…am I wasting my time

Submitted by madsaxxon on Wed, 03/26/2008 at 5:16pm.

I have been playing against the computer and naturally have not won a single game or really even come close to winning. MAN, this is a frustrating game. It seems to me, and I hope no one will take offence to this but; it seems to me past a point Chess it not really a game of skill but more one of tactics where two players of the same level simply wait for the other player to make a mistake. …but what do I know, I am still learning.

Back to my original thought, can I actually learn this game by playing an opponent I can’t beat?

I guess I should just get over my fear of looking stupid and start playing real players.

» posted in madsaxxon's Blog

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Comments:

by madsaxxon - 5 months ago
United States

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 45

Thanks, Seuss68 I will check them out. =)

by madsaxxon - 5 months ago
United States

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 45

First of all thank you Ttiot, for reading my blog and secondly thank you very much for taking the time to respond to it! I would love to play and get some feedback from a real person.

I work long hours and won’t have access to time to play till this Sunday I think but if you have the time then I would love to play.

by seuss68 - 5 months ago
Brattleboro, Vermont United States

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 183

I posted a few suggestions for books in your other Blog entry. I hope they help.

by ttiot - 5 months ago
Minnesota United States

Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 81

Mike, you are correct, chess is a game of tactics but tactics require lots of skill, some players play with the intention of winning by your opponents mistakes but they won't get too far, chess isn't kind to ignorance, at some point you need to roll up your sleeves and do some work otherwise you'll end up just being another speed bump.

Computers are not the way to get good at chess, even if you were successful at beating a computer it really doesn't prove anything, in my case I lose against Chessmaster 10th edition even when I play against opponents ranking 900 which personally offends me ;) besides there are plenty of players out there worse then you so don't worry about looking bad.

What you need to do is start using the Tactics Trainer here under Learn and also get Jeremy Silman's book Silman's Complete Endgame Course, work through the first 2 chapters of the book and keep going over it till you know it, once you got it down put it away for awhile and start really working the tactics puzzles, if you have Chessmaster there are some awesome lessons in the academy that will drastically help your play but focus on tactics and the endgame, forget specific openings all together but learn general opening knowledge.

I hope I have helped you in some way and would like to play a unrated game against you with the intention of helping you better understand the game.

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