1. unsound sacrifice (Where did that rook came from?) and that is after looking at it for 2+ clock minutes.

2. Not sure how to proceed... Usually happens after move 9 or so... How do I break through... What is weak, how do I attack...

1. Consider the intuition first. That is, the first move(usually unsound sacrifice) that comes to my mind will be analyzed shortly.

2. Next, look for weak opponent pieces. These could be a knight pinned to his own queen, a b7/g7 square, a lone bishop, a trapped queen, an uncastled king, a rook winking at your bishop.

3. If you don't find any weaknesses in your opponent's side, look for weaknesses in your side. Assess how imminently these weaknesses need the attention. After assessing, develop a plan to remove those weaknesses.

4. Now, look for strengths in your opponent's side. For example, if you feel his e5 square is fortified, play f4 after looking around for any cunning bishop or a queen and quickly unsettle your opponent.

5. Now look for ways to strengthen your own squares. Concentrate your forces towards a common square and attack it ruthlessly.

6. Lastly make the unsound sacrifice:)

Before each game, tell yourself that you're going to play the best game of your life. Don't worry about the result, but give your best effort. Motivation lasts very short; so keep motivating yourself to give your best effort. If you're aware that you're there to give your best effort, you'll avoid making unsound sacrifices.

Lastly about the move 9: By 9 moves, you should've castled, brought your knights and bishops out. Now move your rooks to the semi-open files(i.e., e and d files). Now either place your knights at a location as close to your opponent's pieces as possible or just push your pawns with adequate support to them.

If I find any of these, I develop a plan to exploit them. For example if it's a queen and king on the same file with pawns infront of them, I place a rook on the same file. This is the first step of executing a tactic. Now, you have to develop a plan to remove the pawns infront of the queen and the king. Once you do that, more often than not, you should win that queen.

Remember, unless your plan is too concrete, try to conceal your tactical shot as much as possible. How's this possible? Take the previous example. Instead of moving your rook on to the queen&king file first, execute your pawn plan. That's remove the pawns first and move the rook as the last blow.

(But I still suck...)

[Event "Square 64"]
[Site "Chess Palace"]
[Date "2005.11.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "WannaBe"]
[Black "G. Hall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO ""]
[BlackElo "1820"]
[WhiteElo "??"]
[Annotator "WannaBe"]
[PlyCount ""]

Two common mistakes that can easily be avoided.
1. Giving up a pawn in the opening. Before playing 8.Nd2, you should've said to yourself: "If I play Nd2, what're the pros and cons?" Nd2 interferes with the queen protecting d4. The point of Nd2 being is to develop the knight and at the same time protect e4. But you forgot that so far you've been strengthening d4 and by moving Nd2, you lost the plot!

2. This second error is very common in the opening by me. This has been covered in rule 4 in my previous post. 16.f4? At this point your rook was obviously under attack. Instead of defending, you went for a counter-attack, which is good in many instances. But when moving the pawns around the king, look for any cunning checks that would neutralize your counter-attack. This is one of the critical points in a game and when you're under attack, be sure to calculate all your variations before taking a risk.

The best way to improve is to play - play play play play play - and do your best. Second, review your own games to see what went right and wrong for next time. Third, annotate your games (even Internet ones), spelling out lines and ideas for both sides. The more time you invest in your games, the better your overall game will be.