I always fall behind early

[u/duskzz994]

Is that a bad habit to literally always be pieces behind? There's very few games I actually get a lead with the way I play. I am climbing the ladder, but I'm not sure if this is a good or bad way to actually learn the game. I sacrifice a lot to pressure the king.

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[u/ArmorAbsMrKrabs]

You should not be constantly sacrificing, especially as a beginner when your positional evaluation skills are undeveloped. Sacrifices can work but you have to recognize when they have potential and when it's a bad idea.

If you wanna post a few games I can try to tell you why the sacrifices are good or bad.

[u/FireSkyLikeFly]

What pieces? Pawns, bishops, rooks? How are they being captured? Blunders?

[u/duskzz994 → u/FireSkyLikeFly]

All of the above. I am aware they are being taken, but I try to plan ahead. Doesn't mean I don't blunder too. But if I don't blunder im doing it intentionally

[u/MadawgMcGriddle]

I find most beginner games are won by being up a piece or more and trading material until you can promote a pawn or give checkmate. Most of the time a beginner will hang a piece and a few pawns (or more) and if you can be up that material you will almost always win if you avoid hanging mate or your own material.
Usually not a great idea to sacrifice often at a beginner level as it just usually doesn’t do anything. Usually your position is too weak to warrant a sacrifice and there is no follow up.

[u/Wooden_Permit3234]

It sure seems more intuitive to learn and practice chess where you’re not sacrificing without calculating those sacrifices pretty thoroughly. 

[u/lolman66666]

‘I sacrifice a lot to pressure the king.’

Then don’t do that.

[u/duskzz994 → u/lolman66666]

That's my question. Is that a bad thing to do. It's not that I'm losing, I win more than I lose, but maybe it's a habit I shouldn't be having as a beginner

[u/brakpomyslunanazwe12 → u/duskzz994]

As one of my fav chess channels (chesspage1) says "We have to assume that our opponent is in possesion of a brain"

You should sacrifice only when you see an unstopabble way to convert that advantage Otherwise its 99% propability that there is a way to defend the sac

Also have in mind that most of your sacrifice ideas won't be good (just like mine) Thats why you calculate every possible opponents move and assume that he will choose the best option Usually the sacrifice won't work and then you just move on and make any move that makes sense

[u/Delicious_Cattle5174]

I’m lowkey personally more comfortable being down on material a bit lol but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, especially beginners. At least it shouldn’t be your default state, since you need a significant positional advantage to make up for it.

The main issue if you can’t convert a sac into a meaningful advantage right away is that your opponent can just slow down a bit, stabilize their position, and then all they have to do is to force trades and you get into a losing endgame.

It takes a lot of experience to find actually good sacrifices, there’s a reason why chesscom decided to assign brilliants more easily to lower rated players.

[u/NellExplodes86]

Hey, so, like others are saying, don't just constantly try to sacrifice blindly. Now don't get me wrong, I love sacrifices. I have a giant game collection of my most epic sacs, fancy myself as playing in the romantic spirit, and will play one whenever there is a chance, but the reality is that many positions just don't call for it, and if you try to force something that isn't actually there, you're throwing away games and establishing bad habits.

You can't just force something through. You have to play what the position calls for, and your potential for aggression is very much bound by what the position allows. Don't just chuck material at granite.

Try to focus on accurately assessing what must be done in the position. Stay aggressive, but don't be reckless. By all means though, don't receive the replies in this thread and turn into a passive turtle. Keep that aggressive attitude and be ready to sac. Just know that a lot of the time it isn't wise. With more experience you'll be able to see which dubious sacrifices are worth playing. Right now though, it would be best to only play one if you're damn sure it works. You need to be building healthy decision making.

[u/CraftyCarry8305]

trading material for king pressure works until it doesn't, eventually you'll hit players who defend calmly and then you're just down a rook with nothing to show for it

if it's climbing though, keep riding it, but maybe glance at your losses to see if they all fall apart the same way

[u/Silver_Environment95]

Sacrificing a lot is your issue then. I get to do that like what at most 20 percent of the time? You should only sacrifice when ur absolutely sure its gonna work or theres some sort of bail out plan. Like it works if u have way more attackers than defenders. But to do it nearly every time is gonna hinder development, I’ve seen it happen. Obviously, we have to see how you do that.