndreRe/book-review-vincent-moret-my-first-chess-opening-repertoire-for-black

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9050.pdf

Additionally, here are some opening repertoire suggestions by the well-know chess trainers and authors, IM Andrew Martin and GM Nigel Davies....click on their respective names at the top of the web page...

http://www.chesspublishing.com/content/repert.htm

Finally, the following articles relating to choosing an opening repertoire offer food for thought...

http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa02i07.htm

The following is a three-part series of articles by GrandPatzerChess - Parts 1 & 2 are concerned with his thoughts on building a White repertoire.  Part 3 with a Black repertoire.  I found the articles on the White repertoire to be somewhat confusing and even contradictory in places.  Part 3 on the Black repertoire seems to be a little more coherent.  Nevertheless I found the articles to be generally interesting and thought provoking...

http://grandpatzerchess.blogspot.com/2007/03/openings-for-improving-players-part-1.html

http://grandpatzerchess.blogspot.com/2007/03/openings-for-improving-players-part-2.html

http://grandpatzerchess.blogspot.com/2007/03/openings-for-improving-players-part-3.html

See also my list of recommended openings books...

Good Openings books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-openings-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

For more chess book recommendations on all aspects of chess, check out my blog.

your list seems better to me than the advises GMs are giving... and it probably is

nice list!!

Thanks!

Thanks!

 thanks

 It begins and ends with evaluation.  Take this position below, it arose in the game Ding v Caruana in round two of the Candidates tournament.  I followed the game on chessbomb and someone commented that blacks game was already in jeopardy.  I however held a different perspective and pointed out that black has an awesome position. Why? Who do you think is better (if anyone) and why?  Unless we can evaluate chess positions all the calculation, all the visualisation in the world will not help us and neither will a chess engine.

 The position after white played 18.Be3

Clearly there is a slight material imbalance, white has a rook for bishop and pawn.  However in my opinion black has certainly greater control of the centre, two bishops and a safer king in compensation for this slight material imbalance.  White has light squared weaknesses around his king and no light squared bishop to take care of them.  Some were suggesting that because of the material disparity black should avoid exchanges.  Black does have some forcing continuations, ...Nxe3 and Nf3+ followed by ...d5.  again we need to evaluate the efficacy or otherwise of these forcing continuations.  What we are in fact doing is thinking in a general way and acting concretely.  Its this entire process of evaluation and refinement, subjecting our ideas to falsification through the application of logic and evaluating the result that will help us improve in chess.  Its entirely scientific.