Getting better..

I have been playing chess with a couple of buddies for several months now.  I was 1a, one guy is 1b, and the other 1c.  We have been playing tight games for a while, but we haven't played in a few weeks.

In the meantime I picked up Nunn's book, 'learning chess tactics'.  I have made it through the fork section and a bit of the discovered attacks section, and it has already made me a much better player.  I have also been playing lots of games on chess.com, and it's improved my game tremendously.  My buddies said they played a bit, but not too much.  I played both of these guys in the last few games and was completely dominant. 

 I guess everyone has this feeling sometime, or more likely many times in the evolution of their game, but this is my first experience with it.  It feels pretty good. Learning the nuances of the game that make all of the difference in the world, and truly learning the game.  I know my buddies are going to come back with a vengeance, and I hope they do, that's what makes the game fun.  By the way I'm rated 850 :) on chess.com, but I can still appreciate the changes I see in my game.

We have also decided to get a chess group started up with friends who are beginners and amateurs.  We are purchasing 5 game sets to get things started. That's going to be sweet.   Chess is a great game!  Just wanted to share that with some other people who obviously really love this game.

Peace

Hello,

I felt the same when at 16 I seriously started chess, having learned the rules at 6 or 7 and played it just for fun from then mostly against my dad or computer. I lost all the time, and didn't understand why one should play the center or seek initiative.

I got an electronic chess-set for Christmas and started reading a Nicolas Giffard book on the overall game, strategy... I didn't even know a queen alone could mate! I then started beating my (weak) computer on level 1 which was supposed to be very easy, then I beat him in the stronger levels, finding it then too easy I changed my openings to give him a chance! At the same time, I quickly came to beat a few times my dad, and today he'll win no more than one or two games on a hundred... Well, no problem, I'm now in a chess club and can get my ass kicked for real anytime, but that's good to learn, start to love something and start to see things...even a bit

Lol yeah, I used to find playing against a level 3 computer (10 levels) on Chess Titans (Vista) hard to do. These days I might muck around with a level 6 or 7. I'm pretty sure the levels get exponentially harder though, but I once managed to beat a level 10!

I used to play in a circle of friends, I was the worst at chess by far. I'm not even sure I won a game. That was 5 years ago. Now I can beat/draw the best player in the group, every time.

Hello!

Im so glad to hear such storys :) Chess is a great game, and i think you love it, the way i love it :)

If you wanna get better, you should find a OTB coach, that can help you understand some positional things in chess, but i think a tactic book, such as the one you have, also is a great start. I think you should try a month Platinum/Diamond membership here on chess.com, so that you have use the tactic trainer (would be awesome for you), and maby there is some chess mentor courses at your level, i dont know.
But a OTB coach would be great for you! 

Also, if you want to, we can play a move-takeback unrated corr game here at chess.com, and then i can learn you something :) My FIDE ELO is about 1600, and about 1600 chess.com rating blitz.

Keep it up!

Thanks Simon, 

I added you to friends; we should play some time. 

I've recently started playing chess a lot, realizing how fun it is.  I actually knew the rules and played it just for fun before, and I almost often lost. But with constant practice (I play chess in almost all of my spare time) I think I have gotten better. Until now  I consider myself very much still a novice, but not like the one that makes foolish mistakes anymore or would give away easy opportunities.  Until now I still don't know the names of the openings, but I think the ones I have gotten the hang to already have a name.  This is also because I read an article which stated that getting better in chess is, in the end, in practice. Lots of it.  And that's what I did and am doing. Not memorizing openings or middlegames, but just trying to make the game more natural for me.

can you be my mentor?

well you must have been real amateurs.. usually with best books you need month to get better. i mean you must not only read the information, you must play hundreds of games afterwards and than reflect what you read and incorporate it with the games you have in your memory. you know normally 1 week doesnt make any difference.... but by any means ofc it cant never be wrong to join this site, nunns book i havent read yet.