So I'm playing several games on here and I've played against the computer as well and I seem to be losing by large margins. I've studied forks and skewers and how to mate with a bishop and queen and two rooks, etc, but my beginning game seems to be killing me.

 I get very nervous when playing, I feel as if my whole life is on the line with each move and that each loss is another failure, and I don't know what I'm learning from them. When I hear people talking on these videos about things they see automatically I feel like "How am I ever going to get there?"

 Aside from just playing tons of games are there some lessons which would help me to see how to become a better player in the opening/midgame? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks all.

 

Use the tactics trainer on this site.

Buy and read "How to reasses your chess" from Jeremy Silman

Dear Websteria,

1. What you're going through is normal!

2.It's a tough hill to climb.

3.keep going as you are.(1 day) study, (1day)play, (1day)play, (1day)study,take a couple days off!...just for starters. hehe!

...just a note, when u fall asleep at night and all you see is chess equasions, or squares thats normal too....your brain is just catogorizing the information, and before you know it you'll be performing like,( how did I do that?)??

......you'll see, good luck!! ..................frustration is part of it too

been playing 30+ yrs here and still learning if that tells you anything.

I have some tips!

 

1) Stop playing computers, they don't play like humans and will only make you depressed. Enter a tournament here for lower rated players and start enjoying chess life :)

2) Google "Chess tactics server" and start doing tactical exercises.

3) Go buy a beginner book (NOT reassess your chess) like Chernev's "Logical Chess"

 

If you do all of these things and continue to play you will get better and have more fun.

Look to your losses. In alexthor-Websteria you moved your queen onto a square protected by an opposing pawn and lost it. In LuckyArmaan-Websteria your opponent captured your bishop and you didn't take back with your queen. In other words, you're losing because you're giving material away free without a fight.

 

Before selecting a move, ask yourself if you can take any of your opponent's pieces for free. Before and after selecting a move, ask yourself if your opponent can take any of your pieces for free. This is called a blunder-check. 

 

Dan Heisman is a chess master who wrote some articles on working past this particular plateau in your chess development. You may find them useful:

• A Counting Primer
• The Most Important Tactic
• Is It Safe?
  

Think of it this way: when you go skiing for the first time, the first few days aren't going to be a whole lot of fun.  You're going to crash and burn, over and over.  But by the end of the weekend you're starting to get the hang of it, and by your 3rd or 4th trip, you're starting to feel pretty comfortable.

 

But as soon as you think you're the master for being able to ski greens, you see the guys skiing blues, and then black diamonds, double blacks, and then the maniacs jumping out of helicopters in uncharted mountains, and you realize you'll probably never be top dog.

 

Bottom line - whenever you start something new you're going to lose a lot.  And once you've mastered the basics, you realize you can always take your game to the next level, where there will be new rivals to humiliate you. The reason for tackling these seemingly hopeless endevours is so you can look back and see how far you've come from the newbie that went 0 and 10 on chess.com his first week :)

Websteria wrote:

So I'm playing several games on here and I've played against the computer as well and I seem to be losing by large margins. I've studied forks and skewers and how to mate with a bishop and queen and two rooks, etc, but my beginning game seems to be killing me.

 I get very nervous when playing, I feel as if my whole life is on the line with each move and that each loss is another failure, and I don't know what I'm learning from them. When I hear people talking on these videos about things they see automatically I feel like "How am I ever going to get there?"

 Aside from just playing tons of games are there some lessons which would help me to see how to become a better player in the opening/midgame? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks all.

 

---

I don't have specific resources, but have the following advice:

1. All you want to do in the opening is to survive with pieces in reasonable position. Learn 3 simple openings, 1 for white, and 1 each for black against 1. d4 and 1. e4. Others probably have ideas about which specific openings might be the best for you.

Just keep it simple.

2. Don't worry about not seeing the moves. That will come from playing and studying games. The more you play, the better you'll get. For most of us, recognizing situations is a function of experience rather than of innate genius!

Just keep playing and learn review your games...

