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Here are some tips for playing Counter-Strike better:

BUY EQUIPMENT QUICKLY - The faster you buy, the faster you can get into position. In Condition Zero and Counter-Strike:Source, F2 purchases the same equipment you bought the previous round (with a few hiccups). F1 will automatically buy the best equipment you can afford. Be aware that with either method, the game will give priority to weapons over armor.
FIRE AUTOMATIC WEAPONS IN SHORT BURSTS - The guns start to recoil after the first few bullets, so your accuracy will suffer, and you'll likely be shooting above your target. Try tapping the fire button quickly instead of holding it down.
AIM AUTOMATIC WEAPONS AT THE CHEST - The gun will recoil, which may give you a head shot. Sniper rifles and pistols can be aimed at the head.
RELOAD AT SAFE TIMES - If you just cleared a room and you know it is safe, you should reload. Don't immediately reload after every kill! There could be another guy around the corner, and you'll be caught reloading. Don't enter a shootout without a reloaded weapon. Be sure to take cover when reloading. Crouching is a good idea as well.
REMEMBER YOUR PISTOL - Switching to your pistol is faster than reloading. The Q key switches quickly between the primary gun and your pistol. If you run out of a clip in a fire fight, pressing Q can save your life. It is also handy to press Q to switch between a sniper rifle and a pistol if your sniper position has been discovered.
LISTEN CAREFULLY - With a headset, and with EAX enabled (if your sound card supports it), you can locate where people are by sound. You can start firing just before someone runs into a room, so they run into a stream of bullets. Try also to recognize the different types of weapons. For instance, sniper rifles make a very distinct sound, so you know to take cover.
USE YOUR RADAR - Along with the above advice about listening, keep an eye on your radar. If you hear something, but don't see a dot moving, it's an enemy. If you do see a dot moving, don't fire when your team mate comes through the door. Hostages (for CTs) and bombs (for Ts) show up in the radar as well, which can help you with locating objectives.
CROUCH TO FIRE - Not only does crouching improve your aim, but it makes you a smaller target. The only possible exception is the MP5, which has the same accuracy whether moving or crouched. Don't bother using a sniper rifle without crouching.
AVOID FIRING WHEN NOT STANDING ON GROUND - Accuracy drops when you don't have both feet on the ground. That includes while climbing ladders, swimming, jumping, falling, running and walking. The only exception is the MP5 as mentioned before.
SNEAK AROUND - You can crouch or walk to move around stealthily. You are silent while crouched or walking.
KEEP MOVING - If you stand still, you are a target. Plus, once you fire your weapon or run, your location will be given away.
DON'T BUNNY HOP - This will slow you down, and a good sniper will shoot you anyway.
OPEN GRATES AND BREAK WINDOWS WITH YOUR KNIFE - Conserve ammo, and break things with your knife. The knife takes more time than a bullet, though.
KEEP YOUR CROSSHAIRS AT HEAD LEVEL - If someone comes around the corner, you won't need to aim.
WORK AS A TEAM - You have a much greater chance of surviving and completing your objective if you stick with your team. Going off Rambo-style will usually lead to death. Also, when following someone, if they start to sneak, you should as well. They may have seen or heard something that you didn't.
LEARN THE MAP - When you die, switch to free mode and float around the level to locate the objectives.
LEAVE GRATES AND WINDOWS INTACT AND DOORS CLOSED - These can be used as an early warning detector that the enemy is coming.
RUSH SNIPERS - Don't try to outshoot a sniper. Either avoid him, or run at him erratically. Most snipers will freak out once you get close, since they won't be able to aim well.
USE GRENADES - Throw grenades into areas you think enemies might be hiding. This will slow down rushes, and will weaken enemies. Be sure to turn away when using a flashbang, or it will blind you as well. Announce that you are throwing a flashbang so your team can look away as well. Remember that there is a one second delay on voice communication.
BUY ARMOR OVER WEAPONS - Without a helmet, you can be headshot very easily. Without kevlar, it only takes a shot or two to kill you. It is better to have armor than a fancy weapon.
PROTECT THE VIP - Stick with the VIP. If he dies, you lose. Going commando on a VIP map (when you are a CT) is a really bad idea, especially if your are the VIP!
PROTECT THE BOMB - Stick with the bomber, and when the bomb is planted, stay nearby. If the bomb is defused, you lose.
AMBUSH THE BOMB DEFUSER - When defusing a bomb, the defuser is defenseless. Wait until the bomb is being defused, and then shoot the defuser.
BUY A DEFUSE KIT - It takes only 5 seconds to defuse with the defuse kit. It takes 10 seconds without. That can easily mean the difference between successfully defusing and being blown to bits.
CROUCH WHEN PLANTING OR DEFUSING THE BOMB - As mentioned earlier, crouching makes you a smaller target.
SHOOT THROUGH WALLS, DOORS AND OBJECTS - Some weapons (the more expensive ones) can shoot through some items. Try shooting at an unsuspecting enemy standing behind a door or crate.
USE YOUR VOICE - Play a single-player game of CZ. Do you hear what the bots on your team say? That stuff is useful! Here are a few handy ones: Enemy spotted. I'm planting the bomb at A. Sniper on the roof. I've got the hostages. I need backup. The bomb is on the ground here. The bomb is planted here. This bombsite is clear.
SWITCH TO SOMETHING OTHER THAN YOUR PRIMARY WEAPON TO RUN - You will move faster when you don't have your primary weapon in hand. You can run faster with the knife, pistol, grenade or bomb. This is handy for getting away from a bomb about to explode, or for rushing the enemy.
STAY BACK FROM TEAM MATES - If your team mate is under fire, they may want to back up and get under cover. If you are standing in the way, they will die.
USE TEAM DEATHS TO DETERMINE ENEMY LOCATIONS - If you see a team mate go down, you've likely heard where the enemy is, or know which direction he is coming from. Listen for reloading, since they will be defenseless (see RELOAD AT SAFE TIMES).
BOTS CAN SEE IN THE DARK - While hiding in a dark corner will fool a human, bots can see in the dark. They don't even need flashlights or night vision goggles.
BOTS CAN'T SEE YOUR FLASHLIGHT - The bots are completely oblivious to your flashlight, so unlike with humans, it's safe to use it with bots. Humans see your flashlight by seeing a halo of light around your character in CZ. In CSS, humans can see the flashlight on, and they can see where you are pointing the flashlight.
BOTS CAN HEAR YOU - They will aim at you even if they can't see you. When they come around the corner, they already know where you are. See SNEAK AROUND above.
BOTS CAN SHOOT THROUGH SPRITES - There are some objects that you can walk through (such as curtains and bushes), but you can't see through. The bots can see through these objects. Avoid them. Also, there are objects that you can't walk through, but can see through partially (such as fences). Bots can see through them completely.
TURN UP YOUR BRIGHTNESS AND GAMMA - In the game options, be sure that the brightness and gamma sliders are all the way to the right. That will make the night levels less dark.
MAKE YOUR CROSSHAIRS AND RADAR SOLID - In the game options, be sure to make your crosshairs and radar solid, not transparent, or you won't be able to see them against light backgrounds.

