Horrendous calculation, advice is terrible, and is chess just not how I think?

So this is a combination question and comment that comes out of frustration.

My calculation is absolutely awful. I know this, and I see it over and over in games I lose. It's one of the reasons I feel like for me chess might just be a huge waste of time.

I can't understand why over time I haven't gotten any better at calculation - or at chess in general for that matter. The only answer I can come up with is that I'm just not wired for how chess works. Some things come super natural to me... chess though isn't one of them.

That said, the advice I've seen and videos I've watched more or less amount to "suck less", and usually comes down to something like "improve your vision" which is a bit like telling a colorblind person all they need to do to be better at seeing color is to be better at seeing color. When you can't see it, the advice to "just see it" is just terrible. Or the advice is practice tactics, or review your games... none of which has made me any better and now only bores me, because none of that has helped me improve. People even say "I reviewed your game and you blundered at piece"... yup... I know., I was there. The problem is seeing it BEFORE it happens. 8 or 9 times out of 10 there's some HUGE mistake I didn't see that costs me a game - and often it comes from bad calculation.

Thanks llama_l, all helpful responses, not because I understand any better, but because of the encouragement. This game (even this move specifically) is a great example of what I mean. As you can see I had already blown this game about 15 moves earlier, and was having trouble figuring out what to do. A few moves were just trying to see what I could make of it, even though I knew I couldn't really save it. BUT, the move you chose is really interesting, because it's EXACTLY the move that caused me to post this (or rather the most recent move that caused me to post this).

Of course the bishop can just take, but it's a great example of something I just didn't calculate, I just didn't see it, and it's where advice gets really frustrating, because it's usually "the bishop can just take there" Well, no duh. What I need (and maybe your advice will help) is a way to see that BEFORE I make the move....

But, frustratingly, that's what I haven't gotten better at in years of practice, and it's sort of why I think chess might just not be the way I think.

Practice, it's all about making mistakes, reviewing, analyzing, try to learn and doing mistakes over and over, and over again. Chess is just like that, is not easy, you have to think about million things at the same time, but you keep going if you want to be better. Quit that negative mindset, if you say you can't then you would not

Llama gave some oustanding advice here. I recommend rereading it if you get the chance - there's a lot practical chess wisdom there.

As he pointed out, we can't eliminate mistakes from our play - but we can try to minimize them by being more thorough (and more efficient) in how we think about our moves, and the possible moves of our opponents.

I don't remember which famous chess player said it, but: "When you see a good move - stop, and look for a better one". This doesn't mean there will always be a better move, but it does emphasize the practice of trying to see past just a single, solitary option. Because often, there are different choices to choose from, and if you get into the habit of considering different options, then you're doing what stronger players tend to do: considering "candidate moves".

This means looking at multiple choices, and weighing them against each other, instead of just jumping on a single idea.

When I'm considering two possible moves, for example, one of the main things I'm considering is what my opponent's best response (or responses) might be. You won't always be correct in this, but just the act of trying to predict your opponent's moves can sometimes help you find things that you might have otherwise missed.

Like Llama said - it's about training yourself to think deeper, farther, and broader ... Forming a habit, which eventually evolves into a skill ...