Am I missing something?

I have been playing chess for a while now, but have only recently found chess.com. My score though is extremely low (like 541). I never seem to do well and always end up losing games. Is there some fundemental principle I am missing, or do I just suck?

No you do not suck.

I am definitely not a good chess player(far from it) but just looking at your last game on 29th Feb you just made a couple of mistakes that contributed to you losing.

For example -

1.  Early in the game you failed to take the opponent's Queen with a pawn when it was a fairly obvious move.  He made a bad move and you missed it.  Happens to all of us occasionally.  Always take your time so you do not miss things.  Maybe play 15 min games so you can think more about your moves.

2.  Later in the game you allowed your opponent to take your Queen to save another less valuable piece. Always save the most valuable piece if you are faced with that situation.

Practice on this site against the computer.

Anyway, it's just a little board game (which does NOT matter) so just play and enjoy it and please don't allow yourself to get frustrated.

You've only played around 30 games. A lot of the higher rated players play thousands of games over many years. Chess takes time. You've got to love it to get better at it

it takes alot of practice, and one thing that helps alot is to go over your games and see where you made a good or bad move. but most of all it should be fun, if it isnt, time to take up drinking

I literally started playing chess when I found this site about 6 months ago.  My rating quickly reached the 500 level after a handfull of games.  I have been able to work my way back up to the 1300 level over this period of time, with the help of the tools on this site and a little coaching.  If you can afford the membership here it is well worth it.  If not, spend some time at chesstempo doing tactical puzzles.

I had a look at a couple of your games and the first thing i realised was, that each opponent was rated a bit higher than you. That's a great thing, it's really good to play stronger players, those games of loosing will teach you more about how to play better, than the games that you win. So actually I would kind of expect it from the beggining that your opponent can win those games but i'll try and put it politely, that it was like watching a car crash.

From what i could observe, without actually discussing with you, your ideas behind your moves, i felt that you were too focused on your own ideas and missing key elements of what your opponent is thinking. Focus on your own stratigy is only half the game. If you can take into account what your opponent has in mind, and take action against it, then your chances of winning will increase. Also by being too focused on your plans, you miss your opponents mistakes that could have given you the win.

If you are feeling under mined and wish to play games where you're not getting flogged and crushed, perhaps play opponents with a closer rating match and gain a bit of confidence with a few wins.

If you are seriously keen to take your chess to the next level, you may want to read some books. This book "The Complete Idiots Guide To Chess" 2nd Edition by Patrick Wolff really opened up door ways for me and i reccommend this book and loan it out all the time to people who want to improve their understanding of the game. I've read quite a few begginers books, but this one stands out as the most practical and benificial of them all.

But the real thing is ! That you are now here at chess.com ! Just hang out here with us, get in and use the site facilites like Tactics Trainer and Chess Mentor and play heaps of chess and you WILL absolutely, guaranteed become a stronger player.

I have been playing chess for a while now, but have only recently found chess.com. My score though is extremely low (like 541). I never seem to do well and always end up losing games. Is there some fundemental principle I am missing, or do I just suck?

The thing with chess is that the deeper you get into it, the deeper it becomes, and we are all, all of us, wether rate of 541 or 1541 asking , " Is there something that i'm missing ? "

Enjoy the journey, and never stop asking : )

I agree with GypsyDance on playing higher rated opponents. I try do to that a lot, except with a couple of IRL friends that I play a lot that have lower rating than me. You will lose a lot, but that really doesn't matter when you start playing. Learning the game and learning from your mistakes is far more important.

Good luck with your progress and for what it's worth, you certainly have come to the right place for getting good advice and developing your game :)

Chess is extraordinarily complex. Years and years of LOVE and dedication, study, play and analysis is what it takes, but that's a GOOD thing... this isn't tic-tac-toe.  Chess is more like an old friendship that just keeps getting better.  There will ALWAYS be stronger players than you or I or any of the people on this site.  It's more like an art and a science than it is a board game.  Whatever level you're on, from playing make-believe with the horsey, to learning a new idea 20 moves deep into a Ruy Lopez, the REAL point of chess is to have fun.