Introduction
If you know nothing at all about the game of chess other than the
rules, there still things that you can do right away to help you win
more games. You won't be beating tournament players, but you can rise
above your current level by studying the right things. The same
principle applies to all levels of players. There are things that
you can do immediately to win more games.
The key to chess improvement is pattern recognition. Whether you
realize it or not, to improve at chess you must reprogram your brain
to see things that you did not see before. You can do this by
studying at least 30 minutes of tactics per day. I provide 1,500
tactics problems for you to study, and I also recommend some of the
best tactics books.
I also provide instruction in other areas of the game, and recommend a
system for memorizing openings and other things when that becomes
necessary.
All the lessons here build upon the lessons that come before them.
If you want to start at one of the higher levels, first review
the simpler lessons.
Beginner
Learn the Rules
Although this web site does not specifically cover the rules,
here are a few web sites where you can learn them:
U.S. Chess Federation
Logical Chess
Internet Chess Club
Magic Theater
Yahooligans
John Edwards
Chess Central
Chess Corner
Recognize checkmate.
The Internet Chess Club has a good page explaining check and checkmate.
A terse explanation is at
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/games/rules/chess/endgame.html
Likewise at http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/basic/check/check.htm
The queen and king mate is demonstrated well at ... Chess Kids
The first 110 diagrams at 1w.htm are positions where white can make a move
that is immediately checkmates. Although this is a little
advanced for the beginning player, it would be good to go
through all of these and try to find the checkmate move. To
read the solutions you need to know chess notation.
Novice
The simplest possible opening.
The simplest possible opening is one where you deploy your
pieces like so.......
The idea is to place only 2 pawns in the center, unless your
opponent can capture them, move the rest of your army into
play and then castle either kingside or queenside.
Sometimes these are not safe squares for the bishops, so they
have to go to other squares like the following....
As a general rule, you want to move the knights out before the
bishops. The reason for this is that it is easier to know first
where the knights should go. Where the bishops go depends upon
where your opponent has placed his pawns and other pieces.
Your first move should be a pawn move into the center of the board.
You really have the option of moving 2 to 3 pawns in the opening,
and it could be any of these 4....
As a rule, moving 4 pawns in the opening is probably over-doing
it. You don't want to move so many pawns that you slow down
the deployment of you other pieces. Moving too many pawns could
also create "holes" (weaknesses) in your position that your
opponent could exploit.
Read about openings here: http://www.dwheeler.com/chess-openings/
Learn the value of the chess pieces at Chess is Fun and About.com
Learn tactics: Look for the words "Forks", "Pins", and "Skewers" on this page.
Learn chess notation.
Although you don't need to write chess notation until you
play in tournaments, you need it to follow the lessons on
this web page. Here are a few web pages that explain how
to read chess notation .....
http://chess.about.com/library/ble21brd.htm
http://www.logicalchess.com/info/reference/notation/
http://www.uschess.org/beginners/read/
How to get to 800
Tactics
The level of 800 is so far removed from my everyday chess
playing experience that I might not correctly identify what
it takes to play at this level. What I do know, however, is
that players at this level frequently miss 1 move tactical combinations
and one move checkmates, even in tournament play.
You can reach the level of 800 or higher by studying each
of the 1 move deep White to move problem sets below. Each
page has 20 problems. Each position is from a real game and
there is no particular order to them. The positions are a
mixture of checkmates, pins, forks, skewers, and removing
the defender combinations.
I suggest alternating through all the
sets at the rate of one per day until you can do every set
below in 20 minutes each. Since the goal is to not miss
situations like this in real games, accuracy is more important
than speed, but eventually it will be important to do these quickly.
White to move and win in 1 move#1 White to move and win in 1 move#9
White to move and win in 1 move#2 White to move and win in 1 move#10
White to move and win in 1 move#3 White to move and win in 1 move#11
White to move and win in 1 move#4 White to move and win in 1 move#12
White to move and win in 1 move#5 White to move and win in 1 move#13
White to move and win in 1 move#6 White to move and win in 1 move#14
White to move and win in 1 move#7 White to move and win in 1 move#15
White to move and win in 1 move#8 White to move and win in 1 move#16
Opening
Read more about openings at: http://chess.about.com/library/ble50ndx.htm
See the endgame chart.
How to get to 900
Tactics
If you are rated below 900, chances are that you miss one move
tactical shots that can be played against you. For the
moment, set aside the 1 move white problems and instead
focus on thse 1 move black problems. Alternate sets until
you can do each in 20 minutes.
Black to move and win in 1 move#1 Black to move and win in 1 move#9
Black to move and win in 1 move#2 Black to move and win in 1 move#10
Black to move and win in 1 move#3 Black to move and win in 1 move#11
Black to move and win in 1 move#4 Black to move and win in 1 move#12
Black to move and win in 1 move#5 Black to move and win in 1 move#13
Black to move and win in 1 move#6 Black to move and win in 1 move#14
Black to move and win in 1 move#7 Black to move and win in 1 move#15
Black to move and win in 1 move#8 Black to move and win in 1 move#16
Opening
King Pawn #1
See the endgame chart.
How to get to 1000
Tactics
How fast you see tactics is going to become more important.
The previous two sections emphasized doing 1 move tactical
problems for both White and Black. Go back and review these
until you can do every set of 20 problems in ten minutes each.
I suggest doing one set of black problems and one set of
white problems every day.
Opening
Four Knights #1
See the endgame chart.
How to get to 1100
See Tactics Chart.
Opening
See the endgame chart.
How to get to 1200
See Tactics Chart.
Opening
See the endgame chart.
How to get to 1300
See Tactics Chart.
Opening Sometime soon you will start to memorize some opening lines,
so I recommend keeping a Memorization List.
See the endgame chart.
How to get to 1400
See Tactics Chart.
Opening
Petroff #1
See the endgame chart.
How to get to 1500
See Tactics Chart.
Opening
See the endgame chart.
Play in tournaments. Review your games.
How to get to 1600
See Tactics Chart.
Critical positions.
Opening
See the endgame chart.
Play in tournaments. Review your games.
How to get to 1700
See Tactics Chart.
Critical positions.
Opening
Albin Counter Gambit #1
See the endgame chart.
See these games to study.
Play in tournaments. Review your games.
How to get to 1800
See Tactics Chart.
Critical positions.
Opening
Alapin #1
Alapin #2
Alapin #3
See the endgame chart.
See these games to study.
Play in tournaments. Review your games.
How to get to 1900
See Tactics Chart.
Critical positions.
Opening
See the endgame chart.
Strategy
If you are already 1800, then chances are you are a pretty
good tactical player, but you might need more refinement
strategically.
If you haven't already, buy Silman's book The Amateur's Mind
and go through it. One caveat to be aware of is that
although the book is a pretty fun read, it can take months
to learn to apply the ideas to your own game. After reading
the book, my initial results were worse, but over the long
term I became a much better positional player.
See these games to study.
Play in tournaments. Review your games.
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