200-600: How to QUICKLY Reach 1000+ Rating!

Note: If you want a reading list, or list of YouTube videos, just ask! : ) (And this is a slightly shorter version of my blog post.)

I have noticed that 200-600 Elo players tend to learn openings from the engine, etc. and then blunder checkmate/the middlegame, never entering endgame, and never gaining Elo. They lack the fundamentals of the game, and the ability to think ahead for themselves in unknown positions, both tactically and positionally.

The general advice is to train tactics until at least 2000 Elo. Studying opening is not needed until 2200+ beyond the basics. You just need to know the Ruy Lopez and opening Chess principles. Knowing an opening 15 moves deep and nothing else will lead exactly to what we keep seeing: fatal blunders and a loss in the middlegame.

If you want to jump to 1000 or even 1200 Elo, this is for you. Do not use engines; you're not good enough to understand their move choices, and they are taking away from your human game, which is exactly what is required to have a playing strength and understanding of 1000+.

Step 1: Watch Yasser's videos on the fundamentals of the game. Ben Finegold also has some good lectures and videos for beginners, dating back about 10 years.

Step 2: Train tactics on Lichess (or Chess dot com if you can), and in video format if you want (lots of YouTube lectures are fun and offer a few puzzles and tactics if you pause the video and try to find them).

Step 3: Play many games with slow-ish Rapid time control, to give yourself time to think about each move.

Step 4: Train tactics more seriously each day if possible, and keep playing games. You might want to speed up the games a bit, too. More games are better, but not Bullet. You need time to actually think about what you're doing, and understand why you're doing it.

Three other words of wisdom: (1) don't worry about your Chess style or copying other players. Just find the best moves you can; (2) big loses should be studied to see where you went wrong, and what you could have done to stop it; and (3) don't worry about win rate or Elo at this stage.

Exact pieces of advice/lessons:

Lesson #1: Avoid 1-move blunders. Look at all legal moves. When you no longer need to check every legal move, check all reasonable moves. You're learning to avoid the biggest problem for low-rated players: one-move blunders. There are many types of serious blunders, including hanging a piece, missing checkmate instantly in the middlegame, missing a powerful forced line, and making such a bad move that your opponent ultimately wins. You can only solve this issue by studying tactics and patterns, and being very mindful on every turn. It annoyingly requires extra time, but soon, it'll be second nature, and you won't have to think about it as much.

Lesson #2: Think 2 moves ahead. Lots of beginners make the mistake of either thinking only 1 move ahead, or trying to think 5 moves ahead. You need to slowly build up Chess ability and knowledge. And you need to avoid instantly blundering and losing. Thinking 2 moves ahead is a good way to do that in most games/positions.

Lesson #3: Study foundational tactics and patterns. Most importantly, I'm thinking of understanding fork problems. The other is backrank checkmate. Always make luft for your king before the endgame by moving one of the King pawns (often A/H). You need to get to a place where you never make these sorts of tactical and positional blunders. The other key patterns to look out for are whenever you could be pinned and lose a piece, or whenever you could be skewered, and be down the exchange, most notably (. knight/bishop for your rook).

Lesson #4: Study endgames, and how to actually checkmate your opponent. Nothing complex or deep, just the very basics for now. You need to know if you're better in the endgame or not, which pieces are ideal, and how to force the primary types of checkmates.

Lesson #5: Study pawn structure and relative piece value. Again, just the basics. What you want here is to understand what good pawns are, where to move your pawns, and to avoid moving pawns unless you have to; and to understand that you often want to keep the bishop pair, and keep the queens if possible, as this is your great attacking piece. You also rarely want to exchange a minor piece (knight or bishop) for a major piece (rook or queen). Some beginners also are worried about losing pawns or having their structure ruined with doubled pawns. The truth is far more complex than that. Don't worry about it too much. If you can still win or hold a draw, or hope your opponent makes a mistake, then keep pushing.

