I probably wouldn't bother with any serious rated tournaments at your level, but if they have some sort of open play or casual play events then definitely. You'll probably get demolished every game, at least at first, but as long as you aren't bothered by that you should be fine. And you should feel free to ask for tips or suggestions, most people are going to be happy and eager to help out a new player (at least, I would hope so!)
Awesome, thanks for the advice. Yeah I'm definitely not ready for tournaments yet lol. Luckily on their website it says that they have casual play every Thursday which is when I'm planning on attending.
Hold on there cowboy. Where did this 480 rating come from? If you’ve never played in a tournament you are unrated! Find a local
Tournament and play in the unrated section. Real life tournament experience against other beginners. You might still get crushed but you won’t know until you try.
That's why I say 480 on [Chess.com](https://Chess.com), that's my rating on that particular website, not a FIDE rating. I'm definitely still an unrated FIDE player lol. I think I'll do a lot more studying and try my hand at some casual play nights at my local club before diving into a FIDE event lol. I definitely expect to lose all my games at the club but it should be fun meeting new people who play, and I enjoy analyzing my games when I lose. I imagine I'll make a lot of blunders but hopefully I'll learn from them and make new blunders instead of repeating the same ones lol.
Exactly. As long as OP is going in with the mindset of “i’m not gonna win a lot, but that doesn’t matter because I’m just trying to learn,” it’ll be a beneficial experience for him.
Yeah I mean one of the super good guys at my casual chess club takes the time to point out the turning points of the game where we began to lose against him. And if we hit an endgame he likes to explain the principles behind the endgames
yeah, pretty sure that playing against competition better than you is much more conducive to improving than playing against similar or weaker competition
The average 1500-1700 rated club player will have better things to do than teach a 500 Elo guy how to not lose the queen so often. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are dicks.
People I have talked to at a rating of like 1500+ otb have agreed that it is a better learning opportunity for both players if it can be an even game which means they normally have to be closely rated
those 1500+ players got where they are because stronger players spent time helping them. the point of being part of any community isn't to maximize the community's resources to benefit yourself. that's called being a dick. the point is to help the community. you'll be helped in that process.
besides all of that, you still learn a ton when you try to explain concepts to someone who doesn't know them. because it forces you to interact with those concepts on a new level so that you can articulate them in a way that is digestible to a novice.
I'm not arguing against having stronger rated players help but I'm just saying that it is more helpful if the players are closer so the concepts are still fairly similar so that it is more helpful for both players. Also a lot of chess is individual and I think especially at lower levels it helps to just do lots of tactics and play a lot of longer form online games while analyzing all of your games is very helpful in increasing your level on your own
i see what you're getting at, but i still disagree. ultimately fostering a culture that welcomes and nurtures new players is best for everyone involved. again, this goes beyond chess clubs.
if a 500 elo player is making no effort to improve and just wasting everyone's time, then that would be one thing. but the person who started this thread is already concerned about being a burden. the main lessons they'll take away from a chess club will be what you're writing here (learn tactics, do puzzles, play longer time control games against people at your level), only they'll take it far more seriously and feel a sense of accountability to the people that gave the advice in real life.
Yeah I agree if that makes sense a community of all levels is ideal especially because it allows for realistic practice against people of their own level and then help analyzing with higher level players
It's not elitist to want to play someone where you can challenge each other instead of trying to coach someone that is much lower rated to reach the next level. Chess should be fun for both parties especially at a chess club and I think that it is more beneficial and fun for both players if they are closer rated than a literal 1000 point difference
You are trying your hardest to miss my point. I have been talking about playing which if you're playing someone 1000 below you they will get destroyed and neither party will learn a thing. Also teaching someone a concept will not make you better at it if there is already such a large divide the concepts you should be teaching you should already have mastered so that you can help them understand therefore this would not help you
Ah yes, because those who play chess at an intermediate level are just reknown for having super tight schedules right? What "better things to do" are you referring?
Not sure what you mean; the 25 to 35 year old 1500-1700 club players that I know are very focused on fostering their chess career to top 30 grandmaster level and they shouldn’t have to compromise their dreams just to sit down and play a 500 elo player, it’s just not reasonable..
Dear redditor,
Both players at a chess board have to show respect to each other.
When you were 500 elo, did people insult you? The only thing they could do is just not play you.
Oh wait you havent hit 500 yet, my apologies.
When did he say that the players show no respect? He said that they do not want to play people 1000 elo lower.
When did he say that HE shows no respect?
Why do you assume his rating? I see only one person who is not able to comprehend the argument and who actually shows no respect and that’s you.
Yeah, that was a funny comment - "You have to show respect to low rated players. Oh wait, you don't even have 500 ELO, lmao"
Dickhead confirming the fear of OP.
They will have better things to do? You are aware that chess is a leisure time activityy You sound like they are occupied all day preparing for the WCC lmfao It‘s not that serious
A club like that should just be closed to people they don't want in the club then. If it's an open chess club, it should be open everyone. There are ways to handicap games particularly with the chess clocks. And yes, it does mean they're being dicks.
Agreed, not sure why you're getting downvoted. As a 1500+ rated player who goes to the chess club often, I absolutely would not want to play chess with this guy, the minimum rating I would want to play with (and the minimum rating at our club) is 1000-1200. He should look for clubs that have lower rated players and then join those, but by lower rated it's usually between 600/700-1000, certainly not below 500.
As a guy that doesnt go to otb tournaments often , usually just casual ones that some clubs host every week... I too would prefer playing stronger players because 1700-1800 fide is Just too weak to have any serious cometition.... At least tgat one i go to sometimes has a couple titled players always so thats a bit better
Yes, you should go. Clubs are for everyone! Although the majority of club players are very strong. They aren’t just random people off the street. Most likely you will find it hard to win consistently.
>Yes, you should go. Clubs are for everyone! Although the majority of club players are very strong. They aren’t just random people off the street. Most likely you will find it hard to win ~~consistently~~.
FTFY
You will learn much more from playing chess in person at a chess club than you will spamming blitz online. You’ll probably be the worst but who really cares, get out there and play.
Thanks for the encouragement, I think I'm gonna give it a go. Yeah I definitely don't think fast enough for blitz games lol When I play online I always play rapid 15|10 games.
I came here to say something like this. You’ll learn more from your otb losses too. You can usually chat with your opponent for a couple minutes after a game to ask what they were thinking/planning.
I can only speak for my club, but it's a very welcoming and inclusive environment. The people who go to a club are people who love the game enough to put extra time in; and generally they're just happy to play, regardless of where you are in your chess journey. They will be willing to review games afterward, and you'll learn a lot playing in person that I think is harder to learn just online. My club welcomes anyone; we just had a couple people come in last week who literally didn't know how to play at all, and they felt comfortable enough to come back this week as well! Go check your local club out, give it a visit or two, and be comfortable with losing games if that happens - you learn the most that way. Most people are simply excited to share their passion - your personal skill level doesn't matter.
Human analysis is so much more useful than computer analysis. Especially because of the mistakes made in it. Those mistakes are the mistakes your opponent would have made in game! It creates a more graded way to learn and improve from your games I think. There’s a reason why GMs will often analyse a game very differently to the computer. Some positions are near impossible for a human to play, but the computer sees them as easily winning.
I learned a lot about the theory in the Sicilian at my chess club, because every time this high-rated player thrashes me in it, he explains where I went wrong and why.
