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where to start my learning?

Play as many classical 30 minute games each and every day as possible. Try your best to win each game game. That alone will improve your game drastically. No bullet. No blitzing.

Play as many classical 30 minute games each and every day as possible. Try your best to win each game game. That alone will improve your game drastically. No bullet. No blitzing.

DarkForest has the right of it. I would recommend making a point of learning the hierarchy of piece values, which trades are in your favor and which aren't. Concentrating on the value of pieces will hopefully also help you concentrate on when you're leaving pieces attacked and unprotected, which is easily your biggest problem. No piece is so low value that you can just give it away.

I feel like running through your recent Stockfish game could help, if you want to link it here or in Game Analysis.

DarkForest has the right of it. I would recommend making a point of learning the hierarchy of piece values, which trades are in your favor and which aren't. Concentrating on the value of pieces will hopefully also help you concentrate on when you're leaving pieces attacked and unprotected, which is easily your biggest problem. No piece is so low value that you can just give it away. I feel like running through your recent Stockfish game could help, if you want to link it here or in Game Analysis.

@coffeeorzzZ said in #1:

Hello everyone, I'm a beginner and I practiced on tactics and checkmates.
But I'm still not good at some chapters such as "Queen VS rook"or"knight&bishop mate".

Hi coffeeorzzZ,

I just want to echo post #9 for emphasis....and maybe I can say it in a different way :

Your time is your most valuable asset. Try to spend it in the most efficient ways you can at each stage in your development.

So this is more a post on what NOT to spend your time on : Using your time to learn difficult checkmates --- and especially Really difficult mates like K+Queen Vs K+rook, or K+B+N Vs K, should probably wait until you are an advanced player. Your games are highly unlikely to be decided by those skills, and the time investment needed to learn them can be large or even huge, depending on your natural abilities.

For instance, I still have to drill achieving the K+Q vs K+knight mate, or I lose the skill....and I've only had to do it once when I played OTB in 50+ tournament games over several years, plus local club games --- K+Q vs K+R I still can't do against the Lichess computer, but it's NEVER come up in my games ( I tend to make sure and keep some pawns on the board to avoid it....)

Just by concentrating on the much simpler items mentioned in this thread, you'll find you improve Greatly !

good luck !

@coffeeorzzZ said in #1: > Hello everyone, I'm a beginner and I practiced on tactics and checkmates. > But I'm still not good at some chapters such as "Queen VS rook"or"knight&bishop mate". Hi coffeeorzzZ, I just want to echo post #9 for emphasis....and maybe I can say it in a different way : Your time is your most valuable asset. Try to spend it in the most efficient ways you can at each stage in your development. So this is more a post on what NOT to spend your time on : Using your time to learn difficult checkmates --- and especially Really difficult mates like K+Queen Vs K+rook, or K+B+N Vs K, should probably wait until you are an advanced player. Your games are highly unlikely to be decided by those skills, and the time investment needed to learn them can be large or even huge, depending on your natural abilities. For instance, I still have to drill achieving the K+Q vs K+knight mate, or I lose the skill....and I've only had to do it once when I played OTB in 50+ tournament games over several years, plus local club games --- K+Q vs K+R I still can't do against the Lichess computer, but it's NEVER come up in my games ( I tend to make sure and keep some pawns on the board to avoid it....) Just by concentrating on the much simpler items mentioned in this thread, you'll find you improve Greatly ! good luck !

@Ahmadinejad said in #13:

... So this is more a post on what NOT to spend your time on : Using your time to learn difficult checkmates --- and especially Really difficult mates like K+Queen Vs K+rook, or K+B+N Vs K, should probably wait until you are an advanced player. Your games are highly unlikely to be decided by those skills, and the time investment needed to learn them can be large or even huge, depending on your natural abilities. ... K+Q vs K+R I still can't do against the Lichess computer, but it's NEVER come up in my games ( I tend to make sure and keep some pawns on the board to avoid it....) ...
I actually pretty much agree with that, but I cannot resist mentioning a game that I just happened to witness about ten days ago. httpscolon//lichessperiodorg/HhM5HRn4

https://lichess.org/HhM5HRn4

It was a 10 minute game, and, by the end, both players had used about 8 minutes and 40 seconds.

