Here are some tips for new players. I hope this gets popular, so newer players can hear these things. and learn not to make the same mistakes I did when I was starting out.
#1 NEVER play blitz or bullet or variants unless you just don't care about improving. Don't get me wrong if you love bullet and blitz and variants and don't care that much about improving then go ahead play them. But for improving they are almost completely useless. The Reason is that in bullet and blitz you don't think much if at all. You instead make random developing moves without thinking. Your calculation abilities get much worse. You have a lot more trouble thinking after you play them. Good time controls ESPECIALLY for beginners are 30+20 and 15+10. It might seem scary dedicating that much time to a board game but if you want to improve then play 2-3 games with those time controls per day. Variants are useless for obvious reasons they literally have different rules.
#2 Play under optimal circumstances. When I started out I played with an absolute garbage TV remote and I didn't eat drink or do physical exercise enough. Reasons why physical exercise is important is that it improves your mental state a lot. And as a result you will play much much much better. Before you play you should drink something. Preferably water but just anything is good. Eat something. Do physical exercise. Meditate for 5-10 minutes. And make sure you are comfortable and don't have any sort of pain. It might seem like a lot of "work" just to play a board game but in actuality its just beneficial to you in every way. It improves your health a lot. But don't overdo it, or it will hurt. Also don't play on devices that you are not comfortable with.
#3 Focus on tactics and endgames much more than openings. Learning openings is not a BAD idea but(especially if you don't have that much time) you should mainly focus on endgames and tactics. Knowing how to checkmate with bishop and knight might not seem very useful, but it helps you understand the coordination between the pieces much better. If you do want to learn openings then I would suggest the "queen's gambit" and the "caro-kann".
#4 Do not feel bad about flagging your opponent or not accepting takebacks. Some players will tell you that flagging and not accepting takebacks is "bad sportsmanship". Which is nonsense. The reason is that Time is also a factor in chess. It doesn't matter how well your opponent played. If he/she lost on time than they do deserve to lose. Same with takebacks if your opponent mouse-slipped then it's their own fault. You are allowed to accept if you want to. But only if YOU WANT TO don't listen to people that say not accepting is "bad sportsmanship".
#5 Develop before attacking or doing any funny business. This might be hard as you might think "oh that looks cool I will do that" but in most cases these "funny moves and plans that don't develop pieces but attack immediately" don't actually work.
#6 If you have no idea what to play do not rush it just because you are losing a lot of time on the clock. Even if you end up losing because of that at the beginner level you should focus on improving and not winning. Use your time to find a good move and even if you lose you have nothing worth regretting.
#7 use the time you are given "if you see a good move WAIT......look again.........you might find a better one"
#8 Do tactics puzzles 15-20 a day. And don't rush it. It's not about finding the move fast it's about finding the move. Your speed will Naturally improve over time. DON'T rush it.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and got something out of it;)
#1 NEVER play blitz or bullet or variants unless you just don't care about improving. Don't get me wrong if you love bullet and blitz and variants and don't care that much about improving then go ahead play them. But for improving they are almost completely useless. The Reason is that in bullet and blitz you don't think much if at all. You instead make random developing moves without thinking. Your calculation abilities get much worse. You have a lot more trouble thinking after you play them. Good time controls ESPECIALLY for beginners are 30+20 and 15+10. It might seem scary dedicating that much time to a board game but if you want to improve then play 2-3 games with those time controls per day. Variants are useless for obvious reasons they literally have different rules.
#2 Play under optimal circumstances. When I started out I played with an absolute garbage TV remote and I didn't eat drink or do physical exercise enough. Reasons why physical exercise is important is that it improves your mental state a lot. And as a result you will play much much much better. Before you play you should drink something. Preferably water but just anything is good. Eat something. Do physical exercise. Meditate for 5-10 minutes. And make sure you are comfortable and don't have any sort of pain. It might seem like a lot of "work" just to play a board game but in actuality its just beneficial to you in every way. It improves your health a lot. But don't overdo it, or it will hurt. Also don't play on devices that you are not comfortable with.
#3 Focus on tactics and endgames much more than openings. Learning openings is not a BAD idea but(especially if you don't have that much time) you should mainly focus on endgames and tactics. Knowing how to checkmate with bishop and knight might not seem very useful, but it helps you understand the coordination between the pieces much better. If you do want to learn openings then I would suggest the "queen's gambit" and the "caro-kann".
#4 Do not feel bad about flagging your opponent or not accepting takebacks. Some players will tell you that flagging and not accepting takebacks is "bad sportsmanship". Which is nonsense. The reason is that Time is also a factor in chess. It doesn't matter how well your opponent played. If he/she lost on time than they do deserve to lose. Same with takebacks if your opponent mouse-slipped then it's their own fault. You are allowed to accept if you want to. But only if YOU WANT TO don't listen to people that say not accepting is "bad sportsmanship".
#5 Develop before attacking or doing any funny business. This might be hard as you might think "oh that looks cool I will do that" but in most cases these "funny moves and plans that don't develop pieces but attack immediately" don't actually work.
#6 If you have no idea what to play do not rush it just because you are losing a lot of time on the clock. Even if you end up losing because of that at the beginner level you should focus on improving and not winning. Use your time to find a good move and even if you lose you have nothing worth regretting.
#7 use the time you are given "if you see a good move WAIT......look again.........you might find a better one"
#8 Do tactics puzzles 15-20 a day. And don't rush it. It's not about finding the move fast it's about finding the move. Your speed will Naturally improve over time. DON'T rush it.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and got something out of it;)
