It’s Criminal How Hard Chess Really Is!

[@roycemilton8472]

You're playing 5+0 as a beginner which is insane. You need to play longer games as a beginner so you can think a bit more about the moves you're making instead of playing quickly. Also learn the basic chess tactics, like pins, skewers, and forks. Learn the basic checkmate patterns too. You got this!

[@Angrypapalol]

yes, and the quality of player who does blitz or bullet (shorter game times) is generally better compared to longer time controls (since beginners tend to play longer time games). I'm 900-1000 rated in rapid but only 400-500 in blitz. I would recommend 15 minute games with 10 second increments (meaning every time you move a piece, 10 seconds is added to your clock so you can avoid losing due to time)

[@delta9554]

@@Angrypapalolsame here 670 in blitz but 1100 rapid. I specifically lose most of my blitz games by blundering in winning positions under time pressure

[@stanleywilson101]

Absolutely agree. As a beginner, you want more time to be able to think. 10-15 min games minimum when first starting. I enjoyed the daily games when I first started, I can get a whole day per move if I needed it.

[@roqsteady5290]

Don’t think it hurts to do some blitz to get a feel for where the pieces go. Probably good to have an increment, so you get to play some endgames.

[@M-F-H]

yep, you must get accustomed to how the pieces move (a really good training are the "puzzles"), also their approximate value to know whether an exchange is good for you or not (pawns = 1, knight = bishop = 3, rook = 5, queen = 9 or 10).

[@kaidoChess]

Dude as an average chess player this was great to watch

[@HOWHARDTV]

Thank you very much, only the start of the journey too 🎉

[@TheRedCubeYT]

@@HOWHARDTV I think he meant that as in: it was a great confidence booster. But we all start somewhere keep going!

[@ColeyPoleywastaken]

Instead of learning specific openings I would focus on learning opening principles at the start like taking central control and developing knights first This will open up your play book allowing you to play against stuff you don’t know

[@ostrich6175]

Yep as an 1850 FIDE, I always teach beginners principles and ideas mostly first. The first week or two I don't even let them think about an opening. You'll find even a lot of players up to 2000 elo are just good at the few openings they know, but otherwise aren't very good at chess. As soon as you get them out of their opening and comfort zone, they crumble.

[@PerteTotale]

@@ostrich6175 yep, only playing few (or very selective) openings is stupid for lognterm progress also annoying for the creative and adventurous players in a chess club, in my opinion of most of the members I played, I'll see yaers later the same opening variants being played. I still remember which openings they played.

[@PowerK1]

@@PerteTotaleDont have your mind fixed on opening but still play a lot of different openings so you dont need to rely on a single opening. Fluid.

[@datboiwildin]

thank you brother. teaching the right thing!

[@Smudge4C]

The most important thing that I'm not seeing other people mention is this: The relative value of the pieces. Unless you understand that the bishop is worth more than a pawn, you will never get very far with learning strategies, tactics or openings. Pawn = 1 Knights = 3 Bishop = 3 (although, generally speaking, slightly more valuable than a knight) Rook = 5 Queen = 9

[@karlhinze]

Some would disagree with you on the Bishop>Knight thing. 😄 Nevertheless, good post.

[@shantymanshep]

@@karlhinzegood players generally agree that you shouldn’t give up a bishop for a knight without a good reason. The only time a knight is better is in a closed position with a bunch of pawns on the board blocking the diagonals

[@fil3728]

I'm in no way a pro, but my top 3 tips when starting: 1. Play Rapid, not Blitz, so you can think about your moves 2. Learn opening principals 3. Make sure your pieces are defended (if a piece is taken you can take back) Great video, you got a sub

[@panzer409]

I disagree, blitz is good to develop your tactical vision, I’m a 1600 and I’ve had my fair share of blitz to improve my tactics and reach a 1600 rapid rating

[@fil3728]

@panzer409 I've personally found puzzles helped me more with tactical vision than blitz games But if it works for you, that's cool Edit: blitz is helpful yes, but I don't think it's good when starting

[@leagueaddict8357]

Already wrong with 1. Blitz is actually good for learning pattern recognition in Chess.

[@fil3728]

@@leagueaddict8357 as I wrote in response to a previous comment, yes, I agree with that, but not right when you're starting If you have no understanding of opening principals, or basic tactics, it's better to play rapid first That was advice from my friend who has an 1800 elo OTB

[@leagueaddict8357]

@@fil3728 No, Blitz will help pattern recognition is the most important thing in Chess. You don't have to calculate the same bad moves because you recognize the resulting sequence through pattern recognition. You don't need to learn an opening to not get scholars mated it happens enough times in a row your mind will automatically assign you do x, then x results in x.

[@fetteente987]

The best tip I can think of, which is especially useful for beginners, is that you should not only think about what you can play, but also what your opponent can play in response.

[@andrew_owens7680]

I told my kids to think of it like a sports announcer. There should always be a narrative. Ask yourself questions.

[@Milo1267]

as a beginner, that's not a focus. just seeing your own moves that don't immediately blunder a piece is where you should start.

[@Smudge4C]

@@Milo1267 The concept of blundering a piece requires that you think about what your opponent can play in response. You're essentially agreeing with fetteente987's original point

[@Milo1267]

@@Smudge4C true but I saw his as considering other moves the opponent could consider, but I suppose ur right that just taking is a move that needs to be considered. I guess I seperate it because before doing a move I usually just look at where my piece is and then scan for any enemy pieces seeing that square.

[@milesy35]

Agreed, if your not thinking of 2-3 possible moves your opponent can make somethings wrong.

[@akayame39]

It's crazy how reasonable your first few moves on your first game were. Until you lose the bishop. Most of us remember being this bad. As a kid, I learned by playing against a friend who explained the game as we played. There's more basics to learn besides how the pieces move.

[@HOWHARDTV]

It’s such an extremely difficult but satisfying game to play! I know understand why so many people play it worldwide

[@AlienBros]

​@HOWHARDTV would you like some help? I'd be up to help teach you so you can improve.

