Learning chess using the computer

I've found playing against the computer on the hard level to be the fastest way to learn from your mistakes especially an opening you want to know.  Every time I make a mistake I start over again with the same opening.  After 30 minutes I've made 30 mistakes and learned 30 things not to do.

If anyone knows of a faster way to learn an opening I'd like to know.

the problem with that way of learning is that you're not learning how to think in an opening.. you learn I go here, he goes here, I go here and lose a piece  rather than - I can't move my knight there because it moves the same piece twice and he gets a lead in develpment, etc.  so unless your memory is amazing enough to remember every little possible move or variation it's better to know WHY to move or not move  somewhere in an opening.

Learning an opening fast isn't the goal, or at least I don't think it should be.  Review each game you play afterwards and find the first bad move you make.  Find out what the better move would have been and add it to your opening.

Of course you have to understand the basic principles of any opening. The point is when you go farther you go into an opening into the middle game the computer automatically makes the best move and if you don't make the best move to counter it, it develops an advantage which should be noticed so you don't make the same blunder again.

Hey, turak.  It's far from pointless, maybe I explained it wrong.  What I mean is, review the game starting at move one.  When you get to the first move that you didn't already know the correct opening move you should play, then look it up.

Also, I don't understand how someone could improve at chess without reviewing their own games.  You can't fix what you're doing wrong unless you know what your doing wrong.  If you don't have access to coaches who can show you what you are doing wrong, then doing it yourself is the next best thing.

I'm not an expert on this stuff but I read a lot.  There's a lot of information that shows reviewing your games was vital to improvement.  I just thought I'd mention these two things so you could give them a try if you want.  Take care and good luck however you decide to proceed.

The best way to learn an opening starts with reading opening monographs, playing the opening, and returning to the monographs. Along the way, it helps to study master games in the opening. Start by understanding the ideas. Where specific moves are needed, there is a tactical or positional reason. You won't discover these simply by playing take-back.

A second useful practice is playing correspondence games with databases (and monographs). Simply playing the percentages in Chess.com's explorer will not help much, however. Follow the moves that you understand, and deepen your understanding by playing through master games all the way to the resignation.