I experienced the same sentiments as you when I cam back to chess after many years.
I suggest you stick arround, start by playing live chess (standard) just to get the feel of the game back.
Then move to online chess, which is great for keeping you interested without taking up so much of your time.
Try playing live chess with 20 minute time controls or something. You will quickly get the feel for what is going on and it will not affect your turn based rating. Or even play unrated games.
Hm, tough to say since we don't know what you've retained over the years.
A method that yields results at any level (and especially for beginners) is training tactics (there's a tactics trainer here, or you can try chesstempo.com).
A premium membership here is also likely to be worth investing in (chessmentor is for mastering positional play, the video lessons are very good, etc) if you can spend some money.
Why don't you post a game of yours here so we can figure out what are your weak spots? Try playing a live game (at least 25 minutes per side, and do focus) and post it here.
You should find a Chess Club in your area, and get to talk with people that can help you. An OTB tournement would be good to. You could also start studying some books for your level and buy Chessbase 11 and an engine.
But a chess club is definitely where to start.
As others have said, simply starting to play some games is probably the best way to start. There are also many study resources here, and among the best are tactics trainer and chess mentor.
In addition, the forums here (if you can separate the wheat from the chaff) are full of invaluable discussion and information.
I'd suggest getting a few games under your belt, trying to understand where it is you need to improve by analyzing your games once complete, and if you're having difficulty pinpointing the problems yourself try submitting them to the community for analysis (there is a forum category specifically for this).
At times it may seem like trying to drink from a firehose, but pace yourself and don't forget to enjoy first and foremost and you should have no issue improving your game here.
You should find a Chess Club in your area, and get to talk with people that can help you. An OTB tournement would be good to. You could also start studying some books for your level and buy Chessbase 11 and an engine.
But a chess club is definitely where to start.
When I first took up club chess I lost to the club's weakest junior my first night. I got better though - I agree a club is an excellent way to learn a) if you have one local b) if it doesnt have competitive matches on when you turn up so they can give you some time and c) if you can wait till the nights it plays.
Thanks so much for the helpful replies, guys. :) I'll try a game (when I'm not tired) and post it on here soon.
OK, so here's my result against Computer. I wanted to play Hard so that you could see all my moves which can be improved. As you can see from the game, my gameplay was poor and really need improvement. I struggled in the mid-game, which undoubtly affected the overall result. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Also, apologisies for not making the PNG into an easy-to-read format! I don't know how to do that.
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2011.04.11"]
[White "Player"]
[Black "Computer - Hard"]
[Result "0-1"]
1. d4 d6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. d5 Bf5 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. e3 Nc5 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nh4 Be4 10. Bf3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nxd5 12. cxd5 Bxh4 13. b4 Nd7 14. e4 f5 15. Re1 fxe4 16. Qxe4 Bxf2+ 17. Kh1 Bxe1 18. Qxe1 Qh4 19. Bd2 Qd4 20. a3 Nf6 21. Be3 Qd3 22. Rd1 Qc4 23. h3 a6 24. Bg5 Qb3 25. Qg3 Ne4 26. Nxe4 Qxd1+ 27. Kh2 Qxd5 28. Bf6 Rf7 29. Qf3 Raf8 30. Ng5 Qxf3 31. gxf3 Rxf6 32. Kg3 Rg6 33. Kh4 Rf4+ 34. Kh5 Rh6#
Here it is in display mode.
Thank you!
Here's the game with comments.
The whole pawn-winning tactic with 11...Nxd5 was possible because of 9. Nh4, so I think this move is a little more dubious than you suggest -- the Knight is placed on the rim, unprotected, and in-line with the X-ray on black's strong d8-h4 diagonal allowing for the discovered check.
I didn't include it in the commentary, but 15.Re1 is more than a tactical mistake, it shows you'd not sure what's going on at the moment. If you were going to play something else other than exf5 it should have been development to help your queenside play or maybe an in between move like g3.
Also f2 should be feleing a bit tender right now as that's where black is buliding up some threats. A move like Re1 is good when it does something similar... maybe pointing at a sore point on e7 even if it is behind pieces. If your queen was in front of your king on an open file, I'd bet you notice right away that it's dangerous! Now that's an extreme example but pieces like rooks and bishops often point through one or many pieces at sore spots in the enemy camp, waiting for pawn breaks (or as a means of discouraging enemy pawn breaks).
BTW a pawn break is a pawn move that threatens to open lines. In chess opening lines on the side of the board where you either have more space, or more active pieces accounts for the great majority of how players get "play" or in other words advantageous positions for their forces.
The whole pawn-winning tactic with 11...Nxd5 was possible because of 9. Nh4, so I think this move is a little more dubious than you suggest -- the Knight is placed on the rim, unprotected, and in-line with the X-ray on black's strong d8-h4 diagonal allowing for the discovered check.
On move 6 it was definitely worth it... so maybe I just fell in love with the idea :)
At worst it offers a repetition, after 9...Bd7 white can just retreat back to f3 with the knight. The bishop is so annoying I'd be willing to give it a shot.
If white wants to play a different 10th move after Bd7 then it would require some analysis because obviously it gets tactical. Maybe I've just seen it in similar positions in GM games so I'm bias, but the move feels right to me. As usual though it would have to work out tactically so a move like Nh4 would have to be carefully examined.
So maybe something like 9.b4 right away is more practical advice, I dunno.
Thank you for spending the time analysing my game! :) I think I need to go back to the basics, i.e. familiarise myself with the numbers and letters, it's taking me forever to figure them out! Hehe. Nevertheless, it really has helped. I think I will practise more and more from now on. By the way, what do you think my level is current at?
Chess strength is annoying in that it hangs around whatever your weakest element is. This is why alot of players may say they feel like they know the game better than they're able to play it.
I can tell you're not new, it just seems like you have some rust (as they say about players returning to the game after a long break). So at this moment I'd say your tactical oversights are dragging your overall strength down, but that will get better as you get back into the game. This makes your overall strength hard to guess, especially because it was just one game.
So anywhere from 1000 to 1600. The point is though to focus on learning something new with each game. I think Hiesman recommends this, and it's great advice. If you've been playing 10 years with no improvement you can ask "what's my strength?" but right now it's better to think of yourself as a work in progress. With each new game you're that much better! 
Thank you for your great feedback! :D Really appreciate it. I never played chess competively. I remember during Christmas 2003 that my dad and I bought a chess set, and we practised against each other for a year or so. We were both new to the game. From then, I just played on and off at school, but I had never come across anyone who played chess seriously, so my level kind of stopped there and I gave up chess for sometime (actually the last time I played was maybe in 2006), then high school exams and uni came along. Now, I really want to get back into it, especially now that I have relatively more time. I love chess.com, and it will be my new home from now on! :)
Hi there.
I'm new to the forum, so please excuse me if I have posted this in the wrong section.
Basically, I have a great interest in chess. I haven't played chess for over 3 years now due to busy schedules, but I consider myself as a beginner/novice (i.e. I knew a few openings, middle and end game strategies) when I did play. I really want to get back to chess and want to take it quite seriously this time.
The problem now is that there are so many resources that I don't know where to start! The resources that I'm referring to are books and chess programs etc, which I have. What do you think is the best way for me to start again?
Many thanks for your help! :)