I need some tips, played 600 games or so now and its like 500:100 losses

poker is so much easier, I would be ok I reckon if I just didn't **** up so often with very stupid moves and like missing obvious shuit that my opponenet is doing. Had a mini revelation earlier, in focusing on opponent moves only and moving my pieces as a reaction to that instead of looking more where my pieces can go, but I find I am not aggressive enough,

halp

what is chess about?

building up defensive formations? building up pressure on certain squares? what do you focus on?

I've watched some videos, curtains aswell who is poker player I think, should I buy a book? I HATE LOSING

Welcome!

The secret to chess is that there are no secrets. Just a long, long process whereby you get a little better, bit by bit.

The first thing to start working on is tactics. Tactics are combinations of moves that let you capture more material than you give up. At the amateur level, this is by far the most important facet of the game.

First, read this:
http://chess.about.com/od/tipsforbeg...sicTactics.htm

Then, start doing some tactics training. My favorite site is here:

chess.emrald.net

Over time, you'll build up what is called "tactical vision" or "board vision" or "pattern recognition." You won't have to think so hard about basic tactics, you'll just see them immediately and know instinctively not to fall for them.

Post some of your games here and let us go over them, we'll explain to you how you could have done better.

I wouldn't worry about buying a book just yet, but if you want to, there's some good recommendations around here for beginner books. Someone else can let you know what they are.

This was very helpful, ty.

That's a deep question. I've been playing about 10 years and I still ask myself that question all the time.

I think the answer to it is what takes you up the rating ladder. Every time you think you have the answer you need to re-ask the question to get a new answer to take you to the next level.

At the noob level, I think the answer is something like this (note that not all of this is true at higher levels):
-- develop your pieces in the opening, don't move a piece twice without a very good reason, don't bring your queen out too early
-- don't hang any pieces, snap up any pieces that your opponent leaves hanging
-- take opportunities to mess up your opponents pawn structure and don't give your opponent a chance to mess up your pawn structure unnecessarily
-- if you're ahead in material trade pieces and simplify, if you're down material do the opposite
-- in the endgame bring your king out into the action
-- know how to mate with K+R and K+Q

and:
-- read Novice Nook articles online by Dan Heisman

thanks, I read this and has helped

yeah I kind of noticed this vision developing, its hard to think ahead far enough though to force these tactical situations to happen, but lately I have found myself setting traps which are dependent on villain moving a peice and then trying to tempt that peice to move, by offering a piece or opening an attack route for villain which ultimatly is not fast enough to beat my trap. I think as I start playing stronger opponents though I will need more, is it just down to future thinking? I'm looking for epiphany, in most games I find there is an aha point where the curve greatly jumps

yes, I think in all games this is true, I would really appreciate any perspectives on this question.

So whats wrong with bringing my queen out? As white I often move my king pawn up to and then move queen to attack that square which often results in the worst players getting mated early...

hanging means undefended? Isn't it just pawns which are vulnerable here? Or is it because by having to retreat you waste a move and give ground away? Any good articles or insights on the opening mechanics?

How do you mess up a pawn structure? I can only think of splitting the pawns up but it usually requirtes your own pawns to sacrifice so isn't it pretty neutral? I often like to trade off one of my outer pawns for a d or E pawn as I understand these two pawns are the strongest, and its one of the first things i look for, problem there though is 'am I sacrificing development?'

Ok I will do a search, any particular?


thx

Similarly, on each move you also have goals, the primary one being to find
the best move you can within a reasonable amount of time

the problem is chess isn't one move, like poker isn't one hand, a move can appear stronger, but 3 turns later it actually wasn't stronger, also there is the meta variable of villain behaviour

e:btw I have won my last 4 games since deciding to study Oo

e2: make that five in a row

1.e4e5
2.Nf3Nf6
3.Nxe5Nxe4
4.Qf3Nc5
5.Qxf7#

"yeah I kind of noticed this vision developing, its hard to think ahead far enough though to force these tactical situations to happen, but lately I have found myself setting traps which are dependent on villain moving a peice and then trying to tempt that peice to move, by offering a piece or opening an attack route for villain which ultimatly is not fast enough to beat my trap. I think as I start playing stronger opponents though I will need more, is it just down to future thinking? I'm looking for epiphany, in most games I find there is an aha point where the curve greatly jumps"

In general, you should not make moves based on "I hope he doesn't see the right response." That's a very bad habit, and a hard one to break later when you start playing better opponents.

Just try to improve your position the best you know how, and the tactical opportunities will come.

How do you improve your position? Well, if there were a short answer to that, we'd all be grandmasters. A good newb rule of thumb is to look for your piece that is doing the least (controlling the least amount of squares, not attacking anything of value) and try to find a better place for it.

