You've been a member for three whole days. There is a lot of free training material here. You've just started doing tactics problems and lessons. There are also articles and videos by grandmasters and IM's that cover a lot of great material.
If you want one on one lessons, that's what coaches provide. It's a lot of work. That's why they get paid.
Possibly helpful:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1949)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
I know I've just joined, but I've been playing against computers and other players on a chess app I have on my phone, I only recently discovered how excellent this website is. And thanks, Kindaspongey. I'ma definitely check them all out.
Easy enough to pick on a game you recently lost... like
https://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1775924524
What I see immediately..
You are making up your opening. Ok, that is doable, but you have to roll with the punches when you mess it up. You do immediately try to control the center and develop, its not a bad attempt.
Im ok with it up to 10). Here at 10, you avoid trading queens... I would let white decide and leave her there. Put your rook behind it and own that file, or take it with the pawn and own the center, looks good to me. Don't fear a trade, but look at what happens after to decide if its good, bad, neutral, whatever to do it.
13) a5... a4 looks slightly better. But this is good thinking, you saved your bishop from being trapped, and this is at least the third time you have successfully NOT hung a piece which in and of itself is very good at your rating and level. 14)b5 is why a4 is slightly better, it prevents/defends against that idea. Qe8 is a hefty retreat, is there a better, more "active" or aggressive place to put her? Maybe c5 or something?
15)Nd7... wasted move, hes not going to take it. Still, you havent done anything horrible, you are just playing cautiously and not finding any attacks.
20) Be6? You still havent moved that bishop. Its preventing rooks from entering the game, and its doing nothing... this is a chance to trade it and weaken white. The pawn exchange that you played just lets his bishop have more places to go!
25) Rb8 is telling. It tells me you don't have a plan, and are defending / shuffling pieces in frustration. Rd6 and double up with Rfd8 after. That forms the beginning of an attack on his queen, king, something back there. It keeps control of the file. You have to attack, if you want to win.
28) there it is. White blunders. Do you see that you could win the game here? Its not mate, but its that bad (for white) or that good (for you)!! Look at this position again!
29) .. your constant avoidance of trading causes you to hang that pawn.
31) another game winner opportunity is missed. Nf4+ wins the queen. He can block the check with his queen, but that square happily is also covered by the knight!
32) Maybe Qd3+ first, then if you cannot find any additional tactics, grab the rook. It looks promising but I don't see any 100% sure knockouts from it. You also want to save the bishop AND get the rook if you can... so maybe a Bg5 is useful in this position, or after the Qd3, sometime in there... See how that skewers Q&N defended by your N?
Losing the rook to the bishop is not a good trade. Losing the knight wraps it up for white. You quickly went from solid chances and some tactics to way behind and doomed with these moves.
All in all, its not that bad a game given your level. Your 3 weaknesses are playing too defensively, missing your chances to attack, and making up the opening as you go, in order of severity from worst to least.
Thank you so much Jonnin! This is exactly the type of information I need. After my first couple opening moves, I'm completely lost and can't seem to make a plan. I did 100 tactics over the past two days on a chess app I have and I feel like it's helping me get into positiond to make forks and skewers, but getting it to play out in practice is a whole different story - and that's why I feel like they're not doing much for me. Today I seem to keep getting beat by pawn formations. I'll get a pawn to E4, get my knight out, throw a bishop into the middle and castle but by that time it seems that I'm in a position where almost any move I make, I'm losing something to a pawn, so maybe I just have to get better at figuring out when that's happening and switch to a different opening?
Study well and watch all the parts of these videos as it will help your chess understanding. I suggest you also set up the moves in a chess board so you can follow better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFnY77FmSeU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Hu6PibkOM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrOEcF9BQg
I would also suggest tic-tac-toe. Much easier to learn.
This is not a bad opening at all. A simple a3 gives your bishop a place to sit no matter what he does with the pawn attack, and it pressures his castled king if he goes there. N moves and QXN combo is nice, but its not worth your bishop in this position. This position really has much more strength if you can keep that pressure on the diagonal; and black will know this at higher levels and do all it can to force a trade. Save the bishop, then try to find a tactic to attack the night with queen, hopefully WHILE moving your knight to a strong attacking square in the process.
