What the Beginning Chess Player Must Know

What do you think the beginning chess player must know to play a decent game of chess?

Here's one thing I find of great importance and extremely practical.

The Queen's Gambit D35: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Bf5.

The move 6...Bf5 was popularized by Anand's second Elizbar Ubilava. By playing 3...Be7 Black avoids the move Bc1-g5, which at first does not bother White, because he has another nice square for the bishop on f4.

After 7.Nge2 and then the typical moves 7...0-0 8.Ng3 Be6 9.Bd3 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.0-0 Nc6 12.Rc1 it comes down to an isolated queen pawn position in which Kasparov (against Gelfand) played 12...Bd6 and fell behind. But with 12...d4! Black has been looking good, White having no advantage.

The best try is 12.Nb5. And probably the best reply to it is then 12...d4, which will result in only a microscopic advantage for White.

I do like the move Bf4 before e3, developing White's dark squared bishop outside of the pawn chain.

In all seriousness, what do you think the beginning chess player must know to play a decent game of chess?

Don't give away your pieces and keep your king safe

Gets you from beginner to 1100

Beginner chessplayers should know the scholar mate and variations of it to avoid it. I am still learning to play better.

Whatever it is, I don't know it.

Are gambits beginner openings?  I'd think that someone who's just starting to play should learn about material vs. position etc. before trying to play a gambit. 

I'd say that they should know about scholar's mate, like chessbeginner said, and they should also know that bringing out your rooks first is not a good idea.  I've seen several beginners do this.  I would also like to say that "beginner" is a relative term, and I'm using it in the newest to the game sense here.

@ chessbeginner - Excellent post!

In my first year, my position was ruined often after quick attacks on the weak f7/f2 square.

Here's one example where I lost in 4 moves.

i also think that it depends on the type of beginner.  music seems to be the very studious sort of beginner.  i am more of a conceptual type.  i have never studied openings, although, i may try a bit.  i find it too cumbersome and figure the moves i try must be some varient of whatever opening. 

For sake of discussion, let's define the beginning chess player.

What the beginner knows - 

1. The basic rules of play, i.e., how the pieces move, how to deliver mate, how to castle (short and long) and whatever else comes with the one page instruction sheet on the rules of play.

What a beginner does not know -

1. Algebraic notation.

2. The four center squares.

3. Push only enough pawns to develop all/most of one's pieces, then attack.

4. Castle. Beginners believe that castling takes time away from their attack, so they leave their kings in the center, subject to checks and other tactics.

5. Connecting rooks. Beginners will side line one or both of the rooks for the entire game, while leaving the king in the center.

6. Bringing the queen out early is almost always a bad idea. The early queen usually comes at the cost of lost tempi. Beginners don't understand the importance of tempo, moving each piece only once in the opening (in general).

7. Checking for checks, captures and threats. Beginners don't do this very well, or hardly at all.  99.9% of beginning games are decided by a lopsided loss of material, i.e. hanging piece after piece.

I play with beginning chess players at the schools where I teach music. The elementary children do not know these principles that I listed above, so they don't play a decent game of chess.

If I didn't need to travel from school to school, but taught only at one, I would have time to teach basic chess principles, as these kids really like to try to beat me, the teacher.

I just started pointing my students to specific links in wiki so they can have a better understanding of chess the next time we play.

Last, for many of my students, I guide them in their first few moves so the game can proceed in a more intelligent manner. In the opening, the rook pawn is not even worth an entire pawn (truth), so I don't let them play that move. If one student is extremely stubborn about it, saying that their brother taught them some moves, then I tell that kid, "go for it".

I'm not going to argue about the merits of the A00 Ware (Meadow Hay) Opening. If you want to challenge me to a cc game with this opening, go for it, and I will take the Black pieces. One of my students opened this way not too long ago with the White pieces. I have seen this more than once. Who is teaching this opening to children? Shame on them!

A00 Ware (Meadow Hay) Opening

I do like to read books on chess and watch videos where moves are explained.

Could you elaborate a bit on what it's like to be a conceptual learner? Thanks.

Wiki has this to say about conceptual learning.

Concept learning, also known as category learning and concept attainment, is largely based on the works of the cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner. Bruner, Goodnow, & Austin (1967) defined concept attainment (or concept learning) as "the search for and listing of attributes that can be used to distinguish exemplars from non exemplars of various categories."

