Hmm, actually I got my opening knowledge, ( wich is very limited), from youtube vids, where masters, national, international masters, explaining positions, run through high level, opening- middle- end games from grandmaster games. I Watched a lot of these vids wich improved my strategical, tactical insight. I never really *studied* openings, but these vids gave me enough ideas to improvise, keeping some simple basic-rules in mind.

I'm playing chess for almost a year now, but I've grown real fast due to these videos. Also Playing chess on several sites, thoroughly analyzing every position I come across, for tactics, and positional advantages made me grow fast. The only advice I can give you, is not to study too hard on openings, it doesnt make you learn chess, evaluate positions on value etc. Never rely too hard on book-knowlegde, it only helps to a certein degree.  But improving your insight, tactics and strategies do make you become a better chess-player. I advice you to visit www.chessvideos.tv. Good luck on becoming a good chess-player:] 

(Oh, and I got some chess-puzzles on my blog as well, from grandmaster games, with very deep tactics sometimes...those could help as well;) )

lol well I'm just relating my experiences with it and how it improved my play. You decide ;)

I came here to help with advice about books and training, and it looks like I'm going away wanting to get Chessmaster!!    Maybe they have a sales rep job for you!

I think the chess mentor on the site is pretty good! But so far I haven't seen anything that beats Chessmaster..

Oh yeah, what about Chess Mentor?  It is sold right here at this site.  I subscribed to it, and I think it is very helpful.  It has something to suit the needs of many beginning and intermediate players.  You can try it for free for about 8 lessons to get an idea of how it works.

Yeah, the "The Art of Learning" is a really good book, as are Waitzkin's tutorials in Chessmaster :)

Oops, it's "Seirawan", not "Sierawan"!

Try this:

 http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Chess-Strategies-revised-Everyman/dp/1857443853/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202423625&sr=1-1

Anything by Sierawan and/or Silman are readable and helpful.  A famous world champion, Lasker, said that he believed anyone could become a master chess player.  I believe that the ones who succeed are those who find it fun to do the work needed to learn.  That might be you, but If that's no you, then don't worry. There is still a lot of fun to have with chess at any level.  In fact, I sometimes wonder if the players who become quite good are still having as much fun after they become good players...  An interesting read (although not a text on improving at chess) is Josh Waitzkin's "The Art of Learning".

I recommend Chessmaster 10th Edition! With all the courses there you'll really learn a LOT!! You'll even have masters and grandmasters voice annotate their games for you from start to finish, so that'll give you an idea of the though processes behind really high level games. It really has everything... chess basics (which are crucial!), tactics, strategies etc. All you'll ever need!

 

I was like you 2-3 months back before I started playing chess again (didn't even know how to checkmate), and using chessmaster I've really improved considerably in a relatively short amount of time. You can buy it online from Amazon for like 20$... which is nothing! And it's really worth the investement if you really want to improve dramatically.

Good luck! :)