I would love to improve... So I need your advices. ; ) - Chess Forums

27 days ago #1

Hello everyone! This is my first activity on this forum so it is really nice to join you.

27 days ago #2

I accidentally added this thread unfinished... OMG.

27 days ago #3

I know that for 90% for you I am still just a noob, weak player and you could easily defeat me. But for me this is just a dream. Basically I gained 500 rating points in a month. I want to buy a chessboard soon and also some book(s). And I would like you to recommend me a book or two. Beacause I don't know which to buy. I don't know how to improve. I don't know what to do. Thanks for reading this and sorry for this mess but I'm new here and I accidentally added this thread before finishing. Please don't ban me. I'm sorry. Thanks.

26 days ago #4

Possibly of interest:

26 days ago #5

Came4Fame wrote:

Hello everyone! This is my first activity on this forum so it is really nice to join you.

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 opponent trying to do?"

26 days ago #6

As a beginner, your best bet is to 1) review books that have lots of verbal commentary, so you can digest the basic chess rules, and 2) learn and study the basic tactical patterns. Any tactical book can help, especially one aimed at beginners, and there are many free resources online.

I would suggest the 'Winning Chess' series by Yasser Seirawan and/or 'Logical Chess Move by Move' by Chernov. Both are considered classics, both were among the first chess books many players have started with, and both will help you. Seirawan's stuff is more modern, but may be more expensive; Chernov's book can be found second-hand relatively easily as far as chess books go.

26 days ago #7

Came4Fame wrote:

I know that for 90% for you I am still just a noob, weak player and you could easily defeat me. But for me this is just a dream. Basically I gained 500 rating points in a month. I want to buy a chessboard soon and also some book(s). And I would like you to recommend me a book or two. Beacause I don't know which to buy. I don't know how to improve. I don't know what to do. Thanks for reading this and sorry for this mess but I'm new here and I accidentally added this thread before finishing. Please don't ban me. I'm sorry. Thanks.

The general categories for books are openings, endgames, tactics, strategy, and annotated game collections.

Some books try to cover a little of everything. Some people may not like this book, but it could be a good one to start with (as with any book, read reviews and ask around). I almost hate listing this first because the others below I recommend more strongly.
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chess-Player-Fred-Reinfeld/dp/0671768956

An annotated game collection is probably a better recommendation. Complete games by good players with lots of explanations, so in effect you're getting a little of everything (plus good example games). This one by Reti is very good
https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Chessboard-21st-Century-Richard/dp/1936490218

But if you wanted to focus on only one category, a common mistake is to pick openings. Don't waste your time with opening books. There are free databases online that can show you the first few moves, and that plus the opening principals is all you really need to know for now. If you wanted two books that focus on a category I'd definitely recommend tactics and endgames.

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Tactics-Everyman/dp/1857443861
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Endings-Everyman/dp/1857443489

Basic tactical competency is foundational (you need it before you can really do anything else) and also what will help you improve most as a beginner (more rating points gained in shorter time).

The downside, I suppose, is some find it tedious. Especially adults. But after you gain basic competency you can move on to other areas.

If you were only going to get 1 tactic book, Seirawan's is good, but I'd recommend this one by Heisman:

https://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Tactics-ChessCafe-Chess/dp/1888690348

And actually, pairing that with Reti's masters of the board would be great.

So for two books, I'd recommend either the two Seirawan books, or the Reti + Heisman book.

26 days ago #8

"Basically I gained 500 rating points in a month."

That's dynomyte!!!

26 days ago #9

Complete Chess Course by Reinfeld

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/3706.pdf
Masters of the Chessboard by Richard Reti
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2012/4/1/book-notice-richard-retis-masters-of-the-chessboard.html

Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings

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

26 days ago #10

Gaining 500 points is great - regardless of where you started. This is by all means a great start! Wanting to improve: coming to "forums", you came to the right place (I won't ban you, and you should not worry) You will get some good advice here. One of the best advices I can give (to any level player) is to enjoy Chess, and learn from your mistakes, and you will improve.If you want more specific advice, I'd be glad to give some thoughts via messages - but it will likely take a while to first develop into what kind of a Chess player you are before " specifics" will help. Specific advice may help later on, but right now " basics" will be most helpful. Develop your pieces first, castle earlier than later, and learn "basics" like this (although when you improve, you will find that there are exceptions to almost every "Chess principle"). Just have fun playing Chess. Best of luck with your Chess/improving

26 days ago #11

Oh, thank you so much. This is so helpful, I will check all of these books and buy some of them now, some of them later. I want to learn more form paper so I don't need to spend a lot of time in front of laptop or phone.

That 500 rating boost is basically 200 from starting position (from 800 to 1008) but I dropped to 500 right after the start so I include this. I watch chess streams, game analysis and do as many things to improve as I can but I needed advice from experienced players because you know what to do and I don't.

Thank you very, very much for every answer and every tip and all good wishes. Have a nice day.