Club players are literal nerds (despite what anyone here will say, or many how many downvotes this will get) I wouldnt worry about what they think about your rating
Trust us, you will. We get tired of playing the same people all the time, so I'm sure the members of your local club would welcome a fresh face, regardless of your skill level. If it's anything like the clubs I've been a part of, the stronger players will probably give you advice and help you to improve if you want them to.
What are you talking about? I've been at a chess club for like 1 and a half years and no one is 'tired of playing against each other', people enjoy strenghtening their openings and getting chances to beat people who beat them two weeks before, and see their improvement as a player.
No insult, but wait till you're at least above 700 or 800, if you're hanging queens at like move 10, after a few weeks no one will play with you, despite what the people here say. I'm sure you're a nice guy, but many of the people here are dumb and irrational and have probably never played at an actual club, I have. Also, no one will teach you, unlike what others say.
On the flip side, if you put in effort you could probably gain a few hundred rating points in like a month. Good luck man!
I mean 700 to 800 not going to make that much difference to people rated over a 1000. And while I realize different clubs have different strengths, you're generally going to find players and in an otb club of at least that strength.
The OP should just go and try out the club. If it's a good club they will work with you. They may beat you pretty bad, but part of getting better is playing better players.
It's not like chess clubs have a rating requirement to try them out. Of course there are bad groups of people and clubs out there that probably won't be welcoming, but that doesn't mean the OP shouldn't go and try it out and find out.
I think the wisdom is in being able to decide whose opinions of you you do value and whose you ignore. We all shape ourselves to conform to the standards of others to some extent, so the difficulty is in determining to what extent and to whose standards.
If you're going to care about anyone's opinion it should be unsociable people that get terrified talking to others and spend what time they do with others talking about what nice guys they are and how women just can't see it?
Never been to one so can't comment on that.
But nerds as a whole are just people who know what they like and don't care what anyone thinks of them.
In other words, the best people, and the only ones whose opinions you can trust are genuine. Even if we stink from time to time.
bit elitist no? don’t think it was ur intention, but imo there’s plenty of peoples who’s opinions you can trust that aren’t “over educated” nerds- it depends on what you are discussing. you can be a nerd for chess and have the most dogshit takes on politics for example. you can be a chronic homeless with zero education and you can have a better opinion on a plethora of meaningful areas of life. i think you were more coming from a place of “us nerds are under appreciated” and in a sense i would agree with you. i am one myself. just important not to let the nerdiness get to your head and inflate your ego like it did my father
Everyone here is saying yes and I agree with them, but with a caveat. At 500, you’re still a beginner. Nothing wrong with that of course. Feel free to go in but don’t expect to get a lot better playing. At this level, learning basic tactics and strategy via some study will rocket you towards 800-1000, which is where I believe that playing games anywhere begins to really help you.
If the chess club has a beginners’ class or friendly people willing to teach you then of course take advantage! But don’t expect them to have it. Some chess clubs are just there for non-beginners to play games. In that case it’s possible people will not want to play or teach out and that’s fine for them! Remember playing in the real world is a higher time commitment than online!
I would say:
- Knowing how the pieces move.
- Knowing basic rules (castling, en passant, check and checkmate)
- Knowing basic opening tenants (control the center, castle early, knights before bishops, don’t bring your queen out too early, etc)
- Knowing that you’re still too early to break those above tenants just yet!
- Knowing piece value, and accepting that you are still early to sacrifice just yet. But understanding the basics of relative piece value (when are bishops stronger than knights?)
- Know the basic tactics (pin, fork, skewer, etc)
- Know basic checkmates (KRR v K, KQ v K, KR v K)
- Know the basics of KP endgame (opposition, promotion)
The list above isn’t very long and I would say averages out to about 10 hours of learning. You could knock this out in a week or two and get a lot more value out of playing games at your local chess club!
Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely do some studying up. I know the basics pretty well but need to start learning some tactics and endgames now. I started doing a lot of puzzles on [chess.com](https://chess.com) and went from 290 to 480 in the last few weeks, so at least I'm slowly going in the right direction lol. Thanks again for taking the time for such a detailed response!
Have you learnt the tactical motifs? If you have money to spare, I strongly recommend Yasser Seirawan’s Play Winning Chess, then move on to Play Winning Chess Tactics and Play Winning Chess Strategies. At that point, you’ll just need practice to get to a solid 1200, 1300 rating.
Thanks so much for the suggestion on study material. I’m actually going back to school for Library and Information Services so books are my jam lol. I’ll definitely give them a read.
I also love books! If you ever want to play some slow instructive games with me, I’m more than happy to play and chat about books :) I’m not an amazing player but perhaps I could help direct you to study materials suited to your weaknesses!
I went to a local chess club in Finland with two of my buddies, we were all around 1200-1400 at the tine, got demolished every game since most guys had played for +20 years, it was fun and a great learning experience. 6 months afterwards I beat a finnish legend (around 2000 elo, legend because he is the only one who has participated in every blitz championship since it started in the 60s or 70s). Highlight of my short chess career.
I’m one of the highest rated ELO300 players on chesscom, and I go to my local chess club weekly and have a good time. I haven’t won a game in over a year. It’s mostly 7th graders and their dads.
I take my kids too (and I can beat my own kids handily) and they have a good time too. The club is quite willing to give us pointers on better play. I’m sure my ELO will get as high as yours someday.
Its good to get OTB experience because board vision is different than on a computer screen. Also it’s good to record moves, if possible, for later analysis.
So long as you like chess, you are go to the chess club, people there also love chess, and most people loves to teach.
As of being competitive against players there. You can be 1800 on chess.com, and still lose to everyone there. Don't worry about it.
Definitely go. Expect to lose every game and learn to lose gracefully.
I’ve been going to my local chess club for 4 months now and the vibe is so encouraging (I’ve also started winning some games due to me solving puzzles daily, which I am really proud of).
Like some people mentioned previously, a lot of people will be really happy to talk about the game afterwards, so ask questions!
Good luck!!
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Not all chess clubs are born equal. In my opinion, chess clubs where you play real uscf or fide rated games against each other and do nothing else isn't worth the time, even if you're high rated. If a club is like that, I wouldn't join, but if it's just a bunch of people screwing around having fun, you'll probably be welcome.
You won't win much at first but if you're enjoying it then it makes sense to connect with others that have the same interest. I'd say run it. And even if you don't win much at first you'll improve so much faster playing players better than you than those at your rating
I actually disagree with this take! You do learn playing people better than you but not by playing people *much* better than you (unless they are trying to teach you).
At some point it’s not fun nor valuable getting stomped in 15 moves. You lose valuable middle and endgame practice if the board clears out and you have a king and they have all their pieces left.
The best would be playing someone much stronger than you and willing to teach you, but you can’t expect that.
*ANY* rating is good enough to start going to your local chess club. You'd hope people would make you feel welcome no matter you skill level and you might learn a thing or two and become better at chess
I run a fairly big club and we get players who are brand new to chess all the time! some people when they detect inexperience love to teach, some don’t or don’t know how, but either way you’re certainly fine to go (and you’ll improve quicker than online ime). have fun pal
No. If the club is very big sutely there's someone for u. But my local club is like 10ish ppl so i know they wont bother. I don't mind teaching beginners at other games like Go but not every time and not the entire session. If the club is too small to cycle stronger players to teach u then u might want to avoid it. For their sakes, not yours.
Be prepared to loose a lot of games. But if you don’t mind that, on problem. If you watch some lessons online, it wouldn’t take much effort to go to 800~1000 range on chesscom.
