how do I attack in chess?

Yep.

If I were to give one piece of advice -- which, when you get better, you'll find isn't absolutely, positively true, but for now you should assume it is -- it would be that you should develop every single piece and get your king castled before you launch an attack.

Yeah, it's something like...

Can I win material by force?

If the answer is no then...

Is my opponent threatening to win material by force?

If the answer is no then...

Simply develop a piece or otherwise make a simple improvement (like castling).

Then ask does my intended move allow my opponent to win material by force?

If the answer is no, then play the move.

---

If you can consistently follow this then you'll be far beyond beginner level... it takes most people at least a year of playing before this is so habitual that they don't have to consciously think about it.

And some people fail to make this a habit even after many years of playing.

Let me give it a try. It’s not easy question.

You say you trade down your pieces and then it’s a matter of who blunders least. I think a very good observation. Around 50% of the players here don’t know this, so you are ahead.

Now stop it. Stop trading pieces. Only trade if your position improves due to the trade. And stop blundering. This is hard but very important. It’s useless to try to learn to attack if you loose your pieces left and right.

Now check every game you played afterwards and look for weak spots in your opponents position. This makes you sensitive for attacking play. Look for undefended pieces, backward pawns and weaknesses around your opponents king. And think of ways to attack those spots.

Last: attacking is not one move. You build up the pressure around those weak spots. So don’t look for one move. Look for pressure.

I am afraid that I myself are still in phase one. I try not to blunder too much.

thanks that's helpful

"HOW to attack" isn't the important question.

"WHEN to attack" is the key insight.

One misconception that must be corrected before a weak player can become a strong player is the mistaken idea that you can gain the advantage by attacking. This is only true in Bullet or Blitz, or when facing the weakest sort of opposition. 

Attacking is NOT a method for gaining the advantage. It is a method for converting an already-existing advantage into a more readily usable form... for converting an advantage in development into a mating attack or win of material, for example.

You gain the advantage by maneuver. You cash in that advantage by attack.

you are better than me

dont waste your moves like playing ur knight in the corner and many other pieces like moving pieces for  no use .. thank you

"When should I attack?" when the position calls for it! lemme give an example:

This position contains opposite side castling... you should be pushing the pawns in front of your oppoennts kings... Also you should be aiming at your opponents weaknesses... What are they?

1) g6

2) You can provoke a weakness by trading the fianchettoed bishop which will help you more in attacking

THerefore your plan should be Bh6 h4 h5 g4 sometimes

If there is an opposite side castling and your opponent does not have any weaknesses, you should be pushing your pawns to provoke weaknesses.

If your pieces are well placed in same side castling positions, you can start an attack!

Take all your pieces and throw it at your opponent, pawns first then knights bishops as snipers rooks as battering rams and queen to finish it up

I mentioned Bh6

You attack by loading up all weapons first. Then you fire off a warning shot to make em fearful...

I'm sorry, but you obviously don't know the dragon if you think Bh6 is a good idea in the normal dragon. It's possible in the Chinese dragon but I don't think its as challenging in the normal dragon.

Bh6 is often an idea in the Yugoslav lines, but it's usually not played early on.  It becomes effective after the h- and possibly g-pawns are way up the board and you've started to open lines.

I forgot all my chinese dragon theory

1. Tactics

2. Books that explain concepts of attack like Art of attack by Vladimir Vukovic

3. Tactics

4. Watching videos here or free ones on Youtube that follow master games, preferable not SuperGM but a bit lower. Can be amateur as long their are explanations.

(example video made by me https://youtu.be/ESvCr5Ljn_Q)

5. Tactics

6. Gambits, even if they are unsound, or perhaps especially unsound ones (Fried liver, Halloween Gambit) (your rating will go down at first I guess but the repetition will make you recognize patterns, stop these gambits after you have played a 100 or so)

7. Tactics

8. Endgames (you will study pieces in isolation, which helps your general understanding) also it is not bad to know which endgames are winning for you

9. Tactics

10. Tactics

 

Good luck!

Hey, you forgot "tactics"!

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned tactics but I think they're helpful.

I'm also surprised no one has recommended the attacking manuals by Jacob Asgard. Both are top tier books.

thanks

I also feel like endgames are what I'm usually best at

You need to have 3 of the 4 following advantages:

1. Material.

2. Space.

3. Piece Activity.

4. Weakness in the opponents position.

Playing speed chess is never going to allow you to grow in chess.  You are not giving yourself time to think.