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    Chess

    I was thinking of starting to play chess. I know how all the pieces move, but that's it. Any time I ever played chess when I was a kid, I was pretty much just moving the pieces around randomly (well, according to the rules, but with no strategy). I really don't know where to start though. I've tried looking up openings, but then I've got no clue where to go from there, and all the computer opponents I've tried just thrash me instantly. I was rather hoping it would be like a Rubik's cube; seems impossible, but actually you just have to memorise a bunch of numbers. What I want is a step by step guide to improving quickly, from scratch. Any chess players here? Any book/site suggestions for this?

    Thanks, pals

    #2
    Books:

    The Right Way to Play Chess (D. Brine Pritchard) is an excellent guide for beginners, probably the definitive starting point for most players.
    Logical Chess (Irving Chernev) is a great study of famous games, move by move, and is good for when you're feeling a little more confident.
    Find the Checkmate (Gary Lane) will improve your ability to kill off opponents, and is a nice puzzle book all by itself.

    For all three books you'll eventually need to learn all about algebraic notation. You *can* play chess without knowing it, but you learn more quickly, and it's not that hard anyway.

    Websites:

    I'd recommend chess.com, which has a wealth of articles, and plenty of online games against graded opponents; and if you're on Facebook, try the chess app, which also lets you play against opponents of the same skill level as you.

    The best advice though is just to play as much as you can. Start off against people who have a "rating" of around 600-800, and if they're too easy, try someone harder. Once you've played twenty or so games you start to get a feel for what a good move looks like...

    Be warned, though - once you're hooked it never lets go.

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      #3
      I used to think I was alright at chess, having beaten mates. Then at uni I got OWNED off some African guy to whom I'd been hyping my abilities. I felt like a total fAmmYdoDD and haven't played much since.

      Good game though.

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        #4
        urgh, so is this going to take more than one night to learn?

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          #5
          If you know how all the pieces move, you've learned already. The skill is in beating someone else, and you can only get it by playing as many opponents as possible, finding out why you win, and more importantly why you lose.

          It's a great game. Frustrating as hell at times, but addictive and creative and fun, too.

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            #6
            Yes, frustrating is right. I nearly snapped my game boy in half playing Chessmaster a minute ago. Pile of crap it is. There's no option to change the difficulty level, so it's automatically at the highest possible, and it NEVER makes a mistake. I will be off to the library on Monday then, and then I will be back to kick that stupid Chessmaster's beard inside out. Thanks for the help Gordo

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              #7
              There's plenty of good online websites to play chess as well if that's your cup of tea. Most have different time limits on moves like 1 day, 3 days etc which is good so you can take your time etc. The best way to learn is to play but it's good to have some grounding from books; especially in openings.

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                #8
                Try shogi, it makes chess look like checkers

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                  #9
                  Its a great game and I've been getting back into it recently, if you want a few games online or whatever hit me up, playing people is the best way to learn. The computer is beating my ass at present.

                  I've been playing more chess than any videogames at present though.

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                    #10
                    Is chess really that good? It's what civilization invented before they had access to the internet and games consoles. I bet you Kasparov, if he was starting now would be larging it up on multiplayer Modern Warfare 2, getting Rickrolled on 4chan and playing Bejewelled Blitz on Facebook instead of wasting time fiddling with his bishops.

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                      #11
                      It depends - he might prefer a quiet game with a mate, instead of being sworn at by fat American teenagers, cheated by modding skanks, or farting around playing flash games in his digital palace of fake pals.

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                        #12
                        I was going to make a thread for it but didn't in the end, but I watched a movie-documentary called 'kasparov vs the machine', detailing his defeat at the hands of deep blue in 1997, if you're interested in chess and computers, and slight conspiracy theories you should watch it. I found it entertaining at least.

                        He's a good chess player Considering his rating is like almost 3000 and mines currently 548, I think it'd be a pretty easy win.

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                          #13
                          How do you get this rating kernow?

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                            #14
                            You can get a rating fairly easily by joining one of the online chess websites and playing a few games. They assign you a default rating of around 1000 to 1200, and it goes down or up according to the level of your opponents and whether you win or lose.

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                              #15
                              OOF.

                              I predict a shameful, shameful effort.

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