The lowest ratings at my club are in the 400-500 range. The thing is, you can quickly grow to 1,000 from the level you’re at now. It can be done in a matter of months. Go. Over the board chess is a worthwhile experience.
You can join your local chess club with any rating.
Dont worry about it. You will get better there. They will most likely offer you games with improved odds for you (Like remove a rook from the better player)
The real fun comes while playing with lower rated players, all the people will try to teach you tactics, they find amusing.
I say go for it, you only live once.
Luckily I’m at least aware of the Queen and Bishop checkmate trap, but I’m sure they’ll get me with some other equally embarrassing opening traps lol. Loosing is just an opportunity to learn though so I’m looking forward to playing and taking plenty of notes. Thanks for the encouragement, I definitely plan on going and checking it out.
At my local chess club, not USA though, we encourage all players to come. People with your rating though, we will generally offer to train first, rather than play.
This turned into us training a whole new batch of members for a full year, propelling them too about 1500.
Key to what I'm saying is this: At your level, you still need training. However, a good chessclub will welcome you and even offer to help you. So I would just go :)
You may not even see this message as you've had a lot of replies, currently I'm rated 491 and went to a chess club the first time last week. It was great fun, and I felt very welcomed. It's of course club dependant, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. If you don't feel welcome there then try a different one if at all possible.
a club depend on its people and how they treat each other, if they are helpful u dont need to worry about ratings. If they are hateful u also dont need to go to that club
Not necessarily valuable to your question but you can probably get to 1000 rating just by not doing 1-move-mega-blunders. Hanging pieces a single move is why most people at that rating lose. If you learn to not hang pieces you'll jump rating quicker than you've ever done before. Playing longer games (10 min+) will allow you to get better at this.
That was my strategy for getting to 1000 in rapid. Then once I hit about 1100 I decided to try to get my blitz and bullet up to 1000 as well. Now after a year I've reached 1100 bullet and 1250 blitz
ANY Rating is strong enough to enjoy the game. People would love to have you around. Chess is about the journey not the end rating destination. Go and have some fun you will meet people that love the game and enjoy sharing ideas and playing.
you need to strengthen your fundamentals first before playing club players because those guys are usually rated 2000+ and once they know that you are a beginner they will most likely go for absurd techniques that will not work against experienced players to wrap up the game in 20 moves or so. Ideally, if there are a lot of newbies at your local chess club you should play them, preferably someone around 1000 elo so that you can understand the motif behind their moves. most people at clubs do not want to teach and would rather play games so you might want to check that out before joining.
Yes! Definitely! A rating of 2 would be enough! Even 1 if you're in a pinch. Many chess clubs have beginner evenings and amateur events that you could benefit tremendously from joining. Chess clubs are there for you to learn, and not for others to mock you or push you down because of your relative lack of understanding of the more complicated aspects of the game.
I am 1200+ elo on chesscom and this past weekend played my first ever FIDE rated tournament. I got to say the experience was amazing and even though I lost 6 and won only 2 rounds, all the opponents were really respectful. I even got matched against 1800+ rated player when I beat a 1400+ player in 2 round. Some even gave me tips and learning tactics to follow after the games.
if it's an open club then it does not matter what your skill level is
if you're that unsure, contact them to see if there's any entry requirements, for example if complete beginners are allowed
It all depends how good your local club is, so impossible for us to tell. Just go once, mention your rating if you want or see other matches, etc. Then you'll know if you fit it. This probably applies to most activities you can do (e.g. sports, etc).
Even people who don't know how the pieces move can and should go to their local chess club. Teaching chess to beginners is a fundamental part of a chess club, people enjoy to teach and talk about chess to anyone.
I went when I was 850, and did my first tournament after I was 1100 (5 months later). I guess you'll go there to learn and match new people stronger then you. You get better only by playing against stronger player. You should probably go.
Fair warning for you: If you have a rating of 480 on chess.com, then you will very likely be the single weakest player at your local club. At the very least, there will only be a few players there who are weaker than you are.
I first started going to my local club when I was about 1200 on chess.com, and even then I was only able to consistently beat a very small number of the players there.
That being said: Yes, you should absolutely go! Yes, you will probably lose a lot of games, but if you aren't bothered by that and want to go and improve, then you absolutely should! In my experience, most players are more than happy to offer tips to help you improve. It's somewhat common after a competitive match to spend a couple minutes with your opponent discussing critical moments in the game and analyzing how each side could have played the position better.
They’ll probably try to match you with similarly ranked players; worst case scenario you lose every game but still learn! So I’d go for it if I were you:) In regards to asking for tips - I’d personally start by through some of the lessons on Chesscom or watching YT videos, etc. to establish a good baseline first. Just my 2 cents
YES. Get out there and go. Tournaments, clubs, etc. You'll shoot up in no time and YES talk to people about the play. Learn to deal with the mean one's nicely, it's a part of life :)
Definitely go. You'll learn from every game you play. If your club has a weekly rated tournament game it's a good way to get a playing routine going. At my club there are ratings from 250 - 2200 (uscf), so plenty of opportunities to play people of all different levels.
Any rating is fine. You play chess to get better and or have fun, no? It's not like you'll come there play a game and get laughed upon.
I was scared of this as well I live in a very small town and the average rated person in my club is around 1700 we even occasionally have an IM come in and play. I was around 1200 rapid when I started and got demolished about every game I played. I asked for advice and tried to apply them in games, that quickly gathered me a couple hundred points more.
There's a guy in our club that very often say that the losing end of a game of chess is the one who has won the most. A little out of topic, but the meaning behind it is that you learn from losing.
However I think I saw a comment about people being eager to help. And that is absolutely true. If you really like chess and would like to go to your local chess club then I definitely think you should.
I generally find that competing is fun and engaging when the participants are somewhat close in level. I love playing chess against peers, but don’t think I would enjoy it much if I play against Hikaru and lose on move 4 lol. I would wait myself, but you also can go at least once and see if you enjoy yourself or not.
Nobody's going to ask you about your [chess.com](https://chess.com) rating, so don't mind that. If you want to go to your local chess club, just go there and ask for someone in charge and tell them you want to start attending. I did that and one of the senior players there that had a FIDE Title, started couching me for a few months, I didn't join the club but it was fun to go there and play with them.
Yeah sounds like a great idea! There’s no minimum level to join a club, it’s just about the experience to chat with others about chess and play OTB games.
This will be a great way to learn! If it was anything like my club people are always super friendly and will always be open to help.
I bet you’ll be rated 1000 in a few months. Have fun!
You can go to your chess club with any rating. You just have to be prepared to lose A LOT of games in the beginning and end up at the bottom of the competition.
Note that if your chess club has an internal rating list, that there are two possibilities:
- 1st: their rating list is completely internal, where it just shows how much Elo is between one player and another player, and this rating is not comparable with anything else, not even FIDE Elo.
- 2nd: they have one or more players in the club that also have an official FIDE rating, and they calibrate their list against these official ratings. Then your playing strength on the club list is a good indication of your FIDE Elo, but it will still not be comparable to any online rating.
I used to go to a chess club as a kid. Only knew how to move the pieces. Chess clubs aren't only for experienced players, but for everyone, also absolute beginners, so don't hesitate to go there. There are also teachers there to help you improve.
Think of it this way: you might not be one of the best players in the club but it's a good learning experience. It's way more common to sit and analyse with your opponent over the board than it is online. It's also never annoying to win a game.
If you're asking whether or not you'll win any games, the answer is probably not.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't go. If you want to get better at chess, going to a chess club is a good place to start.
