366 Elo Beginner, started playing this week and only losing

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NegativeElo2023

I've watched the first couple courses after I've bought a diamond membership to not just jump right into play before knowing anything and have watched a lot of youtube videos that are recommended for beginners. I try to not blunder my pieces and think atleast 2 moves ahead (my brain is not capable of more, I was also very bad at logical thinking and maths as far as I can remember) and to try to defend my pieces when getting attacked. I'm never able to attack my opponent maybe because I can't think far ahead into the future (because I'm just dumb). I did the puzzle challenge til 850, did some solo chess and practiced endgames (although I never get to the endgame anyways so it's kinda pointless) and I always go into the analysis section after I win or lose a game to see where I did mistakes. So now after over a 100 games of alternating 10 and 20 min games (20 min games seem to be unbalanced and I often get matched against 1000+ elo players and lose horribly) so I sticked to 10 min games for now so I can atleast get opponents that are at a similar skill level as me. I know maybe playing better opponents would make me learn quicker but I also don't want to have a 10% winrate doing so, it isn't fun that way.

Not sure what I'm supposed to do to improve tbh

justbefair
NegativeElo2023 wrote:

I've watched the first couple courses after I've bought a diamond membership to not just jump right into play before knowing anything and have watched a lot of youtube videos that are recommended for beginners. I try to not blunder my pieces and think atleast 2 moves ahead (my brain is not capable of more, I was also very bad at logical thinking and maths as far as I can remember) and to try to defend my pieces when getting attacked. I'm never able to attack my opponent maybe because I can't think far ahead into the future (because I'm just dumb). I did the puzzle challenge til 850, did some solo chess and practiced endgames (although I never get to the endgame anyways so it's kinda pointless) and I always go into the analysis section after I win or lose a game to see where I did mistakes. So now after over a 100 games of alternating 10 and 20 min games (20 min games seem to be unbalanced and I often get matched against 1000+ elo players and lose horribly) so I sticked to 10 min games for now so I can atleast get opponents that are at a similar skill level as me. I know maybe playing better opponents would make me learn quicker but I also don't want to have a 10% winrate doing so, it isn't fun that way.

Not sure what I'm supposed to do to improve tbh

You are doing fine. Nobody masters chess in three days.

One suggestion-- don't resign in positions like this:

 

 

Why would you resign here?

NegativeElo2023

Because I was tilted and he just took my pawn and there was nothing I could do about it. I also have depression so sometimes losing a piece just makes me feel bad and I resign. Also seems like my brain just turns off, I just drew a game with 32 points of material up against just a king with queen, 2 rooks, a lot of pawns and bishops

justbefair

You had better development than your opponent, who was mostly using his queen.

You could have protected your rook and you might have lost another pawn, but you had a lot of good things going on.

NegativeElo2023

That's mostly the only thing I focus on, my development is mostly not that bad I think but I never know what to do with it

mpaetz

     Realize that chess is VERY difficult to master. Most of us never become strong masters. This very difficulty and complexity is one of the things that make chess fascinating. If you are finding the game interesting and entertaining, just keep playing and learning. The more games you lose, the more different features you will understand. 

     It may help you to get a chess book aimed at beginners. The "For Beginners" section here in chess.com Forums has a lot of threads that list many such works--Russ Bell's comments has links to a long list of possibilities. My own recommendation is Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's classic "Die Moderne Schachpartie", which starts with the simplest positions and adds layers of complexity. (Be sure to get the algebraic edition.)

EKAFC

Never resign at your level. Even if they have forced mate, they is a good chance that they won't do it because they don't recognize it. I blundered every game when I was at your level. By analyzing afterwards, I was able to see my mistakes and learn from them. 

 

I highly recommend you do puzzles to sharpen your tactics and find good moves. Online puzzles are ok but they are better when you get them from a book, especially when it comes to calculating because we don't always play the best moves. I highly recommend reading some of the books for free here which have some puzzle books, strategy books, endgames books, and my for you "Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess". 

