I don't understand...chess is hard man

I just lost this game. I play 30 min time control so I have time to think and improve. I want to get to 2000 so I've been studying openings, analyzing positions, using ChessDB, puzzles, etcetera etcetera. Working on getting some books in the future. I got agitated after this game more so than other losses because it feels like I can play my best against low rated players like myself, and somehow they still play perfect. Obviously it's me, and I think it comes down to my lack of positional strategy. I'd like to get others perspective and opinion on how I can improve my game position wise, and anything else you notice from this game.

I played the french defense, and he responded with the steinitz attack but it transposed into the advance variation anyways. I played c5 starting to build up pressure on the d4 square. Qb6, Bd7 to stop any tricks, you know the drill (for some reason the engine didn't like Bd7?) Popped a little Rc8 in there for when the c file opens up after my knight takes on d4.

I continue to try and build up pressure on the queens side since all my king side pieces are stuck for the moment. Usually when I play the french I try to develop the king side post breakage of the tension in the center, usually a Bc5 followed by Ne7 getting ready to castle, pretty much standard theory. 

He played Nc3 and I didn't see the point until he played Na4, which was annoying. I ignored the knight moves (bob seger wouldn't approve) and foolishly played cxd4 trying to break open the center. Suffice to say, my queen got bounced around, though Qa5+ helped keep my pawn in the center alive for the time being. 

I played b5 trying to kick his knight on a4 away. I didn't even see Bxb5, but I got lucky with Qa5+ and Qxb5. Once the center cleared up a little and we trade knights on d4, my rook is looking good aiming down the c file and I take on c2, threatening mate. From here on out my opponent makes all the right moves which was unbelievably frustrating and really unexpected. For a 1200 player this guy seemed like he knew what was up (maybe I'm just that bad though). I really try and kick his queen away from e2 to get mate, but to no avail. He play Qd1. Now this is where I get greedy and it all falls apart. 

Be4 cause I still want mate and not content with ending up two pieces ahead. I want mate because once the dust settles on the queen side, my king side is looking atrocious with zero pieces developed. Then Qe2 because I see this tactic where he has to play Qxe2 and I can play Rxc1+, eventually taking the queen after Kd2 and stopping his king from castling, making a mate a whole lot easier, especially with that pawn in the middle about to queen. WHAT I DIDN'T SEE WAS THAT BISHOP ON F4 JUST CHILLING FOR THE ENTIRE MIDDLE GAME, and then he comes out and shows just how stupid that attempt at a tactic was. I resigned after that, down a queen and with no positional advantage. 

Again, I'll take all criticism, but it seems like I don't make too many blunders or mistakes from the early to middle game. So how am I getting forced into these sharp lines where one mistake loses me the game against players my rating? Is the french defense itself sharp? Maybe I should stay away from sharp openings like KID?

I think it's positional but I'd appreciate hearing what you guys think.

I can only assume it must be a "thing"  every beginner, and low rated player always wants to think its openings that are the problem.  "If i just study more openings i will improve."

Look at the final position.  Not a single kingside piece is developed.  And you left your king sitting in the middle of the board of the board.  You developed your queenside pieces, and moved them repeatedly.  You had no attack since you were only using half your pieces.

Work on the basics.

Follow opening principles.

Double check your moves.

Thanks for responding!

I'm not trying to say it's the opening I'm using that's the problem, but that I'm lacking positional strategy in my game maybe?

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the nature of the french defense that you won't develop your king side pieces early on since Ne7 blocks your dark square bishop and you have to play Ne7 to develop the knight? Ideally once you get you pawn break in the center you can get your dark square bishop out, play Ne7 and castle, but it has to happen later in the game because of the closed position in the center. I guess I should have gotten my dark square bishop out earlier? I feel like I would have missed out on key winning opportunities on the queen side if I only focused on piece development though. I've seen and played many games where the player was only worried about piece development and failed to make accurate moves that actually took the position into consideration.

Just my .02 but you are trying to play off of pure memorization without having a firm understanding of the position.

mhm

Those annotations were awesome, I need to use those next time I post a game instead of writing those long paragraphs nobody reads lol. 

This was really educational IMBacon and I really appreciate it. In the beginning with missing the pawn break, you're completely right. I was too worried about getting a french defense position that I didn't stop to think of a move that would be more appropriate for the position.

Also the yips comment was spot on. I was way too worried about getting mate that I got tunnel vision and didn't see the bigger picture. 

I really appreciate the analysis. Thank you!

Do not forget about the personal aspect. Chess is 75% the game, 25% the man.

Mistakes happen all the time, because of various aspects related to the momentarily sportive aspect of the game.

Play the board :-)

Glad to help.