Lesson #6: To take is a mistake, and to trade is a mistake. Ideally, you want as many attacking pieces as possible, even towards the endgame. You should only take pawns or trade mistakes whenever it clearly benefits you. However, in complex and dynamic positions, with both kings under attack and/or many pawn breaks, it's better to simplify the position. But the main issue is -- will the simplified position be a clear win for your opponent or not?

As a general rule, we might be inspired by Larry Kaufman, and say that you should somewhat overvalue everything, as beginners. And as you climb closer to 1000 Elo, you should start thinking 3 moves ahead for pretty much every single move. See below for piece values for below 1000 Elo.

Pawn - 1 ( in the opening and in the endgame)
Knight - 3.5
Bishop - 3.5
Rook - 5
Queen - 10

Most importantly: keep your queen to help with checkmating if possible, and don't overvalue pawns in the opening, to the point where you might lose a piece or be simply far worse in the position. It's only to lose a pawn or two if you can create a checkmate with your pieces in the middlegame. That's why training the basics and tactics is vital. On the other hand, in the endgame, you should try to have more pawns than your opponent, and at least two attacking pieces if possible. This will force you to win most games if you have a decent understanding of the endgame. Sometimes, your opponent will simply resign, saving you a lot of time!

Final comment: buy a real Chess set if possible. This helps with memory and learning in general. Actually play through moves in games and tactics.

If you see my games, where i play as white, you will find a same starting. I do it as it gives me the center pawn easily after trading bishop with knight. After it I dont know what to do

The reason that Mickhail Tal came up with the rule "To Take Is Mistake" is because unless you get an advantage out of the trade, very likely its your opponent will get an advantage out of the trade.

Like very often activating their pieces, or improving the position of their pieces.

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I dont get the "think 2 moves ahead" idea. If you wanted to list all moves that are possible after just two moves, aka four halfmoves, IIRC the number of possibilities is roundabout 200,000. Yes sure you should plan ahead, but you are not a computer. You cannot compute all these possibilities.

Much more useful is the rule to first look at attacking moves, and if you cannot find a good attacking moves, only then you consider defensive moves. If there is an attacking move, very likely its the best in this position.

Not literally every move. But any move you think is good, you need to think it through at least 2 moves. Looking just 1 move ahead doesn't work in Chess most of the time.

And yes, it's many thousands of moves when you look at many options. That's why Grandmasters think for 10 or even 20 minutes on key moves in Classical games. And for a Grandmaster to think for 20 minutes is like a normal person thinking for 5 hours. Of course, I don't suggest thinking for 5 hours on a single move. It's a waste of time.

I have mixed feelings about this rule: the best moves are always attacking move, or at least dual-purpose. Rarely is a good move a purely defensive move. I don't want to get low-rated players into the mindset of ever thinking purely defensively. Better would be to force trades when there isn't a good attacking move, trying to get into a good endgame, and training their endgame skills in real games in the meantime. Or, to create an attacking idea by rerouting pieces, which is exactly what GMs often do, and other players, too. As you said: attacking move is likely the best in the position.

Also: defensive moves are often pawn moves, and this is very bad for low-rated players. They don't understand pawn structure and the depth of defence enough to be making pawn moves only to be punished in 3 moves by an attack due to the weaknesses they created.

Already, I'm assuming that any move you look at is attacking or will become attacking. My general idea here is only that you cannot only look 1 move ahead, and it's too much to look 5 moves ahead at a low rating. 2 is a good middle ground, and is normally enough to grow and get through a game fairly fast without major blunders.

P.S. In the rare event that players don't like attacking, and have a natural defensive quality, I don't want to force them to play a certain way, either. By just saying 'think 2 moves ahead', I'm not forcing them into any direction with those moves, I'm just saying to think 2 moves ahead, regardless of your style and position. They'll naturally move towards what they feel is best over time. (Since they are thinking 2 moves ahead for all key moves, such as opponent attacking them, it's naturally going to be the case that they'll be forced to attack or counter-attack or defend when required: the position tells them that, we don't have to. But I could have been clearer on this point in the post! Thanks for helping clear this point up in the comments!)

I think the vast majority of beginners think exactly 0 moves ahead. Trying to think 1 move ahead would be a huge improvement, not a "mistake".