Hi,
Please be honest with this question I have. I've been playing with Chessmaster for about a year now, on a regular basis, followed all the tutorials (more than once), and even bought some chess books on strategy, tactics, etc. When I go through the lessons, and read through the books, I seem to understand the concepts, but can't ever put them into practice. I can't do anything but lose to a 1000 level player in Chessmaster repeatedly, and as I said, I've been playing chess for a year with chessmaster.
While I try to take something valuable from my losses, it seems like I just can't apply things I've learned. I don't expect to be a grand master over night, but I can't help but wonder whether or not chess is for me, given my apparent lack of progress.
Like my subject like says, is it possible for some people to just not get chess? Again, I won't be hurt or disappointed, but I would like to know whether or not I'm just spinning my wheels for nothing. I even wanted to join a local chess club not far from where I live, but after playing a skittle with one of the older, long time players there, I felt like the environment was less than hospitable, as I was criticized somewhat harshly by every play I made (the guy wiped the floor with me, so I guess he had every right to be that way! lol).
Anyway, I appreciate honest feedback, good or bad. I'm not looking to be patronized, just advised.

Chris

I suppose chess can be compared to other activities (i.e., sports, music, cooking)... some people seem to have a natural talent, while others can practice endlessly and still not get any better.

It sounds like you're considering quitting because of a extremely rude player. Before you give up, speak with the club organizer... tell them of your unpleasant experience, and ask their advice. Even if this club has more experienced members, they should still be civil.

You might also try to find other chess clubs near you... many local libraries host chess clubs. You should also check out the Chess Clubs page of the United States Chess Federation.

Personally speaking, I don't think a year is a long time when it comes to studying chess. If you truly enjoy the game, don't give up so easily.

However, if you're playing chess in order to avoid piano lessons, obtain a college scholarship, or meet supermodels, then perhaps chess isn't for you.

Hi Chris,

You wanted honest... I'll give you honest. You have already devoted more time and energy to chess than the average person that learns the game. Don't judge your progress by the rating systems on any website or in any program. You are learning just keep playing and enjoy yourself. I'll echo what KHollister said "If you truly enjoy the game, don't give up so easily.", I can't say it any better than that! I'm sorry you had such a bad experience at your local club. I've only been to my local club a few times, but it was a very positive experience in a welcoming environment. Perhaps you just ran into a jerk. I'd try one more time and see if you can find a few opponents that are a little more respectful. Do you play online? I think we can even run a correspondence game through Chessmaster... I'd love to play you some time!

Thanks for the encouragement, both of you. I'll keep studying some more until it finally "clicks". I guess it's just something that takes some more time than others.

I appreciate the feedback!

Chris

quote:

I seem to understand the concepts, but can't ever put them into practice

join the club

i'm a computer geek with about 20 years experience programming data structures, algorithms, operating systems etc and i thought learning chess would be easy. and yes, i found out that LEARNING chess is fairly easy, because the concepts all seem straightforward, even if the advanced books get fairly deep & focused

however, actually PLAYING chess against the computer has been quite different & more difficult that computers, where i could read the books, code the stuff, debug etc & it would work fine

so what has worked for me so far is a mix of reading books, doing puzzles & playing chessmaster (not people)

i read & reread the basic books until the basic concepts are boring because i've read them so many times, then i do alot of puzzles, i have the 5300 puzzle book from polgar, the mate-1 and mate-2 moves have helped me greatly with my "scanning" skills to read the board & do the what if analysis for future piece moves, then i practice with chessmaster

i started with the personalities in the 500 range and quickly stomped them up to the 800's or so, then got stuck at duke(921) took a few weeks to learn how to easily win, jumped up to eddie(949) and i am just now learning how to win about 50% of the time. i keep getting too focused, skip the scans & lose pieces, and now i'm practicing different openings to see how they turn out

surprise, a crappy opening usually leads to a loss for me so i'm trying to figure out different approaches, yes the books help but i don't want to memorize move sequences, that is lame and will fail when i move to higher rated opponents

now i'm trying to learn a more advanced strategy than just capturing pieces when the computer personality makes a blunder, like trying to plan some kind of attack on the king with multiple pieces

the more advanced books write about all kinds of things, which seems a bit too much for me, my current goal is to have a hobby that takes alot of time, is reasonably fun/challenging, and cheap i seriously doubt my rating will climb very far because i don't want to have to spend hours analyzing each & every move

yes i get frustrated & demoralized when i lose so much but i'm slowly learning WHY i lose, like i'm not doing the scans before my moves, wasting time chasing pieces instead of attacking the king, board control for various sectors, stacking vs. attacking etc

my advice to you is to play against lower rated personalities, and keep playing the same opponent until you can quickly & easily win, then jump up to the next opponent, it worked for me (so far anyway)

another trick i learned was to "save" the game at various points, and then when replay it using the "load" feature again & again trying different approaches. even if i eventually win the game, going back to the saved points & replaying helps especially when i make a blunder move

blah blah blah

Zingo234,

That was some good advice you gave! I think I will use your approach to playing the various personalities. It's going to hurt my pride some to drop down to the 800 or 900 level players but I can see where your method might work for me! I play on Chessworld and my rating there hovers between 1400 - 1600, depending on my game load. I realize that that is realistically too high because when I play OTB I can't hang with guys in the 1200 level... but I play for the enjoyment not the rating.

Dont give up. Just work hard. Personally, i watched Josh tutorials so many times that i have a feeling like i have memorised them all. BUT, EACH TIME I WATCH THEM I REALISE AND LEARN SOMETHING NEW! So, sometimes you need to repeat and repeat the learning process over and over until it finally clicks in your head.

I started playing in CM 8000 against opponents rated about 1300 and today i can beat master candidates in real tournaments rated about 2100. How to accomplish that? JUST LEARN TO FALLOW THE PRINCIPLES OF THE GAME!

I was not so smart, not so strong, but every time my opponent broke one of the principles (played two times with the same peace in the oppening, not developing his rooks on the open or semi-open lines, played with the queen to early, not playing activly with the king in the ending, trading when in ahead etc etc..) i KNEW that he made a mistake and i tried to figure out how to exploit it. So, the key is to learn the principles of the game, to play by them and to exploit your opponents mistakes when they brake those principles.

Even one FIDE master i know (~2380) after beating me in a tournament game told me that i lost just because i didnt follow one of the principles (in that case trading my bishop for a knight in OPEN game), and he said that just by following the principles you can achive about 2200 rating. Later on you learn what principle is more important then the other and why, becouse somethimes they can come in conflict with each other.

And to say.. talent has very little with it. Work is 95% of success... by Rober James Fischer