I suck at chess

Hi, I'm not new to chess, but I'm absolutely terrible. I can barely beat 600 rated opponents. Any tips?

*EDIT I just realized there have been 4 other posts with the same name!

Eat and sleep good and play chess as long as you like to play it.

Hi alchzh--around the 600 level there's little or no planning; moves tend to be almost random, with a sort of hovering after the fact to make sure nothing important was given away for free.  Start reading about openings and looking at stronger players' games, but mostly focus on recognizing the basic tactics.  Play opponents near your level at slow time control so you have a chance to start seeing hanging pieces, forks, pins, discoveries, etc.  Try to get in the habit of predicting opponents' moves also, even just 1-2 turns ahead, because it will start becoming more important.  Just learn to recognize as many simple patterns as you can at this stage: how to checkmate with a king / queen, how to guard f2 or f7 against the Scholar's Mate, how to develop knights towards the center instead of the edge of the board--these are all tactics in some sense and there are thousands of them.  Finally, make sure to study games that are analyzed in words and not just moves; otherwise you'll never know what the stronger players were thinking.

my videos will help your game improve, you can find them on my group wall:

http://www.chess.com/groups/join?id=14246

Chesstempo so you get your feet wet with calculation. 

Here's one of your games and you have typical beginner problems.  Don't worry you'll get better:

Here

Thx, great analysis! Thanks for all the answers! I hope I will improve.

Also have a look at my game with cjweitz, I played terrible.

nice notes oogieboogie. thank you for the effort. I realize its not my thread, but your notes were very instructive. 

There I restated it.

Play a game you know... e4 is usually a move beginners make who are uncertain, it's less complicated but pro's use it asswell. so did Fischer

Play onlne turn based games. Take your time, and think about your opponents responses. Make notes about your thoughts, what you think your opponent is planning and your plans. Then post this to the forum with comments.

I don't mind playing you and giving feedback if you're willing to make this effort.

http://www.chesstactics.org/

And read this site.

I suck too... So I shouldn't be giving advice! I read Dan Heisman "first chess openings" and I found it very readable and getting me through the opening. I'm trying to do some tactics problems every day. I posted a question on books, and so now I'm reading "how to beat your dad at chess". Great book. Lastly, I worked through the simulator or whatever it's called to try to learn how to checkmate with 2 bishops or just a king and queen or 2 rooks. Basic moves, but you'll find people chase you all over the board because they can't move the pieces. Maybe they can and theyre just toying with me. Like I said... I have no business posting a reply, but I feel your pain! Oh... And play, play, play... My wife said to put it down... So I was up at 5am today playing in quiet. Has chess ever ruined a marriage?

You are making very VERY VERY basic mistakes.
Here are a few rules of thumb you can follow.
->Always try to bring your pieces out as fast as possible.
->try to take control of the center

->make sure you don't move the same piece twice in the opening.you wast a move that could be used to bring out another piece.
->always look around and see if you have hanging pieces and if you can protect them.The knight on b5 could have been saved with a move like Nc3.
->Look for basic tactics like forks or pins.
->study some basic opening theory like the italian game or the spanish game.
->PLAY LONGER GAMES.Your game was an online 24 hour game.Usually that is a very very very long time to think.Use it.DO NOT EVER EVER EVER play bullet/blitz games.Only use those if you wanna try out a new opening and want to have a feel of it.At your level it is an absolute NO.
->Do tactics trainer and chess mentor.specially chess mentor.Do as many of them as you can. 

Tips

1) It's very important that you know the chess board very,very accurately and you can visualize each square on the board in it's relations to the neighbouring squares as Emmanual Lasker said in his manual he added that many people fail to master this geometic task not suspecting it's value and he's right people still underestimate it.

2) Beginners typically start with Openings first (worse all they do is memorize them) this is a huge mistake start with the elements and the endgame first then you study the middle and openings in relation to the endgame (everything is connected) when you study Chess in a structured way you'll see the Chess as a harmonious whole.

http://www.uscfsales.com/the-game-of-chess.html

3) Surround yourself with excellent good players with skills when you practice learn as much as you can from them but avoid coffee house players they can affect your play they have bad habits, total lack of discipline at the board, bad openings 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qf6 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 move their Queen out early and often, play for traps and cheap tricks. If your serious about learning Chess the right way and developing your skills stay far away from those guys

4) Play slow games 60-95 minutes a game at least 2 or 3 times a week either at a club or online in a slow time controls group

5) Study Master games (alot of them) on a real set not a computer

http://www.amazon.com/500-Master-Games-Chess-Dover/dp/0486232085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391962803&sr=8-1&keywords=500+master+games

6) Go over your games with your opponents and analyze them whenever possible with stronger players

7) Solve tactics combinations checkmates every every day without moving pieces on a board or on a computer (directly through your minds eye) as much as you can chew at first you may be able to do 50 then a 100 then as you get better 200 then 300 etc it's very important than you keep at it alot.

The fastest and easiest way to add hundreds of rating points at your level: every turn, look at every check, capture, and threat. Developing this habit is the most important thing you can do right now.

Just play. At that rating level i think that just by playing and get experience you will improve