Chess and improving...

the_monkey

Hi,
I used to play Chess a bit as a kid and liked it. Anyway been years since I played and yeasterday a friend had a chess tournament and it went well,
I won my 1st game (surprisingly for myself) but lost my next 2 ...

What is the best way of trying to improve ? just practice ? is there good chess games to download - i dont mind paying - that offer tips .

Also when playing good players I can't seem to attack, I just end up retreating constantly ... how can I improve?

Crazyivan 1979

I only learnt how to play chess a few years ago, and only play a few games every month against my dad. So I find it difficult trying to improve also, I joined chess.com, it's free to join and there's some quite good interactive tutorials on there. You can also play other people online through it, which I suppose is the best way to improve... play lots of games against different people. There is a free app (from chess.com) on facebook to play people. There is another site called redhotpawn.com my user name on it is the same as on here, I ll give a game sometime if you're up for it.

N1one

Also www.Gameknot.com is a good site for playing on-line chess games. Membership is free and you can set the time per move from 2 to 14 days so you'll have loads of time to think about your move! There's a rapid play option as well.

darragh666

I would pick an opening, one for black and one for white and learn them inside out.
thechesswebsite.com has some great video tutorials, so pick one and watch it once or twice and them try the opening.
Chesscube is a good website for playing live chess, the layout may seem a little confusing at first but I think it is the best.
Yahoo games can be good for playing beginners and people who dont know much about chess but there are also a lot of trolls etc

If your on a break at work or something and you want a quick game against a computer try sparkchess.com.

My advice for a beginner would be to play against a computer and use the same opening until you know it well. You need to know what moves to make if your opponent does not follow the main line moves. If you make a mistake undo the move, there isnt much point in playing a loosing game to the end at this stage.

Then play the opening in some live games because computers can be too repetitive.


The best openers for beginners are the english opening for white and the french defense for black.

Of course playing against better opponents in person who can give you a few tips is the best way.

the_monkey

I downloaded Deep Fritz, I find it tough, I haven't beaten it once and im on beginner!!!

Other apps (like the iPod chess app) I can win on the beg - mid levels

but this is tough ...

can't seem to learn from it..

nesf

the_monkey wrote: »

I downloaded Deep Fritz, I find it tough, I haven't beaten it once and im on beginner!!!

Other apps (like the iPod chess app) I can win on the beg - mid levels

but this is tough ...

can't seem to learn from it..

I think Fritz has the same front end as Rybka which I use. If so, go to the Training tab. Choose the Friend Mode option. Set the handicap to 300 or so. Try it out. Keep increasing the handicap until you're winning and then as you get better reduce it over time.

There might be other ways to make it more beginner friendly. I'm not sure.