Can i get some pointers? • page 1/2 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

Hello lichess community, i only know the basic moves of chess, can someone better than me give me some pointers on how/what i should do to improve my chess games.

From what i have read/researched so far, i should be
-Practicing puzzles/tactics( ie: on LiChess) as often as i can,
-Studying some basic openings such as king's pawn opening and sicilian defence and continuously play them until a certain familiarity/level

Please take a look at my profile and some games i've played recently, i do notice my blunders ONLY after making them . No hate please for my poor chess skills.

Hello lichess community, i only know the basic moves of chess, can someone better than me give me some pointers on how/what i should do to improve my chess games. From what i have read/researched so far, i should be -Practicing puzzles/tactics( ie: on LiChess) as often as i can, -Studying some basic openings such as king's pawn opening and sicilian defence and continuously play them until a certain familiarity/level Please take a look at my profile and some games i've played recently, i do notice my blunders ONLY after making them . No hate please for my poor chess skills.

dfranke

#2

Don't worry about opening theory yet — for now just learn to follow general opening principles (develop minor pieces first, fight for control of the center, etc) and circle back to learning specific lines some time later. The very next every new player should learn after learning the rules is how to give checkmate with a rook and king against a lone king. You'll find this in the first chapter of https://lichess.org/practice. You'll do well just to through all those tutorials, except skip the knight & bishop mate for now; that one takes a long time to master and you'll likely never use it. Once you've gone through those, spend the next long while doing tactics puzzles and practicing at slow time controls.

ForkingGambits

#3

I'm not sure what the lichess module is called in English as I have my interface set to Welsh, but "hanfodion gwyddbwyll" which is something like "chess essentials" is a great module on here. It's under the "learn" drop down, The capturing the stars thing. You have to do it in the least number of moves. Before you do anything else I reckon you should work on getting full Mark's on that.

I wouldn't do your puzzles on lichess if I were you. Maybe it is because I'm 2200 on puzzles here but I would say they are probs a bit hard for helping you improve. I would download an app called "chess tactics pro" or even "chessimo". With chess tactics pro which is free I reckon you will probably need to spend a couple of quid to download the 400 easy mates. There are 150 "easy tactics" given for free, but I reckon that mates are better for beginners because you know exactly what constitutes a correct answer and you just have to find it. They "easy mates" are mostly mates in 1 or 2 and will show you some checkmate patterns and improve your board vision. Chessimo I think gives the first tactics module free, I paid for the full version but you deffo dont need to do that, there are far too many puzzles for you ever to complete. The first module is at a nice level for you.

Secondly chose one fairly forcing defence against both e4 and d4 and play that every game. You will never become world champion like this but you will quickly become competent in a limited opening repertoire and if that's all you ever play, like for a year, then you will be competent in the opening phase of almost every game you play. Openings I recommend for this method are the Scandinavian vs e4 and the Kings Indian Defnece vs d4. Try and pick something like the kings indian attack, london system or the stonewall attack as white. Once you have plated any one of these opening for about 10 or 15 games you should always be no more than slightly worse after about 8 moves, which is a good start to becoming competent.

There is also an excellent free endgame course on chessable. I cant remember now what it is called. But I wouldn't move on to that until you have done all the things I have outlined above.

I'm not sure what the lichess module is called in English as I have my interface set to Welsh, but "hanfodion gwyddbwyll" which is something like "chess essentials" is a great module on here. It's under the "learn" drop down, The capturing the stars thing. You have to do it in the least number of moves. Before you do anything else I reckon you should work on getting full Mark's on that. I wouldn't do your puzzles on lichess if I were you. Maybe it is because I'm 2200 on puzzles here but I would say they are probs a bit hard for helping you improve. I would download an app called "chess tactics pro" or even "chessimo". With chess tactics pro which is free I reckon you will probably need to spend a couple of quid to download the 400 easy mates. There are 150 "easy tactics" given for free, but I reckon that mates are better for beginners because you know exactly what constitutes a correct answer and you just have to find it. They "easy mates" are mostly mates in 1 or 2 and will show you some checkmate patterns and improve your board vision. Chessimo I think gives the first tactics module free, I paid for the full version but you deffo dont need to do that, there are far too many puzzles for you ever to complete. The first module is at a nice level for you. Secondly chose one fairly forcing defence against both e4 and d4 and play that every game. You will never become world champion like this but you will quickly become competent in a limited opening repertoire and if that's all you ever play, like for a year, then you will be competent in the opening phase of almost every game you play. Openings I recommend for this method are the Scandinavian vs e4 and the Kings Indian Defnece vs d4. Try and pick something like the kings indian attack, london system or the stonewall attack as white. Once you have plated any one of these opening for about 10 or 15 games you should always be no more than slightly worse after about 8 moves, which is a good start to becoming competent. There is also an excellent free endgame course on chessable. I cant remember now what it is called. But I wouldn't move on to that until you have done all the things I have outlined above.

