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i
SelfProclaimedTitler

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Anyone knows what is the best way to improve your chess skills? I started to play chess about two months ago, and now I am in love with game. The only problem is that i think my improvement is too slow, so it can be very frustrated.

I have Chessmaster 10th edition, so I try to learn the basics principles and strategies with a help of Josh Waitzkin interactive academy. I like it, but sometimes is difficult to do in real game what I learned on this course.

I think now my ELO would be around 1200. What is the best way to rise it higher?

Smiffy
SPS CLAN

Wales

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Unless you play club chess you cant say what u think your elo is...If you join a chess club that will help you become better or study chess on sites like www.chessgames.com.
smiffy

w

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Originally posted by ivan2908
Anyone knows what is the best way to improve your chess skills? I started to play chess about two months ago, and now I am in love with game. The only problem is that i think my improvement is too slow, so it can be very frustrated.

I have Chessmaster 10th edition, so I try to learn the basics principles and strategies with a help of Josh Waitzkin intera ...[text shortened]... his course.

I think now my ELO would be around 1200. What is the best way to rise it higher?
Play a lot of chess against a variety of opponents. Learn basic principles and basic mating patterns, and most importantly, a good tactics book.

Then see if you can find individual positions with heavy annotations (key points in a game). Cover the annotations, and analyse the position for 30 minutes minimum. Then have a look at the analysis, and see how much you had seen. Try to do this without moving the pieces on the board.

dsR

Big D

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To become a better chess player, follow this regimen in this order:

o Learn all the mating patterns

o Study tactical motifs

o Learn basic endgames

o Study middlegames by going through classic games (pre-Botvinnik)

o Go through all the games of Rubenstein, Nimzovitch, Capablanca and Alekhine

o Study Rook and Pawn endgames for two years like Capablanca did

o Study the games of Botvinnik and Smyslov

o Begin studying openings

Becoming the chessplayer you are meant to be is a lifelong process so don't expect to become great overnight. Whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of studying opening lines at this point in your development. You may think you have to because you’re finding yourself “out of book” by move 4, but it's an enormous misuse of your time. Very rarely will you be able to apply your “book” knowledge and go on to win the game. At some point in the game, the opponent will vary the order of moves or you will exhaust your book moves and you will have to think for yourself. You will gain far more utility from studying classic games or tactics or endgames.

D

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Why study old chess games? Are they more instructive because the themes are more basic?

R

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Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter


o Go through all the games of Rubenstein, Nimzovitch, Capablanca and Alekhine

o Study Rook and Pawn endgames for two years like Capablanca did

o Study the games of Botvinnik and Smyslov

.
😴😴😴

D

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Find a club, play a lot of games......DO NOT drag every game out to mate, if you've got a lost position (like dropping a piece and then some) resign and go on to a new game where you might learn something. (It's considered bad manners in some circles to refuse to resign in a hopeless position)
After you develop some skills, play with a clock. You can learn more playing a bunch of game/10 min than laboring over a single two hour game.

o

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I've also heard that it is a good idea to go over your games, to see why you won/lost them.

A
D_U_N_E

Arrakis

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Originally posted by ivan2908
Anyone knows what is the best way to improve your chess skills? I started to play chess about two months ago, and now I am in love with game. The only problem is that i think my improvement is too slow, so it can be very frustrated.

I have Chessmaster 10th edition, so I try to learn the basics principles and strategies with a help of Josh Waitzkin intera ...[text shortened]... his course.

I think now my ELO would be around 1200. What is the best way to rise it higher?
I recommend this website:

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com/index1.htm

H
Renouned Grob Killer

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Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
To become a better chess player, follow this regimen in this order:

o Learn all the mating patterns

o Study tactical motifs

o Learn basic endgames

o Study middlegames by going through classic games (pre-Botvinnik)

o Go through all the games of Rubenstein, Nimzovitch, Capablanca and Alekhine

o Study Rook and Pawn endgames for two ...[text shortened]... yourself. You will gain far more utility from studying classic games or tactics or endgames.
Good posting as always. 🙂

z

127.0.0.1

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Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
To become a better chess player, follow this regimen in this order:

o Learn all the mating patterns

o Study tactical motifs

o Learn basic endgames

o Study middlegames by going through classic games (pre-Botvinnik)

o Go through all the games of Rubenstein, Nimzovitch, Capablanca and Alekhine

o Study Rook and Pawn endgames for two ...[text shortened]... yourself. You will gain far more utility from studying classic games or tactics or endgames.
I would study basic endgames before anything else. Why? because there is nothing worse than getting to the end of the game with 2 bishops on the board and not being able to mate. Basic mating patters can be next (there is no need to study all of them at this time).
Then move onto tactics. Do tactics for a while, then learn basic opening principals, go back to tactics.

After lots of tactics, then start studying games master games.

R

Edmonton, Alberta

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Originally posted by ivan2908
Anyone knows what is the best way to improve your chess skills? I started to play chess about two months ago, and now I am in love with game. The only problem is that i think my improvement is too slow, so it can be very frustrated.

I have Chessmaster 10th edition, so I try to learn the basics principles and strategies with a help of Josh Waitzkin intera ...[text shortened]... his course.

I think now my ELO would be around 1200. What is the best way to rise it higher?
http://www.redhotpawn.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=39309&page=2

page 2 half way down I post some advice.

the suggestions in this thread are also good.

W
Angler

River City

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Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
To become a better chess player, follow this regimen in this order:

o Learn all the mating patterns
How many are there? Where can I find a list of them?

p

Parallel Universe

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To paraphrase somebody else on this site--and Steve Lopez from ChessBase:

1. Study tactics!!! Chess is mostly short-term tactics.
2. Study endgames. Studying endgames is incredibly boring, but it's almost as important as learning tactics. It's good to know how to win (or draw!) in an endgame. Endgame study separates men from the boys. Spend most of your time on those two subjects: tactics and endgames.
3. Spend some time studying positional play/long-term strategy.
4. Do NOT spend a lot of time studying or memorizing opening systems/theory until you reach Elo 2000+. That is a hard rule to unlearn, but follow it.
5. Play as much chess as you can, especially with a stronger player. Swallow your pride and allow yourself to get beaten on the board. Your Elo will thank you for it.
6. Record your games and go over them--especially your losses--with someone stronger.
7. Replay over games of other good players (www.chessgames.com is good for this) and try to really understand why they made the moves they did.
8. Don't kick yourself when you lose: losing teaches you things, and there are more important things in life than winning at chess.

The above posts by RahimK and der Shwarz are good.

p

Parallel Universe

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Originally posted by zebano
I would study basic endgames before anything else. ...
Many chess coaches start with teaching endgames for the reasons you listed.

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