How do I get out of 100/200 elo?

I have zero idea how I can beat players in chess. I always see their moves and think that their pieces won't reach mine but they do. I don't know how to even beat the overpowered scholar's mate, which either causes me to lose or I lose a rook. How the hell am I meant to beat these absolute units at chess?

The scholar's mate: e4 e5 Qh4 Nc6 Bc4 g6 Qf3 Nf6 Did you mean this?

Yeah, I have no way of countering it

Just keep playing my friend...

To most of my students, I give this advice (and it's almost all they need):

The biggest reason people struggle in lower-level chess is because of blunders. They make them in almost every game.

A mistake can instantly put you in a bad position, no matter how well you played earlier: if you had great opening knowledge, great positional skills, great endgame skills, whatever; a single mistake can change everything (you lose a piece or get checkmated).

So, how do you avoid blunders? Follow these two simple steps:

1. After your opponent moves, think if it's dangerous. Ask yourself, “What’s his idea?”
2. Before you make your move, think if it's safe. Ask yourself, “What attacking replies can he play?”

If you feel like getting to levels like 1600, 1800, or 2000 in chess is super hard, let's look at it in a different way. Those players you're facing make blunders in nearly every game they play. Beating them isn't so tough if you stop making big mistakes and start using their slip-ups to your advantage.

Again, it does not require you to become a chess nerd or spend all your time on chess. Just doing this one thing can boost your rating by a few hundred points right away.

Lastly, while avoiding blunders is crucial, I also share a few basic principles with my students. These principles help them figure out what to do in each part of the game - the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. Understanding these simple principles is like having a map for your moves. When you use this knowledge along with being careful about blunders, you're not just getting better at defending. You're also learning a well-rounded approach to chess. Keep in mind, chess is not just about not making mistakes; it's about making smart and planned moves to outsmart your opponent.

Ok first of all you need to learn to defend yourself from the scholars mate. This is what you will do the next time your opponent tries to do it.

And there you go, don't blindly follow this but understand how it blocks the attacks.

And remember, NEVER play the scholars mate, just defend against it.

The next thing you should do is learn the values of pieces. Trading a knight for a rook is better than vice versa. Here are the values -

Queen - 9

Rook - 5

Knight - 3

Bishop - 3

Pawn - 1

It is better to trade a piece of lower value if you get to capture a piece of higher value.

Always look for checks, captures, and attacks. Do puzzles, learn some opening principles, and learn basic endgames. This should get you at least to 400-500 elo. I

I have no idea how somebody can be hardstuck at 100-200 rating.

learn how to move the pieces ong

Understanding your opponent's strategy and making fewer mistakes seems to be the key. It's like writing a well-structured essay; you need a solid foundation and clear strategy. Speaking of which, for those who need help in crafting essays.

Checks

captures

attacks

in that order, look for checks in any position you are in if that doesn’t work look for free captures but be careful not to trap any pieces and if all is bad try attacking something, you don’t want to make many moves that have no meaning behind them.

also if you are playing a time control such as rapid, flip the bored to see what your opponent sees, it gives a better view of the subject at matter.

when ur 100 elo wayward queen is kinda good until u get to like 800 elo

Some people don't grasp concepts as easy as others, we shouldn't say this to people.

You play much too fast! You seem to end most of your games with more time on your clock that you started with, so you most be moving instantly. Of course you are going to miss things, lose pieces, and blunder.

Slow down! Look at your opponent's last move before you make your own. Is he threatening anything? Has he left something unprotected? Take the time to think! This is the first rule of chess. You can learn the fine points later

dude... 100-200 rating is filled with people throwing on purpose and people who don't even know how the pieces move.

Bum

Yea I was hardstuck 100-400 for an embarrassing amount of time like 6 months, but once you get to like 500 sandbaggers are not as common

One is not "stucked" anywhere after only 15 games. Come back and tell us about it if you're still at 100-200 after like 200-500 games. Even without studying a thing, you should improve easily just out of playing, provided you don't believe "easily" means playing 3 games or such.