Karpov's advice was to study endgames more. Ulf Andersson said to 'learn chess backwards' i.e. as darkmagegurl says above.
Learning openings is ok if you can already play chess but otherwise you will end up losing a lot of 'won' games. Finally, you can't rely on traps to win chess games. Chess is a game of creative thinking (plus knowledge plus pattern recognition plus technique ....)
The OP's point number 4. is absolutely correct for OTB play though IMO.
I would study the endgame before the opening. Beginners should not spend time memorizing opening line. I feel they dhould study the end and middlegame before openings. It is good to have opening knowledge but not good to spen all your time on it.
"Openings teach you openings. Endgames teach you chess!" (Gerzadowicz)
Yes, the opening, the middle game, and the endgame are the most important aspects for study.
I could be witty and simply say "yes", but EagleHeart beat me to the punch. I'm struggling with this one right now as I'm focusing pretty hard on tactics and endgame training (i.e. the "right way" to start--I've played casually since I was a wee kid but never really studied the game til recently), yet DH beats me consistently because he has several memorized openings under his belt, and I'm generally in a hole by move 9 or 10 that I'm not skilled enough (yet) to climb out of. However, I'm willing to lose a lot right now, and focus on using our sessions to play the best tactics and endgame I can to draw out the inevitable as long as possible. It's a blow to the ego in the short term, but I also know that I'd rather lose more now and be a stronger player in the end because I understand the underlying theory instead of just playing rote openings and getting early, illusory success. To each their own, though.
i would say the opening because if you study the middlegame and endgame the match could be over before you get to either of them
as a beginner, endgame probably is most important. You do learn about chess that way. However, knowing the opening can help you in many middlegames and understand it better. Even a grandmaster who somehow memorized no openings probably wouldn't have every move they made to be in the opening book. Of course, make sure you understand the openings you memorize.
I'm gonna go against most people here.
Do not start with the end game, the main reason is because it is boring, imo.
Middle game is more fun, and as important as the other parts.
Choose one opening that fits your style, and keep playing it while improving your knowloedge of tactics and positioning.
i say not the opening, but opening theory. getting the rules and concepts behind openings will aid you more than just learning lines or learning things like "bridge biulding" (endgame stuff). i will teach you the true ideas and the basic concepts in chess.
I personnally think that study of opennings will give you advantage to the middlegame, study of middlegame will help get advantage in the endgame (if you get that far) and endgame will help you mop up, i tend to try to study each section equally (ish depends on where my perceived weaknesses are)
When you people say to study the endgame, do you simply mean checkmate-based tactics training? I am a complete and utter chess noob, but it seems to me that the study of tactics is more important than anything else, especially early on.
endgame for sure
lotsoblots wrote:
When you people say to study the endgame, do you simply mean checkmate-based tactics training? I am a complete and utter chess noob, but it seems to me that the study of tactics is more important than anything else, especially early on.
Of course not... Study the Endgame is much more than checkmate-based tactics training... for example, endgames with rook and pawns, bishop of different colours or bishops of same colours... so many things
i have always heard study some openings first. then endgame. without a decent opening the rest of the game is shot. a new player with a bad opening will never see endgame.
I think this depends on your level. In the beginning openings and tactics are important. Once you have that foundation middlegame strategy and endgames are what take you that extra mile beraing in mind that you continue sharpening those tactics and updating that theory!! Really I think that chess is such a vast and complicated game that you must give attention to all three. Analyising your own games will give you a clue to the priority of those three groups and it depends on your style and ambitions .
I have to agree with the consensus here for the most part, but with the caveat that perhaps learning the three basic opening principles of develop pieces, control the centre, and castle ASAP (though not accurate in every line) should be learned very early on, especially to combat getting tired of being smashed out of the opening. If I remember correctly, these take like 5 min. to learn, maybe an hour to begin to understand, though much longer obviously to deeply get. But yes, endgame- the middlegame is perhaps the heart of the game, openings can be exciting, but if you can't convert the basic two pawns up type of a thing, you'll have to go for mate every time without being able to merely take an easily winning advantage. One last thing: to an extent, the phases should be learned to an extent at the same time, i.e. don't master the nuances of R+5 v. B+B+3 before learning the scholar's mate.
Memorising (more than a handful of) openings is a waste of time until you're more advanced in your games. Especially when you're only learning the best responses. Your opponent will blunder and your response will be that you have no idea how to proceed with your development, let alone capitalise. Instead study opening theory and look at why some openings are considered good. Don't do things just because grandmasters prefer it. They might be able to negotiate minefields down the line that will end your game quickly.
But opening theory is often really just middlegame theory applied earlier because you haven't learnt a sequence of moves.
Endgame theory is very important as you advance, especially if you want to become a strong player. Without understanding where you want to end you're muddling along aimlessly in games. But that's no use until you've reached that level. It doesn't take that much to reach that level.
I don't think knowing the basic opening principles is enough to be good with the opening.
If you can't even handle a king and a pawn, how can you expect to do well making decisions for all 16 chess men? I would say study tactics, which covers all stages, but especially endgame tactics.
Edit: In one recently finished game and another ongoing one, my opponents had a material advantage going into the endgame. In the first case, I managed (thanks to his errors) to turn a loss into a draw. In the second case, I may even get a win. I have definitely been on the reverse side as well, having an advantage but not being able to convert it to a win.
I actually think the opening is the most important because 1. It will be easy to make the correct move in an opening you know well and you can punish opponents for not knowing it. 2. By studying the opening, you also learn what the correct plan will be in a particular opening instead of making the wrong plan and lose your advantage. 3. traps are a very easy way to get a won position. 4. all of this will probably keep you out of time trouble since you would know what you are doing.
Next important would be the endgame because you have to know how to actually win your won games or try to save your lost ones. It would really suck if you won the opponents queen but when it's just queen vs. king, you don't know how to do it! Of course it really helps you convert very small advantages or even maybe inferior positions to a win.