What should I do?

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JellyLeafy
Note: (This post is kinda long...)

Also looking a bit online, I’ve also realized and learnt that is perfectly fine to start out how I am since I am very new and I don’t even have a lot of games (probably only around 7 games?) so saying “I’m bad” May be true, but is simply also not accurate or it’s kinda unfair as I am not playing that much?

I guess a made up situation I can think of, is as if you took someone, say a stranger or friend that NEVERS play Minecraft and inviting them and try and forced them to know and do everything in the game and saying stuff to them like:
“Bro can you get me some diamonds?”
“Try and find this specific biome for me!” or “Enchant this sword for me!”

That’s simply unrealistic and is better to teach them, let them play and overall ame mistakes so they can grow such as how to get certain items, how to get ores, how the game works basically.

Just want to let anyone know reading, also I won’t be active when I read this but I will the next day, just a heads up!

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I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I should do to get a better at Chess, just simple advice to me as I am losing some of my games to lower ratings similar to my skill.

Personally, I don’t want to become the best ever, nor do I want to treat Chess as a side job, instead, I treat Chess as just something I do for fun, also Chess isn’t my type of game, as well as me just being too new, but I would like to put in the effort to improve.

My main goal is to to get just under or exactly (400) elo rating by this summer, another thing I’m happy was I finally won my first game this week/month of May!

Currently I have only 1 win while I have 3 loses and 3 draws, some happens because I do resign or I make too many mistakes and blunders, then again I don’t know much about Chess...

But a good advice I’m planning on doing, is instead of playing a bunch of rapid, I would like to play longer games say 30 mins? And instead of playing 5 games per day with 10 mins (this was my dumb original plan, so having 60mins worth of Chess per day) I’m prob just only going to play under 2 games, the games lasting 30mins, this coming weekends on Sunday. I also want to take another advice as well, that I read online, and that’s just to just try to do more puzzles and really learn more about how Chess really works as well as the basics, even I know a user like me, if I tried to do blitz I would get steamrolled because I wouldn’t know or understand what’s going on!

So instead I’ll learn to and play longer, and learn the basics and rules of Chess.

I know I’ll never be the best in Chess ever but I’m also mature to know that my loses contributes on this website/community and is a good thing because the other users most likely also want to win too, and seeing them win, will be something they enjoy as they also get better or just having a fun chess game, also something I do not mind, also when I got my first win, I wasn’t celebrating because I won, or that I’m better than the user? No

I celebrated and got hyped because I knew that when me and the other user play, we played an amazing game, it didn’t matter the results, I would be just as content with the results, even if I lost, and it just so happen that me winning was meaningful as is my first time on this.

Again, in a nutshell, I want to can get a higher rating, but I do not mind making mistakes, but I also understand that Chess is a difficult game to play, and to improve better, one must know their mistakes and blunders as well as asking feedbacks to become a better player.
JellyLeafy
Also, sorry if my post looks weird, that’s just how it went throughout out I guess!
RussBell

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

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

liftovich

Focus more on Tactics than memorizing opening (Learn 1 for white and 2 for black in low depth and stick with it), learn the most basic endgame checkmating patterns, learn how to develop your pieces in the opening and how to attack. These are just fundamentals all players should have.
I offer 1on1 lessons if you wanna take your game to the next level, I could get you way past 400 wink

tygxc

@1

"it’s kinda unfair as I am not playing that much?" ++ Try to play 1 game 15|10 per day.

"what I should do to get a better at Chess" ++ Blunder check before you move.
Analyse your lost games.

"My main goal is to to get just under or exactly (400)" ++ That is unambitious. aim for 1500.

"I have only 1 win while I have 3 loses and 3 draws"
++ 50% is normal if you play equal opponents.

"I make too many mistakes" ++ blunder check before you move

and blunders, then again I don’t know much about Chess...

"longer games say 30 mins?" ++ Better 15|10

"do more puzzles" ++ Puzzles are overrated. 4 puzzles is a good warm-up before you play, but that is about it. In a real game nobody tells you there is a tactic, or for whom.

"the basics" ++ Chess Fundamentals - Capablanca

MariasWhiteKnight

Hmm GMs like Daniel Naroditsky say you should do puzzles so you can spot tactics easier. AFAIK it also trains better awareness of the board, i.e. you are less likely to forget to defend your pieces or to overtax a piece, just like you are more likely to spot that with your enemy.

Personally I find doing puzzles helps me to do just that.

And yes nobody tells you during the game. But if you did puzzles, you can instantly "see" tactics you've seen before.

For example in my two last games:

If you check the game, finding Bd3 took me 1.4 secs - I saw it instantly. The move I did before that move was also pretty quick - 3.6 secs. Unfortunately I did miss that my knight was undefended, though, so I blundered the piece right back. Later he blundered again and I got a rook. That move also only took 1.8 secs - I also spotted that instantly.

