I can't win as black!!!

it seems like almost all the videos and discussion is from the white perspective. is there a book, video, or other lesson somewhere that centers around black? I think I'm blowing it in the opening. and furthermore, the few games I've won were because the other person was black and had the same problems.

 

I have ordered used volumes of "mastering the chess openings" by Watson but they haven't arrived yet. It seems like I don't open well and lose a piece right away, then I'm totally on the defense until I finally lose so many pieces or I'm mercifully mated. how can I be better at black? Is this part of the beginner learning curve?

Should you be studying tactics, endgames then middlegames first before openings? i think you're looking at this the wrong way

Nothing unusual about your games.  Youre a beginner, and your losing to simple tactics, hanging pieces, etc. 

Follow the Opening Principles:

Control the center

Develop towards the center

Castle

Connect your rooks

Study tactics

Before making a move, check it again to make sure its not hanging anything

I do the tactics puzzles and although I'm getting just a tad better, they are too simple to help me at my games. By this I mean they don't include enough moves to help with my foreplan.

 

I have joined another site called "chess tempo" which have more complicated puzzles. I'm hoping that will help and not bring my rating down here. I don't play computers anymore, that has only served to enforce bad habits because of the ability to take back bad moves.

 

My first several losses here were because of my careless blundering. Plus, computers play different. I would rather lose to real people. It just seems like I start out losing when I'm black. That's why I thought I would concentrate on openings. I haven't seen much on "middlegame" and I can hardly make it to endgame. A couple of my "wins" were because my opponent just quit for some reason, even with plenty of moves left. Hollow victories.

Sorry about my run on posts, for some reason my phone doesn't register paragraphs. I fixed it on my surface. :)

You arent getting it, but i do wish you luck!

If you lose a piece right away, then that's not an opening problem, it's a tactical vision problem that you're having.

There are thousands of books, videos and lessons on playing as black. It's a mental thing. I used to feel like that. That as black I was at a disadvantage. Keep playing. Eventually you get over it and playing black is just part of the game.... I would suggest buying a membership and hitting the Tactics Trainer and Chess Mentor hard. Also, try very hard to not move any piece twice before moving every piece once unless there is a tactic. Dan Heismanism. :) Once you can get your pieces developed quickly, learn to castle quickly, and stop hanging pieces(I still do this sometimes) playing black will be of no concern. Good luck. Peace

I have a membership.   I have spent some time on tactics trainer. I find that I start out OK but if I keep going I actually get worse for some reason. I like the tactics on the chess tempo site as well because, like I said, the are a little more complex. I havn't been a member there long.

I haven't been a member here long either, I didn't really know this existed until recently. I don't know anyone that plays chess anymore that's why I've only played computers and my electronic chess set.

I do castle quickly but it doesn't seem to help when I'm black.

I'm not sure I'm using chess mentor to its full potential. I've done some "lessons" but there seems to be courses and other things that seem to be duplicates of what I've done.

 

Thanks everyone for all the tips by the way. I know I'm too old to be a master, but I like chess and would like to improve. I'm realistic about my goals. I might try to find a local club if I get to the point where I'm not just shoving pieces around the board.

Well how old are you? Maybe you're not too old to be a master. But regardless, don't worry about openings until you umderstand basic tactics

Diakonia wrote:

"...

Follow the Opening Principles:

...

Study tactics

..."

Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro

http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html

does include some discussion of opening principles, but perhaps mcostan would be better off with a book like Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

Perhaps the new book, Basic Chess Openings for Kids by Charles Hertan, has approximately the same sort of intent.

For tactics, there are, of course, many possibilities such as Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf

mcostan follow this link if you like its to a chess.com team dedicated to winning as black , if you join just ask team , hope this helps , it did for me

http://www.chess.com/chessgroups?keyword=back+in+black

Keep hammering away at Tactics Trainer. It gets easier. I turn off "timed" on it. Open TT when I'm watching TV and do the tactics during commercials. :)

Wow that link had some really useful info! I think I see some of the things I've been doing wrong. Thanks!

Pick one opening as black and play it over and over. The French for example. Watch videos on what the objectives might be. The pros and cons of the opening ( of which ever one you choose). Try to understand it from White's position. At the level I play so I would prefer to play as white against the Sicilian than the French as most 1300 to 1400 players ( like myself) know about six moves of the Sicilian then they are ate all over the place. I have always found my castles King weaker as black than white. Part of that is the F7 square. Understand that. How to deal with it game after game. The French nullifies that problem but creates others of course. Hell, try the Latvian Gambit for a while. Not a great opening against an equal or stronger player but can show you the weak aspects of black, put you in tight situations and force you to get out and maybe surprise your opponent. Good luck.

There are many video lessons about the french, sicilian, caro etc. I have lots of books for black openings, as well as white.

i dont know but may be your mind is bias may be? like racism you know. I dont know but may be its true.

If you are losing a piece right away , is it happening only when you play black ? Or does it happen also when you play white ? Usually this happens irrespective of the color . Ultimately the difference between black and white is just one move and this difference matters at higher levels ; not so much at beginner level .

Simon Williams, among others has several video lessons on openings for black. Check them out under the video lessons tab. They helped me a lot.