why am I so bad at chess?
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My score/ELO on this app is 200. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, my openings seem solid but for some reason I keep losing game after game. I tried doing chess puzzles but I fail half of them and only accomplish the really easy ones and it’s extremely frustrating. Does anyone have any advice?
Jun 25, 2021
0
#2
Ok so first puzzle times. I notice you’re taking less than a minute on them. There’s no rush to make moves with them, look them over carefully and don’t move until you’re sure you have the right idea.
Second, gameplay. Can you post a few recent games of yours here and we can see how you’re playing?
Second, gameplay. Can you post a few recent games of yours here and we can see how you’re playing?
Jun 25, 2021
0
#3
Be sure to guard your central pawn before attacking the queen in the early queen attacks.
I’d suggest watching Levy’s video on how to counter attack the wayward queen as it’s a very common theme around your rating level.
Other than that, just try not to hang pieces, double check before you make a move. And when your opponent makes a move, ask your self what the threat is, and can you capture that piece. You’ll gain many free pieces.
I’d suggest watching Levy’s video on how to counter attack the wayward queen as it’s a very common theme around your rating level.
Other than that, just try not to hang pieces, double check before you make a move. And when your opponent makes a move, ask your self what the threat is, and can you capture that piece. You’ll gain many free pieces.
KxKmate wrote:
Ok so first puzzle times. I notice you’re taking less than a minute on them. There’s no rush to make moves with them, look them over carefully and don’t move until you’re sure you have the right idea.
Second, gameplay. Can you post a few recent games of yours here and we can see how you’re playing?
Second, gameplay. Can you post a few recent games of yours here and we can see how you’re playing?
Sorry I thought people could click my profile. How do I share a game?
GoatPatronus wrote:
Be sure to guard your central pawn before attacking the queen in the early queen attacks.
I’d suggest watching Levy’s video on how to counter attack the wayward queen as it’s a very common theme around your rating level.
Other than that, just try not to hang pieces, double check before you make a move. And when your opponent makes a move, ask your self what the threat is, and can you capture that piece. You’ll gain many free pieces.
I’d suggest watching Levy’s video on how to counter attack the wayward queen as it’s a very common theme around your rating level.
Other than that, just try not to hang pieces, double check before you make a move. And when your opponent makes a move, ask your self what the threat is, and can you capture that piece. You’ll gain many free pieces.
Oh ok I’ll look that up. I tried using the game analysis too for early queens but I haven’t had a situation arise yet with an early queen
You have played about 30 games. Of course you're bad at chess. Play more, practice and learn, simple as that.
nexim wrote:
You have played about 30 games. Of course you're bad at chess. Play more, practice and learn, simple as that.
yeah but it seems odd that im close to getting 0 in rank (if thats even possible).
Yurinclez wrote:
solving chess puzzles correctly doesn't always indicate you are good at playing chess. though it may help you improve your strength. during play, you need to evaluate the position yourself. nobody tells you which side is better and what is the best thing to do. while most puzzles have themes and they tell you what the goals are.
as for opening, tactic, midgame, endgame, etc, i think you need to spar with engines and learn from your mistakes.
yeah i just played a game and i went to analysis and found I missed a checkmate. But how can I make sure I apply what I learned?
The nice thing about being this bad is there are a million things you can try and almost all of them will work! You can just keep playing and you will get better. Or, you can solve a bunch of puzzles and you will get better. There are a million lessons on this site and YouTube, many of them will help you get better too. There are also many classic beginner books that will teach you the basics quite well also--I am partial to Bobby FIscher Teaches Chess, partly because you can just read it without using a board, but there are many other good ones too.
You probably need to learn some basic themes for tactical winning methods. I learned those from books like the Fischer one, but you can also pick them up by looking at the "themes" of the puzzles you work through (forks, deflection, etc.). Once you've done a bunch of puzzles you'll start to remember some of those, which will help your game a lot.
TheSeraphim777 wrote:
My score/ELO on this app is 200. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, my openings seem solid but for some reason I keep losing game after game. I tried doing chess puzzles but I fail half of them and only accomplish the really easy ones and it’s extremely frustrating. Does anyone have any advice?
After looking at 2 games I'd say your openings look really good. They are not the problem. Your problem is board vision and tactics. With board vision I mean you don't always notice that the opponent can just take a piece. Tactics means doing a combination of a few moves. Do some puzzles, but mostly play games. The more you play, the more natural it will be to know how the pieces move and the quicker you will start to see that their piece can take yours. After you stop giving away your pieces, you'll get a lot better and tactics will become the next big thing.
TyroLoco wrote:
The nice thing about being this bad is there are a million things you can try and almost all of them will work! You can just keep playing and you will get better. Or, you can solve a bunch of puzzles and you will get better. There are a million lessons on this site and YouTube, many of them will help you get better too. There are also many classic beginner books that will teach you the basics quite well also--I am partial to Bobby FIscher Teaches Chess, partly because you can just read it without using a board, but there are many other good ones too.
You probably need to learn some basic themes for tactical winning methods. I learned those from books like the Fischer one, but you can also pick them up by looking at the "themes" of the puzzles you work through (forks, deflection, etc.). Once you've done a bunch of puzzles you'll start to remember some of those, which will help your game a lot.
ok thank you ill try some more chess lessons
RAU4ever wrote:
TheSeraphim777 wrote:
My score/ELO on this app is 200. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, my openings seem solid but for some reason I keep losing game after game. I tried doing chess puzzles but I fail half of them and only accomplish the really easy ones and it’s extremely frustrating. Does anyone have any advice?
