How to be a more aggressive player?

You want to be more aggressive? Easy. Just don't be afraid to fail.

You can't cross a chasm in two leaps. -- Spock

That may have actually nailed it...

Oh, you just don't want to be as timid.

Give preference to centralized squares, squares beyond your 4th rank, and squares where a piece attacks a target (like a weak pawn).  Knights aren't all worth 3, rooks aren't all worth 5, etc.  Always make your pieces as active as possible to get their full value.

And as Fischer said you have to give squares to get squares.  It's usually impossible to give your opponent nothing to play for, and if you try to control everything you can end up being passive.  In this case calculate to see if what they're getting is actually scary or if you can ignore it... you can usually ignore more than you think!

Besides, if your opponent has not played you before, its even easier to intimidate them with a couple of aggressive moves without having an aggressive style. It's the "third-rank turtles/hippos" that piss me off.

Im not judging you.  I'm just saying that instead of worrying how to be more agressive, get back to basics.  I hear this so often..."I want to be agressive"

Good Luck

Piece activity. 

Place your pieces on their most active squares.

If one of your pieces is under attack, counter attack if possible.

Move your pieces as forward as possible.

Dont move your pieced back unless you have to.

Control the center.

Okay, thank you for your help I_Am_Second. 

look at games of morphy, blackburne, chigorin they will teach you how to play for the attack. Back then, they considered games that did not feature awesome attacks and counter attacks pointless.

how to play more aggressive chess? calculate the most forcing lines.  Seriously though, get chess master v chess amateur by Max Euwe, it demonstrates how a master expoits passive moves through greater force

My pleasure, and my apologies on any confusion.

XPLAYERJX: Thank you very much for the diagram and detailed instruction. I think I understand what you're saying here, thanks!! In response to your question on whether I knew my chess playing personality, I have taken the chess personality quiz twice prior to today and got different results each time. I don't recall the second result, but the first was Grandmaster, which made me wonder how accurate the quiz is. What are your thoughts on this?

I_Am_Second: Thanks again, and sorry to sound harsh in my first response. 

I_Am_Second: Thanks for the go-over! I didn't do a replay the game after I played and I gotta say I'm a little embarassed to have played so badly.

But anyhow! I'm not sure what you mean after 5.b2 when you said the c3 pawn controled b4-d4. And also, does the semi-open b-file refer to how many of my pieces are situated on it? Thanks again this was helpful!

You don't happen to be available to coach occasionally, do you?

XPLAYERJX: Gotcha, thanks! :)

Coaching is what i do :-)

XPLAYERJX: In doing the moves so that the white bishop is not locked in by the pawns, I usually encounter people pushing their pawns to attack the bishop and because of the d3 pawn it's sort of stuck on that side of the board. What should I do when/if that occurs? 

So when it's 3rd & 7 and defense shows a safety blitz and the original playcall was for a 10-yard post, would I audible for a different play with shorter routes or a different protection set keeping the pass pattern?  

Please dont be embarassed, as that wasnt my intent.  It was a game i saw, and its a great example of what youre looking for. 

Not sure what you mean by 5.b2?  The sideline i added was  5. Nf3Bxc3+6. bxc3You have the Bishop pair, semi-open b-file, and the c3 pawn controls b4-d4.  Broken down it means:

1.  You have the Bishop pair in an open position.  If it was a closed position then the Knights would be more valuable.  And yes this position will open up.

2.  The semi-open b-file means that you have a semi-open file to work with at some point.  Rooks belong on open files, and it puts pressure on b7.

Hmm, okay, so open meaning that they aren't locked in? Otherwise I think I understand. lol

Okay, yes I've been trapped with the Noah's Arc. lol Thanks! I'll remember this next time that happens.