Need some suggestions ideas for after developing

Often my games goes like this game up to move 7

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5926800080

I develop, castle, I like to play mostly defensively. I could start playing bit more aggressively but I think this mostly defensive playstyle should cary me a bit further. 

In this game we somehow end up in a mirror position but this is not always the case. General trend is that I play a bit passive game and my oponent play a bit passive game.

Problem is that I often do mistake like move 8, leaving bishop undefended. Rest of the game is not important I just played random moves.

I try to follow some principles from John Bartholomew videos - as you can see I still make a mistakes with undefended pieces but at least in this game it was a bit out of frustration. I have end up in exactly the same position like in 90% of my games. I have developed my pieces so did my opponent I looked after my pieces so did my opponent. I can't relay on him making mistakes so I can exploit them because at this stage, development, he probably is not going to make any. Usually I make a mistake and I am getting exploited. 

So what am I missing? What would be a good next steps to look for? od is it simply nothing really in this situation just go on and don't do blunders?
 

OK, Cheers. So, again, answer to all the chess problems I have: Tactics, tactics and more tactics  

I am sure this is the right answer but it takes a while to absorb it.

I get one of those books and see what is it all about.

Slow down. You finished with more time than you started. My experience with regularly doing puzzles was that my calculation skills improved, this lead to me being more confident with the pieces, placing them on more exposed but active squares as I could calculate that my opponent could not easily drive them away without creating weaknesses elsewhere. Actively placed pieces creating threats then gives rise to tactical opportunities and a material advantage. It all starts with puzzles which strengthen tactics and calculation skills, the test will come with confidence and experience. Give it time (months).

Another suggestion is play through some annotated GM games aimed at beginners. A good book is Logical chess by Irving Chernev. Every move is explained. It will help you learn about good squares for your pieces and teach you some basic positional ideas and how tactics appear and are used. I find it instructive to see how strong players create and exploit weaknesses. It's good to find a target. Something to build a plan around.

MarkGrubb's last word--"Something to build a plan around"--is the key. Find a weakness in your opponent's position (or create one). Then thoughts such as "his white-squared bishop is stuck on the queenside so I can occupy or control white squares around his king", or "he left the black squares unprotected so I should open a diagonal for my bishop and   queen, maybe find a way to post a knight on a weak black square", or "I can advance and trade a pawn or two to leave my opponent with a weak pawn that I can gang-up on to tie his pieces down on defense and gain a spatial advantage". I think it was Tartakower wh quipped "A bad plan is better than no plan", but most chess instructors agree. Many, many past teachers have written books showing how to choose and execute plans--Tarrasch, Reti, Nimzovich, Pachman, Euwe, and too many more to list. Tactics remain paramount, but choosing when, where and how to exploit your tactical chances is essential.

LOL. I had a similar experience. I can still remember the game. I'd seen how players attacked backward pawns and read that you should do this as it forces your opponent to defend, but I didn't really get it and just figured at best we would trade off a bunch of equal material and I'd go a pawn up. Big deal. I had the opportunity in a game so tried it anyway, and yes my opponent just defended but wow, I felt the pressure lift off my position. I also read to hold the tension and improve your pieces so I did that too. I learned a lot in that game. I think I lost but I was really pleased with my play.

This article recommends books that address play beyond the opening...for the improving chess amateur...

Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy

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The answer here is tactics and time management.

The more tactical puzzles you do, the more your brain is trained to assess threats and opportunities, and the less likely you are to blunder or hang whole pieces.

If you watch JB, you'll also know he says in his very first Fundamentals video - that it's very hard for a chess player to progress, until he or she gets a handle on their undefended pieces. This should be your number one priority first, before looking at strategy, endgames, openings, etc.

The best way to minimise blunders is by recognising them first, doing tactics and taking your time before each move. 

You said "I defended my pieces, so did my opponent"... except, you already aknowledged that you didnt defend your pieces. It only takes one lapse in concentration, you can play 7 moves perfectly, but if you blunder a piece on move 8, the game is virtually over. Consistency is key, and tactics training will help with your ability to assess moves more consistently, and definitely watch the Undefended pieces video from John Bartholomew on youtube if you haven't already watched it. 

Thank you for writing this up. Solid advice. I have heard some of it before, maybe those need to be repeated few more times. I am OK with losing and making mistakes what i don't like is to look at the board after just a few moves and not having any clue about what to do. I will check those book suggestions and pick couple. It was good to be reminded that it will take some time.

Just stay with it and analyze your losses.....Re-watch the J.B. videos,since at your level,it doesn't sink in as fast....Obviously a good book or 2 helps.The tactics on this site are fantastic and doing the lessons are fun as well.

Believe me,if you really like chess and simply play and try to learn,you'll definitely get better....as time goes on.

P.S.

The Complete Idiot's Guide To Chess is a fantastic book....I loved it,not that I'm a great player,but rose up from 430 in 10 minute games over time.

Slow and easy wins the race....Good luck!

What he said, but remember that people are perfectly fine trading pieces when they're up, so if your down by 3 or more, I try to not trade.

When you don't know what to play in your turn do THIS.

 

Look for checks or threats.

Look to improve your worst placed piece.

Take the initiative .

