Well, maybe you should just slow down a little bit and take a mild break, but still continue to play if you know what I mean. I did the same thing where I was rolling and doing great, but then started moving backwards.
It kind of goes back and forth, but I think that when I try too hard, then I only make things worse so relax a bit with it.
Yeah i know what you mean. Play a couple of games a day and don't try too hard. The thing is, it's so addictive. You just want to get better and better. When you say 'it moves back and forth' i guess you are saying learning chess is like 'a game of chess' itself ???!!!??
The best way for someone new to learn/improve is to play OTB (Over-the-board) chess. 10 hours of "practicing" online won't be nearly as insightful as 15 minutes talking with your opponent about what *could* have happened in the game you just played against him/her. Find your local chess club and start attending.
there are 3 things you need to do to get better:
#1 - Play (which you are doing)
#2 - Analyze your games (you need to see WHY you lost - try the Computer Analysis after your games!)
#3 - Study (don't worry about openings - study tactics and strategy)
Good luck and stick with it! Chess is a journey, not a destination (i know, cheesy but true)
erik, what tactics book would you recommend?
I would also add that I am experiencing the same thing. I started to learn some basic concepts and was able to gain a couple of hundred points. Then, as I learn more, I seem to make bigger mistakes and have been bouncing up and down. However, I do recognise that I play much stronger players competitively now than when I was winning more games. Still I like a challenge and I really do enjoy playing so I think I should be ok in the longer run. You might be experiencing the same thing. Have fun regardless. Cheers.
I think the puzzles are hard. Most people who say the puzzle is too easy do so to boost their egos and their points (which in turn appears to boost their egos). And usually the daily is easy, if you look a moment and always remember to sac the biggest piece you can, which is why I don't like puzzles- they're always that way.
Two weeks is way too short a time to consider whether you are getting better or not. Like the others, I think 10 hours might be too intensive, it is often better to provide a slow, constant impetus which lets your brain restructure to its new assignments, and to remember what you have learned- especially in tight spots.
its funny, even when I lose a game, I learn something new....
Hang in there don't give up the game , we all have periods when it seems we can't win a game but they come and go trust me i have been playing this game for about 40 years now and have had my fair share of ups and downs in that time.
I suppose that this behavior in learning (getting better, then getting worse) is normal, as this happened to me in different fields. When you learn, you put efforts in applying your knowledge, but after a certain point, you start exploring new knowledge though you probably don't "master" your previous topic of study... so what happens is you're having more and more to manage at the same time, which is exponentially harder. What I find good is to go back to the basics often, until they become natural.
Anyway, my situation is similar to you as I began chess not long ago, and felt the same. I still struggle for very, very simple puzzles and miss obvious mates, but at the same time in game the difference is there. I probably need to revisit some of the books I've read myself, I'm quite sure I'll still learn from the very first chapters!
Oh, and... 6 hours in a row will probably be orders of magnitude less efficient than three sessions of two hours... that's how the brain works I suppose.
erik, what tactics book would you recommend?
none. i recommend the tactics trainer because it is interactive and you can go through it quickly. you can't interact with a book. books are good for openings and some strategy/endgame lessons.
Gosh, you are going at it really hard. It doesn't matter how much you play if you make the same mistakes. I got really frustrated and quit once. Then finally decided what the heck, I'll just work on improving my game. I find that even though my knowledge doesn't change a whole lot I go through periods where I'm either more or less agressive. I'm in a real woodpusher phase right now but I'm learning how to play that way. I've got "The Amateur Mind' by Jeremy Silman and it's a great book for people past the beginner phase. Chess.com has a mentor authored by Silman with very reasonable rates.
Studies have PROVEN (I'll post them at a later time) that once the human brain reaches a certain age, it becomes EXPONENTIALLY more difficult to learn things (hence the saying, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks").
Human beings COMPLETELY lose the capacity to speak FOREVER if they havent learned to speak by the age of 6 (watch the TLC special on Feral Children). They can NEVER be taught to speak after that time. That's why it is VERY difficult for an adult to learn a second language. The older you get, the harder it becomes. Chess is the same way. It is a second language in a loose sense. Unfortunately for you, it will be an uphill struggle.
