29 Jul 06
Originally posted by jgvaccaroOkay what about just a rating out of 10, 10 being the highest?
Not allowed. Discussion of past moves inevitably reflects on future possibilities. Stick to asking about completed games.
As far as your other questions go, I am not an expert on getting good at chess (as you can tell by my rating), but I do have some thoughts.
Probably the best thing you can do is reflect more deeply on your own moves and try to a ...[text shortened]... roach, I suspect the most important thing at our level is to be alert to possible tactics.
29 Jul 06
Originally posted by RahimKDon't confuse the guy by using the words "stratagy" and "principles" to mean the same thing. Startagy concerns long term goals and often can be very convoluted and difficult to follow unless you are very comfortable with tactics and have a good memory for following possible lines.
Tactics? I'm a big fan but in this case I gotta disagree with you. Yes he drops pieces everyone does when they start out but getting a 1200 to work on tactics won't do much in my opinion. It's better to learn strategy at this point, how the pieces move, what you should aim for and then worry about tactics. I saw the first 7 moves of the first 3 games on that ...[text shortened]... e 2 half way down. Follow that. When you get to 1300 or so then start worrying about tactics.
Principles are the basic rules of thumb that every beginner should follow. He already mentioned a couple, I believe--control the center, avoid pawn moves. Included with these could be: develop you pieces, castle to protect your king, never bring the queen out early, Don't advance your knights to squares that can be attacked by pawns, etc. I'm sure there must be a website out there somewhere with a nice handly list of these things. Know your principles first and then study tactics. Don't worry about stratagy (and this includes all those flashily named openings) untill you are nearing expert level.
03 Aug 06
Use this.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer
this database is mostly made up of 2300+ games (no crap) - and this opening explorer compiles the enter databse and sorts them by, opening moves. (oddly enogh)
if a move has been played 60,000 times my masters and above you can rest assured its a good move.
by using this function and useing it wisely (i.e not just following what is says blindly) you can get rid of almost all your opening blunders.
do this at RHP enough times you will commit the moves to memory.
If your openant plays a 'non-book' move look hard at it, -- why? because non-book moves in main openings (like sicilain, spanish, etc) are generally weakish, or even better, sometimes they are blunders!
as for middle and endgames, well, unless you want to cheat there is no easy method - you will just have to solve puzzles and STUDY (not read) Chess Books& articles.
04 Aug 06
1 edit
Originally posted by wormwoodThat's what I always wonder... Why people always ask how they can get better, and the whole time they're giving away material??? Let me make a quick suggestion. Want a 1600+ rating in 6 months? Buy Lev Alburt's COmprehensive Chess Course Volumes I&II! Study one hour a day for six months... even if you're sick. And, do course over if you don't pass the 20 chess exams in the back of the book using only the time allotted. I scored 97% on all 20 exams. I missed three out of some 100 questions. But, I looked those over, and figured out why I missed them. Anyway, after that course my rating on RHP went from a 1400 to a 1600 in 3 months. Ignore my RHP rating. I had a lot of time outs and my rating suffered big time. But, anyway, if you want to get to 1600+, get that course, and you're on your way. No single player can help you get a well rounded chess education like Lev Alburt's course. No one player - especially a 1300 RHP rated player - is going to tell you anything you probably can't figure out yourself. Just some advice from someone who has been down every road to get better at chess.
you drop pieces like crazy. 🙂 it doesn't matter much what else you do until you stop dropping them. my guess is you don't drill tactics?
start doing tactics regularly, preferably a little each day. a good place for it is chess tactics server at http://chess.emrald.net/index.php
I've also played a year now, but have drilled tactics since the beginning. just broke 50 000 problems done yesterday. it pays off.
04 Aug 06
1 edit
Originally posted by powershakerYou're back too? Rahim coming back is good, I don't even want to see the stupid flame wars you will ignite.
That's what I always wonder... Why people always ask how they can get better, and the whole time they're giving away material??? Let me make a quick suggestion. Want a 1600+ rating in 6 months? Buy Lev Alburt's COmprehensive Chess Course Volumes I&II! Study one hour a day for six months... even if you're sick. And, do course over if you don't pass t elf. Just some advice from someone who has been down every road to get better at chess.
Edit: to the OP, it hurts to play through those (a 2000 would probably say the same of mine). The key is to stop dropping pieces. If you can take a piece or pawn, ask why shouldn't you. If you have no reason not to, take it. Then ask what pieces of your your opponent can take...
Finaly general principal. Many have been listed here, but here is how to open a chess game.
Try and control the center (with pawns)
Move knights before bishops
Don't move your queen out early as you will waste time when she is chased all over the board.
Castle! It protects your king and helps connect your rooks.
Other ideas (for the middle & end game)
Rooks on the 7th rank are almost always a winning advantage (or if your in a bad spot enough to force a draw)
If your bishop is on the same color as your pawns, try and get it outside the pawn chain or trade it off.
A knight on the first 2 ranks is for defense. A knight on the 5th or 6th rank can be deadly.
Other things: Do you know what en passant and stalemate are?