[@FlagimirKramnik]

I was also surprised lol

[@deadlypendroppingby]

@@HOWHARDTV it would be cool to see you look back at this game a couple weeks down the road ^_^ Please do a follow up =)

[@stanleywilson101]

@FlagimirKramnik your name is killing me 😂

[@DanB-u5k]

I think what you need is someone to play loads of games with you. And tell you which moves are bad and why. Understanding the core principles is vital

[@riccardozanoni2531]

Yes! Joining a local club is usually a very good idea when starting out exactly for this reason! Depending on the size of the club, it's also quite cheap! (it's like 50€ for a year at mine, so really cheap all things considered.)

[@ShadowGaming-xw8zj]

This is really good for beginners as 90% of the time they don’t even know they’re making bad moves and don’t understand why they’re bad.

[@successanyanwu5609]

The fact you're even considering consequences of your moves, and your opponents moves is a good sign you'll learn fast

[@Nils-yj2js]

Hey, I'm 15 years old and I started playing chess 11 months ago. What helped me personally, was watching Gothamchess, doing easy/basic puzzles and most importantly: play regularly! I only did that and now I can proudly say that I am in the top 4% of Chess players. I know that it's very hard at the beginning, but if you stay consistent you'll get there. I believe in you. Greetings from Switzerland

[@badmashito4059]

What's ur rating bro??in 10min rapid..

[@Nils-yj2js]

@@badmashito4059 Rapid: 1442 Blitz: 1515. My username is "elite_pawn_sacrafice".

[@ANUBIS-hc8fp]

Wat do u mean by top 4% What's ur fide rating

[@twainrocks4771]

​@@ANUBIS-hc8fp top 4 percent is about 1420 elo online.

[@yourfriend5144]

Top 4% percent is 2300+ fide rating, that's Gothamchess' rating as well.

[@ShadiestAtom427yt]

Play 10+0 or 15+5 it will really help you and learn some basic principles of chess

[@AnthonyGonzalez-zy5zm]

I learned a lot more, playing multiple games of bullet, then I did playing 1 to 3 games of longer time frames. When I went back to longer time frame, I was able to do a lot better in a lot faster time then if I was just doing long games the whole time.

[@jgb7480]

​@@AnthonyGonzalez-zy5zmblundering your queen in 4 instead of 8 moves is not "playing faster"

[@XenFPV]

​@@AnthonyGonzalez-zy5zmBut did you know how your pieces moved and could you identify what was attacking what when you started playing blitz?

[@jonasasare5775]

Having an 1510 elo watching this game I can't do anything but to laugh my self out, remembering how it looked to me in the beginning 😅

[@riccardozanoni2531]

i'll never forget losing to scholar's mate 8 times in a row. And what an eureka moment when you finally get to figure out how to defend against that!

[@diggersid456]

ive been playing for about 7 years and when i watch magnus i feel so inferior and so stupid

[@anthonyhain6431]

I'm a professional chess coach and Candidate Chess Master. With that understood i can tell you you have correctly identified chess as easy to learn how to play, but immeasurably difficult to learn how to win. Masters have dedicated many years devoted to the study of chess perfection. Ups and downs are everywhere, stick at it, have fun and remember that when it comes to chess its the journey that counts. Set yourself an ELO goal, 1000 is a great first goal. Keep in mind that less than 1% of players break 2000 and titled players begin at 2200. Chess is fun, remember to keep it that way. Good luck and i look forward to your follow up video

[@HOWHARDTV]

Thank you very much, I’m hoping I can do you chess guys proud

[@prussianblue14]

im 2100 elo rated,but i think there are more than 1%. main reason is the not invested time ,no matter if they havent time or want to invest them. i would say about myself i really know nothing and the stockfish engine agrees with me

[@iangossett7450]

@@prussianblue14then you aren’t 2100 😂 if you are over 2000 elo for real, then you are better than 99% of the pop.

[@prussianblue14]

@@iangossett7450when i write something its true . maybe on the ranking list im better than 99% ,but i spoke about the potential . most humans dont play chess ,only a few of 8 billions . and in this little part of players many does not even invest one second into a book or studies. i think every human can easy break 1600-1700 if interested and practice some years. but for now ,maybe its right. but hard to believe for me,because 2000 isnt too much and i know how weak i am really when i blitz GMs . and even GMs are nothing in front of engine AI

[@SLAMBANGO]

@@prussianblue14 Maybe online but that means nothing at all. Over the board ratings are all that count for titles... or at least official rated games like FIDE or USCF rated - those are all that counts. Your lichess rating is not a real rating. Step into a real USCF tournament and you find out how good you really are.

[@aitchtea]

i started chess a few months & also had never heard of magnus or anyone beyond the news headlines from my childhood of the cold war battle between fischer & spassky & later i read about kasparov losing to the ai mind of deep blue while in grad school. according to shared knowledge i’m about 62 years or so too late to begin chess. BUT, it’s a great challenge, it makes my mind work in unaccustomed & demanding ways. thank god for neuroplasticity, because i see things developing on the board quicker, clearer & in greater depth. & although progress is really really slow (and i soooo suck after months of practice), i think is way cooler than i even hoped. but, common knowledge is that it’s a very complex undertaking, boy, it is beyond that. little kids from across the globe gleefully stomp on my hopes, & of course that’s ok. just a quick shout out for lichess. online game play, lessons, news, tournament coverage etc etc and all for free, for everywhere, for always. I also use other accounts but deeply admire the globally distributed team at lichess.

[@gusleffers9265]

Really heartwarming post, congrats on getting into it. Love Lichess as well

[@HOWHARDTV]

This comment has made my day! I hope you’re still enjoying the game and I hope you got some joy out of watching me fail 👀😂

[@khodion]

Keep going, chess is a journey. Good luck.

[@aitchtea]

@@khodion thank you. i look forward to losing to you online sometime (i keep learning & yet my rating keeps falling!?…) anyway, if i have a chance of learning from it, let’s go.

[@khodion]

@aitchtea that's the spirit. Your losses improve you more than your wins. All Masters have lost a gazillion times before becoming better but they stuck with it for the love of the game. Us mortals need to play enough and learn from our losses to improve. Most of all it's the enthusiasm that keeps us going. As Tarrasch said "Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy". And to make you sad too I might add.

