Answers.Body: <p>Find a good player who can teach you the rules and the basics, and then play with him. Playing is surely the easiest (and the most enjoyable) way to learn a game like chess: you'll improve quickly, even if at first you probably will get beaten very often. Then teach chess yourself to some friend of yours, or play with some beginner: this way you may play games with no difference of level (it can be frustrating losing every single game to a more experienced player!).</p>
  
  <p>After that you may try starting playing online, in beginner's rooms of many sites. I'll suggest you to find a chess club near you, if there's any: you'll meet people with same passion as yours, and chess will become even more fun.</p>
  
  <p>As a final advice, after having mastered the rules and played some games (20 to 100 more or less, it depends on you) go and read a beginner strategy-tactics book, there's plenty of them. Find some forum, and resources on the Net.</p>
  
  <p>Just like this site. :)</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-06-05T10:04:47.917Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2012-06-13T18:39:29.920Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2012-06-13T18:39:29.920Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: javatutorial
Answers.Body: <p>If you're in the US, check out the <a href="http://www.uschess.org" rel="nofollow">USCF web site</a> and find a local club.  You'll have plenty of opponents then.  There are also many online ways to play - try <a href="http://www.chess.com" rel="nofollow">chess.com</a>.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-06-05T22:21:38.740Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2012-06-13T18:39:36.533Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2012-06-13T18:39:36.533Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Tony Ennis
Answers.Body: <p>To answer both your questions:</p>
  
  <p>Chess can be learned in a very short period of time.  It only takes five minutes to learn the basics.  It is extremely hard to master, but you can get up and running with the basics in less time than you think.  Playing with stronger players and practicing will get you better, but it takes lots of time.  It depends on how good you want to be.</p>
  
  <p>I started off just playing randomly, usually against my uncle who was a much stronger player than me.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-06-05T13:27:30.383Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2012-06-13T18:39:44.443Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2012-06-13T18:39:44.443Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: xaisoft
Answers.Body: <p>If you <em>really</em> have nobody that can teach you chess, you can get the rules and some basic advice from the <a href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess">Wikibook</a>, and for playing you can choose from a lot of free chess programs (e.g. <a href="http://www.playwitharena.com">Arena</a>) or websites (e.g. <a href="http://chesstempo.com/">chess tempo</a>). Once you have some basic skills, you can try to play against humans as well (e.g. on <a href="http://www.chesscube.com">chess cube</a>).</p>
  
  <p>But it's definitely more fun if you find someone in real life to learn from and to play with...</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2012-06-05T13:23:47.770Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2012-06-05T13:23:47.770Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Landei
Body: <p>I am new to chess and looking for effective ways to learn how to play.</p>
  <ul>
  <li>What are some quick and effective methods to learn the basics of chess?</li>
  <li>How did you personally get started with playing chess?</li>
  <li>What methodologies or resources do you wish you had known about when you started, which significantly improved your chess skills?</li>
  </ul>
  <p>I'm looking for practical advice and resources that can help steer beginners in the right direction and enhance their learning experience.</p>
  <p>Any tips or recommendations are highly appreciated!</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-07-18T10:13:44.447Z
Comments.Text: The last edit turned the question into a pretty decent one, but wouldn't it be better to start it as a new question altogether?
Comments.UserDisplayName: David
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-07-18T12:07:50.067Z
Comments.Text: @David. If the question was in isolation I would agree have a new one, but there are some reasonable answers here already so better to stick with this one, imho
Comments.UserDisplayName: Laska
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-07-18T13:26:32.610Z
Comments.Text: @Laska and David that's exactly why I updated the question, I tried to delete it and couldn't due to the valuable answers
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tassisto
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-07-20T18:01:23.697Z
Comments.Text: The question's quality is improved to respect the rules, yet it's flagged as "not fit for our Q&A format"
Comments.UserDisplayName: Tassisto
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-07-21T02:18:48.477Z
Comments.Text: @Tassisto: You probably can't see it, but as I type this, it has three votes to reopen, but needs more. A [meta post](https://chess.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1241/reopen-how-to-get-started-and-improve-at-chess-question) has been created about it.
Comments.UserDisplayName: GreenMatt
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-07-21T07:54:28.067Z
Comments.Text: The question does not meet the quality and topicality requirements for the site. It never has, it inherently never can, because it is simply not an appropriate type of question here. Calling people "over-analytic" and using a condescending attitude certainly doesn't endear the asker, either.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Nij
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2012-06-15T21:35:57.527Z
Comments.Text: This question is too broad and subjective.  Per the [FAQ](http://chess.stackexchange.com/faq#dontask): *You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page.*
Comments.UserDisplayName: Daniel
Tags: <rules>
Title: How to Get Started and Improve at Chess: Tips for Beginners
ThreadText: # How to Get Started and Improve at Chess: Tips for Beginners
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2012-06-05)
  
