I've just joined Chess.com and I'm fairly new to chess. I have entered  OTB  Tournament  in sept ( which i am absolutely scared to death about!) and i am hoping for some advice about my preparation for the event. The time control is 45|45

i plan to train in the following way ......Please Advise you think my plan is garbage so i don't waste valuable hours training the wrong way.

1. play 45|45 games on this site using a real chess board.
   
2. try analyse my many blunders afterwards using HIARCS chess explorer.
3. use chess position trainer and HIarcs online tournament book to to learn the opening main lines that come up in my online games. hopefully that way i wont waste my time learning openings lines i will never see.
4. train tactics using chess tempo but with a real chess board. ( sitting on my hands so i don't move the pieces!) 
5. study silman's endgame book and using  hiarcs  engine and a real chess board to play out the positions.
6. try not to cry when i read posts saying that 40 years of age is way to old to take up tournament chess and i should have started when i was 6 or something.

 training  tactics is a pain using a real board but i find using a computer screen much more difficult. My research has shown that most people use a computer screen. should i try to use a computer screen?

Seems a very reasonable plan.

Some small tips:

- try to join a chess club and play some OTB matches

- analyse the game yourself instead of with the computer, then check it with a real player / analysis forum here at chess.com / the computer

- if you want the most out of an analysis, either post a position from your game where you are unsure what the best way to procede is, or a game where you lose and don't know why

thanks mate......any other ideas anyone?

there are onsite Study Plans already set up here:

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

all ideas are welcome!

The best advice that has been given to me was to analyze the games of GM's who play what I would like to play, to understand how to make a plan in the middlegame. By analyze I mean try to understand every single move, identify I all the mistakes and really try to learn something from it.

Hello Mr. McDermott:

I wouldn't expect too much from your first tournament.  What you should get out of it is learning to keeping calm under pressure, but that is a lot easier said than done especially if you don't have the basics down.

From reading your plan, it looks like you're trying too hard to cram for a test.  There is no possible way for you to properly learn all phases of the game in such a short period of time, especially just using a computer or even the lesson plan here at Chess.com.  I don't know about Hiarcs, but unless there is a new training module heavy on explanation it won't tremendously help.  At your level, an explanation behind the moves is what's needed, and there is nothing better outside of a personal trainer than standard or e-book variety chess books.

I suggest clicking here and reading Post No. 5 and No. 7 under Chess Books to 100% Electronic & Games Clickable.  You can't beat Dan Heisman's Novice Nook columns, and I think my list of chess books is reasonable for someone of your level.

As has been said many times before by better players than me, learn your tactics first and well.  Yes, of course, you have to know how to open a game and develop your pieces; basic strategy is an absolute must.  That said, many games are lost at your level due to tactical oversights or even simpler mistakes like counting errors during exchanges or overlooking the big three: checks, captures and threats.

Also, I think the endgame is vitally important in becoming adept at coordinating your pieces, but you may not get to that phase of the game in your first tournament so you can put that off for now unless you have time.

Lastly, if you don't have time for all the books I recommend, and I don't think you will, at least try to go through these five: The Art of Checkmate
, Learn Chess Tactics, 
Logical Chess: Move by Move
, The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played and Discovering Chess Openings.  I think these books will give you a good grounding in how to not just survive but perhaps thrive in your first tournament.

I must admit, it was a lot easier when i was playing in OTB tournaments in the 1970s and early 1980s, before attention deficit had taken over the Western World.  It was 40 moves/2 hours and 20 moves/1 hour, giving the novice time to think.  Now you have to be more prepared.  In order to do that, read the books and as others have suggested, join a chess club; I think the atmosphere will help your OTB play.  However, don't fall into the trap of playing Blitz right off the bat or you'll be blitzing out your moves in the tournament and ruin your game.  Learn to stop and think, especially in critical positions.  Save Blitz for later, after you have some experience under your belt.

Good luck, and all the best,
Bob

Hello Richard,

Don't be so nervous about your first tournament, just give it your best and see what happens. You'll be an outsider anyway, so your opponents will be afraid of you

If you can, by all means join a chess club, as you'll get first-hand OTB exeperience this way, get used to real clocks, and maybe to writing down the moves too, all those things you'll need to do in a real tournament. It's a good opportunity to make some chess friends too, which makes the whole chess learning experience much better

Your plan is very reasonable. If you find it becomes boring at some stage, don't hesitate to adjust it : most important is to do some chess regularly.

