Advice for a beginner needed

In any game a lot of beginning players 'play without an opponent' ie they only think about their own moves and don't consider what the opponent can do.  Learning to recognize your opponent's threats will greatly improve your game.  The way to do that in chess is, whenever it's your move, imagine it was your opponent's move like he was getting to move twice.  Whatever he could then do to you, are his threats.  Your move must at least counter all his real threats.  This will also cut down on the number of possible moves you have to consider.

It's kinda interesting but to be good at any game, it's like you have to play two games simultaneously, yours and your opponent's.

Again thanks a lot everyone for your advice, seen as we're on an internet forum I wasn't sure whether I was going to get sarcasm and abuse or genuine help, my faith in the internet has been slightly restored! 

Hi Jamie,

Welcome to Chess.com. I understand your wariness of Internet forums but you've found a very friendly and supportive community here. Rest assured that the Staff deal swiftly & firmly with any unfriendliness. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but do try the search engine first as it might save you a lot of time.

You've received lots of good advice on what to do. I'd like to recommend a few things not to do:

1. Don't forget that this is a game that you play for fun
2. Don't get hung up on your rating. It will improve but, like dieting or exercise, performance should be measured over the medium to long term, not on a meal by meal or game by game basis.
3. Don't get too mad at your losses. We will always come up against stronger opponents and there is always something positive to be learned. If you feel that you played well, congratulate yourself on that. If you feel that you played poorly, work out why and strive not to repeat the mistake. You don't need to tell anyone your mistakes  My wife only recently twigged what I meant when I regularly return home from OTB games saying I came "second"
4. Don't rush out and buy lots of books or software just yet. Most of us have fallen into this trap. At best you will be overwhelmed with options, at worse you will end up wasting money and regretting your purchases. There is loads of legitimately free information. Use that until you are sure what it is that you are missing. Then think again.
5. Directly related, don't get overwhelmed by all the information and learning. To misquote a seasonal TV advert "Chess is for life, not just <insert holiday here>."
6. Don't ignore the common "boring" standard advice, which is to play slow games (and/or correspondence chess) rather than blitz; learn basic tactics (pins, forks, etc); learn very basic endgames (king & pawn vs king); learn opening principles (i.e. how to develop), not actual opening sequences.
7. Don't forget to have fun. It's really important that we enjoy playing.
8. Don't forget that there is life outside of chess

Best wishes. And have fun!

Mark

Thanks MCBeaker!

I'm a firm believer in point number 6 when it comes to learning anything, although I must admit I'm always fighting the urge to try and run before I can walk. 

But what did you mean by principles as opposed to sequences? I'm assuming you mean understand what a sequence (say, sicilian defence) does, as opposed to just copying those who use it, but if you could elaborate on that I'd be grateful 

Not even that specific.  He's talking about the general principles of opening development, stuff like:

-- Make moves that control or attack center squares (d4, d5, e4, e5)

-- Develop knights before bishops

-- Castle early

-- Don't move any piece twice in the opening unless necessary

-- Don't move pawns at all unless you have to in order to develop or defend other pieces or pawns

-- No early queen excursions unless there's no other choice

Generally, if you stick to those rules and don't leave stuff hanging,  you'll get all your pieces developed by move ten or so and be in good shape for the rest of the game.  At least for correspondence, where being slow doesn't matter, you won't need anything fancier than that for a good while yet.

If you have time and patience, this is a great resource on chess tactics (aka how to win pieces...and lose them).  http://www.chesstactics.org/index.php?Type=page&Action=none&From=1,3,1,1

Oh wow, it's not often that something turns out to be less complicated than it sounds! 

And thanks for that link EminenceGrise, i've had a quick skim and it seems quite interesting, i'll give it a proper read thought when I have the time.

play play play. i know its obvious but lots of games needed. tactics training etc. lots of enthusiasm.