[@TheSwagDawg]

Honestly I think 10+5, or 15+10 are the best time controls for beginner and intermediate players. Playing faster time controls like blitz or bullet *don't* let you actually calculate things through, come up with good plans or spot tactics. *Rapid is the way to go for sure*

[@locke_ytb]

My simple tips. 1. Just play & play, enjoy & enjoy. (Preferably 10 minute games or longer) 2. Know the principles + do puzzles. 3. Check out Chess Vibes' Rapid Rating Climb playlists (Green or Blue): You can understand the underlying aspects of what goes on in a Chess game by following along with a National Master. 4. (Most important) Keep that EXPERIMENTAL FLAME burning 🔥. "What if I try this move combination!?" "How about I apply this idea?" "I'll try learning this principle!" etc etc. Try out new fun things.

[@Chill_Enigma]

Loved this video! Don't feel bad at all. Chess is something that takes a lot of time to get good at. No judgement from me I can tell you. I appreciate you posting this. It was interesting to see the perspective of a person who hasn't played chess.

[@superseantendo]

After 1000 games look back at your games now! Crazy how much there is to learn

[@DanielRoberts420]

He did a great job of explaining the game to a beginner!

[@HOWHARDTV]

It must have been hard for Mike to simplify a game that is so hard

[@ZachBonnell]

Oh, I hope to see more of your journey in chess! I love seeing new players progress.

[@dclnghdl]

I've been playing chess for a few years now, not that I'm an expert but I've tried to teach some of my friends to play chess and here are some of my advises. Chess is actually more like memorization than anything (and then come the creativity). One thing I see that new players tend to play more than study chess (which I understand cause playing is fun), but if you never study then you can never get better and easily quit the game (mostly due to loses a lot). I would suggest you first learn and remember all the moves in chess: basic move of every pieces and special moves (castling, promotion and en-passant), then learn the piece's value and learn some basic principles. I know that sounds like a lot of work, but keep in mind, learning chess is a long journey. Hope you enjoy the game and I see you in the next one!

[@Gabs.MM999]

What is your FIDE rating?

[@HOWHARDTV]

Great take on the game for sure, I just got stuck into it but you’re bang right that I should have done more research before I played really

[@bastiaandegroot1134]

On the other hand, it's also great to just play and realize how much it sucks getting slapped around everytime, losing your pieces, getting mated etc. That can be a great motivation to sit down and think: "Right, so what do I do to prevent this and turn the tables" This is how I learned as a kid and worked great. The first phase is just about getting comfortable with how the pieces move. Studying comes later

[@witheringhs7766]

castling and en-passant are pointless to complete beginners, without the computer preventing illegal moves it just causes more confusion than anything else. i cringed when the guy started teaching it over the real board.... when you teach chess you have to realize how far they are in their journey and not overwhelm them with things they will learn later anyway. It's perfectly reasonable to mention the moves exist but it should be followed up by "you dont need to worry about these things until you get better"

[@Milo1267]

​@@witheringhs7766 you're right. As a beginner you SHOULD just play a lot of games and get a feel for the game and understanding the moves before studying lmao

[@unclosetedconservative]

Glad you've discovered the joy (and headache) of chess! Couple of quick tips specifically for playing online. Your first game's first move was a "pre-move." This was a mistake. If you "move" a piece while it's your opponent's turn, that move will occur no matter what your opponent does. Never pre-move. Pre-moves are for pros or when there is only one possible option. There are two ways to visualize a move before you make it. You can right click any piece and any square. That will highlight both squares allowing you to see what the new position will look like. Another way to see a move before actually committing to it is to right-click and drag. If you right-click (keeping the mouse click depressed) and drag the piece where you are thinking about moving it, it draws a line to that new square. This might help you see when you'll be giving up a piece by placing it under direct attack. Keep playing. Chess is one of the most popular games in the world with players at all levels. There is a place at the table for everyone my friend!

[@plasmaturtle212]

Honestly cool to see how someone completely new learns and plays looking forward to your journey with chess best of luck! Learn the basics of the game (development of pieces and where your pieces should be) (control the center remember to be aware of opponents moves and threats!)

[@HOWHARDTV]

@@plasmaturtle212 thank you, it’s an insanely hard game to learn IMO but I’m hoping to show you guys how much I’ve already progressed

[@nytr]

9:18 I think the best way to describe checkmate is when the capture of the king on the next move is unavoidable by any means

[@elzilcho222]

Shocked how little subs this channel has with this video quality. Good stuff!

[@hillrp1]

That first game as black, was actually really impressive for a first game. You managed to avoid a lot of the traps that beginners usually fall into. Those being 1. Making too many pawn moves 2. Moving the same piece too many times 3. Putting pieces in awkward positions (The center in chess is very important, so generally you want your pieces near there. So for your level by 'awkward positions' I mostly just mean the outside of the board 4. Exposing your King As others have said, 5+0 is too quick. I would recommend 15+10 as a minimum, but the problem with going too much beyond that is you can get into analysis paralysis and it is meant to be a fun game after all, so spending hours agonizing over every move is not fun (for a beginner) In terms of next steps, Lichess has a puzzles section that can help you get used to being able to recognize when a piece or square is under attack so that you can learn to recognize when there's a threat you need to address Also, in the opening, rather than trying to memorize specific sequences of moves, it would be better to learn the basic principles of the opening which are to try to: 1. Control the center of the board. If you imagine a game where both players spend their first two moves pushing the pawn in front of their king and queen forward 2 squares. The 4 squares those pawns now occupy are called the center of the board. Now because your opponent will also be fighting for the center of the board, you can't always just put a big piece there, but trying to ensure you have pawns there and pieces protecting those pawns will set you up for a good middlegame 2. Develop your pieces. This means getting your pieces into the game. You did this very well in your first game. You have 16 pieces in chess, but most of them can't do much from their starting squares. So getting your pieces active (especially your bishops and knights) will give you opportunities to make threats of your own and to control space so that your opponent isn't the only one dictating what happens in the game 3. Castle early and often. At your level Castling is almost never a bad move unless there's an immediate threat that needs to be addressed. It gets your King to safety and develops your rook. If you've developed your knights, bishop and queen, as well as castled, then you've safely made it out of the opening

[@sheikhmohammadamin3609]

Its a game that requires pattern recognition and as a beginner, you are not familiar with these patterns. So dont be discouraged. Just keep playing. It is worth learning because once you get to a solid intermediate stage, the game gets even more fun! Things like strategic positioning, visualisation for the ideal positions and careful assessment of the positions in the next 2-3 moves come to be of importance and that is when things get really interesting

[@milansvancara]

interesting, i would say the exact opposite. The higher you get the less fun it is, since it quickly becomes more and more a memory game and less and less a creative game.

