Please can someone shed light on what i'm doing wrong in my chess games ? i've watched countless youtube videos on chess moves and theorys on this and that , but when it comes down to it i think i may be thinking incorrectly on my actual approach.
To be honest i'm getting rather frustrated because it seems no matter what i do on the board my opponent turns into a GM and crushes me.
I expect some might say, "oh just keep playing and you will improve " This advise is ok but what if i just keep playing in the wrong manner and don't improve at all !? Obviously there's the possibility that i'm simply lousy at chess but i would hope that there's some way for me to understand the game better and improve.
And i can't afford a coach or anything like that, so that idea is checkmated for me also.
Any positive feedback would be gratefully received.
Painful as it may be, I think the key to learning is to look at the games you lost, carefully, and see where you went wrong. If it was a blunder, why didn't you see it? Recall what you were thinking about instead.
More often, though, it is some good move that you didn't even notice or consider. It is a typical blindness to start concentrating on one more or line and to ignore all the alternatives. For me, this is where computer analysis afterward is most useful. Many times the computer suggests a move and I say, but of course, it's so simple. One way to say this is, "Think wider, not deeper."
One little observation. A certain guy at our club, when you play against him, you can observe his eyes darting back and forth over the board, pondering his move. Almost always, he is only looking at one corner or one side or section of the board. Which is a signal to you --- look at the part of the board he is ignoring. That's where the winning moves will be found.
Finally, not sure if this is "positive" feedback, but learning chess is slow for all of us. You probably are getting better. It just doesn't feel that way when you are in a slump.
The answer to that question will depend on a) how are you currently thinking about chess and b) what are you doing to improve? Playing games is of course a good start, but it's far from the only way, nor necessarily the fastest way, to improve.
Looking at your two most recent games, I see a typical beginner/improving player, one who has some handle on general piece play, but misses common tactical ideas, is weaker in the endgame (we all are, of course...) and, when in doubt, makes pawn moves. So you are definitely not alone in your current stage. Understanding some core attacking ideas and dedicated (simple) tactical training would likely produce dividends, but I'd need to hear your thoughts on A and B above to know more.
Learn from your mistakes. Seems like you'll have to do many more tactics, tactics and tactics. Becoming better in chess is about doing yourself. Maybe you just make a study or a database file with your tactical blunders and mistakes and repeat them from time to time? Watching videos may give some hints, but isn't a replacement for your own work.
You missed a lots of good situations for winning, missed opponents mate in one instead of doing a repetition of moves to safe at least a draw:
Just study the inferior 2...Nf6?! against queen's gambit, look at a better move three. Maybe you'll have a video about that, but masters database + engine here in lichess is enough. But 5. e4?? is again a blunder, played without any calculations in just 2,1 seconds. Looks like you are playing this positon like the semi-tarrasch (1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4), but he played Bf5 instead of e6.
And in this situation:
He just captured a knight, attacks your queen and your bishop on g5 is hanging. His queen is almost trapped. You had enogh time for that calculation and to see every possible response to your queen check.
You should always look at every check, capture and threat. So in the first linked game you haven't looked a the queen check (and mate) on h5. In the second one you should be able to see that after 5...Nxc3 6. bxc3 (else you lose the queen) he can play 6... Bxe4 and that he easily can meet 11. Qa4+ with Bc6 -+.
Looking at your account it seems you joined in July19. If that's when you officially started playing then 1388 is not a bad rating at all for someone playing just 6 months. At your level (and mine) a lot of our games are concluded with a tactic. Try the tactics on this site more and
blitztactics.com. Tactics alone should get you to at least 1500, maybe higher. Do tactics until you instantly spot them (skewers, double attacks & discovered checks/attacks etc). I know you expected people to say just keep playing but it's true, if you are enjoying chess you are bound to improve naturally over time. Best of luck!
@Mrchess78 join a local club, play otb tournaments. read chess books (they make you think, videos may be somewhat useful but in a very smaller scale) and train openings, tatics and endgames. play longer timecontrols and force yourself to use the time to real think. Get a chess partner to play on a daily basis or so in order to help eachother and evolve togheter. Most important and most boring, study your games and your defeats, see where you go wrong, think how you could had win. If you like videos, i recommend searching hanging pawns in youtube. He is a good player with lots of tutorials, from openings to strategy or endgames, game analysis and so on. But reading books is very important in my opinion.
Didn't intend to get so specific, but as a rule, when someone plays the inferior Marshall defense to QG: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nf6, I always play 3 cd5 Nxd5 4 e4. It's not the only way to an advantage but it works. Many players of black will then misplace their knight on b6, which is not a disaster, but it's better for white.
Just for fun, play out this line starting with the Marshall. There are maybe a dozen same or similar in a database:
1 d4 d5 2 c4 Nf6 3 cd5 Nxd5 4 e4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Nf3 Bg4 7 d5 Ne4 8 Nxe4 Bxd1 9 Bb5+ c6 10 dc6 bc6 11 Bxc6+ Nd7
12 Bxd7+ Qxd7 13 Nxd7 and white comes out a piece up. There are a variety of ways to play after 9 Bb5+, some with a pawn taking a piece and queening.
Sorry I don't know how to imbed this to send it. Guess I need to learn.
From a database find Virkud - Deland , Lubbock, Texas, 2009 by a great US woman master.
Not suggesting you can play like this tomorrow, but only offer it to show how many opportunities are right under the surface.
Can someone tell me how to create a game or line, or save and send a game or line?
"And i can't afford a coach or anything like that, so that idea is checkmated for me also." - most local clubs offer free coaching in terms of you go there, play with someone and ask them to give you advice about the mistakes you make. the club membership is much cheaper than a personal coach. - so as suggested above, join a club!
Also i would suggest, you play more rated games, to get a more accurate rating number, to see your improvement, also play more blitz games to train your intuition.
To analize a position, think "which pieces are attaced, how are they defended, does my opponent have a threat (a pin, a fork, a scewer), which of my pieces are placed well, which are not active and how can i improve my worst piece. Then, find your 2-3 "candidate moves" = moves which are improving your position; choose a move, and think whats the benefit of this move, and whats the disadvantage
Last but not least, after every move your opponent makes, think about what has changed because of that move (did he attack sth, does he now have a threat, maybe a piece is not defended anymore.
(sry for the bad english, it's not my native language)
Just watched your last game, there is a lot to learn from this game. Try to analyze your games and see where you did mistakes and how you should have played, and im sure you will get better.
@sparowe14 You can create a "Study" and add him as a "member" or send him the URL to the study.
I'm sure there is an FAQ that explains how to go about it but I just experimented and got the hang of it rather quickly.
I created one to get you started:
lichess.org/study/WO6hEZLWIf you want to create your own:
1-At the top of your screen, in the ribbon, click on the "Learn" tab
2-Then click on "Study", from the drop-down menu
3-Then click on the large green "+" symbol in the top right corner of your screen
4-Then fill-in the required fields and scroll-down to click on the "Create" or "Start" button, if needed
5- Create your variation
6-Add members, either as "viewers" or "contributors"
*Beneath the Study's board, you will see a row of icons, one of which is the letter "i", for info.
Click on this icon for more details on how to create and use the Lichess "Study" feature.
