just a newbie

Hi Does anyone have any advice for someone just starting out. I have know idea what I should be studying first. Stratigies or tactics? Any advice would be much appreciated.

http://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-directory

Chess mentor has a lot of good stuff for beginners.

Some books to consider:

Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf

Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf

The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/

Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1949)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf

Discovering Chess Openings by GM Johm Emms (2006)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro

http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html

Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/

A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf

And some of it is free:

http://www.chess.com/blog/webmaster/free-chess-mentor-courses

dun wurry irma purice offesur

One thing I would like to add is another nice little line which sometimes beginners find easy.

Its called London System.

http://www.chess.com/blog/X_PLAYER_J_X/london-system

Welcome aboard talfordphillips - (EXCLAMATION POINT) !! I'm not that good yet but I can tell you this. Your going to REALLY LOVE this great game, and you picked the coolest chess site to join. Good Luck!

Study endgames too

I would recommend a single standard and time-tested approach - for example, "My System" by Aron Nimzowitsch - and STICK TO IT.  Don't jump from "latest secret method" to "latest secret method".  Learn the basics, and only then should you search for the exceptions to the basics.  And expect your learning to be DIFFICULT if you want to make serious progress. 

Also, don't try to learn everything at once.  Get a firm and "automatic" understanding of one element (e.g. opening principles) before going to the next element (e.g. positional play). 

This is my opinion based on what has worked for me, and it was the method shared with me by a GM who is also a coach.  Clearly I'm no expert yet, but I have made much greater progress than I thought I would have at this point.

 While I would certainly be happy if my play were as "outdated and bad" as that of Nimzowitsch, certainly you should learn from a source that you consider to be adequate.  The point isn't necessarily that "My System" is the answer, but rather that you shouldn't bounce around from one approach to the next, based on how the wind (or the latest "Secret" approach) might be blowing. 

My belief is that you find a teaching that you prefer, and stick to it.  I actually do believe that a solid understanding of the basic principles is an absolute necessity before all else.  Without a solid and sound foundation, you are likely to continue to make little or no real progress if your goal is long-term improvement.  And I suspect that applies to anything you desire to master. 

I believe that IM pfren's comment was about the book, My System, as a training tool, rather than about the play of the author.

For many, I suspect that some amount of bouncing around is likely to take place while finding a teaching that one prefers.

I disagree with "My System" as a beginner text. The book recommendations by Irving Chernev are much better.Nimzos book is certainly one I would recommend a year or two down the road...

I'm still in the beginner phase but I will advice that you review Morphy games, shows you how to develop pieces in the opening. I learned by playing center pawn openings, castle quickly attack the center board. Each move find each piece not defended in enemy camp and see if you can take it. Then see what other pieces you can take if it's good for you. look for checking moves. It will not be overnight improvement but something clicks and you see jumps of increased awareness and over all improvement.

Regarding the Nimzowitsch book, I was unclear,  I should have stated what I meant, which was that I wish my play was as outdated and bad as the METHODS AND PRINCIPLES taught in the book.  Of course it may simply be that I like the style in which the book is written, which leads to your second note of "For many, I suspect that some amount of bouncing around is likely to take place while finding a teaching that one prefers."

I completely agree, and the Nimzowitsch book is simply an example of teaching I prefer.  I'm not suggesting that either the original poster or Mikhalchisin and Grivas should prefer it.  Only that once he (the original poster) finds a teaching he prefers, I actually believe that it's a good idea to stick with that teaching.

Of course all of this this is just MY belief, which I provide only because the original poster asked the question.  It's no claim that I know better than the rest of you guys.

Why isn't your play what you describe yourself as wishing? Perhaps there is some uncertainty as to how well the teaching works, even for you. Again, it seems to me that IM pfren's comment was about the book, My System, as a training tool. It somewhat obscures the point to use fragments of his language ("bad" and "outdated") as a characterisation of "play".

Certainly, one can "bounce around" too much, but I would not rule out the possibility that a book may work for awhile, and then, at some point, become less helpful for a given reader.

When a post says, "STICK TO" this, "Don't" do that, "Learn" this, "only then" do that, "expect" this, "don't try" that, "Get" this, and "This is my opinion based on what has worked for me, and it was the method shared with me by a GM who is also a coach", then I think it is a good idea to call attention to the degree to which opinions vary on these sort of matters.

I have fond memories of the Reinfeld book myself, but I do think it would be a good idea to warn people about the chapters about openings. At least for me, I think they were considerably less helpful than other parts of the book. It occurs to me that Reinfeld's book is an example where one might reasonably NOT "stick" with it even if one has found it helpful before the chapters on openings. If one is willing to go to an old book like this, I suspect that a better choice (at least for an introduction to openings) would be the Horowitz book, How to Win at Chess, still sold by USCF Sales.

I started with this book, after a summer of learning by playing hours-long games against a friend.

The chapters on openings kinda messed me up, I think. I recently decided to relearn from scratch, forgetting Reinfeld as much as possible.