Tools Necessary To Play Good Chess, In Order Of Importance!

After one knows the rules of play

1. Checkmates

2. ?

3. ?

From chess.com study plans:

Beginning Player (Rating < 1399), Intermediate Player (Rating 1400-1799), Advanced Player (Rating 1800 and up).

I've tried to answer this question extensively here

(work in progress...)

Thanks ! I agree that learning to attack is a very valuable skill for many players, especially those stuck at U1700 level, and not only for technical reasons : there's usually also some psychology involved

However, basic thought process issues (those listed in my 'avoiding blunders' section) shouldn't be forgotten : some players fly through this stage without even noticing it, but for others, this is a big brake on their progress.

The role of 'pattern storing' is also important, but it's difficult to evaluate its exact importance at the various levels of play ?!

Excellent work in progress! Thank you.

What to learn, in order of importance.

1. Checkmates - If you don't know any, how can you finish a chess game?

2. Counting - Dan Heisman has a great article right here on chess.com. If you can't calculate exchanges, then how can you keep from hanging pieces? I've lost tons of center pawns in the opening, because when the center of the board gets cluttered with pieces, it is extremely difficult for the beginning chess player to see three or moves ahead, calculating various variations, in order to see if all of his pieces are safe, if he can win a piece that is en prise, or add a defender to one of his pieces.

Regarding calculation/counting - It's also really hard for a beginner to mentally move pieces in his head. I still struggle with going past 3-5 moves in my head.

http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/Novice_Nook_Links.htm

3. Opening Principles - It's necessary to learn some basic strategy of the opening. Silman says that the main point of the opening is to create differences between White and Black. I never thought of it that way. Perhaps that is why the Petroff Defense is considered drawish, because there are no differences in the first few moves. In the Sicilian, the difference happens after 1.e4 c5!

What weaknesses/advantages can each player hope to create in the Petroff, and the Four Knights, a transpositon from the Petroff?

4. Basic Tactics - Learn how to win a piece using a fork. 

5. Simple Endgames - King and Rook vs. King. Many players at my Live Chess rating don't know this simple endgame, but when a piece ahead, I am always happy to force trades to play this simple, totally winning endgame.

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One of my big weaknesses - moving pieces mentally, so that I can count exchanges, calculate tactics, checkmates...everything! Dan Heisman devotes a chapter in his Back to Basics, Tactics book, with a bunch of counting puzzles to solve. I want to create many counting puzzles, so that I can work on counting, and mentally moving the pieces.

Nice.  Looks like a good study plan so far.  Basic tactics + basic endgame technique seems to be the theme for lower rated players.

I would put the 'avoiding blunders' set of skills in #2, right after the basic checkmates...

Wow!  Very nice.  I have a question for you, but as I read your spreadsheet, it was amazing to me how accurately your boxes followed with my own development.  For example, as I read a square about openeing repertoires, what you put in the 1500 box matched almost exactly what I encountered at around 1500 rating.  The same holds true for other squares.

So my question - how did you develop this list?  Experience, or some other more formal method of studying?  I found it to be very accurate, at least for my rating level.

This is my personal experience, spending time and analyzing with many players of different standards over time. Now that I've written down these ideas, I will probably pay more attention to what different kind of players do in the near future, and I'll probably be able to improve the list, but testing this in a scientific way would be very difficult for me. Maybe some student can try it as a part of his degree's requirements ?!

Really interesting, and good to have a 'checklist' not sure on the accuracy though.

I have no read idea of what my OTB rating would be, I imagine it's lower than 1500. You say a 1500 'may' know how to mate with king and rook.

I think it's ridiculous to even consider that they couldn't. I can mate with bishop and knight with enough efficiency that I'm not hitting 50 moves, know the majority of rook and pawn positions fairly well etc, in my correspondence games I definitely think about restraining my opponents pieces which is supposedly a high club level thing i.e. bishop http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=61008184 knight http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=61000890 (move 22).

Knowing that 2R= Q&P is 1700-1800? Absolute piece values are one of the first things people learn.

I probably need to play OTB to see where I'm at really though because in live here I lose from putting pieces on undefended squares...

I've just started playing in the last few weeks, currently at 1100 on 15 minute games. My main problem was blunders. You focus so much on your attack that you dont even bother with what the opponent is doing. You can give a game away so easily. Now I think of a blunder if I haven't seen a fork in advance and prevented it, so one's perspective on what is a blunder alters

One thing I have noticed when playing others at my level, is that many novices still dont want to lose any pieces - they see it as a failure, as opposed to seeing when it is advantagous to exchange, or when it is the best of a bad lot to exchange early. They can keep on throwing pieces into the mix and make things worse. Understanding that equal exchanges of material are fine, especially if it prevents something worse or leaves you in a better position, seems to be a key stage for beginners

Obviously people of any given level have different skills, and I'm not surprised my list doesn't fit everybody 

