One of the best Chess YouTube Channels, ChessBrah, run by two Chess Grandmasters which are also amongst the best Canadian Chess players, Aman Hambleton and Eric Hansen, has a playlist called Building Habits. This playlist is perfect for beginners to go through. Below is a list of the Chess habits they recommend you build that will give you a strong foundation for playing Chess.
Chess Habits Overview
0-700 ELO Habits
- No Pre-Moves
- No Tactics
- No Gambits
- No Sacrifices
- Know how all the pieces move
- Control and move towards the center
- Castle as soon as possible
- Don’t hang free pieces – Take free pieces
- Activate King in the endgame – Attack pawns
- Capture pieces of equal or greater value whenever possible (avoid Q for 2R trade for now)
- Remember, pawns do not count as pieces
- Always attack a Bishop or Knight on g4/g5/b4/b5 with the a or h pawn immediately
- Make an escape square for the King once finished development
- Spend just as much time on moves as your opponent (or less) – Use your time to think, but don’t get low on time.
- Spend a lot of time at the beginning to follow all the rules
700-1100 ELO Habits
- No gambits
- No Sacrifices
- Premoves < 10 seconds
- Always Play Until Checkmate
- Know the basic tactics (forks, pins, skewers, discoveries)
- Capture towards the center with pawns
- Control and move toward the center
- Castle early (but not asap)
- Continue taking most available trades
- Develop your pieces to more aggressive squares
- Make an escape square for the King once finished development
- Rooks belong behind passed pawns
- Know all the basic checkmates (Queen, Rook, Queen + Rook, Rook + Rook)
- Expand in the center early with pawns in order to gain space
1100-1550 ELO Habits
- No Gambits
- No Sacrifices
- Never resign
- Know Basic and Advanced Tactics
- Learn basic openings and their responses
- Learn to play active chess, not reactive
- Control and move toward the center
- 3 pieces > Queen, 2 Rooks > Queen, 2 pieces > Rook
- Castle early (but not asap)
- Don’t blunder any pieces and take free pieces
- Make an escape square for the King
- Know basic pawn endgames, opposition, and Rook endgames
- Rooks belong behind passed pawns
- Premove all moves when under 2 seconds
- Expand in the center early with pawns in order to gain space
1550-2000+ ELO Habits
- Gambits ok
- Sacrifices ok
- Never resign
- Know Basic and Advanced Tactics
- Master e4 – e5 opening theory
- Know all checkmate patterns
- Learn new openings besides 4 knights
- Know opposition, pawn, and Rook endgames
- Know Lucena, Philidor, and Knight vs Bishop endgames
- Don’t blunder any pieces and take free pieces
- Master previous habits
- Know where the Rooks belong
- Avoid trades when down material and trade when up
- Look for key squares and outposts
- Understand pawn structures and spot weak pawns
0-500 ELO Habits
500-700 ELO Habits
700-900 ELO Habits
900-1100 ELO Habits
1100-1300 ELO Habits
1300-1400 ELO Habits
1400-1550 ELO Habits
1550-1900 ELO Habits
This list of Chess habits is extremely helpful for beginners to learn how to get better at Chess. Go through the tutorials and you’ll improve much faster than you would otherwise.