  I am new to chess and looking for effective ways to learn how to play.
  
  * What are some quick and effective methods to learn the basics of chess?
  * How did you personally get started with playing chess?
  * What methodologies or resources do you wish you had known about when you started, which significantly improved your chess skills?
  
  I'm looking for practical advice and resources that can help steer beginners in the right direction and enhance their learning experience.
  
  Any tips or recommendations are highly appreciated!
  
  **Tags:** rules
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_5**: This question is too broad and subjective.  Per the [FAQ](http://chess.stackexchange.com/faq#dontask): *You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face. Chatty, open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of our site and push other questions off the front page.*  
  > **username_1**: The last edit turned the question into a pretty decent one, but wouldn't it be better to start it as a new question altogether?  
  > **username_2**: @username_1. If the question was in isolation I would agree have a new one, but there are some reasonable answers here already so better to stick with this one, imho  
  > **username_0**: @username_2 and username_1 that's exactly why I updated the question, I tried to delete it and couldn't due to the valuable answers  
  > **username_0**: The question's quality is improved to respect the rules, yet it's flagged as "not fit for our Q&A format"  
  > **username_3**: @username_0: You probably can't see it, but as I type this, it has three votes to reopen, but needs more. A [meta post](https://chess.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1241/reopen-how-to-get-started-and-improve-at-chess-question) has been created about it.  
  > **username_4**: The question does not meet the quality and topicality requirements for the site. It never has, it inherently never can, because it is simply not an appropriate type of question here. Calling people "over-analytic" and using a condescending attitude certainly doesn't endear the asker, either.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 4 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_9 on 2012-06-05. Score: 7 | Accepted answer
  
  If you *really* have nobody that can teach you chess, you can get the rules and some basic advice from the [Wikibook](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess), and for playing you can choose from a lot of free chess programs (e.g. [Arena](http://www.playwitharena.com)) or websites (e.g. [chess tempo](http://chesstempo.com/)). Once you have some basic skills, you can try to play against humans as well (e.g. on [chess cube](http://www.chesscube.com)).
  
  But it's definitely more fun if you find someone in real life to learn from and to play with...
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2012-06-05. Score: 5
  
  Find a good player who can teach you the rules and the basics, and then play with him. Playing is surely the easiest (and the most enjoyable) way to learn a game like chess: you'll improve quickly, even if at first you probably will get beaten very often. Then teach chess yourself to some friend of yours, or play with some beginner: this way you may play games with no difference of level (it can be frustrating losing every single game to a more experienced player!).
  
  After that you may try starting playing online, in beginner's rooms of many sites. I'll suggest you to find a chess club near you, if there's any: you'll meet people with same passion as yours, and chess will become even more fun.
  
  As a final advice, after having mastered the rules and played some games (20 to 100 more or less, it depends on you) go and read a beginner strategy-tactics book, there's plenty of them. Find some forum, and resources on the Net.
  
  Just like this site. :)
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_7 on 2012-06-05. Score: 3
  
  If you're in the US, check out the [USCF web site](http://www.uschess.org) and find a local club. You'll have plenty of opponents then. There are also many online ways to play - try [chess.com](http://www.chess.com).
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_8 on 2012-06-05. Score: 3
  
  To answer both your questions:
  
  Chess can be learned in a very short period of time. It only takes five minutes to learn the basics. It is extremely hard to master, but you can get up and running with the basics in less time than you think. Playing with stronger players and practicing will get you better, but it takes lots of time. It depends on how good you want to be.
  
  I started off just playing randomly, usually against my uncle who was a much stronger player than me.
  
  
  ---
  
  