Why do I suck so bad

Hey all, this game makes me rage so hard. If it's not for the community being absolutely terrible for finding any kind of help of comradery, it's for the fact that no matter how hard I study I just keep losing and losing and losing.

They say in chess there are two types of talented players the Killers and the Artists. The artists are just naturally talented and don't care about winning or losing and the Killers are the ones who hate losing so much they never do (so to speak). I feel like i'm a Killer without the talent. Its not that I hate losing but my god when you're playing online chess and you lose three games in a row to someone who wont even respond or help you out like what is that. Why does chess make people just view everyone as targets and enemies, its not like im playing these games in tournaments i'm just playing friendly online matches, just fricken hoping i find at least one person who can help me learn but it just feels so toxic. 

And then I lose to these people and it just makes me want to toss my chair across the room. Like what the heck can fricken anyone help me out or are you all just fat heads with an ego to big to lend a hand. I'm just trying to find some fun in my life and chess typically makes me feel some motivation but my god I haven't met one person on this site that even responds in chat. Whats the point of even playing a game if the whole community just shuns new people. It frustrates me to no end, so I rant on here becuase at least I get it out right?

Anyways to some actual games I played, for some reason, I can't even get the most basic of openings right because i'm so stupid. Here they are three games I lost like a moron into a better player. Person got me on tilt after the first loss and I just lost my mind after it. Maybe someone can give me some feedback and make it feel like ths game isnt just some empty waste of my life. Im sure anyone who actually plays this game for the self-growth of problem-solving instead of the competition can understand how gross this community feels at times.

First game is really the only one that matters the other two I was angry while playing so they aren't as solid, but I think its good to at least show my terrible games just to get em out there and off my mind.

Any italian style game "Experts" out there can tell me why i'm so bad at this opening. It would be much appreciated

To much bullet, and blitz.  How do you expect to improve when youre playing fast time controls?

I won't point out all of your tactical mistakes because you can use an engine for that. I will offer some advice though. I notice that you allow your opponent to pin your Knight to your Queen and that you don't take any measures to get out of the pin. When one of your pieces is in a pin you want to get out of the pin as soon as possible. So if allow Bg5 you at least want to play h6 as soon as you can to ask their Bishop what it wants to do. If they retreat to h4 then you have the option to play g5 to break the pin. You can also consider bringing your Bishop back to e7 to break the pin that way. Think of it like this. One of their pieces (their Bishop on g5) is restricting 2 of your pieces (your Knight and Queen). You can't move your Knight because your Queen would be taken and if you move your Queen your opponent can double your pawns around your King.

Also I think maybe you are castling too soon. If your opponent plays Bg5 before you castle then you can play h6 followed by g5 to break the pin and since you haven't castled yet you have the option to castle Queenside when you've already got a pawn storm going against your opponent's King. For example:

Here is a video that further explains the power of the pin and what you can do to counter it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=851pCMJv2Sg

I think you will find it very helpful.

I think that you should do more tactics and maybe try to understand the middlegame principles more.

You consider my advice rude?

Good Luck to you.

yes, i know but when you seem to get all of it, you should become 1500 or higher very quickly

so just don't stress too much and just review you mistakes so you don't make them again

I was looking through your first game thinking about the way I might have played it differently on move 8 when you played b5 I may have played d6 securing that pawn in the centre and allowing my c8 bishop to move or another thing i would be thinking about is h6 to get the bishop to make up its mind about what it wants to do. as played the b5 move was proved to be problematic after the bishop move to follow leaving your pieces more tangled and the position more difficult to play for black which is why i may have leant towards the simple d6 with ideas of things like h6 or b5 later on it seems like a nice idea with queenside expansion a little bit halting his queenside expansion but maybe make sure your position is nice and super solid first. That as one of the main things i would have done differently and after that you find the position looks much simpler to play as you have more options with your pieces so you are less tangled up. It would have meant you have an easier time in the rest of the game. Anyway those were my thoughts.

Well you have learned moves of Italian oppening but obviously you still don't understand it yet. You mention in comment that you play against computers, but that is not a way to learn chess, you need to find a good book (old ones are especialy good) and learn what are positional and tactical ideas and motives in Italian oppening. Also don't be mad at your oponents for lack of correspondence, they probably do not see themselves skilled enought to give you advice. 

Yeah it's usually not necessary to play h6 to prevent the pin but it's a different story once you are in the pin. You can't allow their Bishop to just sit on g5. It needs to be challenged as soon as possible.

Extending the Kingside pawns with h6 and g5 is usually ok. Even if you are castled on the Kingside you can usually get away with it. If you have some example games where you've done this and gotten crushed then post them and maybe I can help you out.

There is a lot to learn from playing chess. One of the biggest things about chess is that it is supposed to be a logical, challenging game. It is very hard to think straight if you let your emotions get in the way. It is also ok to lose games. I learned some of my best lessons from my worst games.  As a result, patience is required on and off the board. My suggestions for you to move towards this path would be to: 

-Take a deep breath before every game

-Focus on the game

-Mute chat in online chess

-Don't get overly emotional after a loss. Chess is supposed to be something that is enjoyed. You should go over your losses so that you can try avoiding mistakes in the future. 

-Stop beating yourself up and telling yourself that you are stupid. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it helps to have confidence in oneself. 

-Don't expect post-mortem analysis in online chess. You can try to find post-mortem analysis in the forums, or OTB chess. 

-Have fun!

As for learning the Italian, I suggest studying the games of Greco and Paul Morphy. Studying master games is a great way to build a foundation to become a stronger player and notice any tactics and positional themes. 

At the 1200 level, the vast majority of games are won and lost because of blunders.

