The 2 Best Ways to Improve
Hello all,
I've been receiving a lot of questions along the lines of:
"I've been stuck at ____ rating and I can't go up! Whenever I play games I either drop rating or it stays the same. What should I do?"
"I can't seem to get my rating up. I've tried ______, _______, and _________ but nothing works! What are your tips for improving?
Well, this post is for any chess player, of any skill level. I will define the 2 types of situations a player can be in, and how they should improve.
I shall define these two people as Person A and Person B.
Person A:
Situation:
1. Stuck at a certain level, playing games leads to loss/stable change
2. 1000+ rating USCF
What They Should do:
1. Stop playing many games. You have hit a "platform" or a "barrier" that you can't break through. Your current understanding of chess has gotten you this far, and playing games will no longer help you improve. Still play a little to stay sharp, but decrease the amount you play significantly.
2. Study. If you are relatively lower rated (below 1800 USCF), anything will do. Work on all aspects of your game, as you will need to improve all of them to get better. If you are more advanced (1800+ USCF), you need to identify your weakness. What do you think you are the worst at? Is it your opening repertoire? Your lack of tactical sharpness? Your horrible endgame technique? Whatever it is, work on it.
3. How should I study? READ BOOKS. Reading books is probably the best way to learn. Authors are putting their knowledge that was accumulated over many years and giving it to you in a matter of 50 hours. READ READ READ!!! 
Person B:
Situation:
1. Not person a, aka not stuck at a rating level. Still improving gradually.
2. Lower rating than 1000 USCF (barrier doesn't matter for beginning players)
What They Should Do:
1. Play games. Unlike Person A, you have not reached your potential with the current amount of knowledge you have of chess. Of course, still study, but play a lot of games.
2. If you are a beginner/lower rated player, always play games. You have not gained enough experience and will not understand certain concepts until you see them on the board.
General Advice
1. Analyze your games. There is little point in simply playing games and not trying to figure out where you went wrong. Refrain from using the engine at first. Simply look through the game yourself and try to develop your own ideas. Once you have gone through the game by yourself once or twice, feel free to use the engine to improve on your mistakes.
2. Stay sharp. No matter if you are Person A or B, play some games. Not playing games = everything you do is less accurate, and you'll have to play more games to regain some of the knowledge that you temporarily forgot.
3. Resources for learning:
Books:
Others:
Managing Your Time (during a game)
Thanks for reading! I hope you learned something from this blog post and enjoyed it, too! Comment down below if you agree with my 2 best ways to improve!
