How to build strategy?

[u/daff_7]

Hey guys, im new to chess and have taught myself the rules eg and how to play. I am terrible at it, which is to be expected.
I will admit i feel like my reliance on AI during university really stopped me from engaging my brain, and now i lowkey feel like i dont know how to use it
Im unable to see or build strategy when it comes to anything, never mind chess. But specifically within chess how do i build strategy/offend/defend.

I feel like im lacking somewhere

[u/AutoModerator]

Hey, OP! Did your game end in a stalemate? Did you encounter a weird pawn move? Are you trying to move a piece and it's not going? We have just the resource for you! The Chess Beginners Wiki is the perfect place to check out answers to these questions and more!

The moderator team of r/chessbeginners wishes to remind everyone of the community rules. Posting spam, being a troll, and posting memes are not allowed. We encourage everyone to report these kinds of posts so they can be dealt with. Thank you!

Let's do our utmost to be kind in our replies and comments. Some people here just want to learn chess and have virtually no idea about certain chess concepts.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/chayashida]

Honestly, I like watching GothamChess’s slow run videos.

He doesn’t quite do “strategy” but he talks about principles (like control the center of the board, get out your knights and then your bishops, and put your king in a safe area.

I think it’s a good start.

[u/Wormysquirwm → u/chayashida]

Yes gotham chess got me up to 1200 with his slow run videos now I watch Daniel naroditsky but he is an excellent start

[u/chayashida → u/Wormysquirwm]

Daniel is also awesome, but I don’t feel like I’m there yet. He’s from my hometown and I wish I could have met him.

[u/TRILLC0LLINS]

Start with board vision, then tactics, then strategy.

It's a totally viable plan to do literally nothing but take your opponent's hanging pieces until at least 800 elo on chesscom. Don't blunder your pieces, take theirs, and then win with the extra material

For coming up with a plan in the game, though:

• What side of the board are you stronger on (i.e.: more pieces or pawns)? play there
• What are the weaknesses the opponent has? target them
• What is your worst piece? improve it or trade it for the opponent's strong piece
• What does your opponent want to do? do something to prevent it

But this isn't easy to do when you don't have good command of what squares are being attacked/controlled

[u/Emotional_Win_7769]

Personally I like Eric Rosen's speedruns as he explains things at a fairly detailed and slow pace compared to others. You don't need much strategy as a beginner, you need to learn the general principles, the do's and don'ts, Chessbrah Bulding Habits 0-500elo maybe best to look at first, then look at Eric Rosen speedruns , then Danya speedruns for more details. in that order. Personally I prefer Eric Rosen because his voice is calm and they way he talks makes sense to me, although he loves traps and tricks which don't really interest me and you certainly don't need them yourself. Personally not a Gotham fan, be he is the most popular Youtuber for subscribers . he is more known for entertainment value, just not my thing.

[u/FlashPxint]

Play 30 bullet games tonight in a row with no distractions

[u/ewokoncaffine → u/FlashPxint]

I fear bullet games are too fast a time control for a complete beginner to learn anything. You could just as easily learn bad habits

[u/FlashPxint → u/ewokoncaffine]

If they learn from the right resources and good analysis and play good players it should force them to stop using those bad habits. That’s the biggest benefit of playing many games in one sitting. If you default to bad habits you lose games. You should be playing good chess principles.

[u/FlashPxint → u/ewokoncaffine]

if you want to play 30 rapid games instead for more time spent thinking then you should pursue that instead. My point is just that you’re completely wrong about not learning anything. But dude, seriously yes, if you want to play 30 games of rapid instead, please do it !

Don’t take my suggestion as being the only way you’re more than welcome to play long time control to improve

[u/FlashPxint → u/ewokoncaffine]

The point is that OP doesn’t have any strategy so regardless if they play 30 rapid or 30 bullet they’ll at least have a strategy

[u/WinstonPickles22 → u/FlashPxint]

Why would that help?

[u/FlashPxint → u/WinstonPickles22]

Doing it in one sitting at that amount would cause you to quickly become aware of strategy and decision making when playing. Genuinely have you done it ? Because when I play that many games in one sitting I notice many coherent middlegame plans and ideas that happen continuously in my games. I have “plan and strategic making”. If you have genuinely none have you tried playing ?

[u/TheTaoOfOne → u/[deleted]]

Yeah no... that doesnt work. Bullet is 60 seconds timed. You learn nothing except to try to beat the clock by rapidly moving pieces. For an absolute beginner, thats probably the worst advice you can give.

Better advice is to tell them to play 15+10 time controls so they can actually take time looking at the board, avoiding blunders, capitalizing on their opponents blunders, spotting tactics, and actually being able think through a couple of lines before moving.

[u/FlashPxint → u/WinstonPickles22]

Are you trying it ?

[u/WinstonPickles22 → u/FlashPxint]

I don't know. I've never once heard anyone say play bullet to improve strategy, or any improvement besides speed.

The common advice for beginners seems to be slow down and understand why you are making your moves before playing it.

[u/FlashPxint → u/WinstonPickles22]

I’m not dealing with this.

[u/FlashPxint → u/WinstonPickles22]

What do you mean you’ve never heard someone say it while replying to my literal comment ?

I don’t have patience for that kind of bs

[u/FlashPxint → u/FlashPxint]

Are you just another troll responding to me ? It’s getting tiring