Complete beginner needs help after heavy losses

Hello,

I would be grateful for some help with a game that I'm involved in. This is my first post (Hello) and only my 3rd game of chess since I was a child so please be gentle.

Not sure if this is in the right place. Please feel free to move it if not.

I'm white (and losing) and it's my move. What should I be doing?

Thanks.

Some images:

Black has overwhelming material advantage here. My own rule of thumb is to resign a game if down by more than a minor piece (a bishop or a knight), without any compensation. Next time, it would be interesting to see the full game record, not just the final position. Evidently errors were made in this game, but where exactly? Without a game score, we'll never know.

I don't see any counterplay for White. 

You should begin by setting the board up correctly.  Remember, always put a white square in the right hand corner.

it might be considered cheating by asking for help for a game you are currently playing.

hope you can follow the notation, is the board upside down as bp, a mate in 5 is on, Rg8+  Kd7?, Bb5+ Kc8?, Bd7+Kb8?, Rxd8+ Nc8, Rxb8++ and white wins.

>:) 

At this point i doubt his opponent cares if he gets any help. It's his opponent's game to lose.

Rg8 doesn't work because of Nxg8.

At this point in a game, it would be decent to just resign, and avoid the rush later.  There appears to be little white can do to slow black down from attacking at will.

    Your efforts would be better directed at a new game, where you start even in material and potential.

regards, 

Guys...its his 3rd game EVER.  Assuming his opponent is about the same, resigning is premature.  Once you hit a certain level, this position is totally and easily 150% lost.  However, at the "this is my third game" skill level, anything can happen. 

Try not to give or trade away any pieces or get checkmated, and wait for him to make a mistake.  Its almost certainly too late even at your level, because you know, you'd still be losing really badly even if he drops his queen, but you never know.  For example, among true beginners, its very common to take all the other guys pieces, get 2-4 queens and leave the other guy with no legal move (but not have him be in check).  Thats called stalemate, and its a draw.

Your doing your opponent a favor by not resigning, because at the "this is my 3rd game level" one needs practice converting a won position into an actual win.   

Basically, the game is lost. You should ask for another game. Try to look at each lost chess game as a lesson. Ask your opponent to go over what went wrong in the game. You will learn something and stroke his ego at the same time.

Thanks for the input guys.

I honestly didn't even consider that it might be thought of as cheating. Is it any more cheating than following a predetermined set of moves (an opening or technique) that someone else has thought up and written down?

I think ArtNJ is right though. This is only our third game (He won the first, I won the second). Just previous to the images above my opponent thought he had me in check mate but didn't and I ended up taking his rook. We're both complete novices and I'm sure we both make mistakes on practically every move.

Because of this I think it's way too early to quit. I think my best bet is to try and break through his pawns with mine so I can get my queen back but just not too sure how to achieve this at the moment.

Anyway, thanks for the advice and I won't ask about live matches again if it's considered a no no.

Oh and yes the board probably is upside down. Didn't even know it was possible to do that.

You watch, next year I'll be world champion (AND I'll have figured out which way round the board goes).

If you  are a very very new player, Id recommend studying opening principles. Look at the moves that do good things for you in the early part of the game and make sure you are understanding "why".

Play a lot of games here on chess.com and you will find yourself getting better and better in a few weeks time. Dont be afraid to ask a stronger player for advice after a game or in between games(not advice on a game in progress obviously) - they will usually oblige they will probably be flattered.

Use Chess Mentor too, its awesome.

Put a few more white pieces back on the board while your opponent is not around...lol  (just kidding of course)

BTW, your chess set looks like one of the Chessmaster boards on CM10.

Thanks SavageLotus I'll take a look at Chess Mentor.

vladamirduce, I assume what you're implying is the board is pretty basic? If so, yep that is correct, it belongs to my opponents 12 year old daughter. It has a Rook missing so we're using a draft piece. Our first game was played on a travel set which was about 4" x 4" in total. All the pieces looked the same so the above is actually a large improvement. Sorry if it's not up to scratch.

No I wasn't complaining at all.  I just thought it looked like one of the wood boards in CM10, which I happen to like btw.  So no, I wasn't making light of your set at all.  I was however, jesting regarding snagging a few pieces and putting em back in the game     I guess I should make it crystal clear I don't really condone that sort of behavior either.

Sorry for the misunderstanding PawnDirector, sometimes its hard to convey intent and motives online.  I assure you I meant no disrespect at all.   I wish you all the best on your games.

Regards!

I think it's kinda cool, playing with(out?) a missing Rook.

I still remember those games years ago, with the cigarette lighter Bishop that kept falling over :)

No problem, no offence taken.

This is a very interesting question indeed, and it reminds me of other issues like the use of copied software.

In this case, though, I think there's a clear answer: there is a huge difference between using the recommended lines of widely used openings, and asking for advice on a specific position in a more advanced stage of the game. It's somewhat like the difference between using basic mathematical principles you have learned in solving a problem, and asking for someone to help you in solving that specific problem. The former is legitimate preparation; the latter is cheating.