Contents
You can learn the rules in one evening. Learning to play well takes months and years. Here is a plan that will keep you on track.
Step 1. The rules
Start with the “Rules” section: the board, setting up, how the pieces move, check and checkmate, castling, en passant, stalemate. Test yourself: could you explain these rules to someone else?
Step 2. Basic mates
Learn to checkmate a lone king — first with the queen, then with the rook. This is the foundation without which you cannot convert even a won game:
Step 3. Opening principles
There is no need to memorise variations. Three rules are enough: take the centre, develop your pieces, castle. Details in the article “Opening principles for beginners”.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Step 4. Tactics
Most beginners' games are decided by tactics: forks, pins, double attacks. Solve puzzles every day, at least 10–15 of them. Start with the “Terms” section: the fork, the pin, the double attack.
Step 5. Play
Play against real opponents and online. Longer games suit beginners better — from 10–15 minutes each: in blitz there is no time to think, and so nothing to learn.
Step 6. Analyse your games
After every game, find the moment where you went wrong. You can do it with a coach, or with a computer on the analysis board or on Lichess. One analysed game is worth more than ten played blindly.
How long it takes
Practising 3–4 times a week for half an hour to an hour, within a few months you will confidently beat people who merely “know how the pieces move”. After that the road leads to official ratings and titles.
And most importantly: chess should be fun. If you lose interest, take a break or change the format: solve puzzles, watch champions' games, read the encyclopedia.