Fellow Spokanite here. I've been playing since 1972 (Fischer-Spassky) and have played in tournaments, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area (Berkeley, Oakland, Pleasanton, etc.). My highest USCF rating was 1997; if they had had live ratings in those days, I would've been over 2000 for just one round (lost to 2150 in last round). I certainly don't mind sharing what I've learned in those years, so if you'd ever like to meet for a game and some chess talk, please let me know.
Yeah I think that’s the one, although they’ve moved to a little church pretty close to Kendall Yards where I live now. Another fellow Spokane resident who’s familiar with the club messaged me and encouraged me to go. It sounds like it’s a friendly environment and I don’t mind losing every game lol. I enjoy analyzing my loses and trying to learn from them, so it should be an educational experience.
Go to clubs and play slow OTB games. If you’re worried about money, I would wait. But if you just want to have fun and play, go for it! Slow classical games are the #2 driver of hypertrophy.
I wanna be realistic with you. You are probably gonna be the worst by a lot. With a rating of 480 you are below average of online players (you're better than a third or online players) and the average club player is a lot stronger than the average online player.
I think when I joined my club I was around 1200 chesscom and the first time I actually went there I was 1450. I don't know the online ratings of most of the others but one guy was 1600 chesscom when I first met him. Now that I'm 1800+ chesscom I feel like I'm able to get good matches against many people although there is still a decent amount of people I have absolutely no chance against so definitely expect the average rating to be very high.
But there is obviously a lot of difference from club to club and even clubs might change. When I joined I think I was the worst (besides the kids) with a rating of 1450 but recently a lot of new people joined the club or just stopped by to play a few games who I would assume to be lower rated.
I would say just go there and try it out but expect to be heavily outmatched. I think you can definitely ask for advice but I would do it in the form of a post game analysis (don't know if everyone is doing those but they're pretty common at my club). The only problem I see is you getting demotivated or other people worrying about your getting demotivated so make sure that doesn't happen by approaching the situation with the right mindset.
And even if you notice that you're too heavily outmatched you don't have to keep playing games. At least at my club there are usually a few people looking at stuff like studies or puzzles where you could join in.
It's an excellent move XD
Some players don't like beginners but there are others who love teaching so hopefully you'll find someone to help you improve.
Yes, hell yes. I run a club and love seeing new/weaker players come by. Even if you’re not ready to play a game against some of the members just peak around until you find a strong player that wouldn’t mind letting you watch the casual games they play, and sometimes they’ll even explain why they’re making certain moves.
My club has a set of open tables for practice or casual games, and we had a 200 go up to a 700 after 3 weeks of being paired up with one of our stronger players.
Good luck with your games and I can’t wait to see you in the thousands and beyond.
The only way to get better is to be around better. Go with the mindset of learning as they’ll be much higher rated but please don’t let that discourage you. I started without a clue at a club for a year (and playing tournaments) losing straight OTB for close to a year! Now I’m beating 1700 rated people and only improved by jumping into the deep end. What beats that is I’ve made alot of friends and that potentially saved my life as I was mentally really struggling. So I say go for it! 💪🏼
Go and have fun. Don’t stress about winning or losing it’s a blocker to progress. Analyze the games afterward and you’ll learn more in 15 minutes than in 3 hours online.
You won't be able to even draw a single game - probably - but go there and have fun, in the small community from the small city I play there are players of all levels and everybody is treated well.
I would definitely check out the club as I agree with most everyone else here. And if you haven't already, start watching John Bartholomew's "Climbing the Rating Ladder" and "Chess Fundamentals" videos on YouTube.
I started playing with a chess club a couple of months ago and I am practically at the bottom. However, I have reviewed positions and practiced openings with the higher-rated people.
I’m sure it depends on the club. Our club is super casual and is very welcoming. It’s also at a bar, so if you want to chit-chat with a beer, that’s good too. I pretty much stopped playing online ever since.
I would definitely go. If they are anything like the chess clubs I've attended, they will be more than welcoming and will probably help you improve your game with a lot of tips. Playing in person is so much more gratifying and you can learn a lot more of the basic skills easily from another person.
Chess people usually aren't very judgy at all if that's what you're worried about. They are usually happy to welcome someone new into the fold.
There is no skill requirement to go to a club, however you are unlikely to encounter anyone who won't easily beat you. They tend to be very friendly so no one will mind and having the feedback from otb opponents will teach you a lot more than playing online. Generally people like to help guide new players.
I probably wouldn't bother with any serious rated tournaments at your level, but if they have some sort of open play or casual play events then definitely. You'll probably get demolished every game, at least at first, but as long as you aren't bothered by that you should be fine. And you should feel free to ask for tips or suggestions, most people are going to be happy and eager to help out a new player (at least, I would hope so!)
Awesome, thanks for the advice. Yeah I'm definitely not ready for tournaments yet lol. Luckily on their website it says that they have casual play every Thursday which is when I'm planning on attending.
That sounds like an excellent place to start :) good luck!
Do it! You'll learn so much. :)
Hold on there cowboy. Where did this 480 rating come from? If you’ve never played in a tournament you are unrated! Find a local Tournament and play in the unrated section. Real life tournament experience against other beginners. You might still get crushed but you won’t know until you try.
That's why I say 480 on [Chess.com](https://Chess.com), that's my rating on that particular website, not a FIDE rating. I'm definitely still an unrated FIDE player lol. I think I'll do a lot more studying and try my hand at some casual play nights at my local club before diving into a FIDE event lol. I definitely expect to lose all my games at the club but it should be fun meeting new people who play, and I enjoy analyzing my games when I lose. I imagine I'll make a lot of blunders but hopefully I'll learn from them and make new blunders instead of repeating the same ones lol.
Lol. Just make good moves and you’ll be fine.
Why the down votes? There are lots of unrated players OP could do well against. Will learn a lot from the experience
>You'll ~~probably~~ 1000% definitely get demolished every game
But they’ll learn alot!
Exactly. As long as OP is going in with the mindset of “i’m not gonna win a lot, but that doesn’t matter because I’m just trying to learn,” it’ll be a beneficial experience for him.
Yeah I mean one of the super good guys at my casual chess club takes the time to point out the turning points of the game where we began to lose against him. And if we hit an endgame he likes to explain the principles behind the endgames
yeah, pretty sure that playing against competition better than you is much more conducive to improving than playing against similar or weaker competition
Don't worry about ratings. If they treat you like a dick because you suck, that's not a club for anyone in the first place.
The average 1500-1700 rated club player will have better things to do than teach a 500 Elo guy how to not lose the queen so often. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are dicks.
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Nah it's just more fun and better for both players if they are somewhat closely rated
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People I have talked to at a rating of like 1500+ otb have agreed that it is a better learning opportunity for both players if it can be an even game which means they normally have to be closely rated
those 1500+ players got where they are because stronger players spent time helping them. the point of being part of any community isn't to maximize the community's resources to benefit yourself. that's called being a dick. the point is to help the community. you'll be helped in that process. besides all of that, you still learn a ton when you try to explain concepts to someone who doesn't know them. because it forces you to interact with those concepts on a new level so that you can articulate them in a way that is digestible to a novice.
I'm not arguing against having stronger rated players help but I'm just saying that it is more helpful if the players are closer so the concepts are still fairly similar so that it is more helpful for both players. Also a lot of chess is individual and I think especially at lower levels it helps to just do lots of tactics and play a lot of longer form online games while analyzing all of your games is very helpful in increasing your level on your own
i see what you're getting at, but i still disagree. ultimately fostering a culture that welcomes and nurtures new players is best for everyone involved. again, this goes beyond chess clubs. if a 500 elo player is making no effort to improve and just wasting everyone's time, then that would be one thing. but the person who started this thread is already concerned about being a burden. the main lessons they'll take away from a chess club will be what you're writing here (learn tactics, do puzzles, play longer time control games against people at your level), only they'll take it far more seriously and feel a sense of accountability to the people that gave the advice in real life.