If you know your opening inside out and backwards, that will occasionally help you avoid an opening trap (or know how to exploit it if your opponent walks into a trap), but otherwise it's just going to give you a small advantage in the middle game.

That's very important at higher levels (2000+), but you're not even close to that.  It's not really going to matter if you have a better pawn structure and more control of the centre of the board if you then go and hang a knight.

So the key at your level is to stop hanging as many pieces, and to take more of the pieces your opponents hang.

Tactics alone can get you to 2000.  That's not necessarily the most efficient way to reach 2000, but it will get you there - and it's key to getting above 1200.

Before every move, double-check to see what he's threatening, and what your threatening.  Examine forcing moves: checks, captures, and threats.  If he can put you in check, how would you respond, and would it damage your position or strengthen his?  If you can threaten his queen, how will he respond, and does it damage his position or strengthen yours?

Play slow time controls.  Actually, daily chess is great for this.

Joining one of the online clubs that plays vote chess and has a good discussion group can have value too, as you can learn from how the stronger players evaluate the position.

 I also suck pretty bad. Just play people who suck worse than you to feel good about yourself. I recommend opening a chess club at a local elementary school and crushing them.

Well that's the biggest reason why I posted the games because I know its supposed to be a beginner opening, but I feel like I understand Q pawn games, and the Scotch far better than the Italian and the Ruy Lopez style ones. And I don't know why, maybe the Scotch is far easier, take the center early and protect the e4 pawn (if possible) it's easy to play, and the Q pawn games are flexible enough that I can cater the opening as black more to my style at that moment in time. 

However, for some reason once I get to this position below i'm just lost for a plan. Like what does black do. I mean h6 and d6 are obvious moves to me, I don't see why they shouldn't be played, but then what...how are the pawns supposed to moved or be placed...is it typical to go for a queenside attack  or am I supposed to be aggressive and work towards an f5 strike like a Dutch/Kings Indian idea. 

@ChessBasics12, I recommend looking at leveraging engine analysis more and thus asking yourself why the engines would recommend one move over another. But in looking at a couple of your games, I recommend focusing on your openings and middlegames and thus thinking through what you are trying to accomplish in terms of position and theory.

I would recommend buying one or two books like "Fundamental Chess Openings" (link) or "Modern Chess Openings" (link), and slowly digesting or thinking through the principles that players use to create good or sound positions around moves 10-15 prior to the launching of middlegame tactical shots (e.g., sacrifices to expose a castled king) or strategic ploys (e.g., going for a longer-term positional approach or creating a weakness like doubled pawns that proves critical in the endgame).

In the meantime, in terms of the games you posted, I noticed the following things:

• Your minor pieces sometimes end up on the edge of the board - e.g., the bishop on a7 and the knight on d8 in the first game - or else aren't active or centralized
• This into issues surrounding how and when you develop your pieces
• By the middle game, your pieces tend to be a bit more passive and/or your opponent has a positional advantage, and so, it's harder to "come back from behind" (to borrow a phrase from basketball)

Given these observations, I would highlight the following points:

• First game
  • I think 6...d6 and ...Bg4 are a bit better in terms of king-side pressure as opposed to your slower queen-side approach
  • This ultimately led to the poor pieces (a7 bishop, d8 knight), the hung piece on a7, and your resignation as your opponent simply stacked major pieces on an open file and took advantage
• Second game
  • 8. f3 weakens the kingside at a moment where your king is not yet castled, e4 is already defended twice; you should either play Bg2 and O-O or Be3 and O-O-O to complete your development and secure your king
  • This led to 10...Qxf3 and 11. Qg1 with the weakened pawn structure, the decentralized queen; I am surprised your opponent didn't play 11....Re8 and thus go for your throat on e4; if 12. Bg2, then 12...d6 to defend c7 but if 12. Bxc7, Black has 3 attackers vs 2 defenders on e4 whereby he can win the pawn and pressure the centralized king
  • 15. Nd5 and 16. Nxc7 didn't make sense when you didn't complete the rook capture on a8 and left your king vulnerable such that the Black queen torched your queen-side
  • 25. Kf2 g5 whereas I am not sure why you wouldn't have played 25. Ke2 to prevent the pinned bishop; not sure why you would trade queens when you are about to lose the exchange; and then, you walked in the double rook work with 29. Re1 Nd3+
  • For me, your problems started with 8. f3 in this case: you need to hesitate to be pushing the f-pawns when an f3 or f6 pawn normally weakens your king's security most of the time
• Third game
  
  • I think 8...Be6 is a bit better than going for the piece trade on c4 with a view towards putting more pressure on d5 given ...c6 later
  • But by move 13, the pin on h4-d8 is a big deal, and so, you may have needed ....h6 sooner to push the bishop back
  • I'm not sure what 16...a4 was to accomplish when you needed to focus on defending your king and queen - e.g., Rg6, Qd7 to break the long pin
  • By crowding your pieces as you did, 20. Bxf6+ proves devestating
  • Then, you swallowed a pawn at 22...Bxe4 which led to the pin and 26. Nxe4
  • So, between your first and third games, you need to research how to play as Black against the Italian Game when your piece placement isn't ideal and you didn't handle the typical Nd5 and h4-d8 pins very well

In sum, yeah, for me, it boils down to your opening theory, piece placement, and overall approach. I recommend studying the Italian Game opening more - e.g., by reading the classical treatments, working through opening databases, etc.

For better or for worse, online gaming communities are not known to breed the best out of humanity. As such, you may want to join what's called a "clan" or "team" on other platforms and thus "make friends" with people that are willing to make an investment in your development over time. e.g., this would be the online equivalent of joining a chess club in person. As such, I agree - it's tough to learn chess solo.

Good luck, man.