Yes, I am one of them – the many who decided to get into/get back to chess because of the miniseries “Queen’s gambit”. Shortly after watching the series, I became part of the sea of aspiring chess beginners who wanted to try the game. The series reminded me the main features of the game of chess – ability to make sound decisions while applying sound strategic principles and logical thinking. Those traits are quite related to my daily work so I decided to start playing more often in order to develop them further.
And then it all started – only an year after I had 6000 games played online along with puzzles, tactics, patterns and I even signed up to the local chess club. In the eyes of the people around me, it looks a little like madness – every spare second on the phone or in front of the board playing, doing puzzles, studying positions, obsessed with chess. For the trained eye, the view is all too familiar – the love for chess is like the love for a person or a pet – rewarding, frustrating and (above all) addictive.
I had played before with my grandfather, my stepfather, my brother, my friends. My path strained from chess as the game proved oftentimes to be very demanding for my still developing and seeking cheap pleasures teenage brain. When I decided to get back into chess I rememberd only a little and frequently fell victim to the good old scholar’s mate.
The beauty of online chess, however, is that the ranking quickly places you where you belong and it is not long until you start winning some as well as losing some. The losses showed me plenty of weaknesses and it was not before long when I decided to pursue some knowledge in the correct ways of playing the game. The journey is still closer to its beginning than to its end (I hope) but I have already made quite a progress in my personal growth as a chess player.
The first thing to make a meaningful impact on my chess understanding was all the content on YouTube. A peson will be amazed about the vastness of videos on various aspects of the game – from specific openings to principles in approaching the endgame. From pawn structures and positional consideration to common tactical patterns and how to approach different positions. Following the channels of IM Levi Rosman (GothamChess), IM Eric Rosen and Stjepan Tomic (Hanging Pawns), I started building up ideas and getting a grip on certain positions in my games.
Following my growing interest, I looked into books which made further impact on my ability to play. Started with two classics – Yasser Seirawan’s ‘Play Winning Chess’ and Irving Chernev’s ‘Logical Chess – Move by Move’. I doubt to ever change my mind that those two books are compulsory for every beginner wanting to pursue sound knowledge in the basic principles of the game. After going through the second book of Seirawan’s series ‘Winning Chess Tactics’ I am currently reading the third one ‘Winning Chess Strategies’. All in all, the books from Seirawan are excellent read with plenty of easily presented information and anyone to get their hands on them will benefit from it.
The third tool to help me improve my chess play was the online platform Chessable. With their famous MoveTrainer accompanied by plenty of choice of free courses in all aspects of the game. The biggest difference in my game made two courses – Basic Endgames and Basic Chess Patterns, both short and sweet versions and free.
In conclusion, for the aspiring beginner the most important thing in my opinion is pattern recognition and tactics along with board vision. There is no point to study 23 moves deep lines in an openning if you are going to often blunder a piece on move 24 or 25, or crumble each time the opponent does not follow the book moves. Endgames are also important as being a beginner does not mean that you will not get to the endgame, and it is often embarassing to find yourself not being able to checkmate your opponent in Queen and King vs King endgame. Lastly, you might turn your attention to the openning as it is a big part of the game (although not as big as most people believe). As a beginner, I believe that the London system for white and King’s Indian/Pirc defense for black are best as they as rule contain the same ideas and moves against most of your opponents moves.
The bottom line is to enjoy playing and if you want to improve use all tools available – YouTube, Chessable, books and apps as they can do miracles for your game. And if you are not a 6-year old prodigy, study what you like and do not make it a chore. Good luck!
Borislav Lazarov
Anstey Chess Club 