Why I am not improving?

so I started with 1200 ended up in 800, stuck at 900 and now can't pass through 1100? I thought If I learn techniques I will not make my mind sharp, so I didn't go for tactics should I try them? even when they are boring ?

I'm not too sure how i got past 800 , im struggling around 1200 as of now . Look up the other threads on this subject (mine) and you will find many answers .

Study basic endgames and tactics and you will improve.

Here is some information on how to improve your chess game. 

http://www.mccorkles.org/ChessLab.html

Developing board vision is, IMO, the single most important aspect of the game. Can you see the actual fork, skewer, pin, discovered attack? You've got to be able to correctly read the board and see all the implications. This takes time and practice.

Once you can see all the major possibilities, then you can apply the approriate tactical or strategic move.

I agree with pawnwhacker, board vision is essential. Most games at your level are decided by simple one or two move tactics; if you improve your board vision, you'll just be able to immediately see these tactics.

Be patient.  Chess improvement takes time.  Remember that your opponents are also trying to improve.  That is a good thing because everyone is learning together.

Try to do a few tactical exercises every day, definitely study annotated master games, and go over your own games to understand both your mistakes and missed opportunities.  Work slowly and steadily. In time your sense of satisfaction in your play as well as your results will improve.  Again, be patient.

The free chess mentor courses helped me alot and chessmaster: grandmaster has some excellent beginner and intermediate courses. They helped me to get to 1000 in 3 months of playing chess. Also I play it still now and then to remember the concepts.

Also learning about general development in the opening is very important so you don't have to rely on opening theory because unless you played the opening a lot you won't remember it when playing on the board.

I suggest you stick to a few openings for a long period ( a year+) because you can't learn all the openings, there is just way too much theory! So better is to focus on a few openings and learn them inside out. Mainline theory works the best imo, the offbeat path is nice but in the mainline you will learn the most which you can keep your whole chess career.

On improving board vision, always look for strategic concepts: Where are your pawn weaknesses and which squares are the most contested, mainly in the centre, also possible pawn breaks.

Once you have looked at all that, then look for tactics, mostly these are possible checks (also discovered checks and double checks, very powerfull!) checkmates in 2-5 (can be higher off course once u get to a higher rating/level) moves.

And one of the most important rules, especially on 1000 level: Loose pieces drop off! LPDO, this basically means when there are pieces that aren't protected by pawns or other pieces they are loose and can sometimes be captured by a tactic/combination. Once u are a piece ahead, try to trade pieces as much as possible because once there are less pieces, your extra piece becomes more valuable.

What my coach said:

"Do not care too much of your rating when it doesn't say much. A 1400 blitz lover can easily drop to 1200 because of one day's bad mood. The rating only gets important when you reach 1800+, starting to build your chess knowledge database (openings, middle game patterns and endgame skills, etc.). At that time your rating would track your progress and help you find your problem."

We are almost in the same boat, in the 1400 level. 4 thinks i need to improve:

1. Board vision (this improves by playing games and analyisis a posteriori of your own games and reading some annotated game collections)

2. Tactics (recognize basic patterns).

3. Blunder check after your moves (i've almost lost count of all the games i've lost just before i forget to do a blunder check before a i make my move)

4. Endgames (by mastering this one you can get a big boost in your rating).

>>Cogwheel wrote:

They're not boring!! Try chesstempo.com, the Standard problems without clock stress; try to do 10 a day for starters and I guarantee your rating will climb.

I would say Chess Mentor and Tactics Trainer are the best. Chess Tempo also has free tactics, if you do not want to dish out the $100 dollars per year for a Diamond membership. Don't be too concerned about the rating, it's only a number. If you just continue to practice puzzles, and even analyze some games, you will improve.

Best of luck!

But to survive to the endgame

People always say "openings aren't important at your level". If that were true then opening 1.a4 2.b4 3.c4 etc. would be acceptable. It isn't, you'd get blown off the board before reaching a point where tactics and endgame study would mean anything.

Studying intricate openings isn't necessary. Knowing how to open a game and develop your pieces certainly is at any level IMO.

Grab your fair share of the center, develop all your pieces to good squares(still working on this myself), don't move any piece twice until you've moved every piece once unless there is a tactic(one of your pieces is in jeopardy or your opponent hangs one of his). Castle quickly to get your King to safety.

As others have said, hit the tactics trainer as often as you can. I turned off "rated" so I can take my time on it. I often solve tactics during commercial breaks on TV.

Chess mentor is also very good. Well worth the cost of a membership. And there are a number of quality videos here on Chess.com as well as on Youtube.

Finally, I would say don't play blitz or bullet. Play long time controls and or "Online" games.

Good luck......

>>Cogwheel: And you're free to have your own opinion.<<

Well, thanks for your permission. But what I said is more than an opinion. Must you be so obtuse?

If a chess player doesn't have good board vision, especially on a highly populated position, then they can't assess all the threats and opportunities.

That's why, in playing chess or doing tactical problems, the refrain: "I should have seen that!" is so common.

I maintain that a developed sense of board vision is fundamental and apriori.

If you can't see what could happen, then you can't implement.

I was memorizing gambits at 800...

Memory is a poor cousin to calculating...unless, of course, one plays speed chess or is a GM.

as a beginner, how is memorizing at least 2 or 3 openings not helping? 

What do you expect? Beginners (what I call people with our level) to somehow have the knowledge to find the opening moves just by reasoning? If that was the case, we would could throw away all the books and we would all be GM's. 

To Passero82:

You are absolutely right. Memorizing a few openings (several, preferably) is a good thing.