Returning to chess after 10 years, feel overwhelmed and frustrated

I had forgotten I made an account here in 2010.......was in a chess club in middle school.....

Long story short, Covid and watching chess on twitch re-kindled my flame to try and then I immediately remembered why I stopped playing. I just get overwhelmed even in games with people below me (I'm like 300 and people under me have beat me)

Anybody got any tips on how to manage being overwhelmed besides playing a million puzzles or paying for lessons? Cause every game i play, there's something the analysis tells me and I don't understand it.

I don't want to give up, but I certainly feel too stupid for chess

Try not to be so hard on yourself, it's a tactical game. Maybe look at why you're being overwhelmed, I wouldn't focus on the numbers too much, instead try and understand why you lost. Look at your last game as an example, by move #8 your opponent had a good strong centre forcing you to play on the edges of the board, your Queen could have taken an unprotected Bishop a few moves later. Maybe try some new openings and see how the game plays, if you lose then you lose but don't beat yourself up if you do.

There's just so much info its hard to understand it.

It's as easy or as hard as you make it. If you're trying to learn every opening in the game after a long break then you will get overwhelmed, I think anyone would. Baby steps to start with, find an opening that you like, try it in multiple games, if it doesn't work try something else. Giving up is the easy route but I will say that for every loss you will learn something new.

Even if the computer suggests the best move, if it doesn't explain why the move is good, then the advice is useless... and I don't mean the trite "this move wins material" explanations it's been programmed to make. I mean real explanations.

Anyway, under the "learn" tab there are some good lessons. Maybe start there.

https://www.chess.com/lessons

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As for your games, in the beginning, it's mostly about getting comfortable with how the pieces move. Most puzzles will be too advanced. A reasonable first goal if you want to improve is play 100 games. It takes some time before the board isn't a confusing mess. Meanwhile find some good source of material aimed at beginners, such as in the link above.

Somehow after watching a few videos, playing a longer game, I somehow managed to win....

I would recommend to start with video lessons on chess - there are many very useful for free on youtube. The best I know that are suited for beginners: Aman Hambleton's "Building Habits" series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axRvksIZpGc). Hambleton plays a number of games here in order to show how to play with certain rules ("castle as soon as possible", "don't hang pieces"). Advanced tactics are nice to know, but your play should be solid first, and this is something Hambleton can teach.

Thanks guys, I went and took a chill pill. I'll try to look into those resources, I don't have a lot of free time coming up, but i'll see what I can manage to learn

I am puzzled by this remark. The computer literally shows you why the move is good or bad by displaying the top 3 moves and the lines that follow. And you can play through any move, and the computer will show you how is it good or bad. All you need is patience and some logic.

Making use of the top 3 moves, exploring lines with patience and logic... yeah, that makes engines useful... but there's a handful of reasons new players aren't able to do this yet, and I was tailoring my post to the OP.

Yea I get it too. I've played on and off since the late 90's when I was a teenager. So I often think man I should be so much better than I am! But there's been more in life than chess, and from 2001-2012 I didn't play at all, then a little in 2012 then only occasionally against apps on my phone till restarting here recently. Just think of progress for yourself, like to be a better in a month or 6-months than you are today, that's progress. All the best. Add me if you like we can play sometime if u want

And I'm terrible for this as well, feeling bad on myself for losing particularly if I think I've done something really stupid like most of my recent games. But it honestly is true that you learn more from losing than winning. If you easily win every game (against weaker human opponents or chess apps at too easy difficulty) you learn nothing and don't get better

#1
A rating of 273 is a sign of frequent blunders. Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it. Hang no pieces, hang no pawns and you are 1500 overnight.