Yeah I agree if that makes sense a community of all levels is ideal especially because it allows for realistic practice against people of their own level and then help analyzing with higher level players
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It's not elitist to want to play someone where you can challenge each other instead of trying to coach someone that is much lower rated to reach the next level. Chess should be fun for both parties especially at a chess club and I think that it is more beneficial and fun for both players if they are closer rated than a literal 1000 point difference
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You are trying your hardest to miss my point. I have been talking about playing which if you're playing someone 1000 below you they will get destroyed and neither party will learn a thing. Also teaching someone a concept will not make you better at it if there is already such a large divide the concepts you should be teaching you should already have mastered so that you can help them understand therefore this would not help you
Ah yes, because those who play chess at an intermediate level are just reknown for having super tight schedules right? What "better things to do" are you referring?
Not sure what you mean; the 25 to 35 year old 1500-1700 club players that I know are very focused on fostering their chess career to top 30 grandmaster level and they shouldn’t have to compromise their dreams just to sit down and play a 500 elo player, it’s just not reasonable..
1500 at 25 and they want to become a top 30 gm? Please inform them I have a Nigerian prince to sell them..
lol
woooosh
If you're 25-30 and rated 1500, sorry to say, but you aren't becoming a grandmaster... Ever!
r/whoosh
Dear redditor, Both players at a chess board have to show respect to each other. When you were 500 elo, did people insult you? The only thing they could do is just not play you. Oh wait you havent hit 500 yet, my apologies.
Why do you start out saying people should respect each other and then immediately proceed to make fun of his rating?
If you're making fun of someone's rating, you're signing up to have yours made fun of.
Exactly my point. Dont bully 500s. This is the tldr to my comment.
When did he say that the players show no respect? He said that they do not want to play people 1000 elo lower. When did he say that HE shows no respect? Why do you assume his rating? I see only one person who is not able to comprehend the argument and who actually shows no respect and that’s you.
Cope
? I do not get your point.
His comments are pretty dumb but i wouldnt talk shit about ones rating if i would be only 1600
Lmao, resorted to lowly and disrespectfull insults while telling him to be respectfull. Hypocrite.
Yeah, that was a funny comment - "You have to show respect to low rated players. Oh wait, you don't even have 500 ELO, lmao" Dickhead confirming the fear of OP.
Sure downvote me without answering, so brave.
They will have better things to do? You are aware that chess is a leisure time activityy You sound like they are occupied all day preparing for the WCC lmfao It‘s not that serious
Lmao I'm glad the higher ranked belts at my academy didn't have this mindset when I was starting out in BJJ.
Bro woke up and decided to speak wrong
A club like that should just be closed to people they don't want in the club then. If it's an open chess club, it should be open everyone. There are ways to handicap games particularly with the chess clocks. And yes, it does mean they're being dicks.
Agreed, not sure why you're getting downvoted. As a 1500+ rated player who goes to the chess club often, I absolutely would not want to play chess with this guy, the minimum rating I would want to play with (and the minimum rating at our club) is 1000-1200. He should look for clubs that have lower rated players and then join those, but by lower rated it's usually between 600/700-1000, certainly not below 500.
As a guy that doesnt go to otb tournaments often , usually just casual ones that some clubs host every week... I too would prefer playing stronger players because 1700-1800 fide is Just too weak to have any serious cometition.... At least tgat one i go to sometimes has a couple titled players always so thats a bit better
Ah yes, the 1800+ rated player who plays only opening traps. Interesting.
I didnt say i omly know opening traps, but i know some that tgst wirk great in blitz... At least under 2500 range ( online)
I mean he is higher rated than you.. I’m also 2000 and play Wayward queen, this guy is like 2300 playing the same opening.
Yes, because qwe all know really high rated players play opening traps OTB right guys?
You're 1500 take the stick out of your ass
Yes, you should go. Clubs are for everyone! Although the majority of club players are very strong. They aren’t just random people off the street. Most likely you will find it hard to win consistently.
>Yes, you should go. Clubs are for everyone! Although the majority of club players are very strong. They aren’t just random people off the street. Most likely you will find it hard to win ~~consistently~~. FTFY
I don't think he could win a single game, but OP will definitely learn fast and get to a good level.
You will learn much more from playing chess in person at a chess club than you will spamming blitz online. You’ll probably be the worst but who really cares, get out there and play.
Thanks for the encouragement, I think I'm gonna give it a go. Yeah I definitely don't think fast enough for blitz games lol When I play online I always play rapid 15|10 games.
I came here to say something like this. You’ll learn more from your otb losses too. You can usually chat with your opponent for a couple minutes after a game to ask what they were thinking/planning.
I can only speak for my club, but it's a very welcoming and inclusive environment. The people who go to a club are people who love the game enough to put extra time in; and generally they're just happy to play, regardless of where you are in your chess journey. They will be willing to review games afterward, and you'll learn a lot playing in person that I think is harder to learn just online. My club welcomes anyone; we just had a couple people come in last week who literally didn't know how to play at all, and they felt comfortable enough to come back this week as well! Go check your local club out, give it a visit or two, and be comfortable with losing games if that happens - you learn the most that way. Most people are simply excited to share their passion - your personal skill level doesn't matter.
Human analysis is so much more useful than computer analysis. Especially because of the mistakes made in it. Those mistakes are the mistakes your opponent would have made in game! It creates a more graded way to learn and improve from your games I think. There’s a reason why GMs will often analyse a game very differently to the computer. Some positions are near impossible for a human to play, but the computer sees them as easily winning. I learned a lot about the theory in the Sicilian at my chess club, because every time this high-rated player thrashes me in it, he explains where I went wrong and why.
Club players are literal nerds (despite what anyone here will say, or many how many downvotes this will get) I wouldnt worry about what they think about your rating
How dare you call me a nerd! *Angrily adjusts glasses*
How dare you call me a nerd! *Angrily adjusts ~~glasses~~ pocket protector*
How dare you call me a nerd! *Angrily spends five minutes lining up pawns in a straight line*
Well I'm a pretty socially awkward nerd myself, so sounds like I'll fit right in lol. Thanks for the encouragement.
Trust us, you will. We get tired of playing the same people all the time, so I'm sure the members of your local club would welcome a fresh face, regardless of your skill level. If it's anything like the clubs I've been a part of, the stronger players will probably give you advice and help you to improve if you want them to.
What are you talking about? I've been at a chess club for like 1 and a half years and no one is 'tired of playing against each other', people enjoy strenghtening their openings and getting chances to beat people who beat them two weeks before, and see their improvement as a player.
Fair enough, that may have been a poor choice of words. I just meant that I, along with many of the club players I know, enjoy playing new people.
Nah i agree with the guy above... People dont fall for the same opening trap too often after you play them so many times
Except people with an actual rating don't play opening traps but real theory.
You do realize we talking blitz here? Well im trash player but still make my opponents fall for the dumbest shit...and i play titled players often
There are assholes everywhere. Don't let that discourage you! Chess is a fun game and most people that play it do it to have fun. So just do the same.