Here is some information about the various weapons:

Any weapon can kill in one or two shots if you get a headshot.
The standard-issue pistol (USP for CTs, Glock for Ts) is a pretty good weapon when aimed at the head. Otherwise, it takes 8-10 hits to take down an enemy.
The Nighthawk (a.k.a. Desert Eagle) is the best pistol by far. It takes 3 hits to take down an enemy. You only get 7 bullets in the chamber, though.
None of the other pistols are worth the money. The dualies are the worst, since they have poor accuracy, and it takes twice as long to reload.
The MP5 is the best sub-machine-gun. It has good accuracy, low recoil and reloads quickly. It takes a lot of hits to kill an enemy, though. Aim for the head. The MP5 doesn't lose accuracy while standing or running, so feel free to move while you use it.
The XM1014 automatic shotgun is a great weapon for close range. It only takes 2-3 hits to take down an enemy. It's very poor for long range.
The AK-47 is the best terrorist weapon. It has awesome accuracy for the first few bullets. It's the one-shot head shot gun. Be sure to fire in short bursts. It isn't as accurate at long range as the M4A1.
The M4A1 is the best counter-terrorist weapon. It has incredible accuracy at long range or short range. If the terrorist is wearing a helmet, it takes 82 damage if you hit their head. So you will need to do two consecutive shots to get a headshot.
The SG-552 is a scoped rifle. When the scope is in use, the firing rate is reduced. The accuracy without the scope is pretty bad. It's not a bad rifle if you can't afford a proper sniper rifle, but it is not a good weapon overall.
The Steyr AUG (Bullpup) is another scoped rifle. Like the SG-552, when the scope is in use, the firing rate is reduced. The accuracy without the scope is pretty bad. It's not a bad rifle if you can't afford a proper sniper rifle, but it is not a good weapon overall.
The AWP is the best sniper rifle. It is a one-shot kill, pretty much anywhere you hit. It takes a second to cock the weapon after each shot. Reloading takes a while as well.
The M249 is great if you want to look like Ahnold, but pretty much useless otherwise. The accuracy is terrible, even in short bursts. It is a spray-and-pray weapon. It has 100 bullets in the clip, and you carry two clips. It takes a long time to reload.
The H.E. (high explosive) grenade is effective for flushing out campers, stopping rushes, and overall weakening enemies. A direct hit can kill in one shot, but that rarely happens.
The flashbang grenade turns the screen white, so the enemy can't see. It lasts a few seconds, in which time the enemy is vulnerable. Be sure to turn away before throwing it so you don't go blind yourself. And be sure to announce to your team at least 1 second before you throw it.
The smoke grenade is handy for creating cover when there isn't any around. If there is a sniper nearby and you need to run across an open space, throw a smoke grenade and wait for the smoke to get thick. Then make a run for it. The smoke lasts several seconds. It can be shot through, and enemies can still locate you by sound.
Night vision goggles can be used to see in the dark. Keep in mind that bots can see in the dark regardless. If the level seems dark, make sure your brightness and gamma are turned up all the way in the game options. Most maps are designed to be bright enough without night vision. If you really can't see, you may need to adjust your gamma and brightness in-game, gamma in your graphics driver settings, and/or brightness and contrast on your monitor.

For Terrorists, the AK47 is the best weapon. For Counter-Terrorists, the M4A1 is the best weapon. If you can't afford these weapons, the MP5 is a good choice, or just get a Desert Eagle/Nighthawk and save your money. Unless you plan to be a sniper, and have a great sniper location, you are far better off with an AK47 or M4A1, since they are more versatile.