@Ahmadinejad said in #13: > ... So this is more a post on what NOT to spend your time on : Using your time to learn difficult checkmates --- and especially Really difficult mates like K+Queen Vs K+rook, or K+B+N Vs K, should probably wait until you are an advanced player. Your games are highly unlikely to be decided by those skills, and the time investment needed to learn them can be large or even huge, depending on your natural abilities. ... K+Q vs K+R I still can't do against the Lichess computer, but it's NEVER come up in my games ( I tend to make sure and keep some pawns on the board to avoid it....) ... I actually pretty much agree with that, but I cannot resist mentioning a game that I just happened to witness about ten days ago. httpscolon//lichessperiodorg/HhM5HRn4 https://lichess.org/HhM5HRn4 It was a 10 minute game, and, by the end, both players had used about 8 minutes and 40 seconds.

https://lichess.org/sLHHmkoz/black

Here is my game today and I managed to beat stockfish level 4 as black.
It's hard for me to win when I play as black, but it will be much easier when I play as white.
I rarely win stockfish level 4 as black, I think that's my limit at this stage.
If you want to see my losing games, I can provide a lot of them. > O <

https://lichess.org/sLHHmkoz/black Here is my game today and I managed to beat stockfish level 4 as black. It's hard for me to win when I play as black, but it will be much easier when I play as white. I rarely win stockfish level 4 as black, I think that's my limit at this stage. If you want to see my losing games, I can provide a lot of them. > O <

@coffeeorzzZ said in #1:

[...] Could you give me some advice on how to improve my skills step by step?
I think the "study" part will be useful, but I don't know what to learn first. I also plan to buy some books, but don't kwon which part to buy, opening? tactics? endgames?......
Anyway, I'm really confused now.

By watching over your last 8 matches i can say, that you pay no attention to the opening phase of the game.
You only castle 2x in 8 games - at move 15 and move 21. This leads to total messy play where structured learning is not that easy.

An analogous example would be if you were to play such a miserable (high) serve in table tennis that your opponent could shoot it down immediately. Analysing your other weaknesses would probably be very difficult...

So, imho the first step would be to watch several youtube videos about the "basic opening principles". And then start playing your games with castling in mind BELOW move 10.

If you manage to do this for at least 2 weeks on a regular basis, then your games begin to look more like "real chess" and this sets you in a position, where you can analyze your games much more precise for further improvements.

Good luck on your lifelong chess journey!

@coffeeorzzZ EDIT: Check out these forum posts, too:
https://lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/im-a-noob-getting-smoked#6
https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/can-someone-explain-the-point-of-learning-chess-moves-to-a-beginner#6

@coffeeorzzZ said in #1: > [...] Could you give me some advice on how to improve my skills step by step? > I think the "study" part will be useful, but I don't know what to learn first. I also plan to buy some books, but don't kwon which part to buy, opening? tactics? endgames?...... > Anyway, I'm really confused now. By watching over your last 8 matches i can say, that you pay no attention to the opening phase of the game. You only castle 2x in 8 games - at move 15 and move 21. This leads to total messy play where structured learning is not that easy. An analogous example would be if you were to play such a miserable (high) serve in table tennis that your opponent could shoot it down immediately. Analysing your other weaknesses would probably be very difficult... So, imho the first step would be to watch several youtube videos about the "basic opening principles". And then start playing your games with castling in mind BELOW move 10. If you manage to do this for at least 2 weeks on a regular basis, then your games begin to look more like "real chess" and this sets you in a position, where you can analyze your games much more precise for further improvements. Good luck on your lifelong chess journey! @coffeeorzzZ EDIT: Check out these forum posts, too: https://lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/im-a-noob-getting-smoked#6 https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/can-someone-explain-the-point-of-learning-chess-moves-to-a-beginner#6

@derkleineJo said in #17:

By watching over your last 8 matches i can say, that you pay no attention to the opening phase of the game.
You only castle 2x in 8 games - at move 15 and move 21. This leasd to total messy play where structured learning is not that easy.

