Need help on improving.

I play a fair bit of chess at school, but I never really studied it in detail. I really just play for fun and most of the time I end up winning (not sure if i'm good or if the people I play against suck), but my bread and butter pretty much revolves around the game going something like this:

I suggest you abandon your silly rook ideas and try something novel like developing all your pieces.

Meh, worked for a while and now I realise it is time to drop it. However, like I said, the game doesn't always play out in this way and a fair amount of the time I do develop most of my peices.

I'm not going to say anything negative about the play given.

The moves were legal.

Can't say anything else without falsifying my first sentence.

Ok, people, I realise that it's a stupid tactic and now I'm asking for help, which you seem to be reluctant to give.

You could try and have a look here and there for a start

Thank you. Was that really so hard people?

IMO, you need to get reading chess books. It's hard to discern your level, though, so it's hard to recommend a particular book.

Having said that, Logical Chess: Move by Move is a great book for anyone in the beginner-intermediate range.

Well, given you didn't develop at all in the example given, I thought "try developing your pieces" was a perfectly good bit of advice.

My apologies. It's 2am here and I have been trying to finish three assignments due tomorrow (well today I suppose) for Chemistry, Physics and Calculus, so I am feeling a bit dazed and didn't put much thought in the example: I was just trying to get the general idea across. Once again, my apologies for sounding like a d!ck :)

My advice... don't even think about calculus and chess at 2am!

 Its not an awful idea but easily evadable. try to establish a a bit more control over the center of the board(advancing the king and queen's pawns to some degree at some point early) which you can use later to support your attacks on upper pieces such as rooks. A pawn rush usually isn't too effective until the endgame where they are facing less high level opposition.

lol... it was funny..!!

Au contraire! Some of us do our best thinking at 2 a.m.

Nope.  We just think it is at 0300.

Quick question, isn't 1200 a bit high as a starting rating? I played chessmaster art of learning on PC and it starts you off at 600. I remeber playing it on DS once and the hardest opponent had a rating of 1250ish and fully wiped the floor with me...

I played a live chess game today, I really only won because the guy made a silly mistake:

The starting rating is quite arbitrary, Herr_Noobien. People come to chess.com at every level from beginner to grandmaster, and are all able to find their own level by playing, and very often to improve it. 1200 is not supposed to be an estimate of the rating of a new player, which depends on their experience, etc.

Starting rating does not mather. You can start with 2200 if you like, it will be sorted up after 5-6 games.

For pawn structure and piece development, If you hold center and hold it strong, you can attack right, left of mid. If you push only your K-side, or Q-side pawns, there is not much options for you. Even moves like c4, f4, c5 are made so you can put more pressure on center.

Simple as that.

This could help too

Chess Principles

01.  Develop your pieces quickly.
02.  Control the center.
03.  Try to put your pieces on squares that give them maximum space.
04.  Try to develop your knights towards the center.
05.  A knight on the rim is dim.
06.  Don't take unnecessary chances.
07.  Play aggressive.
08.  Calculate forced moves first.
09.  Always ask yourself, "Can he put me in check or win a piece?"
10.  Have a plan.  Every move should have a purpose.
11.  Assume your opponent's move is his best move.
12.  Ask yourself, "why did he move there?" after each opponent move.
13.  Play for the initiative and contolling the board.
14.  If you must lose a piece, get something for it if you can.
15.  When behind, exchange pawns.  When ahead, exchange pieces.
16.  If you are losing, don't give up fighting.  Look for counterplay.
17.  Don't play unsound moves unless you are losing badly.
18.  Don't sacrifice a piece without good reason.
19.  If you are in doubt of an opponent's sacrifice, accept it.
20.  Attack with more that just one or two pieces.
21.  Do not make careless pawn moves.  They cannot move back.
22.  Do not block in your bishops.
23.  Bishops of opposite colors have the greatest chance of drawing.
24.  Try not to move the same piece twice or more times in a row.
25.  Exchange pieces if it helps your development.
26.  Don't bring your queen out early.
27.  Castle soon to protect your king and develop your rook.
28.  Develop rooks to open files.
29.  Put rooks behind passed pawns.
30.  Study rook endgames.  They are the most common and most complicated.
31.  Don't let your king get caught in the center.
32.  Don't castle if it brings your king into greater danger from attack.
33.  After castling, keep a good pawn formation around your king.
34.  If you only have one bishop, put your pawns on its opposite color.
35.  Trade pawns pieces when ahead in material or when under attack.
36.  If cramped, free your game by exchanging material.
37.  If your opponent is cramped, don't let him get any freeing exchanges.
38.  Study openings you are comfortable with.
39.  Play over entire games, not just the opening.
40.  Blitz chess is helpful in recognizing chess patterns.  Play often.
41.  Study annotated games and try to guess each move.
42.  Stick with just a few openings with White, and a few openings with Black.
43.  Record your games and go over them, especially the games you lost.
44.  Show your games to higher rated opponents and get feedback from them.
45.  Use chess computers and databases to help you study and play more.
46.  Everyone blunders.  The champions just blunder less often.
47.  When it is not your move, look for tactics and combinations.
48.  Try to double rooks or double rook and queen on open files.
49.  Always ask yourself, "Does my next move overlook something simple?"
50.  Don't make your own plans without the exclusion of the opponent's threats.
51.  Watch out for captures by retreat of an opponent's piece.
52.  Do not focus on one sector of the board.  View thw whole board.
53.  Write down your move first before making that move if it helps.
54.  Try to solve chess puzzles with diagrams from books and magazines.
55.  It is less likely that an opponent is prepared for off-beat openings.
56.  Recognize transposition of moves from main-line play.
57.  Watch your time and avoid time trouble. 
58.  Bishops are worth more than knights except when they are pinned in.
59.  A knight works better with a bishop than another knight.
60.  It is usually a good idea to trade down into a pawn up endgame.
61.  Have confidence in your game.
62.  Play in as many rated events as you can.
63.  Try not to look at your opponent's rating until after the game.
64.  Always play for a win.

Your play was not so bad in the game you just posted. Throwing the b-pawn should have been of help to your opponent, but he blundered and gave you a rook. Can you see how he could have avoided that, and what the effect would have been? A good principle in chess is to always assume the opponent will play the best move you can see for them, rather than relying on them falling into traps, which becomes less and less effective, the stronger your opponents.

 I quite agree.