[@Gazelligator]

My top tips - Play longer time formats like daily games. - Practice the basic end game checkmates (queen vs king etc..) - After each move, figure out if your opponent can checkmate you, or take any of your pieces -Play lots

[@milesy35]

Out of all the tips I've read so far I'd say this is the best one. Even better than mine :)

[@MrHoggReads]

Hey man! Cool first game. Chess isn't about "thinking hard" it's about pattern recognition. You gotta drill the patterns like you did the times tables when you were a kid. Start with some puzzles! And if you play against a level 1 computer you can take your time. Mix slow computer games where you think and puzzles. Then, jump into fast 5+0 games.

[@HOWHARDTV]

Yeah I made a bad decision going on those 5 minute games 🤦‍♂️ I know this now haha

[@rein_engel]

Really enjoyed the vid, hope to see the next part! Best advice I can give: do not be afraid to lose, welcome experiments and prioritize having fun. Even the best of us will in the end lose almost half of the games they play, that is just how the matchmaking works.

[@MuseumFreedom]

Tip: when you take somthing think "how can they take me back" and "can i take him back after that" and on and on and on to try and see who comes out on top

[@HOWHARDTV]

Thank you very much, it’s a bloody difficult but satisfying game isn’t it

[@MuseumFreedom]

@@HOWHARDTV yea i just won a completely losing game because my opponent let me attack his king and rook at the same time with my horse, and because it's his king he has to move it and i could take the rook! That sort of stuff is called a fork, where the horse attacks multiple pieces at once.

[@Sitbear]

The only important thing at your level is to take all your opponent’s pieces and not let him take your pieces. Using your pieces well isn’t as important as having more of them to use.

[@CatSurfer]

I started learning from nothing 3 years ago and I can tell you my first games were just like this. Now I've managed to get to 2400 online and 2000 over the board. Keep on learning and you can become a great player!

[@zrayish5164]

2000's in 3 years is really impressive! I started about 11 months ago & am stuck in the 1400s online. I hope to get good enough to play some OTB events, but that feels a long way off.

[@HOWHARDTV]

That’s insane progression well done

[@igorsabo-r9t]

Wow in 3 years I only managed to get from 1700 to 2000, how the hell you did it from 0 to 2400?🤷‍♂️😬crazy talent, you shoud keep grinding to GM lvl with that talent

[@Matty_Gamez]

I felt that queen blunder in my soul @ 16:20 🤣

[@OworBenard]

This is a good beginning. My advise for you to get better that every about 3-4 games, you review the games with someone whose rating is higher (preferably at least 300 points higher but minimum rating of 1200) to explain your mistakes, missed opportunities etc. until your able to use an analysis engine for self improvement. Wishing you the best of luck.

[@oliverfoldager291]

Great video, I remember being a beginner myself years ago. If you would like some tips starting out here are a few I believe to be the most important. 1. Practice how pices move. This pice moves like this and can go to square 1,2,3 ect. This will help you ‘see’ what is happening on the bord and what might happen on the next move. 2. Learn a few basic checkmates; queen+king vs king, two rooks vs king and rook+king vs king. No matter how good you get at the other stuff, you need to play the final move in the end. 3. Learn the normal value of each type of pice. Pawn=1, Knight or Bishop=3, Rook=5, Queen=9 and king is special since you can’t loose him. Knowing what a pice is worth let’s you evaluate trades. Giving a rook for two pawns would be -5 for you and only -2 for your opponent, so bad for you. Trading a knight for a rook (-3 for you, -5 for them) is a good trade👍. 4. Play slower games, like 15 min for each player. You need to think a lot as a beginner, since you have no experience to rely on yet. You learn little from a 5 min game, so just go slow and take a mini lesson from each game. Analyzing the game after is also a great idea, a computer (or better a skilled human) can give you feedback on the game and on how to improve. Final thing is not to spend all the energy on openings and especially not ‘just memorizing’. That falls apart the moment your opponent plays something you have not seen before. It’s better to learn how to swim than to cling on to a pice of drift wood. It’s the principles and plans that matter, not the exact move, otherwise your not really playing and learning how to play. You can of course look at some openings, but just know it’s only 1 part of improving😊. Take it, leave it or anything in between. I wish you the best of luck on your adventure👏

[@HOWHARDTV]

I will absolutely take it! Thank you

[@trews1]

Ok, a couple of things about chess: 1) Start with longer time controls: 10 or 15 minutes would be better to give you some time to think about your moves until you have a better board vision and can play more intuitively. 2) Opening principles are more important at first than knowing actual openings. i) Control the center. put one pawn (or if the opponent lets you two pawns) in the Center ii) Develop your pieces: Bring out your knights and bishops first, to active, safe squares. Ideally they help you gain control of the center of the board. Try not to move a piece more than once in the opening, but of course you might need to do that if you opponent attacks them. iii) King safety: Castle as quickly as possible. Try not to move the pawns in front of your castled king, as that generally weakens it. iv) Move pieces, not pawns: In the opening development is key. Don't waste time with unnecessary pawn moves that do not either help your pieces to develop or your center control or parry a threat by your opponent. 3) Generally, the pieces are considered to be worth 1 point for pawns, 3 for knights and bishops, 5 for rooks and 9 for the queen. Avoid to trade a piece for less than it is worth, unless it leads to a concrete advantage (like mate in one or two moves etc.) 4) Tactic puzzles: Do plenty of puzzles. Start with easy ones like mate in one, mate in two etc. Lichess has those puzzles and chooses them automatically for your level. Use that extensively. There is no good chess player that doesn't know the important tactical patterns. And pretty much all low level chess games are completely decides by tactical mistake. 5) Learn the easiest endgames: The laddermate, checkmating with only King and Queen, checkmating with only King and Rook Now the Beginner's chess match plan looks something like this: Control the center, develop your pieces and castle in the first 10-12 moves. In the middlegame, avoid losing material. If you can gain a material advantage do it. Once you have the material advantage use equal trades of your pieces to trade down into an endgame. Always be on the lookout for mates in one or two moves (both for you, and your opponent: You don't want to walk into mate yourself, after all) In the endgame, try and promote one or two pawns (this shouldn't pose big difficulties if you were able to gain and keep a material advantage) into queens and ladder mate, or checkmate with only one major piece.