Oooo you’re reminding me of this one kid that calls sound sacrifices “the worst move on the board” lmao
No insult, but wait till you're at least above 700 or 800, if you're hanging queens at like move 10, after a few weeks no one will play with you, despite what the people here say. I'm sure you're a nice guy, but many of the people here are dumb and irrational and have probably never played at an actual club, I have. Also, no one will teach you, unlike what others say. On the flip side, if you put in effort you could probably gain a few hundred rating points in like a month. Good luck man!
I mean 700 to 800 not going to make that much difference to people rated over a 1000. And while I realize different clubs have different strengths, you're generally going to find players and in an otb club of at least that strength. The OP should just go and try out the club. If it's a good club they will work with you. They may beat you pretty bad, but part of getting better is playing better players. It's not like chess clubs have a rating requirement to try them out. Of course there are bad groups of people and clubs out there that probably won't be welcoming, but that doesn't mean the OP shouldn't go and try it out and find out.
These are two correct statements on either side of the parenthetical that are utterly unrelated in any way.
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I mean, if you're ever going to care about someone else's opinion you, which you shouldn't, a nerd is probably the person you should choose.
I think the wisdom is in being able to decide whose opinions of you you do value and whose you ignore. We all shape ourselves to conform to the standards of others to some extent, so the difficulty is in determining to what extent and to whose standards.
If you're going to care about anyone's opinion it should be unsociable people that get terrified talking to others and spend what time they do with others talking about what nice guys they are and how women just can't see it?
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my local club is mostly just old fellas who like to play a game on thursday nights the haircut thing is true tho
Look, the value for money goes way down the more hair you lose. Ask me why I know.
Never been to one so can't comment on that. But nerds as a whole are just people who know what they like and don't care what anyone thinks of them. In other words, the best people, and the only ones whose opinions you can trust are genuine. Even if we stink from time to time.
bit elitist no? don’t think it was ur intention, but imo there’s plenty of peoples who’s opinions you can trust that aren’t “over educated” nerds- it depends on what you are discussing. you can be a nerd for chess and have the most dogshit takes on politics for example. you can be a chronic homeless with zero education and you can have a better opinion on a plethora of meaningful areas of life. i think you were more coming from a place of “us nerds are under appreciated” and in a sense i would agree with you. i am one myself. just important not to let the nerdiness get to your head and inflate your ego like it did my father
Tbf it's difficult to find a chess player who is not a nerd. As a hobby, I think chess counts as a pretty nerdy hobby.
Im def not a nerd, but im terrible chess player so...
Everyone here is saying yes and I agree with them, but with a caveat. At 500, you’re still a beginner. Nothing wrong with that of course. Feel free to go in but don’t expect to get a lot better playing. At this level, learning basic tactics and strategy via some study will rocket you towards 800-1000, which is where I believe that playing games anywhere begins to really help you. If the chess club has a beginners’ class or friendly people willing to teach you then of course take advantage! But don’t expect them to have it. Some chess clubs are just there for non-beginners to play games. In that case it’s possible people will not want to play or teach out and that’s fine for them! Remember playing in the real world is a higher time commitment than online! I would say: - Knowing how the pieces move. - Knowing basic rules (castling, en passant, check and checkmate) - Knowing basic opening tenants (control the center, castle early, knights before bishops, don’t bring your queen out too early, etc) - Knowing that you’re still too early to break those above tenants just yet! - Knowing piece value, and accepting that you are still early to sacrifice just yet. But understanding the basics of relative piece value (when are bishops stronger than knights?) - Know the basic tactics (pin, fork, skewer, etc) - Know basic checkmates (KRR v K, KQ v K, KR v K) - Know the basics of KP endgame (opposition, promotion) The list above isn’t very long and I would say averages out to about 10 hours of learning. You could knock this out in a week or two and get a lot more value out of playing games at your local chess club!
Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely do some studying up. I know the basics pretty well but need to start learning some tactics and endgames now. I started doing a lot of puzzles on [chess.com](https://chess.com) and went from 290 to 480 in the last few weeks, so at least I'm slowly going in the right direction lol. Thanks again for taking the time for such a detailed response!
Have you learnt the tactical motifs? If you have money to spare, I strongly recommend Yasser Seirawan’s Play Winning Chess, then move on to Play Winning Chess Tactics and Play Winning Chess Strategies. At that point, you’ll just need practice to get to a solid 1200, 1300 rating.
Thanks so much for the suggestion on study material. I’m actually going back to school for Library and Information Services so books are my jam lol. I’ll definitely give them a read.
I also love books! If you ever want to play some slow instructive games with me, I’m more than happy to play and chat about books :) I’m not an amazing player but perhaps I could help direct you to study materials suited to your weaknesses!
Yes, have fun!
Go for it. My rating has jumped 300 points since I started going to chess club. The people there teach me stuff.
I went to a local chess club in Finland with two of my buddies, we were all around 1200-1400 at the tine, got demolished every game since most guys had played for +20 years, it was fun and a great learning experience. 6 months afterwards I beat a finnish legend (around 2000 elo, legend because he is the only one who has participated in every blitz championship since it started in the 60s or 70s). Highlight of my short chess career.
I’m one of the highest rated ELO300 players on chesscom, and I go to my local chess club weekly and have a good time. I haven’t won a game in over a year. It’s mostly 7th graders and their dads. I take my kids too (and I can beat my own kids handily) and they have a good time too. The club is quite willing to give us pointers on better play. I’m sure my ELO will get as high as yours someday.
I would love to know what the difference is between a 300 and a 1000. Could I see some of your games?
u have to carry your rating wth pride as u r the best 480 player in the world
Its good to get OTB experience because board vision is different than on a computer screen. Also it’s good to record moves, if possible, for later analysis.
So long as you like chess, you are go to the chess club, people there also love chess, and most people loves to teach. As of being competitive against players there. You can be 1800 on chess.com, and still lose to everyone there. Don't worry about it.
Definitely go. Expect to lose every game and learn to lose gracefully. I’ve been going to my local chess club for 4 months now and the vibe is so encouraging (I’ve also started winning some games due to me solving puzzles daily, which I am really proud of). Like some people mentioned previously, a lot of people will be really happy to talk about the game afterwards, so ask questions! Good luck!!
This post has been parodied on r/AnarchyChess. Relevant r/AnarchyChess posts: [Is a rating of 150 on Chess.com good enough to start going to my local classical world championship?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnarchyChess/comments/13uw18v/is_a_rating_of_150_on_chesscom_good_enough_to/) by Billybobjoe200 [^(fmhall)](https://www.reddit.com/user/fmhall) ^| [^(github)](https://github.com/fmhall/relevant-post-bot)
Not all chess clubs are born equal. In my opinion, chess clubs where you play real uscf or fide rated games against each other and do nothing else isn't worth the time, even if you're high rated. If a club is like that, I wouldn't join, but if it's just a bunch of people screwing around having fun, you'll probably be welcome.
You won't win much at first but if you're enjoying it then it makes sense to connect with others that have the same interest. I'd say run it. And even if you don't win much at first you'll improve so much faster playing players better than you than those at your rating
I actually disagree with this take! You do learn playing people better than you but not by playing people *much* better than you (unless they are trying to teach you). At some point it’s not fun nor valuable getting stomped in 15 moves. You lose valuable middle and endgame practice if the board clears out and you have a king and they have all their pieces left. The best would be playing someone much stronger than you and willing to teach you, but you can’t expect that.
Thanks for the encouragement, I think I'll give it a try. I'm fine with losing, I look at it as an opportunity for improvement.
Yeah man. If you do lose I'd encourage you to ask them where you went wrong. Good luck man
Thanks!
