How do I get really good at chess?

How can I get really good at playing chess?

• I just joined the chess club in college and I want to know how I can get better at playing chess. I have a tournament coming up later this month and I want to be a contender to win it. Are there strategies that can give me an edge? Do you think that every move your opponent makes has a counter move that you can make against them in the opening sequence? How good are you at playing chess and what do you recommend for a beginner like me to do to work on my game? BTW, I know that winning the tournament may be wishful thinking, but if I didn't have this goal, I wouldn't have anything to work towards.

• Answer:

  I don't know how much of a beginner you are. For a total beginner, work on things in this order: 1) Basic checkmates. At the very least, you need to know how to checkmate with queen and king vs king, and rook and king vs king. You'll also need to recognize patterns like the back-rank checkmate. Nothing else is going to matter if you can't win a won game - at the very lowest levels of chess, the games can end in draws because one side can't figure out how to use an overwhelming advantage to actually win. The more checkmates and endgame positions you learn, the better. 2) Learn to watch the board enough to not drop pieces. If you give away a rook for free you really don't have a chance of winning unless your opponent does the same. After your opponent moves, make sure he's not threatening anything. And before you move, make sure the move you are about to play doesn't leave something hanging. 3) Basic tactics. Forks, pins, etc. Only beginners will let you have material for free, so you need to learn how to pry it from them. 4) Basic opening principles. Develop your pieces, castle, control the center. Try not to move the same piece twice in the opening without a good reason. Don't put your queen out too early where your opponent will be able to gain time attacking it. (I would not bother memorizing long opening lines until you are more advanced... your opponent will probably not cooperate and play what you are expecting anyway.) After that, increasingly advanced versions of 1-4. Also, try to look at your games and see where you make your mistakes. In fact, after each game, ask your opponent to go through your game and discuss what each player was thinking and what mistakes were made. Once you find out what caused you to lose, try to figure out how to improve that area of your game. "Do you think that every move your opponent makes has a counter move that you can make against them in the opening sequence?" - No, not EVERY move. If your opponent took your queen on move 4 it's pretty hard to counter that. But in the opening there is usually some sort of counter.