Beginner Advice

I've gotten back into the game from many years away.  I played a lot in middle school/high school age (over thirty years ago) and have just recently gotten back in the game.

I didn't realize how terrible I am....I've gone through many of the Mentor Lessons on the site, as well as a lot of the tactics and have played the computer a variety  of times, only to be crushed every single time.

My question is general in nature - I'm having a hard time getting past even the first few moves without realizing that I'm suddenly on the defensive and eventually getting beat.  Even the times I get to the middle-game, I find myself lost, if you will, on an idea of how to proceed.  I end up moving a Rook, for example, two spaces simply because every other move turns into a lost piece on my part very quickly.

When I do the daily puzzles or go through the tactics on the site, I've gotten better at those.  However, during a game, I can't seem to get to those situations and am seemingly under heavy attack and on 'the run' if you will within a few moves.

Any thoughts, suggestions, places on the site here that you (the more experience players) think would help me, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

Just master the BASIC.  That should solve most of your problems.  

Chess is all about making your pieces work better (have more options) than your opponents pieces. This means that you have to deploy your pieces in such a way that they will be as active as possible and create problems for your opponent. If you play passively your opponent will gradually take away your options until you have no good moves and end up losing a piece which means that you now have even less options than before or your king is simply overwhelmed and checkmated. 

This is the basic idea that applies in all stages of the game of chess. If you don't know what to do then ask yourself: what piece is doing nothing and how can I make it do something and make life hard for the enemy. 

And a final useful tip: don't move pawns unless doing so improves your pieces. If you have any doubts about it just move a piece instead, if you make a bad pawn move there is no way to fix it, pawns don't move back.  

And don't play the computer, play other people, computers are inherently bad at simulating amateur play... start with some correspondance games (online) here and maybe some live chess with time some time to think (preferrably 30/30 or longer although 15/10 would suffice, I don't recommend faster games until you become better). Prepare yourself for some losses before your rating levels out and you can play people of the same level as yourself.

Thank you!  Appreciate it.

Do play the computer: do tactics.  Lots and lots of them.  It's a waste of time studying openings or middlegames if you are going to make tactical mistakes and get slaughtered anyway.

And don't worry about not knowing what to do next in the midgame, that's pretty normal.  Just keep looking for advantages (win more material, get a passed pawn, remove a key defender, ...)  and if you're not sure what works, try something!

Since you're new here; I would recommend trying Online(turn-based) Games.  3 day, 5 day per move or whatever suits you.  That way you can use the Analysis Board & your own books to make the best use of your time.  In other words, take 'baby steps' before you try to run.

I would recommend to play games with longer and long time controls, like 45 min plus 45 sec per move. Reason being the more you are a beginner, the less "vision" and "positional patterns" you have seen, the more you need to think on each move. I would recommend you do not play live games shorter than 30 min. You will just keep on making incredibly bad moves and blunders and you will get p****ed at you more than anything. Not fun.

In this vein, the suggestion of playing correspondence 3 days per move games is also not bad.

Do look up and study your game afterwards, especially if you lost. See and understand where you went wrong and why the opponent was able to defeat you. I would say this is as important as actually playing the game. Review is best done together with a more experienced chess player friend or coach who may be able to explain you things along the way.

Dodgernation (#10):  I agree, playing *games* against the computer is usually a recipe for frustration.  I just meant use a computerized tactics trainer tool.  Much better use of time than asking a human to set up tactical positions for you.

I don't realisticaly expect anyone to completely shut their eyes to advice about openings and midgames, I just find that it's useful to state *really* firmly that tactics training is the most important thing when you've got a tactics rating of 619.

Yes, doing tactics excercises and something like the Daily Puzzles must definitely be part of a study plan, if you want to get any better.

Google for "Dan Heisman chess coach" he has written tons of freely available articles that help your learning. He also has written a number of excellent books, just check Amazon.

If you can afford and are serious, do look for a coach. You will just learn so much more quickly having somebody guide you and give you appropriate homeworks and so on. Coach need not be expensive, USD 30 per hour is realistic.

SO!  Then why you waste your time in this particular forum...mmmmmm

Thanks for the suggestions.  I've been hitting the Tactics, Lessons and Mentoring along with currently playing an online (turn based) game.

Mike,

We sound in similar circumstances. Here is my plan:

1.  Tactic training on chess.com at least 1 hour per day. 

2.  Chess Mentor training on chess.com  (1 or 2 lessons per night)

3.  Playing through one player's games at a time, covering the next move. I just finished Chernev and am on to Morphy next. I am staying with one book until I have gone through the games.  After Morphy, Capablanca, and then...until I reach Carlsen.  

4.  Silman's Endgame Course.  

5.  Playing:  I hope to begin playing one night a week with a chess club that's not too far away.  If not, I will play against the computer, and go over my losses. 

Those who have climbed in ratings have universally stated that a plan is necessary.  This is my plan. 

Make a plan and enjoy progress.  Since I joined Chess.com, I have gone from doing 3 tactics a day for years, to doing 10 hours or more a week!  

Good luck!

my advice would be focus on development and controlling the center