Help the noob. :)

So yeah, I'm getting better I think, which is good considering the ridiculous amount of information I've been reading the past several weeks [not that I expect this to be a fast process, I just didn't expect to be so lost by this point still!]. I just feel like I'm not really moving with a purpose; I still feel like I'm moving for the sake of moving and I know that every move needs to have a goal in mind.

I posted this one because it's the one of the rare times I've beaten the computer; which I only play against on Silly mode, mind you. Hence its ridiculous moves, but hey I pretty much play the same way lol.

I'm a Diamond member and I've been using the tactics trainer a ton, which I feel has helped me out tremendously. Despite all of the mistakes I made in this game, it's probably my best one yet. : /

Any tips or pointers or questions or anything based on this? It's my first time posting a game so I hope I did it right.

Thanks.

On your opener try not to just move a bunch of pawns around to start. I usually start with one or two. But that opener seems to work for you so maybe you should stick with it.

First time I've ever tried it. I usually try to do what I've been reading but it basically ends up with e4, Nf3, Bb5 etc and I just get owned. I feel like no matter what I try to do, all of their pieces are protected and when I try to move somewhere I just end up losing material. The above example is the first game where I felt like my sacrifices led me to an advantageous position.

It'd be great to say I intended on that all along, but it was just a random luck of the draw. If a piece was capturable, I captured it. Sometimes I didn't pay attention and lost my own piece, sometimes I thought it was worth the loss. Either way I saw a potential check so I went for it. If the computer was smarter and didn't move the bishop I probably wouldn't have won.

I can't really give advice on tactics- all I can say is keep working on it. But strategy is something that I can talk about. You know that every move should have a goal in mind- but you need to learn what sorts of goals you should have, what your strategy should be.

For example, in the opening, you should develop your pieces and try to control the center. 2. c3 and 3. e3 don't do either of these things... they protect the d4 pawn to be sure, but there is no threat to this pawn. Meanwhile your queen-side knight and bishop will be harder to develop.

In the middle-game, try to put your pieces where they can reach the most squares. For instance, instead of 11. Re1 you could have played, for example, 11. Qd2. This way your queen could take advantage of the weakened pawn structure on black's king-side, and it also protects your knight on c3, freeing up the d pawn.

For the most part chess is a game of experience... you say that you are not noticing things, like the d5 pawn, or you could have taken the knight on b3 with your a pawn instead of moving your rook... its like when you learn to drive, at first it seems like there is a lot going on, a lot that has to be processed in your mind at once, and you miss stuff like that stop sign or the police car... but after a while it becomes natural.

You have played pretty cleanly, but there's not much to talk about when you opponent blunders the queen, right? I think at that level you should try to focus especially on your thinking process for every move (blunderchecking etc.) and tactics.

By the way, in d4 openings, you usually don't want your pawn on c3. You usually want your pawn on c4 and knight on c3.

A few basic themes for your first couple moves.

Your 2nd move - C3 - was not necessary to defend against anything, and blocked a typical square for the queen knight.

Your 3rd pawn move blocked the bishop inside the pawn structure.

When moving pawns in the opening, always consider how they might limit the mobility or position of your pieces.