"So whats wrong with bringing my queen out? As white I often move my king pawn up to and then move queen to attack that square which often results in the worst players getting mated early..."

You'll begin to find that the other player can develop a piece "with tempo" by attacking your queen. Let's say you bring out your queen, and he moves his knight for the first time and it attacks your queen. Now you have to move your queen, so he basically got to develop his knight for free. Bringing out your queen too early can lead to your opponent getting several free moves like that.

"hanging means undefended? Isn't it just pawns which are vulnerable here? Or is it because by having to retreat you waste a move and give ground away? Any good articles or insights on the opening mechanics?"

Yes, hanging means undefended. At the noob level, you'll find that most games have something hanging that could have been captured for free at some point. That's why it's important to go over games afterwards and have better players look at your games. You may not have even noticed the opportunities.

"How do you mess up a pawn structure? I can only think of splitting the pawns up but it usually requirtes your own pawns to sacrifice so isn't it pretty neutral? I often like to trade off one of my outer pawns for a d or E pawn as I understand these two pawns are the strongest, and its one of the first things i look for, problem there though is 'am I sacrificing development?' "

Out of all the things he posted, this is the one I would probably ignore. Pawn structure is a relatively subtle concept, and it's very easy for a beginner to overestimate it (sometimes it can be very useful to mess up your opponent's pawn structure, a lot of other times the advantage is almost nothing and you can waste time and material on it.)

"Ok I will do a search, any particular?"

http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~...m#subjectorder

I don't recall which ones are specifically good for complete noobs. But pay attention to what he says about level. If at the beginning of a column he says it is for intermediate players, skip it. It's easy to waste time reading stuff you aren't ready for in chess, and it will feel productive and understandable, but it won't really help you yet.

The ones on tactics are a great place to start. When he begins to talk about counting, do *not* assume it is as easy as it sounds. This is a very important skill to master, and it's a lot harder than you'd think off hand.

"the problem is chess isn't one move, like poker isn't one hand, a move can appear stronger, but 3 turns later it actually wasn't stronger, also there is the meta variable of villain behaviour"

Chess is a game of perfect information, unlike poker. With some rare exceptions, villain behavior really shouldn't enter in to your thought process. You should evaluate the position and make the best move you can based on it. You aren't trying to trick your opponent, you are trying to understand the position as best you can, better than he does.

thx for all that very useful

I'll keep this in mind, the position though is dependent on villains future decisions though surely

Played a few more games, lost 3 won 1, two of the ones I lose though I was easily winning but made silly mistakes in the end game... or rather he was very good and thoughtful where I take it for granted it was easy

I'll come back with some games If I found any confusing spots , I play on chess.com through facebook, not sure how to post games, just copy and paste the annotation I assume...

Yes and no. For your purposes at the moment, mostly no. The position will dicate one or maybe a few optimal courses of action for each side. You should proceed assuming he will take the optimal course of action. If he doesn't, and you do, then all the better for you. You won't find situations where X is a good move, but he plays a bad move and that ruins X.

At this point, I think we're getting too abstract. It's tempting to try to reduce chess to maxims and rules of thumb, but in reality, only practical experience matters in the long run. Post the notation from a game and/or read the discussions of other games here. You'll start to see examples of why one move improves a position or another doesn't.

I've pulled out some specific Novice Nooks that I think will be helpful to you:

To give you an idea of the process from rank beginner to expert-level chess player:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf

Introducing you to what could be described as the two basic principles of chess, safety and activity:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman01.pdf

Common misconceptions of new players (might as well get these out of the way):
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman77.pdf

A great explanation of why you should be very careful about trying to learn concepts beyond your current ability:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman112.pdf

The seeds of tactical destruction:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman05.pdf

More on safety:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman106.pdf

The five ways to make a piece safe:
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman96.pdf

Just wanted to post this answer to my question:

This is interesting, as it reminded me of many times when I have trapped bishops which aren't doing anything, they might aswell be pawns. Also made me think about knights, it seems very important to move them up a couple of ranks as it greatly increases the amount of squares they can move too, which made me think about openings, in that developing pieces accelerates 'square capture' much more so than pawns, which presumably you have to find some kind of balance with as the pawns have defensive value which is 'cheap'. So it seems everything revolves around this, which is kind of obvious

Alot of what I have read has put emphasis on making sure your peices are doing things, and as you said ealier about looking for which piece is doing the least...

I guess when looking at a position you could sort of quantify an edge by the number of squares that are 'controlled' - which would then be factored by the usefulness of each, which then is further complicated by future interactions,

I have to grind now, I will look into that last post, study up more and play tomorrow. I hate losing but I love challenge, chess is getting pretty addictive, and it's interesting to philosophise on in similar ways to poker...

