Truth be told there many things I would’ve done differently. Other than learning how the pieces move I knew nothing. I thought it was logical to learn openings. middle game and then endgame pretty much in that order since that’s how the games went.

In no particular order, the first thing is I would have studied opening principles instead of openings. Basic develop, center, castle stuff.  I started with the Caro-Kann and the London. Why? Those are the vids I found on YT.

So I bought some Chessable courses and went to town. Great coursed but I didn’t know what I was studying. I knew the moves “IF” my opponent went by the book. But at low elo ratings the games go off the rails in a few moves. I mean we play some off the wall stuff. I think my time would’ve been better spent getting beginner chess courses on basic tactics and patterns. Which of course I now have. I also would have started doing a lot more puzzles. I’ve been doing this the lately and believe it or not the patterns are actually starting to sink in. Sometimes I even see them in a game.

Play longer time controls. I have only payed rapid 10 min to this point. Anyone I talked to and went over my games with all said the something, “you’re playing to fast, slow down and play 15/10 sp you have time to think”. Of course I still haven’t done this one. I have no idea why not. Maybe today?

Go to the resources page to see the courses I use.