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why am I so terrible at this game

I lose pretty much every game and I'm only playing 1000 - 1200 players. I'm trying the chess puzzles and openings but none of them seem to be improving my game. I blunder basically every game and never see good moves.

how can I improve
about november was when I started trying, before then I didnt really know how to play but played a few games
I am actually knee deep in chess study that I haven't played games in months.

I was right where you were about half a year ago until I started watching the streams on lichess (since they were featured and all). Watching Blitzstream in particular and asking him questions about specific moves he made taught me a lot and I improved by some 200 points.

Right now I reckon my rating could well be around 1500, though I've only tested it OTB. How? Books on chess. I'm sure someone can recommend a better one (or three), but I'm personally reading Yasser Seirawan's "Winning Chess" series and enjoying it.

Studying chess sounds like the most boring thing in the world but it's a non-boring way to meditate for me and one of my favourite things to do. It requires a lot of mental concentration so I can only do it on the occasional weekend, but an hour long session is really enjoyable and lets me clear my mind and generally feel more focused. So yeah, pick up a good chess book (try your local charity shop first) and enjoy improving.
I recommend GM Evans' "10 Most Common Chess Mistakes" which is both entertaining and informative. I also recommend Kurzdorfer's "The Tao Of Chess" which drives home similar themes.
I'm that kind of people that don't really like books :P. So my advice is watching videos! You can even start from this site, since Jerry, Chessnetwork kindly provided it (it's from youtube). lichess.org/video
Some more to my post:
There are also other videos there, they are of different levels, you'll find out what suits you best. I mentioned Jerry as he has some good videos for newcomers.

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