Might sound silly, but I am curious to know if anyone has an estimate of when they first started how often they lost? I have not won a game yet (except one, but he just left the game), but am not totally discouraged because I find myself getting better each time. By better, I mean that I quite simply learn one new thing not to do. So, just for the heck of it, I thought I'd ask you guys this!

A lot lol. I remember going 0-4 in my first over the board tournament.

once.






Just kiddin, infinite times.

Hi zack. I just started 1-2 weeks ago and I've been playing a good bit (chess is addicting!)

I won't go through my records but I'm guessing I lost like 90% of my first 40 games or so. Like you, I'm finding what NOT to do at this point more so than what to do. Just learn how to counter the "parham trick"; I lost like 10 games to that at first. Have fun playing! 

Glad to know I'm not just some big loser Jon, same here, just started. I find I'm trying to attack too quickly, not centering pieces and focusing on weaknesses. So, I went through part of the opening study guide and it mentions I NEED to center and play the pieces. Definitely will do so. I have a good feeling sooner or later I'll get there!

Zack, we all lose a large percentage of games when we start. Relax, and keep playing.

dude dont play ne blitz... stick to 30min games nd u win more....

This makes me feel better.  I always thought I was good, until I started playing people who knew what they were doing :)

Something similar happens to everyone no matter how good you are (excluding top 10 I guess).

What was the story, of the young GM who had some training sessions with IIRC Botvinnik or someone like this.  The young GM won the first game and was feeling confident... he then says over the next few months he lost something like 18 straight.  He said he didn't think it was possible for anyone to beat him that many games in a row, but he found out he still had a lot to learn.

That's part of the excitement of chess, there's always something to learn, and always better opponents you can use to test your new skill.  In the beginning it's much more pronounced, but there's certainly no shame in losing.  It's only a shame if you continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over! 

Hey thanks waffllemaster! The neat thing is, I'm definitely better than I was a week ago!

Edited to say I've also taken a more active process in my learning.  Doing tactics, reading, and defnitely playing!

Before I got good at chess I lost tons. I played a lot of really good people for like 2 years (1800 <) when I first started fortunately and I didn't have much foundation. So the losses prepped me for my first tourney. 

i have only lost two rated games. the first one, i lost on time. i was in a winning position, but i decided to quit chess.com around that time. i came back recently though. the second one, i blundered a queen.

      Many games. Problem is i still lose .......

Hmm, when I first started playing about 3-4 years ago, I was playing about 2-3 hours of 10min games a day on playchess.com.  I would say it took me about 2 months to win a game.  Looking back I am surprised I was so patient, if I lost that many games consecutively now I would never play again!

So I would conservatively say I lost around 300-400 games before my first win!

My Games Against:

0W / 7L / 0D

Next time he's not coming out in one piece though! 

A lot. And that was _after_ playing chess computers and building some basic skills in _chess_, but my tournament skills weren't as good. I remember some very frustrated club players who failed to beat me when I did everything "right" (rarely, in the beginning).

If there was a magic answer to not blundering and not being caught by "tricks" "everyone" knows I'm sure it would be general knowledge. I think you just have to work through it.

Playing people around your own level might help while you're getting your feet on the ground: the errors should be fairly shared around then. :-) (Says he who blundered at least twice today. :sigh:)

The question ...... how many times will you get payback for those lost games. I have to say i got a win from everybody that beat me when i first played. A new player is a testing dummy for a strong player. They new strategies or something real corny sometimes.

Since i did not know it then i was seriously confused. I learned the pass it along method. Beat me with it a beat somebody else with it. That feels good as you will not be the only person that fell for it.

You're my hero.

Dont remember. But last night i lost and went 5-15 against a  2300 plus elo guy in a 5 min blitz. Head ache..tsk tsk too much head ache.

In australia do people use ':' instead of '*'? 

i.e. :sigh: instead of *sigh* as we do in America (atleast most people I know in America).