Questions from a beginner

I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the basics but there's still something that baffles me. There's 2 things that seem to contradict.

I want to defend my pieces/develop pieces
I don't want to block my pieces
How do I resolve this when I'm considering moves? Bishops give me the most trouble but it also applies to knights and rooks. Apologies if this is a silly question or if it's too open ended. I understand that I don't want to leave anything hanging and I don't want to prevent myself from castling. But I'm feeling lost when it's not that simple

Also how accurate is computer elo compared to human elo? I beat an 800 computer today so is this a good indication of where my actual elo would be?

Noone can really judge anything if you haven't played any games on here.

First the bot Elo’s have little correlation to humans. I think bots in general are terrible chess practice. Play humans, if you are wanting to avoid rated games play unrated. 

As to your question about developing pieces and safety of pieces without blocking your pieces, if your having trouble with it please provide some examples and we can discuss it. 

The contradiction you mentioned often comes down to a matter of opening taste.

Here's the starting position of the Queen's Gambit:

Black's main (and 100% sound) options are:

2...e6 defends d5 and clears the path of the dark-squared bishop, but blocks the light-squared bishop.

2...c6 supports d5, opens up a diagonal for the queen, but prevents the b8-knight from developing the natural way.

2...dxc4 takes a pawn without blocking anything. It doesn't help with black's development, however, and the c4-pawn will likely be won back in a few moves.

There often is more than one good move but no perfect move. Choose what you like and enjoy the game.

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

I'll be happy to answer your questions if you come to my  free online beginner chess class on May 14:  

-You can also ask your questions on my live chess livestream Youtube channel, every Sunday from 1-2pm PST.  

matter of chess principles. But the main idea is to play the center. If you play the center you need both ideas that you mentioned.

I got this,..

#1

"I want to defend my pieces/develop pieces" ++ Yes, that is right.

"I don't want to block my pieces" ++ Yes, that is right too.

"Bishops give me the most trouble" ++ Yes, bishops are more difficult to find good squares for. That is why you should develop your knights before you develop your bishops. A bishop is often useful on its initial square if just a pawn has moved to open its diagonal. Bishops Bf1/Bf8 are usually developed first, so as to prepare O-O. Bc1/Bc8 can often be developed later.

"but it also applies to knights"
++ The natural squares for the knights are f3, c3, f6, c6 where they control 2 of the 4 central squares e4/d4/e5/d5 that is where they usually go, except if you have to play a pawn at c3/f3/c6/f6 to control the corresponding central square d4/e4/d5/e5, then they usually go to d2/e2/d7/e7 where they still control 1 central square e4/d4/e5/d5 and rarely to a3/h3/a6/h6 where they control no central square and must be re-routed to either c2/f2/c7/f7 or c4/f4/c5/f5 to control central square d4/e4/d5/e5 resp. e5/d5/e4/d4.

"and rooks" ++ Rooks should go to open files or to files that will be opening. Most important is to castle, so as to connect the rooks and bring your king to safety.

"I don't want to leave anything hanging" ++ Yes, that is correct: protect everything.

"I don't want to prevent myself from castling" ++ Yes, that is correct.

"Also how accurate is computer elo compared to human elo?"
++ More or less, but the weakened computer often errs in a non human way.

"I beat an 800 computer today so is this a good indication of where my actual elo would be?" ++ Yes, more or less.

Hi, in the opening you want to calculate at least 3-4 moves ahead for 3-4 lines. So 9-16 calculations. That should give you a playable system. Problems always occur when somebody miscalculates, say, an attack on d2 and a bishop or knight is too far away to enter the defense. Things quickly get jumbled and you end up getting checked towards a losing position.

So looking ahead is key to ensuring that enough pieces stay connected to the key squares of the position.

Go to "Master Games" under the "More" tab here and start by looking at the games of the great Paul Morphy. Play through them slowly, asking yourself at each turn why Morphy did what he did, how he improved his position, how he optimally placed his pieces, etc. Then flip the board and play from the other guy's side and ask yourself how he blocked himself in, how he failed to develop, how he overlooked what Morphy was planning, etc. 

One of the surest paths to chess understanding is studying the great games of the past. And, I can assure you, every single strong player--from 1400 up to super-GM--has studied a TON of games. You get nowhere without it. Besides, it's fun.