by Marsaille on August 27th, 2010

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Chess Difficulties

I find great difficulty in playing chess. It seems so difficult to wrap my mind around!

I am not a stupid kid by any means. On the contrary, I am amongst the brightest students in my school. I am amongst the top 10 (in a school of 600) in terms of my mathematical capabilities, able to solve problems well above my grade level.

So I am not unintelligent, thats one possibility out the window.

I have a Chess.com account and have been practicing daily. One thing that I find very frustrating is trying to understand why the difference in openings is really that important. If I play sicilian or If I play Roy Lupez, is that really gonna determine if I a am going to win or lose. I also do not understand how moving one piece later or sooner in the game will make a difference. If I move my pawn to a6 now or one turn later, will it matter? If I castle now, or develop one of my minor pieces, will it really drasticly change the game. I get the impression that it will, but I don't understand why. I just don't understand the principle behind all this.

I also cannot think ahead in this game. There are so many pieces on the Chessboard at one time that I cannot formulate a proper plan. I am not a computer! I have my limits! Sure in the opening it is simple enough, but by the time I get into the mid-game, it becomes nigh impossible to keep track of all the pieces. Usually I lose a game because I forget about one of my opponents pieces and lose a rook, or a queen, or a knight etc.

I also have difficulty in judging when I am in an advantageous position. Obviously if I have my opponent in check or if I ahead materially I am good, but otherwise, I find myself lost.

I have the exact same problem with real time strategy games. Starcraft, Company of Heroes, R.U.S.E. (demo), Age of Mythology, Warcraft III, I just seem to suck at things that involve strategy.

I get the feeling I should have just stuck with Calculus, it was much simpler to follow, at least.

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by zeds_dead_baby on September 17th, 2011
different people go for different openings, i personally like getting a bishop out fairly early second move, i get my queen out next giving you room to manouvre. every player is very important, when it comes to the end game, if you have one more pawn than your oppenant you have a big advantage.

anytime you make a move your opponent first checks to see if that piece immediately effects any of his players which he would need to move, if it doesnt, he's trying to figure out why you moved there, and then he is trying to see how he can stop you going to where you want, or attack in some other way.

any time an opponent makes a move, you look at how that has effected the whole board, has it free'd up a clear path to one of his players, say the castle in the corner. take a note of that, and when the oppertunity comes around, put him in a postion where he needs to move a piece allowing you to take the castle, or defend the castle opening up new options.

id suggest getting a good player to teach you, play with you giving pointers and what not, only experience teaches you the game. you will get better at noticing when your opponent is vulnerable. you will start to recognize patterns. spotting where all the action is will become second nature with time.
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by Tom Slick on August 28th, 2010
I play chess for fun, so don't take this as "expert advice" ... far from it ... these are just some thoughts and observations ... I think of the opening game as purely defensive, reducing the number of ways your opponent can come at you ... in the middle game you go on the offensive and start probing his defense, looking for a weakness ... and the end game, you move in for the kill ... so all three are important, but in different ways ... your choice of openings will matter later, as does when you castle or "move a pawn to a6 now or one turn later" ... and you can't afford to waste any moves, especially during the opening, because that allows your opponent to enter middle game ahead of you and gain the upper hand ... also, you say: "I cannot think ahead in this game" and "I am not a computer!" ... as a mathematician, I'm sure you can appreciate all the variables and how many possible outcomes there are ... I think maybe you're trying to over-think it ... don't try to think too many moves ahead ... there are simply too many outcomes, and each outcome depends on what your opponent does ... in the middle game, look for a weakness and if he does something to thwart your attack, stay on the offensive, keep applying pressure so he can't mount a counter-attack, and look for a different weakness to exploit ... just think two or three moves ahead, and don't fixate on just one plan ... the key is to be flexible, and I'm guessing as a mathematician, you have a very logical mind and want everything to be cut-and-dried
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- Thank you, I liked your comment alot.
  