[@trews1]

Oh, and analyse your games: Look where you made mistakes or blundered. Where did you overlook a winning move etc. There is no getting better by always making mistakes over and over again because you never realised that you're making those mistakes in the first place. Lichess gives you access to computer analysis, so use it.

[@nexiphslayer11]

Such an underrated channel this man deserves more subs ❤

[@chess_fornite6865]

A piece of adivice from me( someone who has been in this field for quite some time):- Try to engage more in thinking and play longer format games and always have a clarity on the why of a move what I mean is you should always actively try to have plans always... Also try to solve more and more tactics bcz tactics are more important than openings in the beginners to intermediate player level .. For some reason I just feel like subscribing you❤❤

[@HOWHARDTV]

Thank you very much for this advice! It’s a tough old game but I can already see the appeal of playing it

[@MrDeeb8]

I respect this so much. Good on you bro. Keep going. And keep trying things that are difficult. It's inspiring. Its always difficult to start a new thing, and even more difficult to struggle with it and continue.

[@roberthawkins8178]

i would love to jhelp ive been playing for 22 years competitivly in the uk

[@tylersheehan-ford4047]

I'm in my 2nd season as a club player would you be down to play online?

[@termsandapong7094]

Couple things to think about are: What can all my pieces and all the enemy's pieces see? Where can all my pieces and all the enemy's pieces move? It's also good to understand the concept of pins, skewers, tempo, piece value, counting trades, and controlling the center. Things like openings are much harder to get into and understand easily, especially as a beginner. I'm currently having trouble trying to understand them myself.

[@datboiwildin]

Hello, I only started last year and i’ve been beating a lot of 1200 to 1800 rated players. it depends on the position tho… My advice for you to learn would be to learn how every piece moves accurately… you already have but you still have hesitation… review more and more until you are familiar because it’s a lot of information to gather all at once Then, before learning openings, learn general chess principles… Openings will come later but there is alot of memory and times you don’t play book moves (moves that you are supposed to play in the opening) due to ur opponent making a weird move… the 3 Principles are - taking the center as they give your pieces the most range - Develop your minor pieces (knights and bishops) don’t move rooks or your queen before taking both knights and bishops out typically - Once you move those minor pieces out, it allows you to castle and protect your king. Always castle after that step 2 typically! Follow these general principles and you will be just fine even if your opponent plays an opening you’re not familiar with, these are instincts that can save you. Hope this helps, Trent

[@nickkestler4848]

I would get too excited and overwhelmed trying to teach someone chess, but damn how fun that would be for someone really wanting to learn.

[@tiernanshortt4709]

He got the rules wrong. If you have an opportunity to play en passant, you are forced to play it even if you have checkmate on the board.

[@DIBDIBCV890]

Lmao

[@shantymanshep]

For anyone who would take this seriously, this comment is a joke and is not true. Since en passant is such a weird and special move, beginners often find themselves compelled to play it, just to show that they know about it. Because of this, people started making jokes about en passant being “forced” and other jokes about how en passant is a better move than checkmate. I like the jokes, but if you’re genuinely trying to learn the rules and just starting out, the inside jokes can be confusing

[@frequensea9434]

For chess. Get every piece moved once in a somewhat ideal square and don’t move them again if unnecessary until you castle. If you get all of your pieces moved once, can castle and connect the rooks you can essentially blast away the center with pawn advances under 1000 elo and win the game. Simple strategy. You eventually learn counting instead of visually takes, you’ll learn piece values, maybe a few traps to avoid and overall just have fun. Always study your games after and don’t get frustrated as it’s a game that even AI hasn’t solved

[@AriesXxinSub]

Chess is easy, just hard to master.

[@PSFries16]

I keep telling people the same thing.

[@AriesXxinSub]

@Gaminghashira14 Yep.

[@simplyMr1]

the simplest way to go about this is to teach yourself openings, have at least two or three for each color and build from there, I'd recommend the king's pawn opening for white for beginners and the caro Khan for black, they're easy and straight forward but as you get better you'll find more aggressive playstyles too

[@Spidervrs]

Let’s go finally the video!

[@HOWHARDTV]

I was absolutely pathetic at the game at this point 😂

[@walterwhite13]

This was fascinating to watch as someone who's been playing for quite a while now. Some tips I'd give to get you started would be: 1) Learn basic checkmates. Like with only a queen, with two rooks, and with only a rook. 2) Learn the relative values of pieces. This will help you evaluate when to give up one piece for another. 3) Learn some basic tactical patterns. Solve puzzles on Lichess to improve this. Tactics are essentially plays you can do in order to achieve an advantage. 4) Always think what your opponent wants to achieve when he plays a move. 5) Play longer time controls so that you have more time to think. I'd suggest 15+10 if you have the time. This means each player gets 15 minutes for the whole game plus 10 seconds for every move you make. 6) Most importantly, don't forget to have fun! It's quite easy to get tilted and frustrated, especially in the beginning when you feel like you don't know what you're doing. Also just wanted to add that the quality of the video is fantastic for someone with only 1.67k subs. You're earned yourself a subscription, keep up the good work!

