playing against the computer at Chess .com

Even though i've known how to play chess for 25-30 years (or at least new how to move the pieces) I am really just a beginner, because i've never had the desire to be a good chess player until recently. I'm sort of competitive and I have this friend who I play poker with for $ and one recent evening after I had thoroughly dominated at poker, he asked if I wanted to play chess against him for money (nothing major) and he convinced me to play by playing the game without his queen. well, I thought that would put things more on a even playing field cause I knew he was better than me. Anyway, as you might have geussed i lost and then i was into another game of the same because i took it as challenging for me. he won that too. since then ive been understanding what some of the strategy involves and it's fascinating. i've challenged myself to be a better player than him, cause were competitive a i have a BA and an MA in history and socil sciences and he's only high school educated- i'm not suggesting that that would qualify me in being a better player than him,; i just told him that if i put work in being a better player just like if it was a upper division college course that i'd be the one kickin' his butt without a queen in a month or two. anyway i'm sorry for the long intro into my questions, but this is a very frustrating game when you think your'e making some progress and then you play this sites computer in the easy mode and you get quickly decimated. just tonight i lost three straight (one rather handily) and it's demoralizing. Then on the fourth game  i got his queen early and got another queen and ended up checkmating him,or it. But it happened without me really planning it or knowing how the hell i did it. is there a way to slow down his move, cause sometimes it just happens where i dont even know what he just killed off of mine and i need to be able to know not only how it is winning when it does but if i cant even know how i won when i did i'm not going to learn a thing. I just started coming to this site, and i am probably too much of a novice to even discuss strategy with most people on this site, but i need help because where as before i might have had a motive to get good at this so i could take my friends money easier but now it's like i'm competing with myself--meaning the belief and the desire i have to be good at this versus the discouraging reality of my ineptness at it when the 'easy' mode beats up on me so 'easily'. does anyone know of a site that  might suit me better for learning?

An interesting story, and I am sorry to hear that you lost all those games, it certainly can be very demoralizing. We all lose, though (a lot :)... It's just something you have to deal with, and you have to force yourself to learn from your mistakes.

Also, it is not a good idea to assume that someone is going to be an inferior Chess player (or less intelligent in some way) just because they have what appears to be a low level of education. Technically, I have a 9th grade education. I also have an IQ of 170 (if that means anything :) and I went on to start my own successful business. I am a decent Chess player too.

Basically, if you want to get good at Chess, you're going to have to do some studying. It isn't nearly as fun as playing, but if you're committed to getting better, you have to do it. This means reading books, analyzing your own games to see where you went wrong (with the help of a strong player), and studying tactics (over and over again..)

I am not a Chess teacher, and maybe someone else can recommend a better book for you to start with, but the first one I read was Logical Chess: Move by Move, by Irving Chernev. It will give you some ideas about how to play some common openings, and it also shows some masterful tactics played by some of the greats from the 19th and 20th century. I hope this helps.

Don't think I'm alone, but I actually find it just as fun to study chess books and analyze games as it is to play! Yasser Seirawan's series of books (Especially Winning Chess Tactics and Winning Chess Strategies) were pretty helpful to me, along with the above.

For me this the best website (chess.com) for a wide range of chess enthusiasts. From those who wish to improve their game to those who want to constantly practice their repertoires.

Having read the opening posting and the following postings I can see the whole picture that is to get better one has to study, as is the way in all of life.

However i do agree that the Chess.com computer is far to fast with the move occuring while my eye is still in the closed position of a blink, I then have to spend the next few minutes orientating mt self to the board and the piece that has sadly gone missing. I too would like some way of being able to slow him/her it down or have a trace placed on each move the way the e games have.

However back to the syudy, I too have studied to degree level and like most average folks found it difficuilt, challenging yet fulfilling, bit like a game of chess in some ways, but when I get the chess books out and start to read them things go down the pan when I try to follow the moves, I have even got out the old board and played through the game to see how it transpiered and where it went. But sadly with no avail do I have a glue why, when where etc some of the moves are done, this usually occurs after the opening moves and after generally the first 10 moves, regardless of playing black or white.

Some times i will be able to notice why something was done half way through the game but again the ifs, whys etc to get to that point are out in space and not in my brain.

Has any one gaot any other ideas besides books etc how to fill in my middle game play and get the knowhow and the jist of the tactics.

Moving pieces is all very well but now I would like to play a game and go beyond a white wash.

thanks

Im going ito the beyond and am losing the why when where thingy, do you think i should give up on my chess?

never give up. never surrender. runningrocker, i believe in you. stay with us, man! look into my eyes...no! stay with us! look in...runningrocker! RUNNINGROCKER!!! NOOOooo....

(oh and i agree...that chess.com computer is uber-l33t. but i kind of like it that way. much more of a challenge (i think the cpu and i are 12-2 or something like that))

I have alot of problem playing a computer against chess, even the Chess.com game.

My problem is the blinking fast movement of the pieces by the computer. I like to have a little time to think about the move I just made, and try to see a next good move from it, instead I just get blinked and disoriented about where the computer just moved. I usually get really frustrated and try to move my pieces just as fast, and lose.

I dont like vs. computer chess at all. 

Hey man, never give up. Just listen to the people on this site. There is some amazing players on here. When I joined I wasn't a very good player and now I have improved a lot just by doing the daily puzzles, reading articles, posting questions, and reading the forums. You can learn a lot here. It is a chess mecca here lol.

I had a similar posistion as you do. My friend ( the one who kinda taught me how to play chess {i.e the moves...}) always beat me and just the other day I played him and ended up forking his Rook, Queen, and King ( which I think is called a family fork..) and took his Queen which ended up winning the game for me. All the knowledge of Opennings and stuff I learned from the articles on this site and Seirawans chess books helped tremendously. So it is most definetly possible to beat your mate. Just put a little elbow into it and study and I gurantee that you end up beating him.

Good luck mate!!! 

I am in the exact same boat. I recently started playing. I learned "how to play chess" as a child but never learned anything beyond the legal moves and maybe castling. I cant beat the computer on silly. Maybe 20% of the time I will get lucky. As others have said, read some books. Invest some knowledge. You have to understand chess is a game of thought and strategy. You need to learn some basic concepts dealing with openings and midgame setups. Use the difficulty of the computer as a learning tool. Review the moves in the summary window if you miss something. It is all right there for review. Finally, evaluate the game after you played it and determine where things went wrong. Soon enough you will be able to win your money back and wow your friend with your chess mastery and prowess!

UPDATE -- Just got my first win in Silly ~800 in a long time!