Don't study openings, your opponent will not really know the main lines anyway. You should just stick to the opening principles. At your level, everything you need to know about the openings can be found here:

https://www.chess.com/blog/nklristic/surviving-the-opening-first-steps-to-chess-improvement

If you need a general guide on how to improve, here you go, it still helps me:

https://www.chess.com/blog/nklristic/the-beginners-tale-first-steps-to-chess-improvement

So, longer time controls (30 minutes is ok) analyzing your games, practicing puzzles and generally learning about chess in some way (for now I did it by watching youtube content) can get you to intermediate level, perhaps even beyond.

Tactics 

1) Keep going. From your explanations, it's clear that you have a decent understanding of the game. You just need more time and experience.

2) Your tactics need work. This is true of all of us. But you self-destructed when things got tactical. Tactics are incredibly important. It's what separates Carlsen from the rest. He's able to find tactics that the other SuperGMs miss.

3) Finishing development is a key principle of good chess. You neglected your kingside development, while you went on the attack. This means that you're trying to win with only some of your army. It's like going into battle while leaving half your soldiers behind.

Keep striving to learn and improve. I can tell you that, if you keep at it, in a few years from now you'll be 1600+. Maybe even 2200+. All depends on whether or not you keep going. (FYI I was once a 900 player. Now I'm 2200+. It's entirely doable.)

Your problem is this game has nothing to do with "positional strategy," or the opening. You turned a totally winning position into a dead lost one with one move, because you didn't look and count. When you played 19...Qe2, I assume you simply overlooked that the Bf4 was protecting the Rc1. And since your whole combination was based on taking that rook with check, your game went down in flames.  You lost--from a completely winning position--because of a one-move mistake, It is pointless to look to "positional strategy" or the nuances of the French Defense. You have to figure out how you came to make that blunder, and what you should do to cut down on the number of these blunders

There were small things people have mentioned, but the point is you gave away your queen for free. It doesn't matter if you didn't make very many mistakes before or not, blundering the queen loses games. That has nothing to do with what opening you picked. At some point you will be chances to screw up, and if you make a particular big one, you can throw the game. 

The small things they mentioned will indeed help you climb up the ladder, but these small struggles only work out to your lead if you can keep yourself from making a huge mistake to throw it all away. 

The biggest thing you need to fix is to stop giving away stuff. I did a quick skim over your games and I see this is a major issue for you.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5741868461 You gave away your rook move 33.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5741868461 You traded your knight for a pawn move 21. They made a nifty discovered attack out of it, but the basic idea was they attacked your knight and instead of saving it you took a pawn, the pawn move that enabled the discovered attack didn't do anything else. You then gave away your bishop for 2 pawns moves 22-23. You traded a rook for a pawn move 28. 

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5741464709 You gave away your queen move 8. I'm not sure why you wanted it on that square even if you hadn't just placed it in a square for them to take it. 

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5740686703 They left you a free pawn move 7, and it's still there move 8. You then gave away your queen move 10.

You can make those nuanced moves, gain a small lead in development or gobble up a pawn, but a swift blunder of a queen, or a rook, etc. can easily undo that. These holes can cost you far more games than tiny errors that put you a little behind will. You want to get stronger at both, but fix the blunders first, your opening is not nearly as important as this is right now.

Study PAWN STRUCTURES. U will develop ideas for plans/strategies. It will automatically teach u openings FAR better than whatever opening stuff ur learning from. Ur gonna start acquiring an intuitive feel for where best to put ur pieces in relation to the PAWN STRUCTURE. Study basic, simple endings. Stop trying to "learn" openings. 

The reason very strong players can outplay weaker players even in openings the stronger player is unfamiliar with is because they learned to play chess, not openings. Ever notice the best players r also the best players in Fischer Random?

Clearly it's not about the opening. 

"So how am I getting forced into these sharp lines where one mistake loses me the game against players my rating? Is the french defense itself sharp? Maybe I should stay away from sharp openings like KID?"

Your loss had nothing to do with the opening, which turned out very well for you. And your loss had nothing to  with the sharpness of the position. You simply didn't look hard enough for your opponent's possible defenses. You saw a nice tactical idea--and it was nice!--and you played it. But you didn't really check to see if it worked! I've done that. We've all done that. But strong players make the effort to look for their opponent's best defenses. We don't

"he reason very strong players can outplay weaker players even in openings "

Actually, the OP got a tremendous advantage out of the opening. His lose had nothing to do with the opening

To the OP:  You are absolutely correct, Chess is hard!

and i dont know howto post a forum

Thanks all of the advice! I've posted before on here when I was around 900 and I'm getting better, but sometimes it's nice to have better players remind me that I have to stop overthinking and stop blundering pieces .