New after years of inactivity

Hello Everybody,

After years of inactivity, I have decided to pick my old hobby up again. But I don't really know where to start to improve again and learn. Refresh my knowledge. I already tried learning with the video's and excercises. But didn't found it to nice to do. 

Maybe you can help me out or give me some good pointers in the right direction for my journey? 

Play the game, tactics, vote chess, drills, lessons, vision, analysis, openings, explorer, solo chess, and finding a tutor. Try them all out!

Okay. 

Thank you for your comment.

"... for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard.
Play opponents who are better than you … . Learn basic endgames. Create a simple opening repertoire (understanding the moves are far more important than memorizing them). Study tactics. And pick up tons of patterns. That’s the drumbeat of success. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (December 27, 2018)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/little-things-that-help-your-game
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-start-out-in-chess
https://www.chess.com/news/view/a-new-years-resolution-improve-your-chess-with-new-lessons

https://www.chess.com/article/view/mastery-chess-lessons-are-here
"... In order to maximize the benefits of [theory and practice], these two should be approached in a balanced manner. ... Play as many slow games (60 5 or preferably slower) as possible, ... The other side of improvement is theory. ... This can be reading books, taking lessons, watching videos, doing problems on software, etc. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627084053/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf
"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Here are some reading possibilities that I often mention:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5856bd64ff7c50433c3803db/t/5895fc0ca5790af7895297e4/1486224396755/btbtactics2excerpt.pdf
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf

Good Chess Books For Beginners and Beyond....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

ha! that is a lot of links.

how about just playing? you should pick up on patterns and then you could figure out what type of instruction you prefer.

Thank you for your comment AlCzervik, I've already played a lot of games in my opinion. But it wasn't as satisfying as I would like to. That is the reason why I want to improve. To learn more, get better. Get to the next level. And play more satisfying and better games then I originaly did.

The best thing you can do is to pick a few good books, and study them on a real board. One good choice could be Artur Yusupov's Fundamentals, it has a nice mixture of everything: tactics, endgames, strategy, classic games, etc. I use his stuff a lot in my teaching. 

A lot of links and articles. And have checked out some of them. But, I think it is a bit to much information and material for me to handle. And it seems a bit overwhelming. Anyways, I appreciate your help. And want to thank you for that.

The Yusupov series of books seems to be pretty demanding, so I suggest that you look carefully at available samples and reviews before buying. If you do decide to go for it, you should probably know that the correct reading order is Build 1, Boost 1, Evolution 1, Exam 1, Build 2, Boost 2, Evolution 2, Build 3, Boost 3, Evolution 3. (I believe that "Fundamentals" refers to the first three or four.)

http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-Your-Chess-1-exceprt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103659/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review778.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Boost-Your-Chess-1-77p3744.htm
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Boost-Your-Chess-1-excerpt.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review834.pdf
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess-Evolution-1-excerpt.pdf
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/QandAwithArturYusupovQualityChessAugust2013.pdf
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Revision&Exam1-excerpt.pdf

Perhaps of interest:

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/yusupov-and-the-older-lower-rated-player

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708110052/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review587.pdf

Thank you all guys for the help you are giving me.

Hi, I recently joined too and started out not knowing much however I have taken some lessons and have had someone help me and have improved immensely. So my personal suggestions would be to play with someone willing to help you one on one. We could have a game too if you like although I don’t think I’ll be able to help much. I’ll certainly do what I can

I came to the forum to post a similar question myself.  Thanks for all the advice.

As far as playing longer games, I'll try that and I'm ordering the book mentioned as well (the one in bold, I'll get to the laundry list later).

My concern about playing more games (I've been playing only 10m blitz style games) is that my opponents occasionally cheat and how much does that help?  (Apparent cheating to me is a long pause of over a minute with a flurry of moves then a pause at a point with no apparent difficulty).  I'll try the longer games and see how that goes.

My own situation is that I used to be ranked over 2000 in college over 30 years ago and have a single victory against a former world champion (It sounds more impressive than it really was, he resigned after losing his Queen in a blunder but he could've easily beaten me without his Queen).  I've been noticing in my games, and maybe other returning players can relate to this, is that I will be playing and find myself in a brilliant end game position not realizing how I got there.  It's almost as if my subconscious mind remembers how to play well but my conscious mind is fighting to catch up and remember.  Are there any other returning players that can relate to this?  Is it normal or just "dumb luck" (emphasis on the "dumb" sometimes as I analyze some of my current games).

That may not be cheating, some people have other tabs open during games, and are doing other things. Some people gold full conversations in clubs during 1 min. bullet games!

But at my current level of play (1300ish?).  I can buy that for higher rated players that can talk, walk and chew bubble gum at the same time.  In fact, I used to play chess as a kid blindfolded against adults to make it more fun/competitive (or insulting to the adults) or do multiple games but not at my current level.

I learned chess before all the computer engines were even around so I'm suspicious about some delays but that wasn't the main point, it's how to get better and I'd rather lose a thousand games and learn something (hopefully on each game) than to be a fraud that has to cheat to win.  In the age of the Internet, some people don't care as they hide behind the veil of anonymity but when you're trying to learn it's useless.

I'm still curious if anyone who has been out of the game for a long time has this syndrome of unconscious play where you move yourself into good positions without realizing it or maybe overthink your "gut instinct" and substitute a terrible move because you couldn't "see" the logic behind your "gut instinct".  I guess there could be a lengthy discussion in some thread about how much of an individuals chess play is conscious thought and how much is subconscious (and at what levels too as I suspect the higher the rating, the less ones subconscious mind plays in the decision making).  It's just something I've observed in my own play as I become re-acclimated to the game. 

Thank you for your offer. I'm trying myself to improve. And I can say, that I'm maybe improving somewhat slowly. But maybe, some help from others would not be bad as well. So, yeah we could play a game together. And maybe, you have some new tips and other pointers as well for me.

Again, thank you for your offer.