Learn
There are so many different ways to learn and study chess:
- Playing chess socially with friends and family.
- Playing competitive chess.
- Attending a chess club.
- Chess coaching.
- Reading chess books and magazines.
- Watching chess videos and live chess streams.
- Interactive self-learning websites.
Social chess
Most people learn chess through parents/guardians, friends, at school, or these days via an online chess platform like lichess.org and chess.com. There are also dedicated chess sites for children like chesskid.com. Although chess is not social whilst players are playing competitively, chess can be extremely social before and after the games begin and end, and chess clubs and tournaments are a great way to meet a wide range of people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Chess clubs
Once you’ve picked up the basics and you’ve played a few social games, and most importantly you’re enjoying chess, you’re probably ready to join a chess club. Children are capable of learning chess from a very young age and much faster than you might think, so there’s not usually any need to further delay visiting a club for the first time. There have been, and still are, many child chess prodigies, including the likes of Judit Polgar and Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen, the current world no.1 ranked player, started learning chess at the age of 5. Polgar started playing in tournaments aged 6. Check our Chess Clubs page for further information about clubs in your area and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Competitive chess
No matter how much practice and training you do, there’s no better way to learn chess than by playing in competitions. During events, if there’s time, it’s usually a good idea to analyse your game once it’s ended with your opponent. Both individual and team competitions exist for all ages and abilities. Former chess legend, Viktor Korchnoi, was still in the top 100 players in the world at the ripe old age of 75, so chess is, without doubt, a game for life!
Chess coaching
If you’re super-keen and hooked on chess, you might want to consider getting some individual or group coaching. Today, it’s possible to receive coaching online as well as in person. See our Coaching page for further information.
Watching chess
Unlike some other sports like football and cricket, chess hasn’t always been the most riveting game to watch. However, with the invention of digital chess boards, which allow moves to be transmitted from live chess events over the internet to your screen at home, makes watching chess very entertaining. Today, there are many professional chess commentators and streamers, who either work for known chess websites, like chess24.com, or stream/record themselves for channels on sites like YouTube and Twitch.
Self-learning: books, magazines, videos, articles, courses, …
We are spoilt today with chess resources, so the difficulty isn’t really finding learning material, it is more a case of being able to filter through it all and finding the most valuable material for you. See our Self-learning page for more information.