[@grnarsch5287]

Great choice to use lichess

[@Enlightentrail101]

No really

[@IulianYT]

well, the "simplest" is to check for "checks, captures, threats". So, check if you can capture a piece or a pawn that is not defended, or if it is being attacked by more pieces than defended, so you will end with a pawn up/an exchange up. Check your own pieces if they are not to be captured on next move, if they are not defended, or are being attacked by more pieces than defended. And checks. You can't win a game by checking, but check is a forcing move, so the opponent has to defend or move the king, and in some cases you may "fork" the king and capture a more valuable piece.

[@RandomGuyplayschess-yv2op]

That is a good advice for a beginner, not teaching him chess theory. Finally some giving it.

[@salvator222]

Mike did a great job explaining

[@HOWHARDTV]

Agreed, it’s a shame he was explaining it to me 👀😂

[@MrMccarthycdxx]

The biggest piece of advice I can give is something you started to figure out early on yourself. You must be thinking at least 3 moves ahead. For instance when you look to move a piece ask yourself, what would my opponents next move be and how would I respond to that. Taking time to look at what moves are available to your opponent is always helpful and the more moves ahead you can plan the better off you will be generally.

[@SinfullHero]

Start by learning the London opening. It's the easiest to learn.

[@MuseumFreedom]

Lol

[@HOWHARDTV]

I’ll be taking a look at a few different openings I think, thank you for suggesting this one

[@somed655]

Starting with London as a first opening is great if you dont want to learn any chess and just hope the opponent knows less than you

[@MuseumFreedom]

@@HOWHARDTV don't, it's the worst one, you'd have to study harder than an exam and has more variations than you can count Best to start with is how to counter scholar's mate

[@stanleywilson101]

London for White Caro Khan for black.

[@LindonsChannel]

This video made me glad I picked up chess without any coaching because hearing someone describe the game from scratch sounds overwhelming.

[@gamingguy6151]

Hey man! I’m playing chess at club level. I really enjoyed the video. I hope you’ll have as good of a time with chess as I do. As tips I’d say just play as much as you can and (of course) want to. Playing lots of games in my opinion is the easiest way to improve as a beginner. I wouldn’t recommend learning endgames or too many openings in the beginning. Tactic puzzles are also quite good to improve your pattern recognition (in faster time controls like blitz or even bullet it’s all about pattern recognition, so you don’t have to think about every move for too long). If you have any questions or want some advice feel free to reach out to me, I’d be more than happy to help you along. If you want we can also do a game analysis or Sth like that

[@HobbySauce]

For starters -- play longer games. You're playing blitz games, meaning you're expected to move the pieces quickly on a short timer. First learn how all the pieces move well. After at least make sure the squares you're moving to don't have an immediate consequence of getting taking (in this video you often just give your opponent pieces). Likewise when its your turn you need to think of your opponent's next move (many of your pieces were sitting in positions where they could be taken and needed to be moved or defended.) Next -- learn some basics of strategy. I can narrow it down to a few very basic principles right now -- 1) Put your pieces in the center of the board if you can 2) Try not to move the same piece twice until your bishops and knights are all off their starting square 3) Castle as soon as you can Last -- Learn the "cost" of each piece. There is a heirachy that most chess players assign points to which I'll state here as "piece (value)." Pawn (1), Knight/Bishop (3), Rook (5), Queen (9). Note the King has no cost as its fall means the loss of the game. When you can trade pieces of equal value you're good. If you can trade pieces of unequal value in your favor such as losing a knight to gain a rook -- you're theoretically winning. Chess is a game of position, tactics, memorization, and creativity -- learning it is a life's work, but getting to a respectable place can happen with time. Good at it! Keep it up and you'll get better. Read some beginner books and do some simple chess problems to improve your skills!

[@jxy8938]

A few tips that you can hopefully take with you: Before playing a certain move, try to consider what your opponents next move would be if you played that certain move, and try to think what would be your counter to THAT. Chess is all about mental warfare, and getting in your opponents head. Also before every move, try to double check that once you make your move, as many of your pieces as possible are defended (aka your pieces are not isolated and they cant be taken freely by your opponent.

[@cwesley2005]

Put two pawns in center. Develop knights, develop bishops, castle the king.

[@jedrzejkraszpulski442]

1. Play slower games. 15+10 to start I think is ideal. 2. Find a framework for thinking about your moves. Checks-captures-attacks will likely carry you from total beginner to early intermediate. 3. Don't bother learning specific openings yet, but learn a few basic principles of the opening. 4. Have fun and remember even when you feel like an idiot, your chess skill isn't a reflection of your intellect.

[@milesy35]

Fantastic advice!

[@brigidwell]

Fun video! 1. Start with basic checkmate puzzles and tactics puzzles so you see how to finish a winning game. 2. Play level 1 of any computer. 3. Watch a video on opening principles. Focus mostly on getting pieces out and castling. Repeat these three steps until you beat Level 1. 4. For each computer level you clear, go back and try people on lichess again. 5. Once you can beat actual people, it’s just a matter of studying if you wish to get better, but have fun.

[@chesstime_0720]

First of all congratulations for starting something new. This video was so wholesome I haven't seen anyone starting from the start to learn chess 💓. Yes, you said is right : "Every move has a consequence", "Chess is hard". Also if mistakes happen at every stage therefore don't be so hard if you lose , learn from the mistakes and try to improve in the next game. This is a mental game and it sometimes messes up with the brain so you can take a pause when you feel not playing.

[@HOWHARDTV]

Im glad you enjoyed the video, Chess is Very hard but a really good game. Im hoping that in the next chess video you guys will be able to see a massive improvement. Also thank you for the advice

[@apollo_predates_soup]

the best advice I can give someone who just started is to play a lot. and especially longer games, 10+0 at a minimum but preferably 15+10 or longer. another thing is trying to visualise what moves are possible for you as well as for your opponent before making moves - lichess has a cool feature where if you drag while holding the right mouse button you can draw arrows which can help with seeing what is possible. good luck with your journey and keep us updated!