This is from my last game and it only took me 3.4 secs to realize that the opponents queen was overtaxed. Apparently my opponent paniked after that and soon blundered a back-rank mate, too.

ChessMasteryOfficial

Learn and apply the most important principles of chess.
Always blunder-check your moves.
Solve tactics in the right way.
Analyze your games.
Study games of strong players.
Learn how to be more psychologically resilient.
Work on your time management skills.
Get a coach if you can.

Compadre_J

I have the perfect advice!

My recommendation is to try the new opening I created for beginners!

It is a very easy line to understand and play.

It can be fun and I made it very simple.

Here is the below link:

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/for-beginners/crab-opening-for-beginners

Sahay_Adi

I would rather advise for cow opening than this one.

Compadre_J

Lets think about this logically

1. The OP said they are not trying to be competitive/have crazy high chess ranking.

2. The OP said they are completely new with only few games

3. The OP said they want to have fun.

————————

Let’s say the OP decided to play a London or Italian Game which is very commonly recommended to players who are trying to be competitive.

1st Issue - The OP will face players more experience and because the above lines are so common. The OP may struggle to win against players who have more experience in the positions due getting out played.

2nd Issue - The lines may not be fun for the OP because they are very common which will take away from the excitement.

———————————

Now lets say for arguments sake, The OP does listen to me and try out Crab opening.

What will happen?

1st - The Crab opening isn’t extremely common. It is a very rare opening which I have refurbished with new modern spin. This means all the experience the OP opponents might have will be useless in the Crab position. The OP opponents have experience in other lines not the Crab. This means the OP will actually be the one with more knowledge vs. the opponent!

The OP can read my thread, learn how to play it, and learn what to do. Meanwhile, the OP opponents will have no clue what is going on. This gives the OP the element of surprise!

2nd - Confidence! - The Crab opening system I have created can be played pretty much against anything black does. This means the OP will be able to get into the Crab set up with out having to stress or worry. It can be extremely helpful and it can boost your confidence to get into a set up your familiar with.

3rd - The Crab opening is very unorthodox which means the OP might get rival players to talk to them! Nothing makes an opponent talk a lot like playing a weird opening!

Sometimes, players start freaking out in chat.

They freak out because they literally have no idea what is going on.
Sometimes, you can read the chat and laugh so hard.

You can have the most fun you ever had playing a rare line vs. main line.

I think if we are being really honest here. The OP should try it out and it actually fits what the OP is looking for.

masterius77

Tygxc is right... Play longer time controls, preferably 15 minute or longer. Every move look to see what you can capture and what can capture you, if you can check the king, and if you can be checked, and what pieces are being threatened so you can defend that piece by moving it or supporting it with another piece and if there are any opponent pieces you can threaten. I know this process can be daunting but it really is necessary, to maximize your options.

Sahay_Adi
Compadre_J wrote:

Lets think about this logically

1. The OP said they are not trying to be competitive/have crazy high chess ranking.

2. The OP said they are completely new with only few games

3. The OP said they want to have fun.

————————

Let’s say the OP decided to play a London or Italian Game which is very commonly recommended to players who are trying to be competitive.

1st Issue - The OP will face players more experience and because the above lines are so common. The OP may struggle to win against players who have more experience in the positions due getting out played.

2nd Issue - The lines may not be fun for the OP because they are very common which will take away from the excitement.

———————————

Now lets say for arguments sake, The OP does listen to me and try out Crab opening.

What will happen?

1st - The Crab opening isn’t extremely common. It is a very rare opening which I have refurbished with new modern spin. This means all the experience the OP opponents might have will be useless in the Crab position. The OP opponents have experience in other lines not the Crab. This means the OP will actually be the one with more knowledge vs. the opponent!

The OP can read my thread, learn how to play it, and learn what to do. Meanwhile, the OP opponents will have no clue what is going on. This gives the OP the element of surprise!

2nd - Confidence! - The Crab opening system I have created can be played pretty much against anything black does. This means the OP will be able to get into the Crab set up with out having to stress or worry. It can be extremely helpful and it can boost your confidence to get into a set up your familiar with.

3rd - The Crab opening is very unorthodox which means the OP might get rival players to talk to them! Nothing makes an opponent talk a lot like playing a weird opening!

Sometimes, players start freaking out in chat.

They freak out because they literally have no idea what is going on.
Sometimes, you can read the chat and laugh so hard.

You can have the most fun you ever had playing a rare line vs. main line.

I think if we are being really honest here. The OP should try it out and it actually fits what the OP is looking for.

I will side with that logic. But in long run it should be treated as a fun opening. It will hard for opponents at lower level to punish if they don’t know about it. But if fun is the only goal then he can try any openings possible

masterius77

@Sahay_Adi... I don't fully agree with some of your points. The Italian at his rating would be a fine opening if the OP learned to play it properly. Where most beginners struggle is what to do beyond the opening. If the OP wants to have fun, in my opinion it shouldn't matter what opening the OP picks, maybe they will pick many to cycle through.. what's important is learning to play positionally, and knowing what to do beyond the opening. Blunder checking, checking for captures, checks, and threats will increase their win percentage more so than using the crab opening and they will enjoy the game more when they are playing soundly and winning more than losing.

