I'm regressing! (Chess)?

Question

I played as a kid, not very well though.

I started again two weeks ago; playing against the computer, playing on yahoo, live opponents, and I'm using the tutorial system in Chessmaster: GM edition to up my game.

I learned A LOT,

But I keep losing.

I'm playing a heck of a lot... why am I not showing any progress? Maybe it's a long term thing and I'm just impatient?

Answer 1

Perhaps your play as a kid hurts you.  Maybe you are unlearning bad habits.  Habits that provide a winning advantage vs. 1100 type players but will lose to 1200 type players.

Just a thought.

Answer 2

This is what my father taught me when I was younger.

"Alice!  DO NOT be scared to lose!  That is the downfall of many chess players.  I want you from now on to record EVERY single chess match you play from now on.  I know this, because at your age, when you play a difficult opponent, you'll be too scared of what happened before to analyze you game!"

He also said to me.

"Playing with computers are not the answer!  They are there to try out your moves, but 80% of the time you should be playing with a human.  Let me tell you why, playing with a computer has different stresses than with a human.  You have to adapt to that stress if you'll ever become any better."

"Never try for 10 moves or less check mates!!!  Yes they may be easy to do, but when you face harder opponents, you'll lose.  Use your beginning to develope, don't try to get a checkmate in the opening!"

This is after I got my 2nd place trophy out of a tournament of about 100 kids when I was 9.

"Alice, did you take any notes of any of your matches?"

"No...  No one else was doing it.  It would look weird"

"My daughter, don't care about whatever everyone else is doing.  The rules allow you to do that, and next time, by doing this, it will make you develope as a player.  I believe next year, you'll get 1st place!"

This is what I suggest.  Focus focus focus on you middle game!  However, if you doubt yourself in every move or counter move in the opening game that you make, then focus on your opening.  You should know your openings well enough to just understand the basics and not get to intimidated when your oponent makes an uncoventional move.

I personally love middle game better.  This is what I do.  I look at every position, every possible outcome.  Know about where every single piece is so I won't make a blunder.  If your development behind?  Move some pieces while still staying aggressive.  However being aggressive doesn't work all the time.  I was too aggressive and lost to a blunder in a very important match to get that 1st place trophy.

The ending is pretty boring to me, most of my matches end at middlegame.  These are more straight forward, but be careful.  What could seem like an easy win would be a draw.

Finally, playing a lot doesn't mean anything.  It's what the quality of the matches, what you learn from them.  Record all your matches.  Analyze where you made that mistake.  This is the hardest point for many chess players, because your ego doesn't want to be hurt from a match you lost.  Even when you win, you should record it.  You should see where your opponent made a mistake that caused them their defeat.  That last tip is the most important of all!!!  Learning from your opponent is the best way to get better.

Answer 3

Chess improvement does often take a long time, and as you can imagine there are many different approaches to it.  I think you're on the right track by playing in a variety of settings, though you might add in some tactics or basic opening study to your routine.  Also, while blitz games (10 minutes or faster) can be helpful to practice openings and some tactics, IMHO you'll learn more by playing slow games and taking the time to consider each move.  If you can't find human opponents to do this, just set out a couple hours a week to play a slow game against the computer.  There's also a group called the STC (Slow Time Control) Bunch (http://www.stcbunch.net/news1.php) that arranges for long online games.

I've included links to two of the best chess sites I know; both have many articles that will help you improve. Good luck!

Answer 4

Keep playing... the more you play the more experience you gain and before you know it you will automoatocally begin recognizing patterns and tricks. You will slowly develop strategies and any learned techniques, you will eventually start to use them when neccessary. Practice practice practice. You won't see results for at least a couple weeks to a month if you play frequentlt and diligently

Answer 5

Some of it is practice but don't be afraid to lose because you can learn from it. Take your time. Think ahead as far as you can, like 5-7 moves down the line,  exploring all the possible reactions your opponent might make to your move. I think the game is won and lost right here. If you don't look far enough ahead you can leave yourself open to a counterattack from your opponent that can turn what looked like a win into a loss. If you can get your opponent to react the way you want you control the game.

Answer 6

Just keep playing, it is a long term thing.

Answer 7

Losing is good every time you lose rip the game apart until you clearly understand why you lost write down your thoughts why you chose a move mark any moves by your opponent that you didn't understand or confused you. When a game is over ask your opponent to discuss it  with you get his thoughts on the game why he chose his moves.

The point of doing this is to learn from your mistakes so that you don't make them in the next game an even better idea is to submit your thoughts on your moves to a stronger Player to give you his feedback google Fics Chess Academy it's free.

Answer 8

You need to keep playing. Don't expect to be good after using Chessmaster 2-3 times. You need to start your own profile on Chessmaster and get your rating up from there. If you do this you will start increasing and increasing. It is a long term process. You have to give yourself time to get better.