Total beginner

Good morning Everyone

Thanks to a certain program on a certain streaming service, I found my way here.  I am a total beginner apart from the few games I have played on here over the last week or two and the few lessons I have done on the beginner to winner program.  These have been very good so far, but I can't help thinking that I need this to go along side something else apart from losing 😁 

Can anyone advise me on how to get started properly using the vast range of resources on here.

Many thanks

Jason

First of all, welcome. 

You are a diamond member. The point of diamond membership is video library on chess.com. So make sure you use that a lot. Start with beginner videos and go up. Apart from that, make sure you do lessons from new to chess ones and up. What else? Doing puzzles will help your tactical ability and drills will help you practice certain things like basic checkmates, king opposition etc, it will help your endgame skills and beyond.

Apart from all of that, here is a rough guide that will help you with improvement, if you have the time to read:

https://www.chess.com/blog/nklristic/the-beginners-tale-first-steps-to-chess-improvement

In any case, if you have the time and are willing to spend it on chess, there is cerainly a lot of room to improve your game. Good luck.

Thank you. I only have a trial of the diamond membership but as mentioned, haven't really known where to start, there is so much. I'll look at the videos thanks

You're welcome.

In any case, video library is more or less exclusive to diamond members. Everything else mentioned you can get with platinum/gold membership (difference between those 2 is mostly in the amount of puzzles you can do daily and the amount of lessons you can do weekly). 

I have had a quick look at the video list (I'm out at the moment so only glanced) the first is called defence against the semi-Slav. Seems a bit advanced as I have no idea what this is lol

Everything that sounds advanced, most likely is.  

Check this out:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/video-guide

Perhaps it will help you on what videos to choose.

Dear Jason,

I am a certified, full-time chess coach, so I hope I can help you. Everybody is different, so that's why there isn't only one general way to learn. First of all, you have to discover your biggest weaknesses in the game and start working on them. The most effective way for that is analysing your own games. Of course, if you are a beginner, you can't do it efficiently because you don't know too much about the game yet. There is a built-in engine on chess.com which can show you if a move is good or bad but the only problem that it can't explain you the plans, ideas behind the moves, so you won't know why is it so good or bad.

You can learn from books or Youtube channels as well, and maybe you can find a lot of useful information there but these sources are mostly general things and not personalized at all. That's why you need a good coach sooner or later if you really want to be better at chess. A good coach can help you with identifying your biggest weaknesses and explain everything, so you can leave your mistakes behind you. Of course, you won't apply everything immediately, this is a learning process (like learning languages), but if you are persistent and enthusiastic, you will achieve your goals.

In my opinion, chess has 4 main territories (openings, strategies, tactics/combinations and endgames). If you want to improve efficiently, you should improve all of these skills almost at the same time. That's what my training program is based on. My students really like it because the lessons are not boring (because we talk about more than one areas within one lesson) and they feel the improvement on the longer run. Of course, there are always ups and downs but this is completely normal in everyone's career.

I hope this is helpful for you. Good luck for your chess games!

Use the puzzles or the chess training thingy i think. That will help you out on your journey 😉.

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

Thanks guys. I think I left it too late before coming on the forum. My free diamond has expired. Not sure which membership to take. Ideally diamond, but it's expensive if I quit after a few weeks

Hey.  Just released that you  are the person who actually wrote the blog that you recommended .  Only just managed to sit down and start having a look at my replies properly (busy weekend)  In that time, my Diamond has now expired and after looking at all that is available on your links, I think ill go for the middle membership.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a chess coach based and chess book author based in California.  Welcome!   

I have tips to help you improve your chess skills so you can win games.  

I recommend playing with a slow time control, such as game in 30 minutes.  You need time to think.  Beginners tend to make a lot of silly moves with very little time.  This makes sense since there’s a lot of pieces on the board.  
 

I also offer a  free beginner’s free eBook on my website, www.ChessByLauren.com in case you are interested. The book is about asking questions before each move.  
   Before each move, I highly encourage you ask questions before every move such as, “If I move here, is it safe?”, “Can I safely capture a piece?”, and more.  

Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side. If you are past this stage, then find a forcing winning line.  

Learn basic tactics such as the fork, discovered attack, pin, and more.  I offer interactive puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php  
I recommend two books for you: “50 Poison Pieces”   and “Queen For A Day: The Girl’s Guide To Chess Mastery.”  Both books are available on Amazon.com.  
If you are serious about chess, I highly recommend you hiring a chess coach to help you.  
I hope that this helps.  

Thank you.