Sahay_Adi
masterius77 wrote:

@Sahay_Adi... I don't fully agree with some of your points. The Italian at his rating would be a fine opening if the OP learned to play it properly. Where most beginners struggle is what to do beyond the opening. If the OP wants to have fun, in my opinion it shouldn't matter what opening the OP picks, maybe they will pick many to cycle through.. what's important is learning to play positionally, and knowing what to do beyond the opening. Blunder checking, checking for captures, checks, and threats will increase their win percentage more so than using the crab opening and they will enjoy the game more when they are playing soundly and winning more than losing.

@masterius77 I agree with your point and I previously also have mentioned similar thoughts. But our friend Comapadre_J is hell bent on advocating for crab opening which he has worked on apparently. If the person is just here for fun and want to try out different things, and isn’t aiming for anything serious , only under these pretext, I agree that he can go for crab , ware, cow, whatever he wish for. Just as a fun opening. Even Tyler1 got to 1900 playing cow opening . In the end it comes down whether he can convert the games.

masterius77

@Sahay ahh sorry I thought you were the one explaining the crab, using the chess.com app long replies get cut off. That was my mistake. Anyways maybe I'll try the crab sometime. Looks fun.

Compadre_J

@Post #14

I disagree.

I wouldn’t claim I am hell bent on advocating for the Crab Opening.

The suggestion I gave was based on the criteria the OP asked for.

If the OP asked for a competitive beginner line, I would have recommend the Italian Game.

————————

I consider the Crab opening to be a non-competitive line which is very offbeat.

Chess has a lot of openings, but not all Openings in chess are easy for a beginner to play.

Some opening are way to complicated for beginners.

masterius77
Compadre_J wrote:

@Post #14

I disagree.

I wouldn’t claim I am hell bent on advocating for the Crab Opening.

The suggestion I gave was based on the criteria the OP asked for.

If the OP asked for a competitive beginner line, I would have recommend the Italian Game.

————————

I consider the Crab opening to be a non-competitive line which is very offbeat.

Chess has a lot of openings, but not all Openings in chess are easy for a beginner to play.

Some opening are way to complicated for beginners. "

OP might need a little more than one opening to get to where they want to. When I started over a year ago I sucked and was losing to sub 400 players on a different acct. I tried learning 1 or 2 fun openings with no real improvement. It wasn't until I watched Chessbrah on YouTube and learned 1. Solid openings that develop my pieces 2. Running through the motions of checks, captures, and threats. 3. Learning how to properly attack while simultaneously defending (which I do still struggle with at times) that my rating started to skyrocket.

Be it that I'm not where I want to be yet but it felt awesome breaking the 1k and 1.3k mark.. it just takes some determination to learn, and to change the way I think during a game.

Brain
Just play a bunch of games, that’s mostly what got me to 1400. You don’t really need to do much to get a decent rating, especially if you’re playing solely for fun. Don’t focus on learning openings or anything like that, at your rating all you need to do is make sure your moves don’t immediately blunder pieces
JellyLeafy

Forgot to reply back, but I am deeply appreciated of you all, very much for all the messages, replies & advice, you've dropped by, I'm not usually active as much, because I'm usually lazy and been thinking about my summer school, but I'll most likely try to keep my games to atleast under 7 or 8, and also to have 15|10 instead games instead of the normal 10 mins I did a few days ago.
(So basically, that's around under 2 or ever over 2 hours of chess per day due to increment...)I've also going to learn more about how chess works, the basics, how the pieces work, etc. and overall, just having fun.
Thank you👍 

JellyLeafy

Sadly folks, I have sad news to announced, I sadly just lost interested in Chess.com, very unfair for me to say as I wasn't even active, and I'm sorry if I hype anyone or said that I would try when I couldn't, the reason why is because I been battling with my personal life issues, I would say I been stressed, and I have been focusing my issues such as me being behind summer school or getting and becoming into adulthood, are some of the things I'm pretty devasted to face, here is my final message, I am deeply sorry community for this departure 😔
"The community is one of the best things I've ever seen, even as a new user, I was greet by kind words and support, sadly, I just, can't not enjoy something when the term "If given the opportunity, humans will optimize the fun out of everything" is truer everytime I play, even another game I once tried to main and get into, "Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel", was simply just too competitive, even in casual, and even when I want to play my way, players/users don't want to have fun, they just want to get wins and statistics, and I sadly see this even in Chess.com, again no hate to any of the things I listed, amazing comminutes and players, but I think is time for me to throw in the towel, and focus on personal life issues and other"Thank You