Allow me to illustrate. If we could somehow go back in time and teach you chess from the ages of 5 to 10 (for 5 years) and that 10 year old would play the 33 year old person you will be after playing chess for 5 years, the 10 year old would CRUSH you every single time. Children learn and absorb things at a much higher rate than adults. It's a FACT. That's why when a family moves to a foreign country, their kids quickly become fluent in the language while their parents struggle to put together basic sentences.
The absolute best thing you can do is to buy Chessmaster and play it as often as you can. Your time, effort, and money will be wasted on books. Playing some punk on the www (who is 90% of the time using a program to cheat you) will only make you frustrated and give up. You won't learn much by playing OTB with grandpa or your kids. Chessmaster is the single best tutoring program out there.
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Playing some punk on the www (who is 90% of the time using a program to cheat you) will only make you frustrated and give up.
What, so you are saying that some people on chess.com can cheat to win? how is this possible? Apart from the old adjourning trick that used to happen.
SAMMYDRUMS, I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. BUT, and it is a big BUT, I am NOT saying that there are people on this site that are cheating to win, I know the owner of this site has something called morals and tries to stop cheating here. However, I myself have none of these morals and do use a chess program to cheat to win on other sites. Don't ask how I accomplish this feat--it will only corrupt you. CHEATING is rampant on the internet so watch out.
I especially liked eric's suggestions and tonydal's comments among others. I am just starting to get back a lot of what I lost having not having played seriously for some time. It is possible to burn out, so if you find yourself not enjoying what your doing ... just take a break for a while or stop putting in so much time at once. We all want to get better ... but if we were not having fun ... it probably wont keep us interested.
Guys. There are no absolutes when it comes to learning language, chess or any thing else. Whilst cheater_1 makes a good point it is indeed a trend. Some folks can pick up language, skills better than others at the same age and the majority of individuals will do better at a younger age. That being said the extremes (eg savant) would suggest that some folk have aptitude for some skills and not at all for others. This is gleaned from many years working in the neurosciences.
As with anything sammydrums. Time, hard work, perseverance and finding your most effective personal learning method are the key (ie some people take notes, some just read etc.) Practice, practice, practice and you will be fair to reasonable. A bit of talent will see be good.
I learnt a year ago and am still a rank beginner but certainly am better than when I started. Try each suggestion above and see what makes a difference.
The last posts are getting really offtopic, if at 28 you are too old for chess, that will only depend on your objectives, if you want to be a super gm 2700+ youl hardly get there, altough training 10h a day and if you get a real trainer everyone would at least get into 2500/2600, from there I think it will require lots of talent.
If your results are high sometimes and then they get low, thats regular, simply because your brain is confused, you are learning all this new ideas and tactics, but you do not really have any experience or know how to apply them, sometimes you get sometimes you will blunder bad, 10 hours is far too much unless you use something like 8 hours to play and 2 hours to tactics/watching games. I suggest you to find real objectives and try to get there, not something too hard.
As for results, In June when I was reading and watching some chess stuff I would go into 2200 in tactics trainer easy, but then I stopped in July now if I go to tactics trainer Ill go as down as 1700 sometimes but I know how this is if I train Ill get it back eventually...
So set your objectives play and have some fun while doing it!
thats my 2 cents 
Chess Tactics for Students, by John A. Bain is a good tactics book.
John Healy, a promising boxer who lived as an alcoholic for 15 years then took up chess at the age of 30 and rose quickly to quite a high level.
I got serious about chess at the age of 44 (just knew the moves before that although I had played a little) and while I'm not at a high level, I have increased my level quite a bit over 4 years.
I think it just takes a long time no matter when you start, and the key is to always make it fun.
Hi everyone,
My name is Sam and i'm 28. I've only just got in to chess. I've been playing for one month and have learned from scratch. I have been practising every day since i started for 6 hours (minimum) by playing against the computer and other people online through the 'live chess' option. The first couple of weeks went well, i managed to win some games against people with higher ratings and i performed pretty well on the tactics trainer and chess mentor. However, i feel as though i am going backwards now and seem to have hit a point where i am getting worse tactically than i was a couple of weeks ago even though i practice for up to 10 hours a day. Am i doing too much practice? Am i giving my brain more information than it can cope with at my age? did i start too late?
I find the daily puzzles really difficult and people leave messages declaring they are 'too easy'. This disheartens me a bit and i'm thinking of giving up now because i think i've started too late. Any advice anyone???