So, imho the first step would be to watch several videos about the basic opening principles. And then start playing your games with castling in mind BELOW move 10.

If you manage to do this for at least 2 weeks on a regular basis, then your games begin to look more like "real chess" and this sets you in a position, where you can analyze your games much more precise for further improvements.

Good luck on your lifelong chess journey!

You remind me of an article I read before, it suggested that players should castle as quickly as possible.
I used to castle kingside at the beginning of the game, but later I tended to castle queenside because by checking data I found my winning rate was higher when I castle queenside.
I think that is the reason why I castle so late lately. Maybe I should change this habit and see if I can perform better.
Thank you,I still have a lot of problems about my opening, and I really hate London opening because I can't cope with it and I play it not so well, too.
I used to move my knights first, but I 'm trying something else now.

@derkleineJo said in #17: > By watching over your last 8 matches i can say, that you pay no attention to the opening phase of the game. > You only castle 2x in 8 games - at move 15 and move 21. This leasd to total messy play where structured learning is not that easy. > > So, imho the first step would be to watch several videos about the basic opening principles. And then start playing your games with castling in mind BELOW move 10. > > If you manage to do this for at least 2 weeks on a regular basis, then your games begin to look more like "real chess" and this sets you in a position, where you can analyze your games much more precise for further improvements. > > Good luck on your lifelong chess journey! You remind me of an article I read before, it suggested that players should castle as quickly as possible. I used to castle kingside at the beginning of the game, but later I tended to castle queenside because by checking data I found my winning rate was higher when I castle queenside. I think that is the reason why I castle so late lately. Maybe I should change this habit and see if I can perform better. Thank you,I still have a lot of problems about my opening, and I really hate London opening because I can't cope with it and I play it not so well, too. I used to move my knights first, but I 'm trying something else now.

@Silhouette_Jay said in #15:

did you ever join any chess club?

Yes, and I also joined a chatroom but I ended up learning nothing or having any communication with members.
And I really didn't get what they are talking about, so I just quited in silence and played games alone in my spare time.

@Silhouette_Jay said in #15: > did you ever join any chess club? Yes, and I also joined a chatroom but I ended up learning nothing or having any communication with members. And I really didn't get what they are talking about, so I just quited in silence and played games alone in my spare time.

@coffeeorzzZ said in #18:

You remind me of an article I read before, it suggested that players should castle as quickly as possible.
100% true (for your level even 200%)

I used to castle kingside at the beginning of the game, but later I tended to castle queenside because by checking data I found my winning rate was higher when I castle queenside.

Forget about your winning rate. I know it's hard, but you never progress when you win all your games by scholars mate. You will learn the most FROM YOUR BITTER LOSSES!

I think that is the reason why I castle so late lately. Maybe I should change this habit and see if I can perform better.

No, it's not about performing better. At the moment you just need to learn to play sensible moves, which you are more or less forced to, if you strictly follow the basic opening principles.

Thank you,I still have a lot of problems about my opening, and I really hate London opening because I can't cope with it and I play it not so well, too.

Don't think too much. What you currently know is simply just mostly wrong. Just FOLLOW the basic opening principles, NOW.

See you in 2 weeks... :D

@coffeeorzzZ said in #18: > You remind me of an article I read before, it suggested that players should castle as quickly as possible. 100% true (for your level even 200%) > I used to castle kingside at the beginning of the game, but later I tended to castle queenside because by checking data I found my winning rate was higher when I castle queenside. Forget about your winning rate. I know it's hard, but you never progress when you win all your games by scholars mate. You will learn the most FROM YOUR BITTER LOSSES! > I think that is the reason why I castle so late lately. Maybe I should change this habit and see if I can perform better. No, it's not about performing better. At the moment you just need to learn to play sensible moves, which you are more or less forced to, if you strictly follow the basic opening principles. > Thank you,I still have a lot of problems about my opening, and I really hate London opening because I can't cope with it and I play it not so well, too. Don't think too much. What you currently know is simply just mostly wrong. Just FOLLOW the basic opening principles, NOW. See you in 2 weeks... :D

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