After looking at 2 games I'd say your openings look really good. They are not the problem. Your problem is board vision and tactics. With board vision I mean you don't always notice that the opponent can just take a piece. Tactics means doing a combination of a few moves. Do some puzzles, but mostly play games. The more you play, the more natural it will be to know how the pieces move and the quicker you will start to see that their piece can take yours. After you stop giving away your pieces, you'll get a lot better and tactics will become the next big thing.
should i focus on not giving up pieces first? Would playing the computer help?
I grew up with a father who was a professor of engineering; 152 IQ , who played chess tournaments regularly. He practically forced me to play chess every time we were together. I lost every game for years. One day i decided to surprise him and make him earn the wins. I looked for a resource I could learn from quickly. At that time, mid seventies, all the books on chess seemed to analysis of master games. I learned nothing from them. Then i found a book that within a week had me playing not a strong game, but a respectable one. I read every word several times till it sank in. the book : Modern Chess Strategy - Edward Lasker. There are now many books which are probably as good, But i keep going back to that one.
TheSeraphim777 wrote:
My score/ELO on this app is 200. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, my openings seem solid but for some reason I keep losing game after game. I tried doing chess puzzles but I fail half of them and only accomplish the really easy ones and it’s extremely frustrating. Does anyone have any advice?
You shouldn't really be doing much puzzles, since at that rating you should mostly be focusing on not making blunders. Here are some ways you could improve:
1. You've been playing rapid, which is good, and you should keep doing that, but try to only play long time controls like 45|45, and before every move look at the full board and think,
1. Does my opponent have any threats?
2. Do they have any hanging pieces?
3. Does this move hang a piece?
2. If you haven't already, make sure to go through Chess.com's lessons (https://www.chess.com/lessons) and scroll down to "beginner." Take those lessons and they will improve you play.
3. If your going to do puzzles, focus on mate in 1 and mate in 2 puzzles, which you can do by going to puzzle themes and selecting the two categories.
4. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (as mentioned by @TyroLoco) is really great, so definitely check it out.
5. I have two blogs that you might wanna check out:
Top 10 Ways to Get Better at Chess
oldtimer001 wrote:
I grew up with a father who was a professor of engineering; 152 IQ , who played chess tournaments regularly. He practically forced me to play chess every time we were together. I lost every game for years. One day i decided to surprise him and make him earn the wins. I looked for a resource I could learn from quickly. At that time, mid seventies, all the books on chess seemed to analysis of master games. I learned nothing from them. Then i found a book that within a week had me playing not a strong game, but a respectable one. I read every word several times till it sank in. the book : Modern Chess Strategy - Edward Lasker. There are now many books which are probably as good, But i keep going back to that one.
thank you ill look into that book
DonRajesh wrote:
TheSeraphim777 wrote:
My score/ELO on this app is 200. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, my openings seem solid but for some reason I keep losing game after game. I tried doing chess puzzles but I fail half of them and only accomplish the really easy ones and it’s extremely frustrating. Does anyone have any advice?
You shouldn't really be doing much puzzles, since at that rating you should mostly be focusing on not making blunders. Here are some ways you could improve:
1. You've been playing rapid, which is good, and you should keep doing that, but try to only play long time controls like 45|45, and before every move look at the full board and think,
1. Does my opponent have any threats?
2. Do they have any hanging pieces?
3. Does this move hang a piece?
2. If you haven't already, make sure to go through Chess.com's lessons (https://www.chess.com/lessons) and scroll down to "beginner." Take those lessons and they will improve you play.
3. If your going to do puzzles, focus on mate in 1 and mate in 2 puzzles, which you can do by going to puzzle themes and selecting the two categories.
4. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (as mentioned by @TyroLoco) is really great, so definitely check it out.
5. I have two blogs that you might wanna check out:
thank you. il try to remember those questions and ill check out your blog. I do have the bobby fischer book but im not far in it
Jun 25, 2021
0
#17
The point of doing puzzles is to learn how to look a position over and figure out what tactical combinations there are. If you aren’t good at finding tactical combinations in positions when you’re told they are there how can you expect to find such tactical combinations in your own games when you don’t know if any exist in the positions?
If you’re solving puzzles routinely you’re building your ability to discover tactical combinations and the various patterns they can exist which will bleed into your own games over time I assure you.
If you’re solving puzzles routinely you’re building your ability to discover tactical combinations and the various patterns they can exist which will bleed into your own games over time I assure you.
KxKmate wrote:
The point of doing puzzles is to learn how to look a position over and figure out what tactical combinations there are. If you aren’t good at finding tactical combinations in positions when you’re told they are there how can you expect to find such tactical combinations in your own games when you don’t know if any exist in the positions?
If you’re solving puzzles routinely you’re building your ability to discover tactical combinations and the various patterns they can exist which will bleed into your own games over time I assure you.
If you’re solving puzzles routinely you’re building your ability to discover tactical combinations and the various patterns they can exist which will bleed into your own games over time I assure you.
makes sense. Its just hard seeing the improvement because it takes a bit
TheSeraphim777 I am getting killed too. Try playing a few with the computer set so it will help you with moves and why those are moved.