[@zackmayer5864]

I would love to see you make another video on this… your first win video would go insane

[@Matthewrents]

I think the easiest way to understand the pawns confusion is by knowing the historical reason why they are weird. In the beginning, the pawns could only move 1 square at a time. But understanding basic concepts, it wasn’t unusual to have the pawns both move straight twice to get to the center. That is why the pawns moving twice off the start happened.. This led to a different problem, in a way, because without being able to move 2 squares, an opposing pawn could have had the opportunity to capture it. But now that you could move 2 squares passed another pawn, it became an advantage to wait for your opponent to push too far and then move passed them. This is how en passant came to be added

[@robbiepreble5974]

Pro tip: Look at the board every turn, and think about what pieces target what squares. You’ll learn the importance of piece activity.

[@nomenus7698]

Here's a tip that helped me tremendously when I started (Gothamchess advice): when calculating moves, always look at forcing moves first, that is checks (opponent has to respond), captures (opponent usually has to take back), attacks (opponent should to defend).

[@travistucker4067]

🔥 Stay at it. Play longer time controls, do puzzles and watch/study games rather old or new. But most of all have fun learning and don't be afraid of losing.

[@davidefontanella2147]

seeing how hard this game is from the perspective of a beginning makes me appreciate the level I am now, even though it's considered to be pretty low. It involves hours of practicing and pattern recognition to even get this far. You'll get better pretty soon and at the beginning the progress curve is not steep and it's a very nice sensation actually feeling tangible improvement day by day.

[@tomwarden6307]

I recommend clicking on your pieces so you can see where they move! Just take a click on some of the pieces that look like they are being attacked or can attack and seeing where they can go before you make a move, best of luck!

[@Pahis1]

When you create an account on lichess you start with a quite a high rating for a complete beginner. Your first few games will most likely be against much more experienced players.

[@marcinz.3570]

(0. Learn the value of pieces) 1. Play in the centre with your pawns, develop your light pieces and castle. 2. Always actively look for checks and captures, on every move, for you and your opponent. 3. Learn how to checkmate with the Queen on an open board. Later on with the rook, and how to win K+p vs K. Edit: Bonus: Do tactics puzzles! Prioritise getting the answer right. Speed WILL come with time.

[@bernof23]

I play Competitive Chess actually and as I watched this video I realized that to a lot of people it can be tough to start. If you want to know some tips I would suggest firstly learning how every piece moves so you spend less times thinking about it, after that I would suggest learning an opening and mastering it.

[@Amy_Quinzel]

I used to play chess a lot and i think i can give you some advice 1 The most important, your mental be patient and understanding to yourself. A lot of new players have this attitude that they NEED to progress and win, no. This thinking hurts more than helps. 2 You played 5+0 First number indicates starting time (in minutes) second number indicates seconds added to your time after every move (i suggest playing 15+10) 3 At beginner level you don't need to learn any openings, knowing opening principals will serve you better. 4 Analyze your mistakes and try to understand why something happened and how you could prevent it 5 Chess puzzles: great for warmup and learning some patterns so try to do them time to time 6 Always think about what your opponent move does. Then think of what you want to do. 7 Lichess is probably best site it gives you every tool you need for free 8 Learn some tactics I thinks that's all. Fun is all that matters about chess. And maybe it's good idea to ask one of your viewers to teach you some basics like simple tactics

[@esti1798]

I like how in the beginning you were taught that the f pawn is weak and then proceeded to move the weak pawn and open up your king every game lol

[@puzzician]

What's your lichess handle? I want to watch you practice and give you a game here and there.

[@TheNeilBlack]

17:40 "One thing I'm noticing with chess so far is that every single move has a consequence." You are already halfway to being better than most chess players. Understanding that every move changes the position and creates new potential threats is something many casual players never really key in on. A lot of getting good at chess is about practice. Once you're comfortable with how the pieces move you should play more games and learn how they interact with each other. Doing puzzles can be a great help too. But priority one should be getting comfortable with how the pieces move, understanding when they can attack your pieces and when you can attack theirs, and knowing when a piece puts you in check. I'd also recommend slightly longer time controls. At least ten minutes (but not so long that you get bored) so you can take time and think about your moves.

[@HOWHARDTV]

Thank you very much!

[@MCharlesPainting]

Note: He indicated that you can castle even if the rook has moved. This is false. Both king and rook must remain in place if you are to castle. He also didn't stress at the beginning that the knight can move in all directions with the L shape when out, but can only move in the two forward directions when on turn 1. He said that during play, the knight can move sidewards -- he didn't stress that it can both in every direction (giving the impression that it can only move in the forward directions on turn 1, and to the sides otherwise). And the language we use to talk about the castling and bishop problem is that 'you cannot castle through/into check'. For any new players or anybody who only saw the beginning of this video, I just wanted to clarify those points.

[@Twokubikmeter]

I wish you good luck. My best advice would be 1, castle your king. 2, get your bishops and knights out 3, try some puzzles. You need to learn to see when a piece is threatened.

[@georgemarsh8095]

Awesome video mate. Looking forward to number 2. Many others have already mentioned lots of great tips. I'd say just watch GothamChess to start, and then play, play, play. His beginner videos are great. He's a brilliant teacher. Chess is hard, but the learning curve is steapest as a beginner, which means you can get much better pretty quickly. Most people eventually hit a plateau at some point, to break through which takes conscious, and time consuming, study and practice. There's so much content out there now, you have a great selection of creators to choose from. Immerse yourself, and like anything, you'll slowly build some intuition for the game. I can also promise you that chess is even harder than most of us can even comprehend! (I'm still trying but probably never will!) It's that classic dynamic of needing to know a bit or get to a decent level of a game/sport to be able to understand how good the best are. The Elo rating system gets exponentially more difficult to climb once you get to a more advanced intermediate level, which just represents how much of a skill gap there is from beginner to GOAT (aka Magnus). It's probably the biggest skill gap in any game/sport imo. For more context, you're statustically more likely to be a billionaire than you are a chess Grandmaster, since there are more billionaires than GMs!! Don't let that put you off though! Chess is still really fun to learn and get better at, so watch, watch, watch, then play, play, play! Looking forward to the next vid in the series!

[@HOWHARDTV]

@@georgemarsh8095 thank you very much 💙 I would say that I have already come on a lot since this video so hoping to prove it in the next one

[@anonym5160]

2:30 The Board didn’t even have markings.