Finally, it's perfectly okay to start chess at 40 and you can make very significant progress at this age too.

Good luck on your chess journey !

45 moves in 45 minutes? or 45 minutes + (45 seconds each move)?

Best wishes either way

here is a free PDF e book called Kasparov openings. It is not very clear but a good start for you & you can grab it soon after you read this:

https://notendur.hi.is/adl2/Otto%20Borik%20-%20Kasparov's%20Chess%20Openings%20-%20A%20World%20Champion's%20Repertoire.pdf

Hello Mr. McDermott:

Did you download Dan Heisman's Novice Nook PDFs?  You should at least read the three I linked to understand counting and getting into the habit of looking for checks, captures and threats, in that order, while analyzing.  In other words, you have to be aware of what your opponent is doing.  You are bound to miss some things and that's okay, that's what learning is all about.  The point is to try to eliminate simple mistakes and oversights.

I would read The Art of Checkmate concurrently with Irving Chernev's Logical Chess: Move by Move.  I think you'll find them both very instructive, the first for piece coordination to bring about pattern mates, and the second for understanding the reason behind the moves at every phase of the game.  Logical Chess can be repetitive and some of the reasons given a bit simplistic, but you have time to understand chess in more depth later.  I think you will enjoy both books.

I also recommend the book Discovering Chess Openings rather than memorizing any specific opening.  The subtitle of DCO is "Building Opening Skills from Basic Principles," and that is far more important right now than memorizing an opening and then coming to the end of your memorization and not knowing what to do.

I've been informed that Learn Chess Tactics may be a little advanced for you right now.  The author, John Nunn, has been known to go over the head of novices rather quickly.  Probably better is Susan Polgar's Chess Tactics for Champions: A step-by-step guide to using tactics and combinations the Polgar way or Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics though Susan's book receives higher marks from Amazon reviewers.  After all, she is an former Women's World Chess Champion.

If you have time I would try to go through Irving's Chernev's other very instructive work, The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played.  This book is deeper strategically than Logical Chess, so only tackle it after you have completed its precursor.

I think that is sufficient for now, but if you feel a bit uncomfortable not knowing anything about the endgame you could peruse Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge just to learn the basics of opposition in king and pawn endings and also how to coordinate your pieces in endgame situations.  This is the endgame book I started with years ago, but there may be better ones for your skill level now.  Still, it is not a bad place to start.

I hope this gives you some sense of direction, and I haven't overloaded you with too many books.  If you can't finish them all, that's okay, but at least read Logical Chess: Move by Move if nothing else.

Good luck,
Bob

Hi!

Here are some small tips for you

1. Don't use engines for any other work except playing with it.
2. If u are a beginer then practice more tactics.

Some book reconmmadations are-

For tactics

1.  Chess Tactics for Champions: A step-by-step guide to using tactics and combinations the Polgar way

2. Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games

For endgame

1. Fundamental Chess Endings
2. Dovertsky's Endgame manual

U may also try the books of artur yusupov

1. Build Up Your Chess: v. I: The Fundamentals: 1

2. Boost Your Chess 1: Fundamentals No. 1: The Fundamentals

3. Chess Evolution 1: 1: The Fundamentals

Chess 5334, FCE, Dvoretsky's endgame book and Yusupov books are not suited for beginners.

The Polgar tactic book is okay.

u r wrong yusupov books are suitable for beginners.Chess 5334, FCE, Dvoretsky's endgame book are a bit tough but suitable.

Get a coach some of them  go as cheap as 10 Dollars an hour

For yusupov books, I guess the OP can decide for himself : I put a couple of sample positions in that thread :

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/yusupovs-award-winning-training-course?page=7

FCE is a technical encyclaopedia, and more of a reference work than a learning manual on endgames. I fail to see what a beginner player would make of it ?

5334 contains a lot of problems, which could be useful for some advanced visualization training, but IMO come very far on the priority list after all the basic tactics stuff highlighted in other posts.

As for Dvoretsky, need I even comment ? All his books are aimed at 2000+ OTB players...