Your Entry and the Struggle Barrier

I've always enjoyed chess and strategy games in general. I understand the rules, and have a general understanding of the game, but the one thing keeping me from getting more involved is getting out and actually meeting other people to play on a regular basis. It's a little intimidating putting my limited knowledge in front of someone, though I do want to improve and practice. Does anyone else have difficulty accepting that you're always going to make mistakes? What's your experience been with playing others above your skill level?

playing better players is best way to improve

though, it might be difficult to feel you are improving

i noticed improvement in otb games when i had a playable position longer and longer into a game

everyone at the club i play at has never looked down on me being a novice- especially the fella who was previously lowest on the ladder

if anything they were leery and brought their best games because they were playing some unknown random

people at the club understand how hard this game is

Take it from a guy who never won against a particular opponent for about 2-3 years, winning isn’t everything. As Kasparov said it’s not about winning and losing, but at the end of the day it’s about winning and losing. What I think he meant by that is tournament play is very cut throat, and yes you have to win to succeed in it. However, chess is also a game about beauty, and being creative, and about learning from your losses. Consider the next time to lose to someone your next chess lesson. Those first years I played against that person I increased in rating the most, and it wasn’t till later when we began to play 3 minute chess only where my rating halted, though there was some learning at least. Blitz isn’t the way to learn. It rotted my brain and I know it did to others as well. Word of advice. If you do plan to play chess, play a combination of OTB 2 hour games, maybe some rapid, and blitz only for opening practice. You can also practice openings in correspondence, but those games do not have the same feel as an actual game does.