Help with beginner stuff

I'm so sick and tired of losing to people. I mean i know it's part of playing chess but it happens way too offten. I mean I study chess openings and my friend doesn't and he has a 1500 rating and I have a 1250 rating it's so annoying. Any ideas to help me become better. I know so many openings yet I can't seem to do anything like be better. Maybe this sounds so stupid but I'm sick and tired of losing. Have any ideas?

Well, you need to work out what you're doing wrong and improve at it. Do you look over your games?

I like this site a lot:

http://www.chesstactics.org/

Endgames might help too, e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_and_pawn_versus_king_endgame

You mention "openings". Focus on one (not many). Over and over and over and over. Get good at it.

You can't play just one opening because your opponent has so many choices. But you can choose moves based on your own evaluation and knowledge of the principles, rather than memorisation.

http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/ten-rules-opening

Have one, two openings at the max for white.  For black, have a reply for 1. e4, 1. d4, and 1. Nf3.  For your level, that should be enough.  Also, study tactics and make sure blunders stay low (I have lots of trouble with that!), because that stuff usually determines the outcome of games at your level.

That sounds like your problem, right there.

At your level, you should be studying chess opening principles, not chess openings. But that's not your first priority.

Priority #1: Try to minimize careless blunders. Develop your sight of the board.

Priority #2: Tactics

Priority #3: Tactics

Priority #4: Tactics (do you see a pattern?)

Priority #5: Typical mating patterns (corridor, smothered, lolli, greco, damiano, morphy, philidor, anderssen mates, etc)

Priority #6: Simple endgames - King and Pawn vs King. King and Pawns vs King and Pawns. King, Rook and Pawn(s) vs King and Rook. Minor piece + Pawns, etc.

Priority #7: Typical middle-game Pawn structures and what they should mean to you.

Priority #8: Opening principles.

What i would suggest is to try to not overload yourself with information. If you study many openings and memorize them, as soon as your opponent gets you out of book you're lost, as too what to do. Try to focus more on the ideas of an opening instead of learning many openings. Try to keep it simple, many times fancy play can be defeted by a move you were not expecting and your pieces are now out of position. Hope this helps. 

Slow down and think before you stink!  Err... move I mean. Haha, kidding aside, the more time you take on a move and look for obvious traps or places to hang your pieces (i.e. just letting your opponent take them), the less traps you will fall for and the more games you will win. This is my biggest issue - I play like a 1600-1700 players but move like a 1300-1400 player. I wouldn't be surprised if it is yours as well.

Here is how I learned ( and am learning). I don't study openings at all. I barely know some of their names. Instead I got a collection of games by Morphy, Lasker, Capablanca, Rubinstien-the players from way back. They played games in a way that was more natural, with typical mistakes by their opponents. Opening theory wasn't as complex then either. I played over their games. You pick up really good stuff, like how to get your pieces out fast, and how to punish bad opening play. You learn how to plan and execute typical attacks, and many tactical combinations. I also learned some basic endgame stuff. Like how and if you can win or draw a king and pawn endgame for example, and of course the basic matings like with a rook or queen. I want to get back to learning the endgame stuff, it's just incredibly good for your chess game. I can now see myself thinking about endgame implications in the middle game and can try to either avoid heading to it or to pursue it based on what I know about end games. Now tactics... You just have to do that a lot. I found a site that looks amazing for it-no more book needed now! It's chesstempo.com...free, unlimited, it love that site! Tactics is your bread and butter in chess I think, so as much as you can, practice doing tactics and finding them in chess positions. My perspective, for what it may or may not be worth.