I can’t get better at chess

I would love some advice on how to get better at chess. I’m terrible at I’ve been playing for most of my life and I’m in my fifties now. My elo is about 1000 on chess.com and I don’t seem to have the ability to get better. I blunder, blunder, blunder. All the time. No matter how much I study the board I still don’t notice incredibly obvious threats. Sometimes a player will move a piece right next to my queen to attack, and I’m so focused on something I’m trying to do in the game, i don’t notice and my queen gets taken. You would think I’d learn from this but I don’t and I continually make the same stupid mistakes time and time again. Once, three games in a row (I’m the black pieces) someone moved their center pawn and surprise attack my queen on G5 and I lose my queen. 3 times in a rows!! Absurd. It’s depressing. I want so badly to improve but I just don’t think I’m suited for the game. I’m just not observant enough. Does anyone have any advice? Thx so much

Look, basketstorm, Janko, or hanging pieces chomper is going to go after your post, talking about how the game is rigged. Ignore them, they are trolls.

Now for actual advice: One, play longer chess games for more time to think. Two, practice tactics on puzzles Three, read books and online lessons on chess. They really helped me. Last, always check to see what pieces could be captured. Look to see what attacks what. Prevents blunders. Good luck on your chess journey!

Hey,

I am rated over 2400 online (https://www.chess.com/member/ppandachess). I created a free course that will teach you a training plan to improve. Feel free to check it out: https://www.panda-chess.com/daily-improvement-plan

None of the advice on this site helps. This game only causes misery and frustration

Caff you are literally spending money on the game and you say it only causes mystery

I spend money on taxes too. Should that make me happy?

Chess is optional. Taxes are I hope not optional

You don't have to spend money on this site, yet you do. You obviously must be enjoying this game somewhat to do that

My initial approach to training was obsessively play 10 000 games of chess. Mix it up with youtube videos. Sometimes watching videos like

Accurate board vision seems to be difficult for people like us (I am 48 as I write this) when we use shorter time controls. So do not worry, you are not alone with the problem of making the same mistakes over and over again.

I'm of the same age. I do the same thing. I focus too quickly, and by focusing, I miss the obvious. When I was younger (like 30 years ago younger), I would do the same thing, focus and miss what was on the periphery, and I was playing a lot more than now. I recall forcing myself to "pause...now view the whole board...evaluate.." and most importantly, "stop looking at what you want to do" ... but rather look for "what do you need to do now?". The pieces on the board tell you what you need to do now, so you have to see them all, and work at hearing what they have to say. Ignore your brain when it says "But I have this idea ..." because it's like a 5 year old wanting cake for breakfast. Yes, nice if it goes that way, but no, not a good idea. Play slow, more so now. You need time to think through the complexities, and eventually, the simple things become automatic, but when they do, you will still need to play slow because your opponents get better and you will be contemplating more complex ideas. Good chess never gets "fast", rather, as you get better you can player simpler things faster, but you still need time to play well against "this" opponent.
That said. Trust me, you are not too old to improve. But, it will take time, and at our age, it can seem like forever. The young don't track time in days, but years, after all. Meaning, you expect improvement to occur in days rather than years.

Hiya! Reading your post, I think you’d benefit from playing Daily chess and implementing an actual checklist you go through each position before moving (don't try do start this in Live games, you'll eat through your clock, skip steps consciously or unconsciously, lose on time, etc). This will force yourself to organize your thought process each move, observe and evaluate what you see going on with all the pieces, and it should immediately reduce your blunder rate. Over time, your checklist will become more subconsciously done and go faster. Once you feel this checklist is ingrained and more automatic for you, return to Live chess and try it there and see if you notice an improvement.

You can find a lot of example checklists online, but the important points are 1) identify all the possible checks to the kings 2) all undefended pieces 3) all possible captures and 4) what pieces are doing the most and least presently. You can go deeper than that (and you eventually should), but you should be doing at least those 4 steps for each position. If you want to play some unrated games to try it out together let me know.

Um why does this feel like English class…? 😂

I know right