Can a dummy like me succeed in chess?

Originally posted by Daniel Kirk
I have been playing chess now for oh... 3 years. And i still to this day, SUCK at this game! I really want to get comfortable with an opening, but it just won't sink in... I fall into the same traps again... And again... And again! I'm not the brightest light bulb, and I'm not sure if i should keep playing due to my horrible results. Should i just throw in the towel?

I know how you feel; I started playing OTB chess in 2005, and for a year and a half I was stuck at a ridiculously low level (USCF 1100); however, I implemented a study plan which I did in my spare time and in one year hit 1600 and in another 1800. My personal advice is to study tactics and play a lot of games, as in every possible tourney/online game you can play. Read on endgame and tread lightly in strategy and opening, and through experience and your tactics practice you will learn new things and start seeing moves you never could before.

Originally posted by Daniel Kirk
I have been playing chess now for oh... 3 years. And i still to this day, SUCK at this game! I really want to get comfortable with an opening, but it just won't sink in... I fall into the same traps again... And again... And again! I'm not the brightest light bulb, and I'm not sure if i should keep playing due to my horrible results. Should i just throw in the towel?

I think that you get out of your chess game what you put into it, in terms of time and study.
The bottom line is always this: Are you having fun? Do you still enjoy the game? If so, then
there's no reason not to continue. Of course no one likes to lose, so when that happens then
are you using it as an opportunity to learn? Do you try to figure out where the game went wrong?
What I hear you saying is that you fall into the same traps over and over, and that you are
getting dismayed at your results. Study of some sort and game analysis is the only way to get better.

At what point is the time invested worth it or not worth it? That will be the question you will
ultimately have to answer - what's your time worth? Sure, you can get better if you spend
3 hours a day studying but is that feasible and worthwhile? If not, what is? You'll have to
decide where the balance lies for you.

When all is said and done, what are you after? What's the personal goal(s)? If you don't
have an answer to those questions then you should have no expectation of improving. I liken
our situations as chess players much like the ametuer musicians I run into at my shop. Sure,
they're not the best players, but what are they after? Playing for their own enjoyment? Playing
with an ensemble? Playing simple stuff, or challenging themselves? Whatever they do is
directly related to the time they want to invest in playing an instrument vs. the enjoyment
they get out of it. If they're happy with what they do then does it matter how well they play?

I'm not very good at chess, so I put a fair amount of time into it. After all these decades
away from it I forgot how much I like it and I'm having fun, even when I lose. The day I'm not
having fun here I'll find something else to do. 🙂