i'm hopless

I'm very bad at chess and i don't know how to get better. its embarrassing but i have a rating on the site of less than 400 and I'm just not sure if i will ever improve. I'll listen to any advice. mid game i get so lost.     

My advice is to keep practising. don't worry about your rating - just keep practising - regularly! You will definitely improve. Good luck!

I would actually recommend that instead of practicing, you should read up on some opening theory before continuing! 

I looked at some of your games that you lost and the biggest issue that I can see is that you arent playing with opening theory in mind. In the first 10-15 moves of the game, your primary objective should be the following

- Control the center of the board

- Develop your pieces so that all your major and minor pieces are active and "doing something"

- Get your king to safety by castling

Youre losing in the mid game because your opening puts you at a disadvantage, youre fighting an uphill battle when you dont need to be! 

Haha pog man really nice YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS miam zoulou

This is why chess forums are insanely toxic lol 

If you watch a single one of his games you'd see that he isn't trying to control the center. 

Practicing and practicing and practicing without any direction isn't going to help someone who's just started testing the water with chess

Just analyzed one of your most recent games 

This is exactly why you don't listen to 1100s about how to improve. They give you garbage like this. You will NEVER improve if you focus on opening theory. It's almost amusing that this guy thinks that is what will help a sub 400 player.

these forums are so toxic lol its a wonder why anyone would use this website

thank you for the effort and information!

play more games, and do some tactics.

Hey man it’s not embarrassing, because we’re all chess fans and it doesn’t matter. If you focus on playing games, giving yourself ample time to think, and after the games, trying to understand a bit of what was going on, you’ll improve. Pay particular attention to the times when you’re leaving pieces undefended for the opponent to take for free, try to think about why you didn’t see it, and make a mental note to be more on guard next time. If you can take one mini-lesson away from each game you’ll definitely improve (and then at that time you can think more about higher level advice such as controlling the centre etc).

But do whatever you find fun and let the improvement come without worrying about it. 

My apologies for thinking center control was such an early concept, I only started playing a year ago and started at about 700 or so and I was taught opening theory very very early on.

However, I think that flaunting your rating or putting others down for theirs exemplifies the egotistical chess nerd stereotype and not only makes you look like a jerk but also makes others want to play chess less. JamesColeman put it in a good way without being rude in any way and promoted the fun of the game. 

But learning opening theory and not knowing how to convert advantage is not exactly a solution either.

For his rapid rating of 410, he has to experiment a little first, to familiarise himself with the pieces and the board. After a certain level is attained, he can then proceed to understand some short opening knowledge, some middlegame basic tactics and some endgame conversion techniques.

A good plan for the time being is to avoid as many hanging pieces of your own as possible whilst looking out for your opponent's hanging pieces. This is easier said than done and it does not work all the time, but at your level these are often major factors to the game. At each position, observe carefully whether a piece is another piece. And some moves are sneakier than others, so always pay attention to the surroundings.

Well, different players learn chess differently, and I am sure you have racked up vast opening knowledge as you learnt it during your initial months of playing chess.

I learnt the most basic of chess moves last time when my father taught me how to make moves. I then proceeded on my own afterwards, without understanding much on opening theory at all. I only knew how to move a pawn to h4 followed by my h1 rook to h3, hoping that it did not get captured by the c8 bishop.

I always get defeated and defeated over and over again, but when I gained experience through my losses and finally conjured my first tactic to win a game, I felt the satisfaction. My first successful rook sacrifice gave me that belief that losing a piece for another of a lower value did not necessarily mean a loss. And so on.

Although I did not learn chess in the most optimal way, I knew that I had learnt chess in the most entertaining way possible for myself. I made it fun through experience than to study chess (I eventually read up some basic books along the way).

Of course, that was many years ago. But for a player who only starts out learning chess, a mix of guidance and "free play" in fair proportions would equip the player with the experience and the knowledge to improve game play.

Hi hopless