New Member - Where to start?

I just joined (yearly) today and there’s a lot here. I know about the Friendly Homework, so I’m going to work on that. As a <1500 player, what is recommended for my level to start off with courses? Also, Is there a Discord to join? If so, what is the link?

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Hi David and welcome!

I would say start from the fundamentals! Content restricted - Killer Chess Training
Most trainers keep referring to them, so it’s a great place to start.
THen, Fundamentals in action? Content restricted - Killer Chess Training
And take it from there!

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Hi there,
You are already doing the most important thing: do the homework.
If you want to follow live classes, I would suggest to just watch the recordings of some of the classes and see which ones you like. There should be something to pick up from most of the courses for all levels.
I am not aware of a Discord, this forum is the only way of interacting online outside of the classes, and its not really buzzing. Sense of community is something I feel is lacking from the academy, compare for instance chess dojo.
The killerchess content however is unrivaled, so Im okay with not having a Discord :slightly_smiling_face:
Hope you find what you are looking for from the program.

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For me it was important not to overwhelm myself with so many courses, I selected one and watched them at my own pace but of course there were such interesting topics and such good speakers!!

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I am in roughly your boat, and started here in December. A home reno and some other things interfered with my great plans, but I am hoping to start taking advantage of my membership more now.
Like you, I am one of the lower rated people hwre (and likely the oldest, since I am just shy of 60), but in my brief usage I have found instructors very patient.
One recommendation I have is the ‘Analyze your tournament’ on Thursdays, some of the episodes look at the games of lower rated players like us - and I find those are super instructive.
The forum is a bit dead here, but maybe we can improve that :grinning:

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I just turned 49 last week. I only had half a week since I started my member, but I turned in 10 out of the 18 Friendly Homework 185. At my rating (1480 USCF) I found even the Friendly Homework challenging. I’ll definitely check out “Analyze my Tournament”. I’m having a hard time participating live in many of the lectures due to the times (I’m Central Daylight -6 in the United States) that they run. Currently I’m about 5 videos into Jacob Aagaard’s Fundamental’s series.

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I’m about 1600, 54 y/o so I’m also roughly in the same boat. I’ve been a member since the beginning of the year. I find the Friendly Homeworks really hard. It’s not unusual for me to get 2/6 on a page. I’ll spend maybe 6+ hours on it a week if you include watching the class recording. I haven’t really watched a ton of videos on the site. However, I’m pretty diligent in doing the homework.

I would be very interested in what you find on the site that’s helpful to you.

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I have taken a few runs at the homework, but have been too shy to submit my crappy attempts. But if you guys are submitting, then I will too. I was worried about weighing the average down, but I suppose I shouldn’t :grinning:

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Dude, I just got a 1/6 on my mixed. That’ll teach Nodirbek from stealing my answers!

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I joined mid-week on Wednesday, so I didn’t have time to complete all 16, but the 10 that I did, I spent probably 4 hours on. I’m hoping to complete the others (just for myself) before the class on Tuesday.

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Please, everyone, submit! No matter how many positions you solve, or how “crappy” you think your answers are!
This is training, it is supposed to be difficult! If it was easy, it would not serve its purpose!

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The homework is not easy. I would highly recommend supplementing the homework with Chess Tempo Blitz/Easy. Doing easy puzzles will help your pattern recognition which is vital for solving these problems.

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I agree. I spend 1 - 2 hours every day on Chess Tempo, chess.com and ChessVis doing tactics and its been really helpful.

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I saw earlier you mentioned a discord. I run a discord for the local chess club I run, and would be happy to make you or anybody here honorary members. Just DM me and I can send you an invite link.

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