What 1500 rapid is all about
After almost a year of not playing, I set myself the goal of getting to the next level and reaching 1600 rapid. After this little accomplishment, I wanted to share with you my experience and findings as to what it takes to be a 1500 rated player: what kind of knowledge players at this level have, how their games are won or lost, and on which areas I think you should focus your studies if you want to reach or surpass this level.
Opening
As for the openings that are trending at the moment, during this climb I played 1.e4 exclusively with the white pieces, and I found the Sicilian (1...c5) and 1...e5 to be most popular (as expected), followed by the French (1...e6). In the Sicilian, Dragon set-ups are still probably the most popular. Against the Ruy Lopez, the Steinitz remains the choice of many, and a lot of players go for 3...a6 variations. On the black side, I faced 1.e4 the vast majority of the time, and against my Sicilian most players went for sidelines, which I attribute to the recommendations of the masters of not going into mainline territory in order to get the opponent out of their preparation, which, ironically, ends up taking the opponent precisely to what they're facing all the time. The Alapin and the Smith-Morra are what I faced the most.
If you want to reach 1500, just learn the basic ideas of the opening you play, either by watching chess.com's opening lessons, or using other resources (a personal favorite that I've been using even since I was a three-digit player is the book Fundamental Chess Openings, by GM Van Der Sterren).
Middlegame
The middlegame is where most games are decided, at least in my case, but don't expect a resignation: converting the winning advantage is of the utmost importance (and something 1500s fail to do perfectly most of the time, meaning that a comeback is generally possible).
Attacks against the king
Attacks take place with various degrees of success.
All aspects of a 1500's play are flawed, and calculation is no exception. White thought they had me against the ropes here, but were in for a rude awakening:
Even when the attacking side gets exactly what they were aiming for, they often fail to deliver the fatal blow, as in the following example, where I was Black, and completely getting crushed, but spotted an opportunity to get out of there and try for at least a draw (and got better!):
Plans
Players at this level make short-term plans based around weaknesses in the opponent's camp, such as weak pawns and squares. Sometimes the plans are rightly executed, sometimes they fail due to miscalculation and missing the opponent's resources. Some positional understanding, albeit flawed, makes its presence felt, and moves devoid of any meaning are less common than before.
Tactics and calculation
If you want to succeed at this level, you have to be very familiar with all sorts of elementary tactics, including decoys and discoveries. Tactics pervade everything, and moves that at first sight may look impossible are often considered and executed by 1500s (this I have observed ever since around the 1200s, actually, but, of course, it still holds true, and needs to be mentioned). Tactics aren't just used to gain material or checkmate the enemy king, but also to justify positional moves, and even to simplify. An example of a tactical simplification is the following, where I was White:
There's no need for deep calculation and complexity, which is why I find the five-minute puzzle rush recommendation from CM Kabadayi's guide to be very effective, as well as his chessable course Fundamental Chess Calculation Skills, which focuses on three-ply calculation (one move from you, one from your opponent, and another one of yours).
Winning games
Apart from crushing attacks against the king, as seen in one of the previous sections, the other popular way to win games at this level (in fact, this is by far the most common), is by simply spotting a material-winning tactic your opponent missed. This is related to the concept of continuity: the player who can better remember the role of each piece on the board is the most likely to emerge victorious. An example is this game where I had the white pieces:
Endgame
You don't need to learn many theoretical endgames at this point, but knowledge of practical play, especially in rook endgames, and, to a lesser degree, in minor piece endgames, will come in handy. This is something I need to improve on (as if it weren't evident from the example above 🤦♂️).
Other general aspects
The initiative
I didn't use to pay so much attention to this, but probably from reading Silman's The Amateur's Mind, I started noticing in my games that this, indeed, can be the deciding factor between otherwise evenly matched opponents. This gains in strength at this level, because the players' ability to defend isn't quite as impressive as their creativity and cunning when they're on the attacking side. As a result, I can only recommend players in this range to play actively, and avoid passivity as much as possible.
Time management
I tend to play very slowly, and seem to be in the minority on that. I think I only faced one opponent who was really down on the clock against me: it was like seeing myself in third person. There is a benefit to playing slowly, which is that you'll get good positions more often, and there is a downside, which is that you'll more frequently blunder from winning positions.
Most 1500s seem to have the opposite problem: they play fast, blunder quickly, and then start spending their time trying to find the counterplay that will get them back in the game. The good news for them is that at this level, the opportunity will come.
Ideal would be to strike a balance between those two extremes: spend your time to find good moves, but leave enough so that you don't find yourself panicking in a winning position. Staying calm also helps with that, as it's really easy to get desperate when you get the visual and auditory cues that your clock is about to die.
Resources I used
Disclaimer: the resources I'm mentioning here are all paid. You don't need, by any means, to spend money on chess in order to improve. I'm just sharing this for the sake of completeness, and in case anyone finds them useful.
Fundamental Chess Openings, by GM Paul van der Sterren: This opening encyclopaedia has accompanied me throughout my chess journey, and, in the words of Master Yoda, "a powerful ally it is".
The Amateur's Mind, by IM Jeremy Silman: When it comes to the middlegame, I've been reading this exclusively. The man was such a legend! If you're 1600 rapid or below, I can guarantee you that you'll find many nuggets of knowledge in here. I haven't even read half of it, and I'm loving it!
Silman's Complete Endgame Course, by IM Jeremy Silman: When it comes to theoretical endgames, you don't need anything else besides the ones covered here at this point (and a very small subset of them at that).
Puzzle rush: I've been exclusively doing chess.com's five-minute puzzle rush for tactics.
Fundamental Chess Calculation Skills, by CM Can Kabadayi: I'm barely getting started with it, but I've found that, so far, this course lives up to the expectations (it's one of the recommended calculation courses in CM Kabadayi's study guide, and an award-winning chessable course). Again, at this level, three-ply calculation is enough, and I find the exposition of the material very clear and instructive (I bought the course without video, because that's what I could afford).
Conclusions
I still have a long way ahead of me, but making my return to rated online chess and reaching 1600 hundred points was a huge boost to my confidence. If you want to make it past 1500, remember:
- Openings are not as important. An understanding of the ideas is enough.
- The middlegame is where most of your games will be decided. Know your elementary tactics, and look for opportunities to apply them, sometimes combining them to create powerful combinations.
- A knowledge of practical rook endgames goes a long way.
- Manage your time well: don't think so little that you're blundering a piece right out of the opening, and don't think for so long that you can't keep up later, despite having a good position.
Thanks for reading!