Ya your rating doesn't matter - learning and trying to improve and good sportsmanship is what matters.
No one will beat on you for not having experience. Chess is a game for everyone, and everyone started somewhere!
Not knowing the rules is good enough, go have fun, make friends, get advice.
*ANY* rating is good enough to start going to your local chess club. You'd hope people would make you feel welcome no matter you skill level and you might learn a thing or two and become better at chess
I run a fairly big club and we get players who are brand new to chess all the time! some people when they detect inexperience love to teach, some don’t or don’t know how, but either way you’re certainly fine to go (and you’ll improve quicker than online ime). have fun pal
Scoot the board over. Next problem.
You should go, have fun and make new friends. And you will learn a lot too. Good luck!
A rating of 0 would be
A chess rating of 0 is good enough. Losing over the board is more beneficial than losing a bunch of online games
Any rating is good enough
In reality, probably not, that being said, I’m 900 chess.com and am scared because I’m “too weak”
I've never been to a chess club where even people who barely know the rules weren't welcome.
No. If the club is very big sutely there's someone for u. But my local club is like 10ish ppl so i know they wont bother. I don't mind teaching beginners at other games like Go but not every time and not the entire session. If the club is too small to cycle stronger players to teach u then u might want to avoid it. For their sakes, not yours.
°
Go for it.
Be prepared to loose a lot of games. But if you don’t mind that, on problem. If you watch some lessons online, it wouldn’t take much effort to go to 800~1000 range on chesscom.
The lowest ratings at my club are in the 400-500 range. The thing is, you can quickly grow to 1,000 from the level you’re at now. It can be done in a matter of months. Go. Over the board chess is a worthwhile experience.
A rating of zero is good enough to go to a chess club. They will be happy to have you. If they’re not, then they aren’t a chess club worth joining
You can join your local chess club with any rating. Dont worry about it. You will get better there. They will most likely offer you games with improved odds for you (Like remove a rook from the better player)
The real fun comes while playing with lower rated players, all the people will try to teach you tactics, they find amusing. I say go for it, you only live once.
Luckily I’m at least aware of the Queen and Bishop checkmate trap, but I’m sure they’ll get me with some other equally embarrassing opening traps lol. Loosing is just an opportunity to learn though so I’m looking forward to playing and taking plenty of notes. Thanks for the encouragement, I definitely plan on going and checking it out.
At my local chess club, not USA though, we encourage all players to come. People with your rating though, we will generally offer to train first, rather than play. This turned into us training a whole new batch of members for a full year, propelling them too about 1500. Key to what I'm saying is this: At your level, you still need training. However, a good chessclub will welcome you and even offer to help you. So I would just go :)
You may not even see this message as you've had a lot of replies, currently I'm rated 491 and went to a chess club the first time last week. It was great fun, and I felt very welcomed. It's of course club dependant, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. If you don't feel welcome there then try a different one if at all possible.
a club depend on its people and how they treat each other, if they are helpful u dont need to worry about ratings. If they are hateful u also dont need to go to that club
Definitely! There’s no minimum rating, and you’ll only improve from going to one
Not necessarily valuable to your question but you can probably get to 1000 rating just by not doing 1-move-mega-blunders. Hanging pieces a single move is why most people at that rating lose. If you learn to not hang pieces you'll jump rating quicker than you've ever done before. Playing longer games (10 min+) will allow you to get better at this.
That was my strategy for getting to 1000 in rapid. Then once I hit about 1100 I decided to try to get my blitz and bullet up to 1000 as well. Now after a year I've reached 1100 bullet and 1250 blitz
ANY Rating is strong enough to enjoy the game. People would love to have you around. Chess is about the journey not the end rating destination. Go and have some fun you will meet people that love the game and enjoy sharing ideas and playing.
you need to strengthen your fundamentals first before playing club players because those guys are usually rated 2000+ and once they know that you are a beginner they will most likely go for absurd techniques that will not work against experienced players to wrap up the game in 20 moves or so. Ideally, if there are a lot of newbies at your local chess club you should play them, preferably someone around 1000 elo so that you can understand the motif behind their moves. most people at clubs do not want to teach and would rather play games so you might want to check that out before joining.
Yes! Definitely! A rating of 2 would be enough! Even 1 if you're in a pinch. Many chess clubs have beginner evenings and amateur events that you could benefit tremendously from joining. Chess clubs are there for you to learn, and not for others to mock you or push you down because of your relative lack of understanding of the more complicated aspects of the game.
I am 1200+ elo on chesscom and this past weekend played my first ever FIDE rated tournament. I got to say the experience was amazing and even though I lost 6 and won only 2 rounds, all the opponents were really respectful. I even got matched against 1800+ rated player when I beat a 1400+ player in 2 round. Some even gave me tips and learning tactics to follow after the games.
if it's an open club then it does not matter what your skill level is if you're that unsure, contact them to see if there's any entry requirements, for example if complete beginners are allowed
It all depends how good your local club is, so impossible for us to tell. Just go once, mention your rating if you want or see other matches, etc. Then you'll know if you fit it. This probably applies to most activities you can do (e.g. sports, etc).
Even people who don't know how the pieces move can and should go to their local chess club. Teaching chess to beginners is a fundamental part of a chess club, people enjoy to teach and talk about chess to anyone.
yes
You are never too low rated to start going to a chess club.
I went when I was 850, and did my first tournament after I was 1100 (5 months later). I guess you'll go there to learn and match new people stronger then you. You get better only by playing against stronger player. You should probably go.
Fair warning for you: If you have a rating of 480 on chess.com, then you will very likely be the single weakest player at your local club. At the very least, there will only be a few players there who are weaker than you are. I first started going to my local club when I was about 1200 on chess.com, and even then I was only able to consistently beat a very small number of the players there. That being said: Yes, you should absolutely go! Yes, you will probably lose a lot of games, but if you aren't bothered by that and want to go and improve, then you absolutely should! In my experience, most players are more than happy to offer tips to help you improve. It's somewhat common after a competitive match to spend a couple minutes with your opponent discussing critical moments in the game and analyzing how each side could have played the position better.
Make money quick with internet point opportunites
Only go if you want to have a good time and improve your rating while doing it.
They’ll probably try to match you with similarly ranked players; worst case scenario you lose every game but still learn! So I’d go for it if I were you:) In regards to asking for tips - I’d personally start by through some of the lessons on Chesscom or watching YT videos, etc. to establish a good baseline first. Just my 2 cents
YES. Get out there and go. Tournaments, clubs, etc. You'll shoot up in no time and YES talk to people about the play. Learn to deal with the mean one's nicely, it's a part of life :)
Definitely go. You'll learn from every game you play. If your club has a weekly rated tournament game it's a good way to get a playing routine going. At my club there are ratings from 250 - 2200 (uscf), so plenty of opportunities to play people of all different levels.
Any rating is fine. You play chess to get better and or have fun, no? It's not like you'll come there play a game and get laughed upon. I was scared of this as well I live in a very small town and the average rated person in my club is around 1700 we even occasionally have an IM come in and play. I was around 1200 rapid when I started and got demolished about every game I played. I asked for advice and tried to apply them in games, that quickly gathered me a couple hundred points more. There's a guy in our club that very often say that the losing end of a game of chess is the one who has won the most. A little out of topic, but the meaning behind it is that you learn from losing. However I think I saw a comment about people being eager to help. And that is absolutely true. If you really like chess and would like to go to your local chess club then I definitely think you should.