But okay, let's see and try to improve it :

• for mating with K+R, I actually don't have much data as I haven't seen it happen very often - however, the situation I was considering is someone who has to play the checkmate under some severe time conditions - maybe the bar should be set lower : I have to run some tests
• knowing 2R = Q+p (and using it in evaluations) is actually quite rare around me ; most people would spontaneously say Q = 2R (10!), but I may have to check it too !
• knowledge of R+p endgame at 1500 level is definitely more the exception than the rule ; many intermediate players around me barely know Philidor and wouldn't be able to use Lucena without some thought. I even remember seeing a 1900 player unable to win using a Lucena method and having to find another circumvoluted win in a OTB game. Maybe we're bad at endgames in France
• As for checkmate with B+N, I can't do it myself , but this is the kind of 'secondary skill' I haven't listed, as I feel there are too many individual differences, and it doesn't really affect your overall level of play
• restraining opponent's pieces : I had a case in one of my OTB games recently : my opponent, rated ~1850 had the opportunity to sideline one of my Knights and keeping it out of play for a long time, but didn't even consider the move - so yeah, I would say it's pretty exceptional to see a 1500-level player have this kind of skill - maybe you're a bit atypical, or maybe improving your blunder-check process would increase your rating by 400 pts ?

If you have any other points to criticize, please feel free to do so, as it will help me improve the list : I'll try to run some tests at my chess club - even with a small sample of people, it will be better than nothing

K+R isn't that hard (1290 here, no OTB rating). I think Q+P should beat 2R if that's all that's left.

You're right on rook and pawn, I didn't think that was the rule at all, I think I've probably done a lot of endgame work for my level of skill. But I can't imagine any not knowing rook and king, perhaps not the most efficiently but they would find mate. King and pawn endgames people struggle with definitely, people are very inaccurate.

Do you mind trying the K+R thing and telling me how much time you needed to checkmate ?

http://chesstempo.com/chess-problems/69095

Somewhere around 20 seconds. It does start with most of the board cut off though.

Ah, I need also to add something important : though I porbably haven't made it clear enough in the grid, I'm trying to underline skill (ie. ability to use in your games), rather than pure 'knowledge'. I'm pretty sure everybody knows the theory of rook+king vs. king, but not everybody has the opportunity to practice it (K+Q vs. K is way more common), so the question is rather : can you checkmate in a reasonable amount of time (that would be 1'30 at moderate pace) ? But all in all, I think you're right on that one : a 1500 player can definitely do it - I have to check with a bunch of players ~1300 though...

If there's nothing else on the board, the Q can't win unless the rooks are poorly coordinated, else there are fortresses :

Wow. A lot of talk about endgames!

Silman's Complete Endgame Course, From Beginner to Master, is the only endgame book I own, and am happy to say it is the only book I will need for the rest of my life. The book is devided into parts. Part One = Unrated - 999. Part Two = Class E (1000-1199), and the last part is Part Eight = Endgames for Masters (2200-2399). The last chapter is Part Nine = Endgames for Pure Pleasure...Super Hard Stuff.

To get an idea, King and Rook vs. Lone King is in Unrated to 999. Part Three (Class D-1200-1399) is for King and Pawn Engames, Bishop vs. Lone Pawn, Knight vs. Lone Pawn. Part Four (Class C-1400-1599) is for The Lucena Position, The Philidor Position, Queen vs. King and Pawn, and a lot of other endings.

Class B (1600-1799) has more King and Pawn Endgames, Two Bishops vs. Lone King, Rook and Two Connected Pawns vs. Rook, etc.

Class A (1800-1999) has Lucena with a Rook-Pawn, Rook in Front of Its 7th Rank Pawn, Bishop of Opposite Colors (Bishop and Two Connected Passers vs. Lone Bishop and King), etc.

Expert (2000-2199) has Rook Endgames, Rook and Two Connected Passed Pawns vs. Rook and Pawn, When Philidor Goes Bad, Rook and Two vs. Rook and Pawn, Bishop Endgames (Bishop and Pawn[s] vs. Lone Bishop of the Same Color, Queen Endgames, Blockade-Queen and Pawns vs. Rook and Two Pawns, etc.

Master (2200-2399) has Queen and Pawn Endgames (Passed Pawns Rule), All King and Pawn Endgames are confusing!, etc.

I have no interest in typing every word of the Table of Contents. This is just a very, very, small sample of the endgames that are covered in this 530 page book.

Do you see me becoming a Master at my age, being a beginner right now? Do you ever see me needing a second book on endgames in my lifetime?

Musikamole, I have the Silman book also.  I've studied up to Class C however I'm going to continue and try to finish the book so I can get an advantage on my opponents.  Seems to be good for the fundamentals of endgame play.

Class C is the longest chapter. I'd love to have all of that material down cold. Outstanding!