Chess Basics

The amount of material online can be overwhelming and it's hard for beginners to find the right things to focus on.

I use lichess.org and chess.com.

Lichess.org is completely free and chess.com is sleazy, capitalistic and greedy but might be slightly better than lichess.

A fun, realistic, intro to chess was made by youtuber Michelle Khare:

I Trained Like A Chess Grandmaster (not really but that's ok)

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Note: Chess is not about "seeing 10 moves deep," it's about pattern perception. Even some very strong players emphasize logic too much. Logical thinking doesn't help if you can't "see" the whole board.

Note2: Chess is hard, don't listen to this man.

Ok, here's some advice.

1. Know the rules. There are some tricky rules that beginners struggle with such as  en passant and knowing when you can and can't castle. Also around pawn promotions.

2. Practice your basic checkmates. Mate with a queen vs king, two rooks vs king, one rook vs. king and two bishops vs king. (You can't force a checkmate with only two knights on the board). Advanced mates are bishop and knight vs king, and queen and king vs. rook and king.

3. Play lots! Grandmaster Ben Finegold gives this as the best way to improve -- he's right.

4. It's OK to lose. Losing is what motivates people to improve.

5. Avoid short time controls like 5 minutes and 3 minutes and bullet (1 minute). Fun, but a bad idea for beginners. Minimum 10 minutes, best to play 30 minute or longer games.

6. Do lots and lots of puzzles. Just google "easy chess puzzles." 

7. Think tactics, tactics, tactics! Tactics are the nucleus of chess. That means checkmating combinations and forced sequences that win material like knights, bishops, rooks, or even just a pawn. Again, puzzles are good for tactics.

8. Openings. Very important... you don't want to spend every game defending because you get behind in the opening. I think that Dereque Kelly does a great job of explaining basic openings. Start with something like the Scotch or the Ponziani. I wouldn't personally recommend the very popular London System because it's essentially a closed game as opposed to an open game.

9. Endgames. The Soviet school of chess emphasized endgames for a good reason. Lost games can be drawn, won games can be won. Rook and pawn endings are especially important. Start with simple King and pawn positions.

10. Defense! The most common difficulty for beginners is looking at your opponents possible moves. You just have to train your mind to do this but even experienced players forget to be vigilant here.