More simply put, concepts are the mental categories that help us classify objects, events, or ideas and each object, event, or idea has a set of common relevant features. Thus, concept learning is a strategy which requires a learner to compare and contrast groups or categories that contain concept-relevant features with groups or categories that do not contain concept-relevant features.

I got excited when I saw the words - "more simply put" - but still don't get it. Perhaps that's why I'm the bookworm.

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Extremely important for the beginning chess player

The beginning chess player must practise tactics on a regular basis. This has become all too clear recently. My 7th grade daughter, who knows the four center squares, a few opening lines and other things, is now getting beat much faster because I am doing tactical exercises and she is not.  She is not seeing all 64 squares, thus, she hangs pieces. "Oh...I didn't see that!" 

She is now interested in practicing tactics.

oh, research on a term i thought i had just sorta made up.  i am not sure of an easy way to explain it, but i will muttle through.  i have to know the ideas behind something before i can ever remember what to do.  i am a "why" person. i have a lot of trouble with memorization.  so, i like to focus on the themes and then figure out how to apply them myself. 

i am not really knowledgable enough to define this in chess.  however, as an example, much of simple physics (i am an engineer, so simple is all i need) i couldn't memorize all of the equations that were used to caclulate things (velocity, momentum, time, etc).  however, i could start with f=ma and derive from there to figure out the equations. well, i could when i was in school anyway.  i don't do to much physics anymore.

i don't get the definitions above, either.  but, the non-simple put part makes more sense to me than the simply put part. 

Almost so important as not to lose to scholar mate is to learn not to use this kind of attack too.

Most begginers that learn about scholar mate are allways trying to use it. They do not develop their game play, and get in trouble when playing someone that knows how to avoid this trap.

Thank you. The topic, "What the Beginning Chess Player Must Know" could also be stated like this: "What the Beginning Chess Player Must Know and Understand". As educators, we are not only seeking automaticity in math facts, but understanding why 4 x 4 = 16.

It's key for the beginning chess player to know why 1.e4 is played. That is why Logical Chess, Move by Move, Every Move Explained by Irving Chernev is the perfect first book for those that want to know why a move in chess is made.

Here are two short excerpts from this classic:

"1.e4. This is an excellent opening move. White anchors a pawn in the centre of the board and opens lines for his queen and bishop. His next move, if he is allowed, will be 2 d4. The two pawns will then control four squares on the fifth rank, c5, d5, e5 and f5, and prevent Black from placing any of his pieces on those important squares. ..."

1...e5. Very good! Black insists on a fair share of the centre. He fixes a pawn firmly there and liberates two of his pieces.

2.Nf3! Absolutely the best move on the board! The knight develops with a threat - attack on a pawn.........

The entire book reads in this very simple fashion, covering 33 games, move by move, several different openings, by the legends of the game. Example: The why behind the moves 1.e4 e6 (The French Defense) will no longer be a mystery to the beginning chess player.

This is an example of how a beginner stays a beginner

Excellent point! Thank you. 

This next example from my Live Chess games is not the Scholar's Mate, but shares the common theme of attacking the f7 square twice by both an early queen and bishop. Beginners don't seem to know that Black's Nf6 effectively guards the f7 square and stops the mating attack. Who has the better pawn structure after 18.axb3?  Pawn structure matters!

Yes. A beginner will stay a beginner if mistakes are repeated. Post-mortem analysis is one more item to add to the list of what the beginning chess player must know.

One good defense against this old trap.

for anybody who wants to practice, there is a tactic in the full game that musikmole posted and ill give a solution in a couple days if i remember too.  its possible on move 9 for black

Knowing the art of pawn power and how it works, every time you push a pawn you gain attack or control of new squares while giving up the old. Timing is so critical especially in the beginning moves and the end game. Trying to avoid hanging, doubled, backward, and isolated pawns, it realy is important in the end game for me.

9...Nd4

Great tactical vision!  I've analyzed this game and know the tactic that I missed on move 9 for Black.

I'll let you do the honors, perhaps produce a puzzle. I wonder how chess.com goes about selecting games for tactics trainer? This would be a good one for tactics rated in maybe the 700's - 800's? 

also don't get to frustrated if u lose a knight for a couple pawns... just try to get it into an end game and 2 pawns could provide enough compensation for the knight depending on the position and how well ur opponent knows how to use his extra knight.  beginners are often clumsy with knights because of the weird way they move