well :D you didn't misunderstand, that last quoted line was not for playing better chess, but for keeping Klpchess playing the game (topic is about quiting chess) and losing quite many games.(I think i mentioned it was better for him to lose LOTS of games as a beginner) My idea behind that was, while the game quality might not improve immediately, he would pursue playing chess since he would get emotinally attached to the idea of winning. And in the process he could gain that "oh something is not right with this position" - gut feeling, players attain through experience.
For the desire to win boosting enthusiasm of the losing side for
a new opportunity we have a Turkish proverb:
" Yenilen pehlivan güreşe doymaz "
Losing wrestler is always hungry for more wrestling.
its just, my point about emotional aspect of cognitive tasks is unrelated to the advise i've given to Klpchess, which is more on
motivation for keep trying.
Good advice.
I will add "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger"!
Just in one sitting I managed to lose over 100 rating points in Classic time controls. Should I buy a rope? :(
I saw a newspaper column on chess many years ago and was fascinated with the names of the pieces and the openings. I got a fred reinfeld book, learned the notation. (at that time descriptive) and played over some games of masters, not knowing what was going on. Joined a chess club at school and beat everyone cause they just knew the moves. joined a club in the city and everybody beat me because they knew more. I was "the kid". The game still fascinated me. If you like it, keep playing. youllget better and better. I figure you have to lose at least a thousand to become a novice. a hundred thousand to become decent. maybe lose a million to become a master. I havent reached that point yet and you probably never will because theres other things to do, like literature, art, music, dating girls, and sunning on the beach. Good luck!
In my actual USCF rating I lost at least my first 5, maybe even 10. I knew I was better than these guys. I lost to a 700 and 2 weeks later I had my first win, the week after that I beat a 1549! Keep at it and you will feel great when you finally do win. Victory is sweetest once you have tasted defeat :)
__ @ klpchess -- Please don't get discouraged! This is a fantastic game. Buddy2 tells a great story above -- I'm thinking he may rekindle ACTIVE playing later in life (as I have) because if you let it hook you, you have a lifetime of FUN ahead of you.
___ I just won a correspondence game on a bait/ backdoor mate that put me at 1706. Whoopdeedoo -- it was anticlimatic.
________ Just previous to that I had a 56 move classic game that dropped me below 1400: NO COMPARISON!!! I was trying something new; gained an advantage; stalled out; blundered my opportunities; and was dismantled by "bones926". PURE HEART-POUNDING, ENGROSSING FUN. 4 inaccuracies/ 19 mistakes/ 6 blunders -- more than every other move was 'bad'. So what! Of the last 200 games that I played, this is the one I will study and grow from.
___ Books (what a concept!) and a chess set. Buddy2 pointed to one of my teachers: I A Horowitz & Fred Reinfeld wrote Chess for Beginners -- There is a 25 page section on opening principles that you will relearn & reapply for the rest of your days...
_____ Lastly, this is a game of friendship and companionship. Find some real-life partners and online partners to play regularly: someone who knows your tendencies will disrupt your plans and make you a better player....
What is chess? Is it that lightning that snatches your heart from the depths of your chest and hurtles it into the vast reaches of space with nothing but a tactic and a dream? Is it the mind-blowing possibilities that burst into your imagination at the speed of light at the mere thought of a chess board? Is it a valiant noble clash of wills forged in the fires of combat that ripple across the board from the first move and explode into your consciousness by the last?
Yep. Chess is all of that. Stick with it. All you need is a reason to play. Find something about chess you enjoy and explore it. That way no matter how bad you may think you are, you're not btw, you'll always be able to retreat into your corner of the chess spectrum and find relief. I'm a medieval man. Whenever I play I dream of chivalrous glory. Even the greatest kings have had bad times. No matter how horrible my game may be at some point in time I am always cheered up by a successful attack. You don't need many of them either. Just one will do. ;)
To all those who think they are stupid for not being able to win at start or as some said 'should buy a rope for losing' - I have lost here a 200+ points in one sitting in both blitz and bullet - also if you haven't played a lot of very similar (to chess) games you will not be able to beat anyone with experience no matter how 'weak' for a long time - chess is about 30% talent and 70% practice. Also I have (I believe) pretty decent rating by the standards of this site (until I get another heavy loosing streak) and even have won some No.1. players here, but my experience has shown that there is very little correlation between success in real life and success in chess - I must admit that my life has been mostly horrible for one (28 years as of now), though I am improving slowly (hopefully).
#28 I'd agree that success in real life isn't necessarily correlated to success on the chess board. However, that's not to say that chess doesn't teach us valuable skills that can help us succeed in the real world. I feel as though I wouldn't have gotten where I am without having learned what I learned from chess (granted, I could have learned them from other sources as well).
Competitive chess can teach us self-dependence, planning, risk-assessment, critical thinking and problem-solving, pattern recognition, time management, and more. It can improve our memory, our test-taking ability, aid our capacity to make log-term critical analysis as well as split-second judgements. And like any competitive game or sport, chess can teach us how to win with grace and lose with dignity (i.e. pride tempered with humility).
These (and countless more I probably left out) are all valuable skills in the real world, I assure you, if and only if you apply them to real life.
As for the OP, don't give up. It's said you have to crawl before you can walk. Learn from your mistakes, and don't give up. I started playing chess when I was 9 or 10 years old, and I probably didn't win my first game against my adult teachers until I was almost in high school (until then, only winning against my friends, most of whom had started after I). There is a lot to learn about chess...in fact, you never stop learning more. Just keep at it, and you'll start seeing wins; maybe not today or tomorrow, but it probably won't be 3 years, either. ;)
I however did not imply that playing chess is pointless. It has been scientifically proven to improve memory, and other studies have proven that playing games (though probably not those were you just throw a dice) in general improves ability to perform many everyday tasks better than when not playing games. But it is quite definite that success in chess has little to do with success in life as it is commonly seen (though what success in life means is a very debatable subject).