feeling frustrated about chess

People say doing chess puzzle helps, but I nearly never correctly solve a chess puzzle without hints...

and my elo rating is still terrible.

Watch ChessNetwork on YouTube, beginner to chess master playlist.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber who helps beginners out : 

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

Sorry to hear that you are frustrated.  Doing puzzles is important, but it's not enough.  

Here’s some more  ideas to help you get better.  

-I recommend two books for you: “50 Poison Pieces”   and “Queen For A Day: The Girl’s Guide To Chess Mastery.”  Both books are available on Amazon.com.  Both books are endorsed by chess masters!  

-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?”. Do this for every single move!  

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

-You are welcome to come to my free online beginner chess class on April 9: https://www.chessbylauren.com/blog/OnlinechessclassApril9

For each and every tactics (puzzle) problem you try, you need to see and learn what errors you are making (use the engine), what forcing moves you keep overlooking (checks, captures, and targeted attack on each of your opponent’s pieces), what responses you are missing from your opponent (checks, captures, and targeted attacks on each of your pieces), and what moves by your opponent you were afraid of when you first tried to solve the problem, but shouldn’t have been (the engine will help you sort through these, also). Do several of these problems in this manner every day or at least 4 days per week for 2-3 years, then see where you are and re-assess. Include defensive tactics (you trying to prevent your opponent from unleashing a tactic upon you).

If you feel frustrated about a game, then you have lost the plot entirely.

It is just a game, an overrated game.  Play for enjoyment and have fun with it, don’t take it seriously like the incels do.

Because you are a positional player not a tactical player.

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

Cannot agree more with #5. If you want to get anywhere near what people on here call 'good', or even just 'not a beginner', then prepare to dedicate years of your life to learning chess. If you're not prepared to do that, then don't bother in the first place. And IMO, if you don't have the patience like I do, Bullet chess is a lot of fun. I don't get annoyed at losses in Bullet compared with longer formats.

You also may find looking at the Master Games section here. Pick a player and his game and then try to determine the move of each player before they make it. Then look at the move and see why they made it. Sort of like a free lesson from Morphy, et al.

#9 That is only gonna give negative results for those with ratings as low as OP's. Telling him/her to study master games is like teaching general relativity to a toddler who can barely read and write. Keep it simple, stick to opening principles and avoid big blunders. Only when those notions are nailed down should you start considering openings, master games and more advanced things to encourage further improvement.

Hi! Don't worry about improving, just play for fun! You'll feel much happier and relaxed and will improve too!

Chess puzzles are okay but I feel they're an artificial environment where you know there's a winning move (typically -- sometimes it's just taking a piece or defending an attack).  So one can do fairly well at puzzles just recklessly sacrificing pieces, which won't work in real games.

 

I feel frustrated for every time I try to solve puzzles, I am virtually wrong.

Someone in this thread said I am a positional player, what is the critical difference?

 

This means nothing actually. Someone who cannot calculate a simple 2 move deep line  could descibe himself as such, but a good player always is a blend of tactical AND positional skill.

Try doing the unrated puzzles, turn the settings down to an easier level that's more comfortable for you and even do each individual theme one by one. That way at least you have some idea what you're looking for whether it be winning material, mate in three, a windmill attack etc. It can also help if you repeat them a few times even if you've solved them just to get those patterns burned into your brain. 

Then gradually turn the difficulty up as you go. Also have fun and don't get to hung up on your rating.

The thing is you have to be willing to spend as long as it takes to solve and analyse a puzzle, even if it takes over 10 minutes. 

That is a very good way to put it, as you become a better player you start to understand where certain pieces belong and how to play with a positional and tactical touch.

It is worth checking opkkv's puzzle page.

https://www.chess.com/stats/puzzles/opkkv

His record is to make a (wrong) move in 1 second (!!!), but the average time he spends "thinking" is like 5 seconds.

I really have no words.

That wasn't his point at all.