what am I supposed to be playing?

I’m just starting. I’m doing all the lessons. Trying to understand what I’m reading in the forums. And everywhere I read I’m supposed to be playing every day. So I press the start game button. I don’t want to play in competitions. I’m not here to slap clocks. I want to learn how to play my friends and not make a fool of myself. I am whatever chess people call a filthy casual.

Is there some hidden lessons somewhere where I’m supposed to know what 10 minute means with a stopwatch. I just lost my first game to time? I don’t know what that means. It’s very frustrating. How do I play same time(?) style of game that I’m playing against the bots, but against people?

People who want to play untimed chess (like you can play against bots) would probably like daily chess. Daily has a minimum time limit of one day per move and can go as long as two weeks per move. Many people move much more rapidly than the time control though some do take their full allotted time.

The problem with slower time controls than 10 0 or 15 10 in live chess is that you never really know if your opponent is thinking or has gone off to do something else. Daily solves that problem. You can observe the rhythm set in your game and keep it going if you want. If you need a break, you can take it.

You’ll be fine

Hi there

This seems reasonable. Thank you for your reply. It seems too early for me to be worrying about speed. But I'm probably wrong? Is there somewhere I can read up on these different styles of timed chess? I blunder a lot in chess, so it's quite possible I'm blundering this site.

@MrWigglesnorts -

Time Controls - Everything You Wanted To Know...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/time-controls-everything-you-wanted-to-know

Also go to the main HELP menu and type the following question. It will respond with instructions on how to select games with specific time controls....

"How do time controls work on Chess.com?"

Note also that for "Daily" chess, the players can make their moves as quickly as they like. There is no restriction or limit on how fast you may move as long as you don't violate (take longer than) the daily time control. So a player and opponent can choose a daily time control, but play the game quickly (much faster than the daily time limit) if they so choose. Of course that then begs the question of whether one can find opponents who are willing to play a quick game under a daily time control.

You might also find something of interest here...

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

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

Play 15|10. It is the official rapid time control like for the Rapid World Championship.
Thanks to the increment you always have 10 s/move to win a won position or draw a drawn position.

I quickly made a decision to stick to Daily (I was worried about timing out and being penalised as an annoying player, but I also saw Daily recommended for beginners' improvement), at least for the time being. If it's too slow, you can add another. Some people have an immense number of Daily games going on, which I find baffling as a beginner, but I was surprised to find I could do 3 pretty comfortably. I try to have 1 with a significantly higher ELO, 1 only a bit higher, and 1 about the same so I'm aiming upwards (another recommendation I saw a lot) on average.

Uh, usually, that is. I haven't started any new games recently because my parents are visiting soon: on the off chance that you take at look at how many games I'm currently playing.

Daily Chess on Chess.com….

For "Daily" games (aka correspondence, online, turn-based chess) you can use and study books, articles, databases (e.g., opening explorers, game collections - online or offline), and videos, DVDs etc. - i.e., passive resources. What is not allowed is to use a computer/chess engine to calculate the move of a game you are currently playing, or to employ the aid of humans for the purpose of determining your moves in a game in progress. So, no computer calculation of your moves and no human assistance, for any game you are currently playing (whether Live or Daily). Otherwise you are free to make use of passive resources when playing "Daily" chess.

The case for "Daily" chess vs "Rapid" chess...

https://www.chess.com/article/view/longer-time-controls-are-more-instructive

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/how-blitz-and-bullet-rotted-my-brain-don-t-let-it-rot-yours

Consider that regardless of whether or not you are using legal resources in Daily chess, your opponents may be using them....(this is why is has been made legal).

Note also that for "Daily" chess, the players can make their moves as quickly as they like. There is no restriction on how fast you may move as long as you don't violate (take longer to move than) the Daily time control. So a player and opponent can choose a Daily time control, but play the game quickly if they like. Of course this begs the question of whether one can find opponents who are willing to play a quick game under a Daily time control.

Play unrated or long-time controls.