The article "The offensive chess opening" by GM Gserper on this site gives a couple of ideas
What to do about the "Berserker" player?
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Oct 23, 2020
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#43
Sometimes I hate this game. I just lost to another guy who had his Queen flying all over the place.
I don't mind losing ... too much. I hate losing to (what I consider) garbage play.
Oct 23, 2020
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#44
... the above game would have gone very differently if I'd seen an early capture of his Queen in the first 8 moves. ... or not blundered the game away.
These berserker guys still rattle me...!
11PopPop wrote:
...I started playing the Chess.com computer a lot. But that's weird. The computer takes crazy chances and sacrifices minor players like crazy. None of the people I play against play like the computer.
Like you, I'm fairly new to this game after laying off for about 50 years (I'm old as well...). I've had advice to stay away from the computer games as they do make strange un-natural moves that are different than a human, and I find that to be true.
I looked at a couple of your games and I can see some of the same weaknesses that I'm trying to correct, IE, looking for hanging (unprotected) pieces after every move, both yours and you opponent's pieces. I have been forcing myself to take more time (I only play 15 min games right now) so I can see what's changed and if I have any good opportunities.
Good Luck
Oct 24, 2020
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#46
11PopPop wrote:
... the above game would have gone very differently if I'd seen an early capture of his Queen in the first 8 moves. ... or not blundered the game away.
These berserker guys still rattle me...!
Before everything else he has just hung a knight on move 4.Ng5. You could just take it with a queen. You could again take the same knight on move 6 as it was only defended once, you were attacking it twice. But it is understandable to miss it as you've already missed it the first time.
Then on move 7. he hung a knight again with Nh3. You could just pick it up with a bishop. You did it eventually at least, so all those mistakes are meaningless after that. As for his queen you can't really say that he moved it too quickly. He didn't touch his queen until move 12. It is just that you have to be careful at all times. But all of this is understandable, including the frustration. You will eventually get better at noticing threats, just keep at it.
Feb 4, 2022
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#47
*Bump* I didn't see a justification for creating another topic....
What a shocker, to go back and view my early games on Chess.com. If I ever start feeling sorry for myself for being "on tilt," I'll try to remember to go back and look at my early games.
I played for almost one year ... then I "disappeared" for all of 2021. I came back to chess last month (and am relearning some of the same mistakes, but that's okay).
Have any of you revisited your games from a year or two ago? You'll end up yelling at (yourself) if you do...!
Well, try to root out h6 or a6 or similar in the beginning. Those moves have their uses later, for instance if you want to restrict your opponent bishop or knight from going to b5/g5, but at the beginning you should think mostly (as long as it is safe to do so) about moving your minor pieces from the back rank, castle, controlling the center (in most cases with pawns and the only pawns you should move in the opening are d and e pawn, and sometimes c pawn), and connecting your rooks by finally moving the queen from the back rank.
After you are stronger, and know those basic principles, you will slowly learn when it is ok to break them, but that comes later, and you will mostly abide by the principles even if you are very strong.
You're welcome. If I can help you with my limited knowledge, I am happy to provide assistance.