New to Online Chess and A Beginner

Hello everyone!

I've been playing chess when I was a kid but that was more than 30 years ago. 

I still consider myself as a beginner and I know a few basic openings like Queen's Gambit, Ruy Lopez, and a few other openings which I have forgotten the names. I started with the old notation like King's Knight 1 to King's Bishop 3, KN1-KB3.

I have a few questions and I hope you can answer them:

1. How do I upload my game? If let's say I want to know your thoughts about a certain move, how do I do that here?

2. How do I go straight to this forum where I don't have to click the link given to me to join a club? From the Android application, there's "forum" but if I click it, I can just read and reply but I can't quote someone.

3. What's the purpose of a club? Someone invited me to join but I don't know what to do over there. I asked the same question but I didn't get any response, or rather, they responded but my question wasn't answered. It's Pokemon fan club or pokemane.

4. What are "friends"? What does it do? I've read a few posts and asking that they join as "friends".

5. What are these points for? I've read somewhere that it helps you to get a good match. One thing I don't understand is that I started at 800 points but I recently saw a post that a certain player is around 600 - 700 points. Am I suppose to start at a lower rating? I don't know what I did that I was given 800 points.

6. How do I improve my time? I mean, I make my moves very slow and that's the reason why I always lose. I've won all of my games because my opponents have committed a lot of mistakes and blunders more than I had. I consider my wins as more of "fortunate coincidence".

Thank you and sorry for a long post.

Okay, so I cannot answer all your questions, but I'll answer the ones I know the answer to.

"1. How do I upload my game? If let's say I want to know your thoughts about a certain move, how do I do that here?" (sic)

Check out this support article, it has all the steps mentioned~ https://support.chess.com/article/316-how-do-i-put-a-game-or-puzzle-in-a-forum-post

"2. How do I go straight to this forum where I don't have to click the link given to me to join a club? From the Android application, there's "forum" but if I click it, I can just read and reply but I can't quote someone." (sic)

Yes, the android app does not have the feature to land onto a forum/thread directly. The website has all the features though, so I will recommend using the site to access all the features.

"4. What are "friends"? What does it do? I've read a few posts and asking that they join as "friends". (sic)

Adding someone to your friends' list just makes it easier for you to challenge them for a game. You might also be able to chat with them after you have become friends as you cannot message some members before friending them; it just depends on their settings.

'5. What are these points for? I've read somewhere that it helps you to get a good match. One thing I don't understand is that I started at 800 points but I recently saw a post that a certain player is around 600 - 700 points. Am I suppose to start at a lower rating? I don't know what I did that I was given 800 points.' (sic)

To understand what chess ratings are just go through these two articles~

https://www.chess.com/terms/chess-ratings

https://support.chess.com/article/210-how-do-ratings-work-on-chess-com 

@Abhinav0121 Thank you! I will check those links later. I thought I was missing something with the Android app regarding the forum. Thanks again.

I saw that you answered in that other post, so I came here. I will try to answer to the best of my ability.

1) On top of a sheet where you type the message, there are a few small icons. The first one is a miniature chessboard. Click on that and you have several options to choose from. First one is a direct link to the game, second is pgn file etc.

2) I don't use the app, so someone else is a better source for this.

3) Clubs can have different purposes. some are strictly social clubs where you can discuss some common interest, others can be for learning. In some cases clubs will play league matches against other clubs, they will organize club tournaments, etc.

4) Chess.com is a social platform. Friends are like friends on Facebook for instance. In this case you will see if some of them opens up a topic on the forum, or create a blog and things like that. Along with this, you can challenge them for a game if you wish.

5) Purpose of a rating (for instance 800 rapid rating) is to match you with players roughly your strength (you can change the rating range you wish to play against in settings - live chess). In the beginning you rating will fluctuate a lot.

6) I love longer games. For improvement it is better to play those type of games. 15|10 (15 minutes with 10 seconds increment on every move) should be the shortest game someone play for improvement. Some people can play faster but most of us need to think a bit more to improve our game. I prefer 1 hour per side, but 15|10 will do if you don't have the time.

Thank you. I just discovered that "blitz" and "bullet" are fast paced games. I don't think I can learn much if I'll be playing that kind of game. The games I've played so far are all 10 minutes but I have no idea about increments. I just clicked "play" and I was given a random player.

No problem, Yeah, blitz and bullet is too fast for improvement, and in most cases 10 minute games are also too fast, although there are some exceptions.

It seems like you are recommending that I play for 15 minutes. I think it's possible for me as I won't be busy with work this whole week. By the way, I already have a friend! However, I think he is a new player. I mean, he's not yet as good as a beginner like me, basing from one of he's recent games. What I plan to do is play with that guy with a lesser piece. I don't know if that's possible here. I'm thinking that it might also improve my game as I practice that way, aside from playing everyday or every other day with any random player. Once I feel confident, let's play! 😀

How silly of me to missed your recommendation regarding time. You already mentioned that at least I should do 15 minutes. 😀

Yeah, because 10 seconds increment makes a difference, and it is in fact substantially longer game when compared to 10 minutes per side.