Frustrated!!!!

I cannot see moves. It seems like I am stuck at a TERRIBLE rating (~1300's) and cannot advance. It feels like no matter how much I practice, I cannot see any more than 2 moves ahead. I try tactic trainer and I reach puzzles where I am totally confused on where to go. I am like 0-5-2 in my last seven games. I am trying the study plans, but it gets confusing when it starts listing out "black cant go here because of A5 the B5c5 then qxa4....

What can I do? Have you reached a plateau that you were able to break though? How? I like chess, but I am getting seriously frustrated with my inability to advance!!!! But I cant quit because I want to advance!

patience.  "see a good move, sit on your hands till you find a better one."  time consuming at first, but will install a good practice of seeing the whole board and its positions ripe for attack for both you and your opponent.

How long have you been stuck?

At first progress is immediate. As you continue there are many plateaus. This happens to everyone.

You have trouble seeing 3 moves ahead? Then practice that. Set up a diagram or a board, and when they give you 3 moves, try to visualize them. It's not going to happen the first attempt, but keep trying until you get it. Do this for 30 minutes a day for a month and I bet you'll notice improvement.

smoke pot smoke pot everybody smoke pot smoke pot These guys are all stoned, you should be.

Therapy

It looks like you only started on here a few weeks ago. Just stick with it. If you read and then reread material, more and more will stick. Eventually things that seemed foreign will be second nature.

As others have said, be patient. I've set myself a very long term goal, partly to not get caught up in the here and now too much. So what if you lose the next game?; review it and see if you can learn something from it. Struggling with Tactics Trainer? Forget about the timer and your rating and just focus on your solve % (you're over 55% already, not bad at all).

Good luck

Thanks all!

I think the chess mentor and lessons are making me want to play a more open game, which I am unfamiliar with, and that's why I am losing. My early games I played closed and waited for the other guy to make a mistake. That worked good in lower rated games, but when I got to higher rated I was destroyed.

My last few games I have opened up and starting make sacs. I have blundered here and there and lost, but think my win rate has plummeted because I am playing a new style and still learning.

@W F State..this happens to every body..I have seen players plummet fm

1846 to 1200,1843 to 1100 allthese in less than 2 weeks,some players fm

2000 plus to 1400 plus ..others fm1400 plus to 1900 or 1650 to 1340..

all these are true examples..firstly remember we all have our limitations

in progress..secondly a wrong notion is that by studying books u can improve ur game..not at all.. only if u know the basic openings and some

middle game tactics and strategy planning,some basic end game techniques involving  pawnsand king, rook and king,queen and king,

knight with pawns,bishop with pawns etc.. after these,u can practice

games of higher rated players how they lost or won..lastly slow but

steady progress is attained if u join some teams like sacred pawn legion

and  playvote chess games  where  seniorplayers  discuss and debate over

moves and strategies learn a lot of the higher level of play from the one in which u are following now.. wishing u all the best and donot go for high ambitions and alsokeep a steady progress which is always gradual and never attained in a day or two...

I can only suggest what has worked for me although at this time I am stuck at a plateau.  IT WILL PASS

1st step decide what openings I wanted to learn as White.  Not a specific line in an opening.  Play LOTS of games with that opening concentrate on the first ten moves.  When you start to see progress change to the first 15 moves.  Personally I have focused on a group of openings revolving around 1. d4 as White.  I see a lot of English if I am Black so have been forced to study a specific responce to 1.c4

As Black if I see e4 I preffer the Sicilian responce.  If I see d4 then we are back into some form of QP opening.   Understand that this will take a lot of games & time. 

When you start to see progress in your openings it's time to look into midgame studies.  I suggest midgame book's by Bruce Pandolfini as they are very simple to understand & he won't bury you in advanced chess theory.  After that a good suggestion is Pawn Structure Chess by Soltis.  I like Yasser Sierawan's books as I can understand them.   Don't be foolish enough to think you will remember all of this.  Absorb what you can & move on.

Then work on endgame starting with Pandolfini again for the same reason. His books are very simple and won't bury you.  I like Yasser Sierawan's endgame book after the Pandolfini.  Then if you are feeling brave dive into Mark Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual 4th edition of you can get it.  I am still slugging through this.

At USCF tournaments I am still struggeling with calculation issues (lack of)  The book, The Inner Game of Chess by Soltis (I can understand his books) has recived favorable reviews.  I will start after the Dvoretsky's book.

Then dig out my midgame books and start all over again.  It is my belif that digging back into the books should allow me to expand on my understanding of chesss theory.

How do you guage results????  Chess database software that allows you to enter every single game and anylize every move.  Over time you will see improvement.

I doubt I will ever beat Carlsen but I am seeing improvement.  Never as fast as you want

Thanks for responses. 

I have kept at it and I am seeing progress. I have taken off in tacti trainer (as in going from 1200's to the 1400's) as things have just clicked. I am learning on making plans - not just moving - and seeing opponents weeknesses.

I find my biggest weakness right now is playing black. I am confident on the C4 opening for white, but need a go to for black.

Frustrating game, but I am glad to start seeing progress!

Playing Black starts with deciding how you want to respond to either d4 or e4.  Are you a defensive player or do you preffer a more agressive stance.  Once you dermine what type of player you are, choosing a defense is simpler as the different types of defenses have their own atributes.

You may wish to consider Wikipedia's ECO listing as a way to research different openings.