If you could go back....

   I'm very interested in becoming good at chess and want to be as efficient as possible at building a basic understanding of the game. So I'm looking at learning from some people's mistakes and wonder what some would have done first if they could go back to the beginning. I have very limited knowledge so any advice where to start first would be great. I hope I don't annoy anyone who may have read a similar post a thousand times. Thank you. 

Considering you have been here almost 5 years, played no games, and done 12 tactics???

Annoyed? NO...But it would be nice if people would search for a question that has been asked about a million times, and then asking it again.

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...

The objective of development is about improving the value of your pieces by increasing the importance of their roles. Well-developed pieces have more fire-power than undeveloped pieces and they do more in helping you gain control.

Now we will look at 5 practical things you can do to help you achieve your development objective.

They are:

1. Give priority to your least active pieces.

• Which piece needs to be developed (which piece is the least active)
• Where should it go (where can its role be maximized)

2. Exchange your least active pieces for your opponent’s active pieces.
3. Restrict the development of your opponent’s pieces.
4. Neutralize your opponent’s best piece.
5. Secure strong squares for your pieces.

Don’t help your opponent develop.

There are 2 common mistakes whereby you will simply be helping your opponent to develop:

1. Making a weak threat that can easily be blocked
2. Making an exchange that helps your opponent to develop a piece

Pre Move Checklist:

1. Make sure all your pieces are safe.
2. Look for forcing moves: Checks, captures, threats. You want to look at ALL forcing moves (even the bad ones) as 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?"

Endgames! Reduced material makes for simpler positions where each piece's abilities are REALLY put to the test. Also, there are a huge number of simple, theoretical endgames that are easy and fun to learn. Yasser Seirawan has said that studying the endgame is like cheating....I don't know about that, but I know my rating jumped 50 points the instant I gave real attention to the endgame

GM guess-the-move: Play through high level games in their entirety. Pick a side, find moves for your player, and check to see if that's what was played. If they agree with you, pat yourself on the back (or stab yourself in the leg if it's a blunder!); if they disagree with you, try to figure out why. Maybe you missed a tactic?

Puzzles! Solve them, they're fun. The more puzzles you do, the more tricks you'll start to see in your own games. 

https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-start-out-in-chess

https://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-directory
"... In order to maximize the benefits of [theory and practice], these two should be approached in a balanced manner. ... Play as many slow games (60 5 or preferably slower) as possible, ... The other side of improvement is theory. ... This can be reading books, taking lessons, watching videos, doing problems on software, etc. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627084053/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf
"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Here are some reading possibilities that I often mention:
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

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5856bd64ff7c50433c3803db/t/5895fc0ca5790af7895297e4/1486224396755/btbtactics2excerpt.pdf
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 (2009)
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
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf

If I could go back, the proportion of time spent on various aspects of chess would change dramatically. When I was learning to play during my college days, it was 10% endgames, 20% middle games, and 70% openings. In my later chess "revivals", it was more like 0% endgames, 40% middle games, and 60% openings. Upon returning to chess a couple of years ago after a long absence, my understanding of what is important was clearer. Now the proportions are 25% endgames, 70% middle games, and 5% openings. If I had used those percentages from the beginning, I'm confident that I would have become a strong player.

Well said!  The amount of time wasted on "studying" openings is scary.  And the sadder pat of this, is i hear this at tournaments from the youngins: "I dont know why i lost...I knew my theory up to move...My opponent didnt play the book moves."

I wold have read "Masters if the Chessboard" and then just started playing through the games of the old masters. And forget about the search for truth in chess. Few people are good enough for that. Just win, baby.

I know i would have done a lot differently...No idea if that would have helped, or hindered.  But i guess im ok with what i know, and where im at, as it has exposed me to a lot f nice people, places, and experiences.

I've read this post a thousand times Mr Blunderstein. This has really annoyed me.

I would study in the following order.

1. Basic Tactics

2. Basic Endgame

3. Basic Middle Game

4. Basic Openings

5. Advance Tactics

6. Advance Middle Game Strategy

7. Modern Chess Openings

I excluded Advance Endgames as I really found endgame study boring. No plan to be a professional chess player anyway.

Amazing...everyone gave really good advice to any beginner.  Listen to them, follow  advice.

I would have played over more GM games.

When I was new, I got that advice, and tried it, but it was frustrating because I thought the point was to understand every (or most) moves and I'd spend a long time on one game... but that's not the point.

I wish I'd taken just 5 to 10 minutes a game, 1 or 2 games a day, with the goal of seeing 1 new thing (opening, endgame, tactic, sacrifice, checkmate, anything). 1 new thing a game is more than enough if you keep it up for months / years. If a move is frustrating / you don't understand it, just let it go and move on because that's not the point of this particular exercise.

I would not change anything about my beginnings in chess, but I would change the fact that back in the years 2000s I spent about $700.00 USD on Roman Dzindzichashvili chess DVDs which did not help me any.  I still watch, and buy chess videos though, but not his, I have about 150 hours of chess videos in my PC, plus a membership on chesslecture (a chess video site with 4000 videos), If I d' had this same opportunity when I started chess, I think I would have become a titled player.

Some people say chess books are better than chess videos, but I disagree, I can get as low as $1.00 USD an hour of GM training with the videos.  example: yesterday I got me 5 hours of video chess training from a 2600 GM for just $8.00 USD for the whole thing  (I got a 50% discount)

So if you are starting now, and like chess videos, go for it.

Between videos and books, I'll choose books anytime. I can learn much more in 1 hour of reading than listening to 2 hours of video. Ofc this is my personal opinion and experience. For those who have become depended on videos on early age, there's no other choice but continue learning through video lessons.

Between videos and books, I'll choose books anytime. I can learn much more in 1 hour of reading than listening to 2 hours of video. Ofc this is my personal opinion and experience. For those who have become depended on videos on early age, there's no other choice but continue learning through video lessons.

When I started long time ago I studied a lots of chess books, and I still do read books. just not the regular chess books anymore, now I read everymanchess books in .cbv format which I can read in the chessbase reader with the comments and board on the PC screen

Combination of texts and video is a different thing. I would support that kind of method. As for YouTube chess videos, it's passive, slow almost spoon feeding. Just like watching Sesame Street for nursery age children.

Chess Informants in text or cbv (pgn) format are one of the best chess study material for advanced players.