Queen/Bishop checkmate after castling King-Side defence

Hello, Being new to chess, I would like some advice from a more experienced player about how to defend against Queen/Bishop attacks on my castled king. This usually ends up in checkmate for me or I will lose loads of material. I know there are a couple of weak squares surrounding the castled King itself, was just wondering. Now my rating has improved slightly to around 700, this is happening to me quite alot now.

Thanks again,

Newb.

Specifics would help.  Are we talking attacks on the g7 square?  h7 square?

This is where piece evaluation can be thrown right out the window.  The whole R is worth 5, N is worth 3 stuff is garbage.

A Knight on f6 or a Knight on f8 is worth lightyears more than 3 if it is defending h7 from mate.  So White is going to do anything it can to remove the guard.  Therefore, you are not really guarding h7, you are guarding f6, and if it becomes unstoppable for White to trade for the Knight, even giving up a Rook for that Knight is lethal against you, then you have to think about advancing pawns, like the g-pawn to g6.

The difference between 700 and 1700 is realizing that it's not about individual items, but the big picture.  It's not like it's a battle of Bishop vs Pinned Knight, and Queen vs King is totally separate.  All 32 pieces form the big picture, and White's plan is to remove all guards of h7 and then take on h7 with the queen.  Black's job is to save the guard, block his battery (with say, g6, but that creates other weaknesses), or build a path for the King to run away and use the other pieces to defend each other rather than dropping tons of material.

Chess is not an easy game.

Thanks for the response, Thriller fan. There are a couple of different scenarios with the Queen/Bishop Checkmate, one being the Queen/Bishop pin checkmate, Queen g3 pinning blacks g7 pawn, therefore leaving whites Bishop in safety at h6. White follows Queen g7 checkmate. These are easy ones surely, not for a beginner however, I found bringing the Rook to the the e1 square IMMEDIATELY after casting relieves alot of pressure on the King who is virtually boxed in. I will bear in mind what you said about the knights on f6 and f8 for more protection, and hope someone who is new to the game as well reads this forum and gets some use out of it.

Cheers again.

Dave.