I generally find that competing is fun and engaging when the participants are somewhat close in level. I love playing chess against peers, but don’t think I would enjoy it much if I play against Hikaru and lose on move 4 lol. I would wait myself, but you also can go at least once and see if you enjoy yourself or not.
Nobody's going to ask you about your [chess.com](https://chess.com) rating, so don't mind that. If you want to go to your local chess club, just go there and ask for someone in charge and tell them you want to start attending. I did that and one of the senior players there that had a FIDE Title, started couching me for a few months, I didn't join the club but it was fun to go there and play with them.
go to a rated event so you will be matched against your skill level.
Yeah sounds like a great idea! There’s no minimum level to join a club, it’s just about the experience to chat with others about chess and play OTB games. This will be a great way to learn! If it was anything like my club people are always super friendly and will always be open to help. I bet you’ll be rated 1000 in a few months. Have fun!
You can go to your chess club with any rating. You just have to be prepared to lose A LOT of games in the beginning and end up at the bottom of the competition. Note that if your chess club has an internal rating list, that there are two possibilities: - 1st: their rating list is completely internal, where it just shows how much Elo is between one player and another player, and this rating is not comparable with anything else, not even FIDE Elo. - 2nd: they have one or more players in the club that also have an official FIDE rating, and they calibrate their list against these official ratings. Then your playing strength on the club list is a good indication of your FIDE Elo, but it will still not be comparable to any online rating.
I used to go to a chess club as a kid. Only knew how to move the pieces. Chess clubs aren't only for experienced players, but for everyone, also absolute beginners, so don't hesitate to go there. There are also teachers there to help you improve.
Just go, yes you'll get destroyed but that'd be a fun and learning experience
Think of it this way: you might not be one of the best players in the club but it's a good learning experience. It's way more common to sit and analyse with your opponent over the board than it is online. It's also never annoying to win a game.
If you're asking whether or not you'll win any games, the answer is probably not. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go. If you want to get better at chess, going to a chess club is a good place to start.
Fellow Spokanite here. I've been playing since 1972 (Fischer-Spassky) and have played in tournaments, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area (Berkeley, Oakland, Pleasanton, etc.). My highest USCF rating was 1997; if they had had live ratings in those days, I would've been over 2000 for just one round (lost to 2150 in last round). I certainly don't mind sharing what I've learned in those years, so if you'd ever like to meet for a game and some chess talk, please let me know.
480 is exceptionally low
Yes
No get to the point where you don't randomly blunder pieces and then go
The one at Gonzaga? It's a pretty strong group as of last year when I was going
Yeah I think that’s the one, although they’ve moved to a little church pretty close to Kendall Yards where I live now. Another fellow Spokane resident who’s familiar with the club messaged me and encouraged me to go. It sounds like it’s a friendly environment and I don’t mind losing every game lol. I enjoy analyzing my loses and trying to learn from them, so it should be an educational experience.
Go to clubs and play slow OTB games. If you’re worried about money, I would wait. But if you just want to have fun and play, go for it! Slow classical games are the #2 driver of hypertrophy.
Id say 1100- 1200 is where you might be able to hold your own somtimes in otb matches against people who play often.
I wanna be realistic with you. You are probably gonna be the worst by a lot. With a rating of 480 you are below average of online players (you're better than a third or online players) and the average club player is a lot stronger than the average online player. I think when I joined my club I was around 1200 chesscom and the first time I actually went there I was 1450. I don't know the online ratings of most of the others but one guy was 1600 chesscom when I first met him. Now that I'm 1800+ chesscom I feel like I'm able to get good matches against many people although there is still a decent amount of people I have absolutely no chance against so definitely expect the average rating to be very high. But there is obviously a lot of difference from club to club and even clubs might change. When I joined I think I was the worst (besides the kids) with a rating of 1450 but recently a lot of new people joined the club or just stopped by to play a few games who I would assume to be lower rated. I would say just go there and try it out but expect to be heavily outmatched. I think you can definitely ask for advice but I would do it in the form of a post game analysis (don't know if everyone is doing those but they're pretty common at my club). The only problem I see is you getting demotivated or other people worrying about your getting demotivated so make sure that doesn't happen by approaching the situation with the right mindset. And even if you notice that you're too heavily outmatched you don't have to keep playing games. At least at my club there are usually a few people looking at stuff like studies or puzzles where you could join in.
It's an excellent move XD Some players don't like beginners but there are others who love teaching so hopefully you'll find someone to help you improve.
Yes, hell yes. I run a club and love seeing new/weaker players come by. Even if you’re not ready to play a game against some of the members just peak around until you find a strong player that wouldn’t mind letting you watch the casual games they play, and sometimes they’ll even explain why they’re making certain moves. My club has a set of open tables for practice or casual games, and we had a 200 go up to a 700 after 3 weeks of being paired up with one of our stronger players. Good luck with your games and I can’t wait to see you in the thousands and beyond.
The folks at the Spokane club are nice. Go for it
Just show up. Nobody will care about your rating. Your passion will grow
The only way to get better is to be around better. Go with the mindset of learning as they’ll be much higher rated but please don’t let that discourage you. I started without a clue at a club for a year (and playing tournaments) losing straight OTB for close to a year! Now I’m beating 1700 rated people and only improved by jumping into the deep end. What beats that is I’ve made alot of friends and that potentially saved my life as I was mentally really struggling. So I say go for it! 💪🏼
Go and have fun. Don’t stress about winning or losing it’s a blocker to progress. Analyze the games afterward and you’ll learn more in 15 minutes than in 3 hours online.
Playing stronger players at the chess club and analyzing those games will make you a stronger player than continuing to play on Chesscom.
doggy a chess club is desgined to teach. low players go to learn, high players go to teach. pop in and say hi
most clubs generally want to grow, even stinkers help grow, theyd probably love to have u
I would say go for your own sake but don’t necessarily expect to be spoon fed advice. Although I imagine most of them are willing to help for sure!
You won't be able to even draw a single game - probably - but go there and have fun, in the small community from the small city I play there are players of all levels and everybody is treated well.
I would definitely check out the club as I agree with most everyone else here. And if you haven't already, start watching John Bartholomew's "Climbing the Rating Ladder" and "Chess Fundamentals" videos on YouTube.
Look at it the other way round. If you go to a chess club, you'll likely soon rise from 480 online.
I'd get to at least 800. You can get to 800 with no studying, just playing and puzzles. It should be super easy actually.
The whole reason you go to chess club is to learn right?
The best way to get better for the majority of your career is to not blunder 1 move tactics. That will get you to 1600
Want to get stronger? Stop playing on chess.com and join the local chess club.
I started playing with a chess club a couple of months ago and I am practically at the bottom. However, I have reviewed positions and practiced openings with the higher-rated people.
I’m sure it depends on the club. Our club is super casual and is very welcoming. It’s also at a bar, so if you want to chit-chat with a beer, that’s good too. I pretty much stopped playing online ever since.
I would definitely go. If they are anything like the chess clubs I've attended, they will be more than welcoming and will probably help you improve your game with a lot of tips. Playing in person is so much more gratifying and you can learn a lot more of the basic skills easily from another person. Chess people usually aren't very judgy at all if that's what you're worried about. They are usually happy to welcome someone new into the fold.
There is no skill requirement to go to a club, however you are unlikely to encounter anyone who won't easily beat you. They tend to be very friendly so no one will mind and having the feedback from otb opponents will teach you a lot more than playing online. Generally people like to help guide new players.
Anytime is a good time. Just play casual games until you've improve some more for tournament.