Ill also point out that you were winning on 39. 40) simpy Rxd+, Kxe and Rxd leads to an white win. He can't take the rook, the pawn protects it. You actually played pretty well, again. You lose, you learn ... getting the game to a winning position as you did is good, not recognizing it and losing anyway is bad, but step 1 is hard and you did that, step 2 is easy and you fumbled, ... you will get there. Need to recognize when you are winning and how to actualize it.
With_every_step I think formulating a plan is what I need to work on most. Neutral positions are tough for me. I spend too much time and too many moves trying to get the most out of an attack but I hardly ever seem to gain much of an advantage from them.
Easy enough to pick on a game you recently lost... like
https://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1775924524
What I see immediately..
You are making up your opening. Ok, that is doable, but you have to roll with the punches when you mess it up. You do immediately try to control the center and develop, its not a bad attempt.
Im ok with it up to 10). Here at 10, you avoid trading queens... I would let white decide and leave her there. Put your rook behind it and own that file, or take it with the pawn and own the center, looks good to me. Don't fear a trade, but look at what happens after to decide if its good, bad, neutral, whatever to do it.
13) a5... a4 looks slightly better. But this is good thinking, you saved your bishop from being trapped, and this is at least the third time you have successfully NOT hung a piece which in and of itself is very good at your rating and level. 14)b5 is why a4 is slightly better, it prevents/defends against that idea. Qe8 is a hefty retreat, is there a better, more "active" or aggressive place to put her? Maybe c5 or something?
15)Nd7... wasted move, hes not going to take it. Still, you havent done anything horrible, you are just playing cautiously and not finding any attacks.
20) Be6? You still havent moved that bishop. Its preventing rooks from entering the game, and its doing nothing... this is a chance to trade it and weaken white. The pawn exchange that you played just lets his bishop have more places to go!
25) Rb8 is telling. It tells me you don't have a plan, and are defending / shuffling pieces in frustration. Rd6 and double up with Rfd8 after. That forms the beginning of an attack on his queen, king, something back there. It keeps control of the file. You have to attack, if you want to win.
28) there it is. White blunders. Do you see that you could win the game here? Its not mate, but its that bad (for white) or that good (for you)!! Look at this position again!
29) .. your constant avoidance of trading causes you to hang that pawn.
31) another game winner opportunity is missed. Nf4+ wins the queen. He can block the check with his queen, but that square happily is also covered by the knight!
32) Maybe Qd3+ first, then if you cannot find any additional tactics, grab the rook. It looks promising but I don't see any 100% sure knockouts from it. You also want to save the bishop AND get the rook if you can... so maybe a Bg5 is useful in this position, or after the Qd3, sometime in there... See how that skewers Q&N defended by your N?
Losing the rook to the bishop is not a good trade. Losing the knight wraps it up for white. You quickly went from solid chances and some tactics to way behind and doomed with these moves.
All in all, its not that bad a game given your level. Your 3 weaknesses are playing too defensively, missing your chances to attack, and making up the opening as you go, in order of severity from worst to least.
Thank you for your help! We all get something from this and I really appreciate it! ;)
I can't seem to get the hang of this game. I understand I'm supposed to develop my pieces early and then formulate a plan, but after the first four moves, I'm just lost and start making mistakes and can't seem to come back. I've been doing tactics for a little while now on a couple of apps that I have, but I feel like they just aren't helping when I'm not understanding why one line of play is correct and why the one that I think I should take is not. Does anyone have any resources that go more in-depth and explains (easily) why one line is better than another? I think what I really need is to play with a good player and explain my thought process throughout the game and have them tell me why I;m wrong or what I need to improve on. However, since I have a low rating, I can't seem to find a very strong player (even though in most matches players are stronger then me since I have like a 65% loss rating). And even when I do, no one is up for offering advice or explaining what I did wrong. Someone please help