have you done endgame study? i think its the most crucial
So what next after the opening moves? Help for newbie!
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Only a beginner myself, but you have to start looking at the features of the position, and evaluating any weaknesses you and your opponent may have, and coming up with a plan to take advantage of these. Improving the influence of your pieces and decreasing the influence of your opponents.
Quite often the pawn structures give a basic plan, which may be anything from advancing your pawns down a certain wing, to attacking an isolated pawn or putting your knight on a certain strong square. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawn_structure
Silman's the Amateurs Mind I think does this, also a book like Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move by Move may help you in formulating plans by seeing what strong players do.
the drrreeeaaadddfullll tactics. but yea cone and scott are right
Endgame is definitely crucial, not only in terms of winning won games and knowing how to save a draw, but also in knowing where to steer the game.
go for simple openings like 4 knights and italian game(e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4)
if you see any players playing sicilian(e4 c5) under 1400 they probably don't know it well and will screw it up you don't need to worry about any sharp moves there.
tip: go to youtube and learn some traps and the ponziani opening its fun.
i would highly recommend michael stean's book simple chess. it's a book on chess strategy which uses full annotated games to explain how to exploit things like weak squares and weak pawns, how to create those things, how to create and use open files etc. it's quite a small book so it won't take forever to get through and all of the annotations and explainations are very clear and instructive.
work through this as well as doing tactics exercises and you will definitely see an improvement.
You need to study openings.
Studying theory does not only mean memorizing moves (at low levels your opponent will not follow theory anyway), but understanding what your plan is. And what your opponent's plan is and how to fight it.
E.g. if I play a French I know that black will want to break with c5 and have queenside play, while white will generally want to develop a kingside attack. So even if you don't know the theoretical moves, play something that helps with these goals.
Or if I play a closed Ruy, I know I want to build a strong centre with my pawns on e4 and d4 and keep it there until some tactical opportunity arises.
Every opening comes with a theme and a goal that you have to understand.
OK, I'll have a go. First, you ask an excellent question. The nice thing about the opening phase is that there are some well formulated and clear cut principles. Sadly the same cannot be said about the early middle game.
Secondly I gained a lot when I read a book about my favourite opening which devoted rather more than half the book to ilustrative games. When you see how, in the hands of master players, ideas which start in the opening are carried on into the middle game and are still there playing their part in the end game it helps to focus your own thinking so as to generate ideas at the stage of the game you ask about.
Sadly, tho' you are quite a long way off that point. You need a favourite opening and to play several hundred reasonably serious games in that opening before this point starts being really useful (if you have only modest talent I mean).
So lets forget that. My third point is the one which I think may be worth something. Don't think that you need to find some splendid strategic concept that is going to guide you from move 12 through to delivering checkmate on move 30. It isn't like that. Instead think small. Look at your pieces and ask yourself which ones you like - the ones which command the most ikmportant squares and are the most free to move and which either already pose some threat to your oppponent or could readily be moved to do so. And then look at the pieces which are not so well placed - out on the edge of the board maybe, or look a bit precarious, or are not in touch with your other pieces or buried behind pawns, whatever. And just ask yourself "if I could pick that up and put it down wherever I like where would I put it". Now maybe you would draw a blank - couldn't readily see a better square. If so go to your next piece and try the same technique. If you find some pieces which you think could be better placed look to see how they could actually get to the better square. Now you are generating ideas. Maybe one of the pieces can start its journey with a move that threatens an enemy pawn. Your opponent must meet the threat, what move will he make? Will his move give you extra time to move your own piece on to where it hopes to go? Will he have to place one of his pawns or pieces on a worse square?
Anyway you get the idea. When you get started it is actually quite pleasing to find how the ideas start to flow. And notice it is not ONE splendid game winning idea. It might be three or four or five quite small ideas.
So, say you work out a piece or two to improve, plan a series of moves and carry them out. Well now it is like the opening. If your opponent makes equally good moves, does not compromise his position and you reach the point where your ideas have all been worked out well then you are back to posing your question again. But often enough that does not happen. Instead, along the way a combination appears that allows you to apply pressure or win material. Or a strategic aspect of the position, a passed pawn say, turns into something which will take you and your opponent 20 moves to work out and will decide the outcome.
My experience is that a game can go from being almost totaly sterile with nothing appearing to be going on to a full blooded attack by one side or the other amazingly quickly.
Last point. Say the position gets so sterile that neither side seems able to do anything more and most or all of the pieces are tied down to essential jobs. I am in just this position in two tournament games with an opponent one or two hundred rating points higher than me at this moment. And I notice he is quite good at finding little pawn moves that do nothing very particular but just deny me some not particularly significant square or grab him the tiniest extra bit of space. All he is really doing is to wait for an error from me. Prophilaxis I think this gets called. Anyway the point is, unless zugswang intervenes, there are always little moves of this kind about. And if you really can't find anything better there is no harm in playing them.
Hope that helps - or at least makes sense. :)
prophilaxis is definitely not simply playing a move which does nothing and hoping for your opponent to make an error.
Prophilaxis is a defensive move made before the attack surfaces.
At a basic level maybe playing h3 to stop your opponent pinning your knight on f3, as opposed to other defensive moves which are made to stop a threat once it becomes real e.g. defending a checkmate square.
often prophilactic moves have more than one purpose too. the most obvious example being a6 in the najdorf. this both stops potential bishop checks on b5 and prepares to expand on the queenside. this is definitely not just waiting for an error.
If you have good tactics, and are playing as white, try the halloween gambit... ... e4-e5, Nf3-Nc6, Nc3-Nf6, Nxe5... ...It usually provides a fun game.
I know that... ... That is why I said fun...
Before the endgame, the gods have placed the middlegame. – Tarrasch
This is what happens after the opening
How splendid, I just made a prophylactic move! When the game is done I'll post it (if I can work out how you do that).
Like to have met your granddad Becky. Sounds like quite a wise chap.
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Wow, consider me impressed. Only one false start. Thanks to whoever did that step by step guide.
Anyway I make 18. Bd5 to be a prophilactic move!!
So now I wait to be corrected. :)
Hoping someone can give a few tips on how a player only slightly better than a beginner learns how to proceed after the opening moves.
I don't know any standard openings as such but have taken on board all the advice about develop pieces, castle early, bring minor pieces out first, strive to control the middle etc etc.
So what happens when both you and your opponent have both done this correctly and no pieces have yet been taken. What informs what you do next and how you control things.
What books should I read, what should I practice to get to grips with what is required here? The middle game is the most difficult for me to understand at the moment so any tips are going to be gratefully received!