Please help me learn from this loss.

i just can't make it to 800. I have been trying my best to work on fundamentals and in this game, I just did not know what to do. My fundamentals were to develop my pieces, but he kept coming with pawns. I was befuddled and felt like this guy was cheating at some point (but i know thats probably not true). He just seemed to know how to keep me stuck. I made a few mistakes, but no blunders. I just don't know how to break the game open here. Thanks. 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/100110763539

okay, here's some general ideas from looking at the game. later if you are interested, we can investigate further the individual moves that I am referring to in the game.

a) pawn moves are permanent, unless there are exchanges.

b) which squares that are controlled by the pawn moves are important.

c) blocked pawn positions usually require a piece sacrifice to open the pawn chain.

d) avoid developing pieces to squares where they can be attacked. then they have to move. it is a loss of time.

e) avoid launching an attack on BOTH sides of the board before you are fully developed.

f) don't drop pawns! they are little baby Queens waiting for the end game.

g) piece exchanges in combination with tactics. you had an opportunity later in the game to win your piece back if you exchange properly.

I hope that helps. good luck👍.

I image move 16 was very difficult. This was a very closed position and must have felt suffocating.

You did well up to this point. Blacks knight on e7 travels all the way to a4 Your c3 pawn eventually fell and this seemed to be part of the eventual avalanche you could not recover from.

Check out these lessons and articles on closed positions:

• https://www.chess.com/lessons/breaking-down-closed-positions.
• https://www.chess.com/blog/Gertsog/mastermind-typical-plans-in-closed-positions

yes, a4 was a reasonable move as well. your ability to calculate will increase with experience. if this loss is really sticking with you it means that your mind is trying to tell you that there's things to learn in this game that will help you improve. don't fight it, just analyze this game to death. every move and use the analyze board to explore moves for both sides that could have happened instead even though they didn't. that will also increase your ability to calculate.

Watch some videos and lessons on closed positions. You can always go to a particular point in that game and start playing against any of the bots from that position. See if you can improve. There’s no time limit with the bots.

10 Bc2?

Your bishop will almost certainly have to go to c2 within the next couple of moves, but it doesn't have to go there straight away. You have a rather nasty (for your opponent) zwischenzug: 10 Bg6+ Now he can't castle. But you can't leave it there, because 11 ... f5 will trap your bishop. (In fact the top engine moves in response to 10 Kd7 and 10 Ke7 are further zwischenzugs, but unless you are able to calculate for yourself why 11 ... f5 doesn't win the bishop, then you should just play 11 Bc2.)

After 10 Bg6 ... 11 Bc2 a6, or in the game as played, after 10 Bc2 a6, is a good time to take stock of your position. Your knights are horribly restricted. On the plus side, his e and f pawns look weak, and if you did play the zwischenzug his king would be stuck in the middle of the board. Your first goal should be to free up your knights, either by playing b3 or e4. I think e4 is better (the engine disagrees) as it will allow your knights to the king side where they can target those weak pawns.

In the game, you played 11 f3 which doesn't really work. Even if he played 11 ... gxf3 12 Nxf3 your knights can still make no progress.

The first few moves are a good example why I do not like London System for novice players. No matter what the opponent does, people play almost the same moves. That is not good for improvement and understanding of this game.

I hope you will find this useful. Not a deep analysis, just some thoughts that might help you out.

I believe you can make it. You are playing well enough, it seems. I've briefly checked your recent losses and I see no blatant flaws. You could play a little bit slower and take more time for each move, to avoid getting into a losing position with around 20 minutes left on the clock.

I have some feedback:

• vs Lonewolf, blundered a piece with around 18 minutes on the clock. Calculation error.
• vs Aridwyn, blundered a piece with 17 minutes on the clock. Board vision.
• vs ImerSelmani, against modern defense (and Pirc) it’s better to play Nc3 and e4 instead of the typical London setup. Opening.
• vs card-mani, blundered a fork, with 25 minutes on the clock left. Board vision / Tactics.

But these are normal mistakes at the 800 level. Keep it up, stay focused and you'll pass 800 shortly, or eventually. GL!