When you are up by material,trade all the pieces and at the end you will have an advantage.

You need to learn the concept of attacking. Playing defensively is okay, but you can let your opponent equalize and will develop bad habits of not attacking when you have a better position, as you can lose any advantage you had. I think you would benefit more playing a normal e4/e5 game with Nf3, creating a threat (Italian, Scotch, Ruy Lopez). Attacking doesn´t mean winning pieces/pawns right away or in few turns, it is creating threats that your opponent has to react to, and can lead to a position that could win you material. You are misunderstanding playing positionally to playing defensively, attacking is always needed to win a chess game, what you are trying to do is play positionally rather than tactically, as your ´´defensive´´ play is giving your opponent better positions. You don´t need to defend if your opponent isn´t attacking you.

This is why you don´t know what to do after developing, because you are playing defensively and don´t have a clear plan to attack. As white, you have the initiative, so you need to understand you are on the attack instead of letting him equalize. Obviously at that level, wins come from blunders each side makes and how well the players take advantage of it. So start creating threats (ones you can follow up or maintain, not one that can force you back with a simple pawn push or can backfire with tactics), developing with a purpose (for example, you played Ne2 on move 4 on that game, a defensive move to a non existent attack, blocking your own Queen who could have used that square or your own bishop who could retreat there if needed, Nf3 was the correct move, putting an attacker on the e5 pawn and having a more active knight on the center.) , double checking your moves so that you don´t hang any pieces (what is the purpose of my move, what weakness is it creating for me, was that piece defending something?) and try to see if a trade helps your position or his position (bad piece vs good piece, I´m I helping him develop if I take, will I ruin or fix his pawn structure, etc). Playing longer time controls helps with this as well, 15+10 is the minimum to learn I think. And as everyone says, tactics tactics tactics.

Well, once a foundational tactical awareness is there - the next thing you want to do is “improve your position”. There’s a saying that tactics flow from superior positions.

So, common questions once you are all out of development moves and tactics is to come up with a plan. A basic plan without seeing any position is - are there any tactics I can execute or at least set up? Do I have any weaknesses I need to protect in my own position? What is my worst placed piece? (Normally a rook starting behind a pawn, or a bishop blocked my another piece) - how can I improve this piece, where can I move it to, or what piece/pawn can I move so that it frees up my other piece in order to improve it, etc.

My first thought is that if you're getting frustrated on move 8 and dropping a piece because there's not much to do, then that's an issue of mindset. You always need to be ready for the fact that it's potentially going to be a long grind. At that point, it was clear that the opponent hadn't done anything horrendously wrong, so blowing him off the board in short order wasn't going to happen (given his rating it might have done, but play the position first).

 

Also this way of developing is a bit dry, you can try leaving your N on b1 for now and playing c2-c3 and d2-d4 (sometimes you need to put the pawn on d3 first and go d4 later) but these plans are of course best if your own N is on f3, putting it on e2 doesn't make much sense there.

 

I have only skimmed the previous responses so apologies if I have duplicated any advice already given.

 You made that 8th move in 2 seconds. I am not seeing a lack of confidence in your moves as the issue. Why are you just making random moves? You had access to over 15 minutes of time on your side when we include the increment to think of ideas. With that time you could have come up with some kind of idea of what you might want to do. It doesn't have to be a great idea, you're making it up as you go, but you will have some kind of plan, whether it's ideal or subpar, and you can play to it. 

Whether you will have an opportunity yet or not has more to do with your opponent's mistakes than anything you do. You just need to be patient. Look fort chances, if you don't see any, improve your position. Look for safe moves that apply pressure that might encourage them to make a mistake in trying to deal with it. Once they slip up, exploit it.

The whole purpose of tactics is giving you additional tools to spot mistakes. They may hang a piece in 1 move, but a tactical idea may show you how they gave you a piece in 2, etc. 

If you are coming up with the same position in 90% of your games, that is an excellent opportunity to practice ideas out, see what works. If one plan was subpar the last time you were in that position, try a new one. If a plan worked out and you saw no real flaws in it, try it again, see if it holds up. It's a learning experience.

I would like to thank you for a continuous advice that is keep on coming here. I am going through every post and I try to make some mental notes. I am sure that some of those will stick and I will see some improvement. 

I would play more rapid chess to think more about your moves

one thing my chess coach keeps telling me (even when i think i am seeing things well enough)

always be aware of opponents threats and play longer games

going over your games afterwards thoroughly and with an objective mindset is where you will really begin to improve

replay the games and makes notes for each move- why did you play this move? were there any better moves? what were your opponent’s threats?

at lower levels most games are total slash and burn fests with both players often seeing “ghosts”- an attacker sees things that dont exist or a defender see an attack that doesnt exist

a simple attack is often ignored/countered poorly and pretty soon complete mayhem ensues

in the game listed you pushed the pawn and basically- forked yourself

then i looked at your time and you only used 40 seconds in the whole game

instead of playing another game go over this one and give reasons why you pushed the pawn that lost a piece

if no one noticed take note of this (i didnt look after that move)- players often dont see threats or take advantage

games and positions can collapse in an instant and if you dont understand the position then it is hard to avoid all the pitfalls