[@Asianboy-Productions]

In game 2, there is a move called en passant. En passant means passing pawn in French. If the opponent's pawn moves into the 5th rank and is next to a pawn in your territory, it could take the pawn by going diagonally.

[@Chilli_Tea]

chess is all about not making mistakes and punishing your opponents mistake, similar to boxing: "hit and don't get hit" in chess it's: "punish blunders and don't make blunders".

[@donladplaysgames4036]

The strangest thing watching you learn at this age is that Mike explained scholar's mate, when most people learned in school your first game was losing to scholar's mate after being taught how the pieces move. But it is a lot of fun, lots to grow on, you're on the right track with each move having a consequence, it's about making sure when you move a piece it's not in immediate danger

[@HOWHARDTV]

Thank you very much

[@glengarryglenross7127]

if a bishop attacks your queen and it's undefended - bloody take it

[@Orwaha]

I also highly recommend watching Daniel Naroditsky’s rating climbing videos from the beginning!

[@mellowaurora]

I second this! to add on, the concepts he goes into can be hard to understand for a complete beginner but he's still one of the best chess teachers on the internet, and I think you can still learn so so much from him!

[@Patralgan]

When you're a beginner, you should play with at least 10+5 time control. Only play blitz when you're somewhat familiar with basic opening principles and overall principles

[@skyewright4220]

Chess is a game that’s easy to learn but very hard to master. My first recommendation is to learn how to defend pieces. Learn how each of them move, and make sure that there’s always a piece that can take back if yours gets captured. If you do that, you’ll see pretty quickly how your opponents can capture pieces too, and figure out if you’ll come out on top in the exchange. Once you have a good grasp of the pieces and how they move, study some openings! A London or Vienna is probably what you want to play, openings refer to the first couple of moves you can make on the board and the way they leave you set up. Lastly, be weary of Scholar’s Mate and Fried Liver! At low levels, your opponents are likely to use them to win a quick cheesy game, and in fact, it looked like someone was trying to do that to you in this video. The Scholar’s Mate is one of the quickest ways white can win while black is playing otherwise principled moves. It attacks your kingside pawns with a queen while a bishop guards it from afar, leaving no way to capture and putting your king in checkmate. Fried Liver has a couple variations, it looks like a Scholar’s Mate at the start, but if played incorrectly, it can quickly lead to the opponents queen snagging all your pieces. It’s a little too complicated to explain, just look up the lines so you know what to prepare for. I also can’t recommend you play them yourself, they’re popular among lower ranks because they’re not very principled.

[@charldoge3617]

If you wana start i recommend not learning oppenings, just learn one for white and one for black and focus more on fundimentals, stuff like controling the centre, looking for improving moves like keeping a solid pawn structure, fundimentals will help you alot more than some oppenings

[@juliancrawford2270]

Best technique is to protect all your pieces so they are always defended by at least one other piece, don't leave anything hanging. If a piece is attacked twice, defend it twice. Generally try to move out the bishop and knight early so you can short castle and don't push the pawns in front of the castled king too much. To win material look for forks and pins.

[@demondragon5193]

Some recommendations for you. First you should learn piece values. For example, queens are worth 9 points, bishops and knights are worth 3 points, rooks are worth 5 and pawns are worth. On its own it doesn't mean much but it helps you better understand how much pieces are worth in comparison to other pieces so you are less likely to blunder and give up a higher value piece for a low value one. Two rather than learning a specific opening you should learn opening principles first. Such as two pawns in the center for central control, quick development and castling to get your king safe early. Side note kings cannot castle if they or the rook moves. Then you should learn one or two openings. One for white and one for black and learn them well. Don't learn a bunch of different openings. After that you should try and learn about basic tactics such as pins, skewers, and forks.

[@athosgomesfonseca]

Also, advice on chess I gained from an an exceptionally gifted player: attack, protect, retreat. If you follow this simple principle as you begin, you will gain volumes of experience right away as it forces you to observe both sets and identify their ability to threaten pieces while also seeking defensive play all the while keeping the space to move away from danger while, again, optimizing your space to resume attacking and defending. And on a personal note, DON’T study chess beyond rules. Keep it intuitive and creative, otherwise it becomes little more than pattern memorization, recognition and tremendously boring and repetitive. And while this is NOT the end of the world, by maintaining an open and creative approach to chess away from theory and lines, you become highly adaptable and capable of reading situations in life and in game in a way which can be a terrific soft and hard skill not just to play chess but the game of life.

[@zee-kun9257]

A genuine good advice for any skill range would be: try to have an explanation for every move, both for your own and your opponents. Even if you don’t understand the move, try to make sense of something. This will really help you get better at chess

[@vpkd]

I am an average chess player, this is a wholesome video, your reaction to your own moves and everything, I wish I could relearn chess from this level again. Thank you for posting this video.

[@milesy35]

As others have said play longer time controls when starting out. Your main problem was not seeing when you or your opponent had hung a piece for free. Nail that and you'll be >1000 in no time. Keep it up and keep posting your progress (maybe edit so it's not an hour long), good luck.

[@John-g6x1h]

Everybody who starts out goes through the same thing. Chess reveals its secrets very gradually.

[@shadowbreaker6027]

scholar's mate isn't the quickest way to win, fool's mate is

[@thundergamer2039]

Never give up on chess its an amazing game ive discovered the game a year ago and have gained over 1830 elo points in that period of time i suggest you pick longer time controls and learn opening principles also stick to one chess opening to start with for black and white

[@thomasmacmanus9913]

The opening should be for developing your pieces and you should castle early. It's generally much better to protect the king first, do careful development and try to defend from early attack here. If the opponent attacks early you can learn the many punishing counter moves to respond. The middle game is where things really open up and you should be able to make a plan of attack, also see the other sides attack coming. In the endgame you want to have more pawns, even one more pawn than the opponent and everything else even is 'winning'. Otherwise you just play your best endgame tactics. If you dont know what to play, try to stop your opponent from where they want to go. I recommend doing chess puzzles, to get a good book or take an online course or listen to a chess lecture from a GM or FM that you can appreciate at your level. Just getting all the basics down is a huge speed boost to winning and seeing your rating climb.