Ah, pawns. If I could find a simple way to explain the purpose of pawns, I'd write a book and make a lot of money.

The use and purpose of pawns might be the most variable factor in chess.

Sometimes they are defensive shields. Sometimes they control key squares. Sometimes they shoot down the board to promote or at least threaten to. Sometimes they participate in an attack. Sometimes they are frozen in place and sort of define the terrain that the rest of the pieces do battle on. Sometimes they are the battering ram that busts down the opponent's fortress.

Whenever I completely understand pawns, I'll let you know and share the secret

Kyle already did a great job of replying to this, but I'll add my 2 cents.

The players you beat quickly by bringing out your queen early are the ones you are going to beat anyway.

The better players are going to beat you by punishing your overaggression.


Yes, a piece or pieces that can be taken for free (or traded for a lesser valued piece).


As Kyle pointed out, this one is a bit more subtle than the others and is often violated at the master level where it's all about the initiative.

But, at the noob level, you'll often get chances to trade material that messes up your opponents pawns horribly which will make winning the endgame easy. (OK, I guess if the games never get to an endgame this can be ignored)

This kind of thing:


3...Nxe4?? is a blunder and loses a pawn by force with correct play. Black should play 3...d6 first.

After 4.Qf3?, Black could simply play the natural and good move 4...Nf6 and White has failed to punish Black's error on the third move.

When you understand that 4.Qf3 is a bad move despite the fact that you won on the next move, you will be a better player.

So is this endgame winning? My first thought was a draw but now I see some ideas. Like white king comes on the kingside so black has to play f5 h6 and Kf6 or just his king to f5 to protect. But white can always win a tempo in the queenside so yeah I guess it is lost.

I think that's better for white, more likely won than drawn. But I could be very wrong, endgames are still my weak point. The problem for black is that he's going to get zugzwanged because he's going to run out of safe pawn moves a lot quicker than white will.

Of course, I'd probably blow it from either side

Yeah, I tried playing it against the computer and it quickly became a draw.

The computer has no problem winning against itself though, so it's probably objectively won.

The point was that white is clearly better based on the pawn structure. Removing the two d-pawns would be a better example maybe.

Iam a chess noob too^^

1.e4b6
2.d4Bb7
3.d5g6
4.Nh3Bg7
5.c3Na6
6.Bf4e5
7.Bg5Bf6
8.Be3c6
9.Bd3cxd5
10.Bb5Nc5
11.exd5e4
12.Nf4Bg5
13.Nd2Nf6
14.O-OO-O
15.b4Nd3
16.Nxe4Nb2
17.Qd4a6
18.Be2b5
19.Rab1Nc4
20.Bxc4bxc4
21.Qxc4Rc8
22.Qd4Nxe4
23.Qxe4Re8
24.Qf3Rxc3
25.g3Qc7
26.Rfe1Bh6
27.h4d6
28.g4Re5
29.g5Bxd5
30.Qd1Bxg5
31.hxg5Rxg5+
32.Kh2Bxa2
33.Bd4d5
34.Re8#

Just watched this myself, on 29 I really should have took his bishop with knight

my latest game (10 mins I was kind of rushing), think I got lucky, mated him in the game before in a similar fashion.

anyway thx for all the info kyle ect, lots of reading in those articles. Have played alot more chess than I should have, but still suck

I always open with E5 as white, I've noticed some higher rated players are opening with B night to C3, any good idea on a different opening ot my usual E5 E4 game?

Also when whit goes E4 is D5 a a good response from black? (compared to the standard E5)

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=49974

e4 is fine for now. There's a lot of different openings, and personally I'm of the opinion that e4 is both best for learning and best for long-term results, but others may disagree. The main thing is that it's easy to get caught up into "I need a different opening," when really openings have nothing to do with why beginners win and lose chess games.

e4/d5 is called the Scandanavian defense, and it's solid and playable if you know how to do it. Personally, I wouldn't bother learning it when e5 is just fine, but that's me.


3. d5, you've violated the beginner principle: Don't move anything twice before you've moved everything once (unless there's a tactic). Nc3 or Bd3 would have developed a piece and protected the pawn he was attacking at the same time.

4. Nh3, I'm curious as to why you did that. Pieces are usually more powerful the closer to the center of the board they are, and that's more true for knights than any other piece. A knight on f3 covers all the same squares that the knight on h3 does, plus a few extra, so there's almost never a good reason to start with Nh3 instead of Nf3.

5. c3 does cover the d4 square (which would have been covered already if you'd played Nf3), but otherwise, it doesn't develop a piece and it even blocks the best square for your knight on b1.

