I played a lot into my early 20's but fell out of it, and I get trounced anytime I play now. I've fallen into cribbage and play quite a bit.
The 'Tactics Trainer' on chess.com is useful up to a point. It's nice to be exposed to all the different tactics, but being able to recognize them in an actual game is a different skill entirely than being given a board and being told there's a winning move. A teacher I love and recommend to everybody is Daniel Rensch. He has videos on chess.com, but they're also available on Youtube. Excellent teacher and a really funny guy whose main shtick was that he would play bullet brawls (games where each player has a 1-2 minute allotment for their entire game) and he's good at commentating about his mental thought processes during the extremely fast-paced nature of the game, and would then afterward have a more comprehensive analysis of the game and his or his opponent's flaws, thought processes, plans, etc. I won't say he's the most knowledgeable, but the fact he speaks quickly, is witty & funny, and doesn't have a broken English accent make him my favorite.
I've watched the videos on openings, and that's helped immensely. I struggle with when to trade pieces. I'm only slightly below average at keeping up with the math (i.e. a bishop is worth 3 and a rook is worth 5), but I almost play too slowly / conservatively, get cramped and get housed.....or, its like a bloodbath blitz and I end up running my king, literally, to his death.
Thanks, AS. I've watched the videos, and they're helpful over all, as far as concepts go....but then the game starts and it all goes to shit. The tactics trainer is my best and worst friend. I agree that I need to play a lot more - even when I'm getting housed, I usually learn something, even if it's from the person kicking my ass.
2 moves deep is hard, but that's the minimum I've got to get to in order to improve. I end up playing 1-move reactions a lot of time...and then the panicked move is not far behind.
I've watched Rensch's vids on Openings, and I think one on Strategy. I like him a lot, too, and he is definitely entertaining. I love when he gets smart-assed with the purists that he knows will hate on him in the comments....shit-talking chess players was a new one for me. I've watched vids with the Russian guy and he not only lacks Rench's entertainment value...but I really struggle to understand him (both his accent and his point). And my problem is that when I'm playing Level 2, and I follow his opening advice (e4, knights before bishops, before queen, link rooks in 7-10 moves, etc.)...and it goes to shit pretty quickly, because the compute runs his Queen out on the second move and starts cutting my heads off. I've got no answer for that. There's definitely a "flow" and a "feel" for the game (sort of like sensing pressure, an opening, etc.) that I am completely lacking. I can "see" it watching others play, but to execute it myself is too often a bridge far, and will likely only come much later, after all that you suggested and many, many more.
great point. yeah st Louis chess club's vids are really good... personally, i just don't care for 45+ min vids. agadmator has a chess channel thats pretty good. its similar to mato, though.. isn't intended to go into deep instruction. majnu2000 (I think its 2000, but it's majnu in any case) is similar to mato, but goes into more explanation of stuff. only problem there is the guys voice which will cure insomnia in about 3 minutes
Yeah, there are videos of him playing against Magnus Carlsen (who's been ranked as the #1 player in the world) in speed chess, and even during those games, he's chatting the entire time and still manages to do well. He cracks me up.
Since you’re still feeling it all out, pick a piece on the board, of some importance, and work to remove it. It might be the queen, if it is brought out early, or a rook. It’ll also help if you find someone to play against over, and over. Because you might find they have a certain couple of pieces they really like, and you can change the game by removing them early.
Was watching. STL Chess last night....its way too far ahead for me, but it helps me to listen to their thought processes. Also watched a Rensch video last night where he was commentating a match with Magnus and another GM, and he explained their line of thinking throughout, and that was really good, too. Too often - because they're thinking multiple moves ahead, and I can't yet see it - it just looks to me like the random movement of pieces.
