How will I ever get better

This is not just a game to me right now.  I have an arrogant friend at school.  Always rips on me for everything.  Picks on my shortness and weak strength.  Acts like he is smarter, and I felt like beating him at his own game, chess.  Right now, at my rate, this will never happen.  Never played chess before now, and only have been studying a bit.  Don't know any tactics, strategy, and only a few chess terminology words.  My rating has been stuck at this embarassing number and I feel lucky to get to 600 and above, or just get a win in general.  I just need to beat this guy at chess though.  Any suggestions.

Do you want to learn how to play chess or just beat this guy at anything no matter what? Forget about him and start reading some beginner articles here- click on "Learn" at the top of the page then on "articles" and type in "beginner" in the articles search bar. You'll find a lot to read there!

And if you can pick up one or two books such as

"Common Sense In Chess" by Dr Lasker

"Logical Chess Move by Move" by Irving Chernev

See what your local library has in the way of chess books (if any). Join a local chess club (if there is one).

BTW why is this creep your friend anyway?

For someone rated 1304 you don't have a lot of room to talk here. Maybe you should consider following your own advice instead of talking crap to some kid looking for legitimate advice.

Squirm,  1.forget beating him at chess as he is too far ahead.

2. Find something you like to do and try to get very good at it.

3. think to yourself why you have this guy as a "friend"?

4. Finally, if you can, outsmart him in some unique way. Once I had an acquaintence who was a bully and he would pick fights with anyone and always won. But one day I outsmarted him and put him in his place.

5. If you cannot find one thing you can excel at then try and do do pretty well at a few things.

Be careful.  Chess is insanely addictive.  Budboomer might be right to pick up a different hobby.    Quick suggestions for improving at this stage are (1) play more focusing on longer standard games, (2) work on tactics, (3) pick up a book on opening principles like Chris Ward's "Improve Your Opening Play" and (4) pick up Silman's "Complete Endgame Course."  Good luck!  I hope you smoke your friend soon. 

Pandolfini's Opening Traps and Zaps might be the book to put this dude in his place. Then as he resigns play the song by Wheatus "I'm a teenage Dirtbag"

The drive to beat someone can be a powerful motivator. 

Looks like you know how to move the pieces but just nothing else...not yet atleast. You answered your question in your own post. Any beginner's book on tactics, strategy, and terminology will help you in your developement. 

What brought me out of this stage was actually the computer game Learn to Play chess with Fritz and chesster. It is a cheesy, child's game, but that is what makes the game effective at its teaching. Other games include Majestic Chess which also introduces most of the key concepts, but to a more advanced level. 

These interactive learning tools will no doubt improve your chess performance, and that's the reason why I ultimatley recommend them. 

They say "What goes around comes, goes around". "Everyone gets their due"  They also say no one can be abused unless you give permission for it to happen.You may have lost a battle but the war is about self improvement. Set your goal and win the war. 

Well, I shouldn't have used the word friend.  I meant he is an aquaintance.  As for giving up on chess.  I have found a liking to it, and can not stop, so I kind of got addicted to the game.  I had a computer analysis go over a game I actually won to let me see how I even won it, and I found there to be tons of mistakes I make such as not carefully observing everything in it.  It could have ended quickly and there was instances where I could have gotten a piece for no sacrafice, and just didn't do it, an example being that I could have gotten a rook three times in a row without any cost, but I didn't.  Also, I feel like all I need to get better is to actually learn a strategy or two since I am don't know any.  Its life if you got a new game, obviously you would need to know controls and tactics in a fight before you jump into the big action.

Record all your games and analyse them afterwards. You will learn more from your losses than your wins. Don't move too quickly...when you think of a good move, sit on your hands and look for a better one. Don't give up...I used to play a really obnoxious opponent who loved to rub it in because I couldn't beat him...until I won my first game from him. After that, he never won another game from me again. So, play the game for it's own sake and keep playing him 'till you win that first one and go on from there. Cheers, John C.

What always works:

Set up a board outside on some nice sunny morning. Have him put his back to the east. Keep making up excuses to delay the game. Then when it is early afternoon, 1. e4. The sun will be in his eyes, causing him great distress and squinting.

For added effect, use the Ruy Lopez. 

The notion of members of Chess.com advising someone to quit chess is very ironic, highly amusing, and somewhat dismaying--not to mention obviously inappropriate.

@OP: I strongly advise that you play chess only because you enjoy the game and the experience of playing, and certainly not for the sole purpose of defeating someone else. Even if your venture succeeds, your satisfaction would be short-lived at best. More realistically, principles of chess cannot be mastered so quickly. You must have patience.

I believe your object was to get the best of this one person?  He is already far ahead of you in chess so in may be realistic to try an other avenue.

Outsmart him or outdo him in another way-maybe a unique way?

Ponz, in my opinion, what you are saying is, let us say, there is a grandmaster, and a new player, that new player can't ever beat that grandmaster because he is too far ahead of the new player.  That means we are worse then the chess players of fifty years ago because they are too far ahead.  Like others who said it, I thought you guys would be giving meaningful tips, and not telling me to give up.  I thought chess requires dedication, not quiting.  The person I want to beat, I will make beating him a side-quest, and the chess experience, the main goal.

The enemy of your enemy is your friend!

Seek the person that beat him consistantly then ask how they beat him.

I don't know anything about you, but I suspect that the "friend" who rips on you is not really very good at the game at all. He just has a little more experience, while you have virtually none.

Stay on chess.com. Play slow games and online games. Analyze the games you play, and really try to figure out where you went wrong. Go to Chess Tactics Server and sign up for a free account. Do hundreds (thousands) of problems. Again, good suggestion to get "Logical Chess Move by Move" or "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess." Really read and study these texts--probably more than once.

I can almost bet that this "friend" at school has relied up to now on purely natural talent. Once confronted with someone who's actually studying the game, he'll probably find all kinds of excuses not to play you any more. Then you will have won big time.

I like the 2nd book you mentioned. It will get you jump started in the right direction quick with some basics.

Thanks for your guys' advice, tips, and good things to get for those who actually support me in my guide to get better at chess.  I realized I am playing for the wrong reasons, so now I will play for the right reasons.  Me beating him will be the stepping stone in the right reason, and that is getting better at chess in general.  I have none as said, and I agree with MSteen that perhaps maybe he is not good, just has more experience then me.

3 word:

1. Play alot
2. Read alot of chess

and most important HAVE FUN

True JUST HAVE FUN!