DreamscapeHorizons

If ur already playing 10 and 20 minutes just add a 5 second increment to it. Maybe 15 + 5. Join a local live chess club if one is near u. That's real over the board in person games. Do tactics at low level first. Learn very basic endgames, king and pawn vs king, mate with 2 rooks, mate with k and q vs lone king, etc. Play a lot with other beginners, I'm guessing there must be clubs for beginners on this site. Post some of ur slow games on here periodically and try ur best to explain WHY ur choosing ur moves. It's ok if ur wrong, just the act of explaining them gets u in the habit of putting some effort into the thoughts. Others on here will help u analyse when u post ur games. 

pfren
NegativeElo2023 wrote:

Because I was tilted and he just took my pawn and there was nothing I could do about it. I also have depression so sometimes losing a piece just makes me feel bad and I resign. Also seems like my brain just turns off, I just drew a game with 32 points of material up against just a king with queen, 2 rooks, a lot of pawns and bishops

 

Understandable, but in this game Black has a clear advantage: For a measly pawn he has a significant advantage in development, white's pieces cannot develop freely and his queen is in an awkward position.

And about the beginner's losing streak: a friend of mine, GM since many years ago, had a perfect score of zero points out of thirteen at his first OTB tournament.

laurengoodkindchess

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber based in California: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q

 

First of all, never resign in your games because your opponent can make a silly mistake(s) that can cost him/her the game.  

I have tips and resources to help you improve your chess skills so you can win more games.  

-I  offer a  free beginner’s free eBook on my website, in case you are interested. The book is about asking questions before each move.  

-Learn basic tactics such as the fork, discovered attack, pin, and more.  I offer interactive puzzles on my website:  

-If you are serious about chess, I highly recommend you hiring a chess coach to help you.  

-Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side. Always as, “If I move here, where is my opponent going to move?”

-Play with a slow time control, such as G/30 so you have plenty of time to think before every move. 

I hope that this helps.  

EKAFC
laurengoodkindchess wrote:

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber based in California: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q

 

First of all, never resign in your games because your opponent can make a silly mistake(s) that can cost him/her the game.  

I have tips and resources to help you improve your chess skills so you can win more games.  

-I  offer a  free beginner’s free eBook on my website, in case you are interested. The book is about asking questions before each move.  

-Learn basic tactics such as the fork, discovered attack, pin, and more.  I offer interactive puzzles on my website:  

-If you are serious about chess, I highly recommend you hiring a chess coach to help you.  

-Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side. Always as, “If I move here, where is my opponent going to move?”

-Play with a slow time control, such as G/30 so you have plenty of time to think before every move. 

I hope that this helps.  

Also check out her books. They are up to date and she makes them beginner friendly

Scarwrld

It's going to take time to learn chess. "Every chess master was once a beginner". My advice would be to not even worry about bullet and rapid. Play 30-minute games. You can even create a custom challenge and filter out people who are too high of a rating. Take some time and watch videos on openings and instead of just following them try and make sense of why the moves are what they are. When your opponent moves don't move right away. Ask yourself WHY did they move like that, what is their plan with that move. Eventually, you'll be thinking a few moves in advance. At a point in time, I was the lowest elo rating possible, 100 rating. I've worked my way out of that slump and am up to 700. Chess is a very in-depth game and it's just going to take time to get a hang of it.

AvroVanquish

Here is what I did :-

  • Watched a lot of Youtube content. Mainly John Bartholomew chess fundamentals, Chess Network's Beginners to chess master playlist, and the games where master explains his thought process. 
  • Did a lot of tactics. It helps improving your pattern recognition, which is the most important thing in chess. 
  • Understood how to defend against early Queen attacks ( They were very annoying back in the day).
  • I had several training partners which was helpful as it helped me to stay motivated. You can find as well here on chess.com anyone.

Hope it helps. 

PS:- Played against a lot of strong opponents, that too in longer time format. 

DianaMatiushcenko

You will learn much more from loses than wins, you will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player (average club player). Its natural. You yourself must learn to master your emotions and dont be influenced by anger.

And when you lose, dont lose the lesson! grin.png

Best of luck.

IMKeto

Playing a bunch of speed chess is not how you improve. 

It wont matter how many videos you watch, or how many lessons you do.  You're not going to improve.  You cannot implement what you are trying to learn when you're moving fast.  You're not giving yourself time to think.

Are you doing your own analysis?  

And no, you're not thinking 2 moves ahead based on your games.