ForkingGambits

#4

I've just noticed that you are doing "checkmate patterns" on here too. That is a great start.

ForkingGambits

#5

The advice from @dfranke about openings might be better than mine for now. Certainly, when you start to look at openings properly I think you should follow my advice, but maybe just watch a youtube video about "basic opening principles" for now.

This for example.....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kURU67G98O8

The advice from @dfranke about openings might be better than mine for now. Certainly, when you start to look at openings properly I think you should follow my advice, but maybe just watch a youtube video about "basic opening principles" for now. This for example..... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kURU67G98O8

tpr

#6

" i do notice my blunders ONLY after making them "
Enable move confirmation in your profile. Think about your move, play it, check it is no blunder, then confirm.

" i do notice my blunders ONLY after making them " Enable move confirmation in your profile. Think about your move, play it, check it is no blunder, then confirm.

clemtkx

#7

Thank you both of you for your advice. I am doing some of everything right now.

Can i get some thoughts on this below :

"
I played quite a number of 3+2 games just to get familiarized with the chess pieces. But i read somewhere that playing too much "bullet-style" games will not make you a better player ( Some players have plenty of games but have a rating lower than me). I have since transition to 5+3 games giving me a bit of time to think now, but when i analyse my games i do notice that i am making plenty of blunders still. Should i go back to more 3+2 games just to be more familiar ?
"

Will take a look at a few openings and stick to them. At the moment, i am playing sicilian defence for most of my games ( since watching a few videos a few days ago and today)

Thank you both

Thank you both of you for your advice. I am doing some of everything right now. Can i get some thoughts on this below : " I played quite a number of 3+2 games just to get familiarized with the chess pieces. But i read somewhere that playing too much "bullet-style" games will not make you a better player ( Some players have plenty of games but have a rating lower than me). I have since transition to 5+3 games giving me a bit of time to think now, but when i analyse my games i do notice that i am making plenty of blunders still. Should i go back to more 3+2 games just to be more familiar ? " Will take a look at a few openings and stick to them. At the moment, i am playing sicilian defence for most of my games ( since watching a few videos a few days ago and today) Thank you both

clemtkx

#8

Thanks tpr for your tip. I think i should do that for some time, and when i get better turn it off to see how it affects my game.

tpr

#9

Also play only classical and rapid, no blitz, no bullet.
Use all the time allowed by the time control: time on your clock is a ressource to use.
Whenever you lose a game, analyse it to learn from your mistakes.

Also play only classical and rapid, no blitz, no bullet. Use all the time allowed by the time control: time on your clock is a ressource to use. Whenever you lose a game, analyse it to learn from your mistakes.

TheLegendaryChess17

#10

Also, you need a goal. Moving random pieces randomly won't help. For a rock-wall style of playing, don't make any risks whatsoever. As soon as you see an opponent make a mistake, take an advantage over it. For a fierce style of play, try to win as as fast as you can, obviously without any mistakes. But I suggest the rock-wall style for beginners.

Learn a decent opening. Ruy Lopez of something of that sort. French Defense, Sicillian Defence, Petrov's Defence, or stuff like that is best left alone until slightly advanced. The opening's purpose is to reach a playable middlegame.
Middlegame: Learn tactics. Forks, pins, skewers, and such. Reach a playable endgame.
In the endgame: focus on promotion.

Note: When playing against players over 2500, try to beat them as fast as you can, if possible, of course without blunders. The higher the player is, the quicker you have to try to beat them. Reason: When 2500+ players reach the endgame, they play almost perfectly, making nearly no mistakes.

Never give up pieces for no reason. Also pawns are very important, more important than most people think.

Also, you need a goal. Moving random pieces randomly won't help. For a rock-wall style of playing, don't make any risks whatsoever. As soon as you see an opponent make a mistake, take an advantage over it. For a fierce style of play, try to win as as fast as you can, obviously without any mistakes. But I suggest the rock-wall style for beginners. 1. Learn a decent opening. Ruy Lopez of something of that sort. French Defense, Sicillian Defence, Petrov's Defence, or stuff like that is best left alone until slightly advanced. The opening's purpose is to reach a playable middlegame. 2. Middlegame: Learn tactics. Forks, pins, skewers, and such. Reach a playable endgame. 3. In the endgame: focus on promotion. Note: When playing against players over 2500, try to beat them as fast as you can, if possible, of course without blunders. The higher the player is, the quicker you have to try to beat them. Reason: When 2500+ players reach the endgame, they play almost perfectly, making nearly no mistakes. Never give up pieces for no reason. Also pawns are very important, more important than most people think.