  Its words like go on the offensive, defensive etc that I also find confusing to apply to a chess game. What constitutes an offensive move, one that grabs space, one that attempts to take another piece. By go offensive, do you mean I should say, focus on one piece, like a rook or a queen and try my hardest to remove it from play? Working towards a checkmate in general is very difficult for me. Ive played a few more chess games on Chess.com against average opponents, and I have lost all of them. It seems like I just can't keep up, and I end up in a position where I am essentially "screwed".
  
  One of my advanced chess friends (one of the best in the country for his age, actually) when giving me a tutorial says "oh, you just made a very good move. I have hardly any idea what made that move very good. He can explain it to me, but realizing which moves are good seems very difficult to me. Just analyzing positions and memorizing them over and over like the Sicilian doesn't help me become actually better at chess, all it does is help me win a specific sitaution. I need to know the principles, the philosophy, behind chess.
  
  Thank you for your comment
  
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  by Marsaille on August 28th, 2010
- an offensive move is a move that controls, by putting your piece in that position, you immediately dictate and defensive move by them, they need to move a piece you can take, or move to not get cornered, try to get in a position so you can attack 2 of their piece at the same time.
  
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  by zeds_dead_baby on September 17th, 2011
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by kenken on August 28th, 2010
Different people think in different ways. The great thing about chess is that there are a zillion books written about it. Perhaps you could start with Fred Reinfield's very basic books. He plays over tons of games-after going thru a # you may begin to feel more at home with the Ruy Lopez than the Sicilian, developing a preference. As you seem intimidated by the middle game, get some books on that. One good book that goes into the thinking during a game is Edward Lasker's Chess for Fun & Chess for Blood.
One thing that could help your results would be to study openings-go through a book & find an early deviation that you feel comfortable about . Then study that position intensively. Thus in a game you will be in a very familiar position & your opponent, a strange one!
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- I don't feel that just memorizing positions will help me become a better chess player. I want to know the philosophy behind the game, I need to understand it, not just what to do in a specific situation. Making a plan or strategy seems to me VERY difficult. Unless the plan is very specificly oriented, like "Kill his rook", then I have trouble working towards my goal.
  
  Like I mentioned on the other commentor, when I play a chess game, I just can't seem to keep up with all the developments. I end up getting behind, and I don't think its because I make very stupid moves (i move the a pawn up one, when it has no strategic values. I don't do that).
  
  Thank you for your comment, I have one chess book that talks about chess openings and all the variations. But if someone makes one move that isn't in the display, I get confused, and it seems to throw off my plan.
  
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  by Marsaille on August 28th, 2010
- You misunderstand my A in several ways. What Reinfeld does in most of his books is go over games with a lot of comments. The games can be fun to play out-but each is a lesson showing why some things work & others don't...& from what you've said they are lessons that you need. Lasker's book is great for similar reasons. Moreover, with the gigantic # & variety of books on chess there are books bound to help the player with almost any problem-it's just a matter of finding the right books!
  Trouble in the middle game? Books on tactics will give you situations to look for. Books on positional chess will give you a plan for the game you're in. Don't understand pawn structure? Hans Kmoch wrote a book: Pawn Power in Chess. And so on...
  And when I recommended an early deviation to give you an advantage I didn't say to memorize the position-but to study it. Whatever opening you end up playing there are key positions you are going to often see.
  One fun way to analyze such positions is to get together with a friend & try to figure out your oponent's likely moves-& then your responses. This type of thinking will help the same kind of thinking you do in a game. Or use a chess program or a dedicated electronic chess game. Set up the board as usual with you on the near side; but then you make your opponent's moves & let the computer make your moves. Later you can analyze the position in a different way-but first you want to see how you may punish your opponent's errors.
  As for the openings & defences you should play I think you need first play over a # of analyzed games such as in Reinfeld-some players prefer open positions-others closed. Som
  
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  by kenken on August 30th, 2010
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Chess Difficulties

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