8. Be3 is fine, but here's something to think about. What if you'd just left it there? If he takes, you retake with your knight, and he's used up two moves and all that's happened is your knight has ended up on a better square. Thinking about exchanges that way is probably a level beyond where you're at right now, but you'll need to start thinking about it soon

10. Bb5, there's a piece moving twice again unnecessarily. If you wanted the bishop on b5, why didn't you move it there on move 9? You still need to castle, develop your other knight, and your queen.

You are right that you could have won a piece with 30. Nxd5 Rxd5/gxh6.

33. Bd4 is a nice move! You saw his threat, and instead of instantly reacting to it, you took the time to find a great threat to make, and it paid off with a mate.

very helpful thankyou...

regarding 3 I Thought that it would win more me of the board in the long run, but I suppose it is bad, like having a vanguard to far in front of the army so its vulnerable... I thought the don't move any piece twice rule was just for non pawns, I read somewhere you are only suppose to move 2, 3 pawns most before developing all peices. does amount of pawn moves:Peice moves in the opening offer a significant edge vs getting control further up?

4. I developed it as a habit as I like to keep the f3 square free... e2 blocks my peices, If I move to f3 I often have to move it again I just want to get it on G5 of F4 later, but I probably should have moved something else- in these ten minute no increment games I do alot of random stuff

8. His queen can retake take my knight?

10. on 9 his pawn was preventing me, but yes I need to think about the double movements, my thought process in timed games is 'move there' without much thought



Can I ask,

1- at 15 should I have moved my F pawn up?
2- Any general tips regarding the 3 pawns that guard the castle?

ty!

yes
1. 15. f3 is probably a good idea, looking at opening the f-file and swapping off his e4-pawn. But what you did is fine too, though maybe you could have followed it up more accurately, e.g. 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Qb3! probably traps the knight on b2, though it's complicated.

2. your king is generally safest with the pawns all flexibly placed back on h2, g2 and f2. Don't move them from there without a reason (there are lots of good reasons, though).

Sorry about that. Umm, it was a test to see if you are paying attention.

Fish,

4.Nh3 looks really ugly but I wonder if it's ok in this position since one of the main drawbacks would normally be black's light squared bishop bearing down on it threatening to ruin your kingside pawns. In this case black has already moved the light squared bishop off the diagonal though. It's the kind of move only a noob or a grandmaster would play :-)

Did you recognize that 7.dxe6 could be played, capturing en passant? If so, and you rejected it that's fine, just wondering if you saw the pattern. (There's a nice trap if black plays the natural 7...dxe6?? 8.Qa4+! wins a piece).

Black hung a bishop with 29...Bxd5??, a "counting" blunder on black's part, but white believed him and moved the queen away instead of 30.Nxd5.

33.Bd4! is a pretty move, very nice.

thanks so much for this post, really fantastic stuff. Chess does seem to be a problem for a newb like myself once you get beyond the basics the literature is daunting and I've always wanted to skip to higher level stuff which actually made me quit for a long time.
Just changing up to a simple opening and being tactically aware I can already see how much better I am.

Is there some kind of chess replayer on the web that would be like reviewing hands in HEM?

there's lots, most people here use the replayer on http://www.chessvideos.tv

Hmmm I don't remember but I do try to keep my knights out of the way of bishop lines or where they can be pinned. I will keep this more in mind in the openings, as I don't know if I would have moved there regardless.

I don't follow here... 7.dxe6- my notation understanding is sketchy, I assume this means to move my pawn up one but my bishop is in check... I also don't see how I win a piece with Qa4 (whats the +!?) This also leave my E pawn vulnerable

Yeah I moved fast because of timer and didn't notice until afterwards.

TY, I got lucky though, he was very careless and was going for the mate

So I should generally try to castle on the side which hasn't moved as many pawns...? Is it generally a good idea to ensure I have my bishop on the B2 or F2 squares and move the pawn up one? (opposed to having all 3 pawns in original place) Especially as black I have the habit of putting my knight on the A3/H3 and the bishop protecting it,

Recently I have been playing chess titans thast I got with windows 7, its very educating to play it on the hardest level, although I get slaughtered even though I use the undo often

Is it worth sacrificing the weaker bishop to trade off one the enemies pawns and double their pawn line up? I notice normally I have a weak bishop if I put my pawn diagonal on its colour... I'm starting to notice that a bishop sacrifice is kind of useful to weaken their pawns and strengthen mine, (online) opponents usually don't want to trade a bishop for a pawn but sometimes certain pawns are pivotal whereas the bishop is a 'pawn replacement' until end game. Also it seems to give me very good spot for a knight... its one of the things that seems neccecary against the level 10 computer.