If you could go back.

If you could go back, about the way you first studied chess, what you tried to learn first; then found out later something would have been better to study first. 

What would you have decided differently? 

If you could..would you have even gotten into chess? I know some titled players that hate chess with a passion, but can't stop playing. 

Maybe you feel the same way? 

I would have studied basic tactics more as well as doing more analysis on my own games. I've found the way to improve quickest for me is to see the major mistakes I made in my own games and trying to think of a better move. Going over GM games may be good but a lot of the time the ideas may be too abstract and complex meaning its hard to really apply that knowledge to your own chess games.

I'm quite interested in your comment that some titled players hate chess yet carry on playing. Surely if you 'hate' it you would just quit?? Even if they are addicted it's not as if they are physical dependant on chess or that it is essential as it's just a hooby right? It just seems it bit lame to say 'I hate chess but I'm so addicted I can't stop playing'.

Would have preferred to have someone about my age and about my playing strength who also wanted to improve so we could play and learn together.  Also a big club with a lot of titled players so I could always get good advice.

When I was a beginner interested in chess I read stuff online and knew the best way to learn, endgames, tactics, go to tournaments, analyze your games, etc but certain aspects were confusing or boring so I just did it my way... which was to have fun instead of studying heh (I studied later).

I would have never touched a chessboard.

Good to know.

I would like to go back to when I was 10 and reading a book on chess, learning the moves, and found some more books on strategy and tactics.  Plus, it would have been nice to convince some of my friends to learn so we could play and get better together.

I would light up a big bonfire and burn Chernev's "Logical Chess Move by Move', and Evan's "New Ideas in Chess". Then I would have bought a big fat book on tactics, preferably arranged by theme, and solved them all over and over until I had the entire thing memorized.

Also, I would have combined this with a good collection of Alekhine games to study.

But Chirnov's book is the best for a starting player.  You could always do a big book of tactics after reading Logical Chess.  Thought process is first and foremost. 

As for me I'd do more endgames, didn't really need any extra tactical materials since Renko's Course Tactics 2 and Killer Chess Tactics were some of my first materials on the subject.  Renko's Course Tactics specializes in calculating checks, very good for looking at the most forcing lines first, and Killer Chess Tactics is a big book of world champion tactics from Morphy to Kramnik. 

my best memories of chess all involved prolonged periods of time playing with a partner.  It is good to play against a person as after a while you learn their play style and much can be learned that way.. I actually quit chess once for quite a while when i learned that to get better I would basically have to hit the books.  It dashed my romantic notion of chess being nothing more simple then a battle over those 64 squares.  My deepest study was to play here and wander around this site, and just now I have decided to take the plunge.  I have been doing serious study time and just today ordered my first run of study material; Silman's endgame course, Theory and practice of chess endings by Convekta on cd, and Techniques of Positional Play by Bronznik 

I know what I'm signed up for.  I can already see that with each good video or large course I do I learn game winning tactics and idea's.  Rook endgames are getting easier.  How far down the rabbit hole I go down given the massive amount of possibilities in the game of chess I do not know but... I love it, its my serenity and having heard it compared to alcholism I have to say chess is a much lesser evil..  I never turn down an opportunity to go hunting or get out of the house etc. . . I just choose chess over say Skyrym or Civilization type games when I have the chance..

I would have kept playing checkers for the rest of my life.

I wished the one who gave me a chess set when i was 10 in first place, also had given me a book to learn how to play the damn game.

Sangwin, wait until you get up to Hansen's Improve Your Positional Chess, Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy, and Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual.  Dvoretsky's Manual is especially nuts and you should try Muller's Secrets of Pawn Endings and Emms' Survival Guide to Rook Endings before attempting it.  If you get past 2000 on Chesstempo try Magic of Chess Tactics, though for starting out just practice as a guest since you'll just get basic puzzles. 

Thanks TGOB ;) I'm going to post these in one of my threads.  It was really difficult to decide where to start..  I'm ok with tactics my online rating will catch up to over 1700 here shortly so I have the basics.. I think as far as ratings go I respect someones live standard the most as far as credility goes..

   I agree with all of you. I would of stayed with jazz drumming. But to Keny 960; most titled players are mentally addicted to it, like the people who love there' spouse so much, they kill them. Ted Cozinski was a genius mathamatician, but when computers proved to be smarter than him, he couldn't deal with it!

Ah yes, though aren't we all addicted? I begged myself not to register, but after weeks, finally broke, and did it.

To be honest when someone told me they were going to show me a lot of "pawn" I didn't know they planned to introduce me to chess...

Who knew you could become hooked on two things?

I don't want to know what you thought they meant.

Basic tactics first. Then openings.

Wish I learned the endgames before the openings.

I still have massive holes in my game and don't even really know what to study to fix them.

This is after hours of tactics trainer, mentor, master's games, opening study, middlegame planning, endgame, strategy, etc.

Maybe we can find out now if he found a way to improve since a year and a half ago when he posted this.