 Above all, jsut have fun...

i'd tend to agree with the advice that simply says ...just keep playing.  you'll learn more from each mistake than you will from months of playing against a computer.  people tend to use similiar attacks, or you'll notice patterns of moves, usually...used against you first.  but then you'll see them on your own side as well.  As far as openings.  Keep it simple... if anything i think the obcession with openings is a bit silly.  Move toward the middle, back your peices up, don't get to wild, or waste moves retreating.  Novice players fall for traps, more experienced ones do not.  Although mid-range expereinced players i find tend to be extremely timid about trading peices.  Never be afraid to sacrifice for position or when you're up in pts. Use their fear of losing a peice against them...try and force an error. but in general just play... try and use those basic principles of fork, skewer, pin as much as possible.  Fancy sounding named attacks or specific sequences of moves... really are for advanced players.  Keep it simple, play smart.   ...or at least just play.

ericmittens wrote: 1) Stop playing computers, they don't play like humans and will only make you depressed.

---

1. He is absolutely 100% correct. Play against humans.

2. Study tactics. 

3. What you're going through really is normal. When I was younger, I thought I knew how to play chess. Then I met a local chess club and started to play against them. I soon dicovered that I only knew how the pieces moved. I knew little about how to PLAY chess. Two very different things.

3. Study tactics again.

4. Write down your games and go back through them at a later time. Study them. Why did you lose? Or how did you win?

4. Study tactics some more.

5. When playing against a much stronger player, consider the very high probability that every single move he/she makes has a distinct purpose. Determine what that purpose is, THEN make your next move.

6. It's time to study tactics again.

play a lot dont afraid to lost.

some chess programs can be useful like chessmastes etc. 

Hi, I would study tactics too. 

I would add one more thing. Ask someone who "is good at chess" to take a look at your games and ask for feedback. If you check out the "learn" menu you'll even find an option to post games and get feedback on them... Be sure to read the "read this" post first though since it contains really good advice before submitting a game for review!

/Kaj 

The aforementioned stuff is great. I'll add a little more, play a lot, and try to play people of similar skill most of the time. Every now and then play someone much better. The opening should be simple, try develop your pieces to active squares that aren't easily threatened (knights at f3 and c3/e2, bishops at c4/d3 and f4/e3) push the d and e pawn to the 4th rank if you can and maybe the c pawn to c3 for the ideal center, castle, and slowly edge up the board. Look at threats, and see what you can do. You'll be better the more you play.

First and foremost?? Have fun w/it. It IS a GAME after all .

Practice, practice and more practice.

I second the Dan Heisman articles and the Chernev book as suggestions.  Also to stop worrying about chess - it's only a game after all! :)

On a side note, I think the advice given in this thread is great and a good example of Chess.com working well as a community.  Play, Learn, Share! 

ericmittens wrote:

I have some tips!

 

1) Stop playing computers, they don't play like humans and will only make you depressed. Enter a tournament here for lower rated players and start enjoying chess life :)

2) Google "Chess tactics server" and start doing tactical exercises.

3) Go buy a beginner book (NOT reassess your chess) like Chernev's "Logical Chess"

 

If you do all of these things and continue to play you will get better and have more fun.

---

 Cant argue with that, and just keep playing regularly.

Till I happened uponed this sight I was trying to learn on chessmaster - now I hear computors are a waste of time, sheesh! Now been spending most my time in chess mentor; realized I hadn't played a game in a month-when I did found it like the first time I played - blind and stupid. Puzzles are fun but don't teach-at least me-to play 

I played only against chessmaster when I first started too, later I learned its so much more fun and educational to play against real people. Chessmaster is worth the money just for the tutorials though, they're way better than any beginner book out there.

Playing computers isn't a complete waste of time though, i have fritz on my laptop and often play it on long bus trips to pass the time. :)

You can't learn all things at once. Focus your attention onto a specific aspect of your game. This stops thing seeming too large or overwhelming. Also, as already mentioned, with openings learn the fundamental ideas, rather than worrying about move order. You could spend a while learning an opening, but if you are playing against folk that are also beginners they probably don't know openings either.

 My biggest problem when starting out was not paying attention to my opponents moves-always think, why did they do that? then, don't assume that they are right, look at there plan and decide if it really is a threat, then respond accordingly.

 The games that I have lost,the ones that really hurt, are the ones that I learnt the most from. Couple peices up and then caught by a backrank mate, oh, surely everyones had that.