I am a beginner to chess, and have been reading a lot about the theory. However, I am having trouble applying this knowledge to my actual games. Are there any practice techniques that you guys would recommend?
always spot out a target where you concentrate your pieces on, so you give the game a direction and let your Opponent more react than he could rule the Game
Dont give up your Bishop pair if it is not necessary.
Do tactics Trainer on lichess (Training mode)
Play guys always 50 Points above your Level, that Shows you what to improve next.
good luck and have fun,
Martin
Dont give up your Bishop pair if it is not necessary.
Do tactics Trainer on lichess (Training mode)
Play guys always 50 Points above your Level, that Shows you what to improve next.
good luck and have fun,
Martin
Have you tried doing an overload of puzzles?
Get off the internet and go play in a park. Go play with friends. Immerse yourself in the game. When you play online, look over your games after, no matter the time control. Watch thousands of master games to learn how they navigate the openings.
When someone starts playing an instrument, it takes practice. And listening. Chess is no different. You have to spend lots of time with the game.
When someone starts playing an instrument, it takes practice. And listening. Chess is no different. You have to spend lots of time with the game.
Thank you all so much. I will try your suggestions.
Join the chess club, if you have one near you.
You need praxis as well as training in order to get better. And i promise you, if you put in some work, 1100 will very soon be history.
You need praxis as well as training in order to get better. And i promise you, if you put in some work, 1100 will very soon be history.
You said you read some theory but I think more important for you right now is to develop good chess habits. I had a look at your games and many of them were won and lost by very bad mistakes. So here is a tip: Every time your opponent makes a move check: 1. Is the square my opponent put his piece attacked by any of my pieces? 2. What was the piece defending before it moved? 3. What is it attacking after it moved?
1. In some cases your opponents will put pieces under attack and without adequate protection. See if you can take them, but also make sure it is not a trap and there are no tactics involved. If you think it is safe take it. Don't be scared, if you calculated, trust your judgement not the judgement of your opponent. Never be intimidated by a move you do not understand. Make them prove it to you!
2. Sometimes your opponents will forget that their piece was guarding something. If they moved a defending piece away see if you can exploit it. Again check for tactics and trust your own judgement!
3. After the piece moved are they attacking something? Do I need to move a piece out of attack or defend it?
Also ask the same questions BEFORE YOU move your own pieces! Is my piece under attack on that square? Was my piece defending something?
Often times these checks will be very fast and they will become natural, like looking both ways when crossing the street. And often you will think about big plans calculating many variations down the line that you can overlook something obvious on the first move. These checks will help you develop good attention.
I find that beginners often benefit from Fioncheto'ing their Bishops (playing b3/6 g3/6 and putting your Bishop on b2/7 g2/7). Bishops are great pieces but unless you know some opening theory it is often hard to find a good post for them and they often get trapped behind your own pieces and pawns becoming very inefficient. Putting your bishops on the long diagonals in the Fioncheto position means they are quite safe from attacks and also have great influence over the board. Plus a lot of beginners find it hard to see the whole board, so attacking with a Bishop from the corner can be a great surprise to your opponents and it will also train you to look at the whole board and become more observant.
Pick one opening for white like e4/d4 and pick one opening as black against e4/d4 and look at the main lines. Don't try to memorise the lines for 10 moves, because at the lower levels you will rarely find opponents who will play accurate openings and if they make a different move on move 2 or 3 all your effort of memorisation is lost. Instead try to understand what the motives in the opening are, what it tries to achieve. If you some understanding of that the exact move order becomes less important and you will make good progress.
I suggest limiting your openings to only one per side because you will quickly learn the consequences of different moves. If you had trouble in one game with a certain move you can try to figure it out and do better the next game. However, if you change your openings a lot you will not really learn a great deal because you will not be able to improve on your previous mistakes.
Castle early and be very careful about moving the pawns that are in front of your kind because every time you move a pawn the two squares to the left and right of the pawn will become weaker- they will no longer be protected by the pawn, like they were when it was one square back. This often allows your opponents pieces to come near your king creating all kinds of threats.
1. In some cases your opponents will put pieces under attack and without adequate protection. See if you can take them, but also make sure it is not a trap and there are no tactics involved. If you think it is safe take it. Don't be scared, if you calculated, trust your judgement not the judgement of your opponent. Never be intimidated by a move you do not understand. Make them prove it to you!
2. Sometimes your opponents will forget that their piece was guarding something. If they moved a defending piece away see if you can exploit it. Again check for tactics and trust your own judgement!
3. After the piece moved are they attacking something? Do I need to move a piece out of attack or defend it?
Also ask the same questions BEFORE YOU move your own pieces! Is my piece under attack on that square? Was my piece defending something?
Often times these checks will be very fast and they will become natural, like looking both ways when crossing the street. And often you will think about big plans calculating many variations down the line that you can overlook something obvious on the first move. These checks will help you develop good attention.
I find that beginners often benefit from Fioncheto'ing their Bishops (playing b3/6 g3/6 and putting your Bishop on b2/7 g2/7). Bishops are great pieces but unless you know some opening theory it is often hard to find a good post for them and they often get trapped behind your own pieces and pawns becoming very inefficient. Putting your bishops on the long diagonals in the Fioncheto position means they are quite safe from attacks and also have great influence over the board. Plus a lot of beginners find it hard to see the whole board, so attacking with a Bishop from the corner can be a great surprise to your opponents and it will also train you to look at the whole board and become more observant.
Pick one opening for white like e4/d4 and pick one opening as black against e4/d4 and look at the main lines. Don't try to memorise the lines for 10 moves, because at the lower levels you will rarely find opponents who will play accurate openings and if they make a different move on move 2 or 3 all your effort of memorisation is lost. Instead try to understand what the motives in the opening are, what it tries to achieve. If you some understanding of that the exact move order becomes less important and you will make good progress.
I suggest limiting your openings to only one per side because you will quickly learn the consequences of different moves. If you had trouble in one game with a certain move you can try to figure it out and do better the next game. However, if you change your openings a lot you will not really learn a great deal because you will not be able to improve on your previous mistakes.
Castle early and be very careful about moving the pawns that are in front of your kind because every time you move a pawn the two squares to the left and right of the pawn will become weaker- they will no longer be protected by the pawn, like they were when it was one square back. This often allows your opponents pieces to come near your king creating all kinds of threats.
Having talent also helps ;)
Send games to me VIA PM and I can look at them. Give some pointers here and there and look it over with the engine as well.
Talent is overrated.
Work is much more important.
Work is much more important.
This topic has been archived and can no longer be replied to.