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Excited to get back into studying chess! I did the beginner plan a year or two ago and that helped bring up my rapid rating from like 400 to ~1200. Want to try and lock in for another couple months and see where I can get. I am feeling pretty good about the study plan except for when it comes to openings. I am pretty much only an e4/e5 kind of player and against d4/c4 I go for the KID (although I don't feel like I have a very good idea as to what I am doing there). Would love some advice on how to best study and really learn openings (or if there are good places to look for creating my own personal opening database). I have kind of avoided really learning openings and it's mostly just vibes but I think that is starting to be a little limiting. Lemme know if you have any ideas there. Starting Ratings 2/17/25: Chess.com Blitz: 1201 (Goal 1500) Chess.com Rapid: 1443 (Goal 1800) Chess.com Daily: 1159 USCF Classical: 1167 (Goal 1400) Study Resources: Rapid Games: 15|10 Blitz Games: 3|2 Classical Games: 55|5 Woodpecker Method: https://chesstraining.app/training/tactics/list Strategy/Openings: Chess.com lessons Book: How to Reassess Your Chess 4th Edition

Hello everyone! Just got back after a hectic school year, and figured to come back to ChessGoals! I actually completed the Advanced study plan a while ago, which pushed me from 1500 to 2000 (it's really effective for sure!). I found ChessGoals while searching Google for the best ways to improve at chess, and the little website caught my attention. Looking forward to completing this plan with y'all! Current Ratings: Rapid - 2000 (Goal: 2100 minimum) Blitz - 2000 (Goal: 2100 minimum) Bullet - 2000 (Goal: 2100 minimum) Resources: ChessTempo - Opening repertoire + Tactics + Endgame Practice Aimchess - Daily Chess Plan Chess.com - playing, of course Lichess - playing, also. Chessmind.ai - Learning openings Would really like to hear suggestions on what I should do to get to my goals faster!

Let’s get to it! Most games will be in lichess to preserve Rating here. Chess.com- 1330 Lichess-1490

Hi, im nearly 50 years adult improver; I have played chess with various long breaks since childhood. I am currently returning to chess again, in an effort to improve my understanding of the game and, most importantly, to have fun today I am starting my 12w study plan, current ELO on Chess.com blitz 1512, rapid 1869. In 2026 I would like to reach the goal of 2000 ELO in rapid I'm not afraid of the journey ahead of me, I'm more concerned about how much time I can devote to it... thanks for the support!

Here is where I will log my games

Join our club Bankai chess  you’re serious about getting better at chess, you should join this club because it gives you something other players don’t—real support, active teammates, and a place where your games actually matter. Most players try to improve alone and end up stuck at the same rating for months, but inside this club you get challenges, team matches, analysis help, and a community that pushes you to grow faster than you would on your own. Once you join, you won’t just be another player on chess.com—you’ll be part of a group where your presence makes a difference, where your wins are celebrated, and where you’ll feel the motivation to log in, play more, and level up your game every day. It’s your chance to be part of something that actually benefits your chess journey, so don’t miss it

Rapid Game #1Hello! I wanted to post my chess analysis for people to look at and critique. I have been following the program suggested by chess goals but amended it to fix my issue and style of play. I hope you enjoy the crazy game. https://lichess.org/study/6l0zgFqJ/r4KupoeV My analysis is on lichess. Not sure how to combine it all.

I click on the Members tab on the right. How do I find who is online playing right now? I tried "most recently online" expecting to see a screen full of players, but none appear.  I have to scroll a long way to find someone playing (green=challenge  or red=watch). Ideas? Chess.com username etoanrish if you want to send a private reply..

Hello Everyone!I want to achieve 1800 in rapid. So today I start 12 week plan to be a better player. Please wish me luck and persistence!Current ratings:Blitz 1370Rapid 1618Puzzles 2525Best regards!Brzydok

I just started playing (at 50), and I am anxious to get better. I tend to get in analysis paralysis, but I am getting better about it. I do absolutely love this game, but I definitely need help understanding the ins and outs correctly so I can improve. It will be an honor to learn and play this game with you all. Thanks for having me.

Hey all,It’s been a long time since I posted here but I used the Intermediate plan about 4 years ago and have made a lot of progress since then. I’m an adult learner but would love to reach Expert level at some point. Just today I finally crossed the 1900 rating in Blitz on Chess.com. It’s been a long time coming.I really want to begin a more structured plan again to hopefully get myself to beyond 2000+ in my rating. I’ve since played at a couple of in-person tournaments but I really need to practice my slower games since I have played so much Blitz. My current ratings are:Blitz: 1902Rapid: 1821I haven’t played much Rapid for a long while now so that rating is likely to swing quite a bit. I also have an account at the other chess website, and may be utilizing that so I don’t drop 200+ points on Rapid since the rating swings will be much higher now.Puzzles: 2700I’ll be using the following courses on Chessable:Crush the King's Gambit!The Woodpecker MethodOnly to go through puzzles, not actually doing the Woodpecker method. I'll do that at the end of the 12 weeks.Yusopov's The Fundamentals 2: Boost Your Chess100 Endgames You Must KnowIf I can swing it, I'd also like to redo the course, "1st Edition, Mastering Chess Middlegames." I never finished it and erased my progress so I'd like to start fresh.Here’s to a new 12-week journey!

I have been playing chess since I was 12. However, I had many breaks and I wasn't studying hard. Now, I want to take it more seriously, so I am starting this chess study plan. Chess.com blitz: 1416 Chess.com rapid: 1584  lichess blitz: 1653 lichess rapid: ~1900.

Today will be my first day adding structure to my chess training. I am hoping to improve over the course of the summer and be adequately prepared to enter a tournament this Fall. I look forward to starting my journey and I am really excited to play some chess! My current ratings are: Blitz: 693 Rapid: 963 Daily: 970

Hi! My study plan will consist of the following: Opening review: Chesstempo, Time: 15m every 4th day. Strategy review: 20m every 3rd day. Woodpecker method: 15m every other day. Endgame review: 15m every 4th day.

Hello, For the rest of the year, since I won't be in school, I want to try to push for USCF expert by the end of the year. Below are some of my starting ratings USCF Classical: 1926 Chess.com Blitz: 2311 Chess.com Rapid: 2303 Chess.com Bullet: 2504 Chess.com Puzzles: 3288 Woodpecker Method: Cycle 1, Puzzle 60 100 Endgames You Must Know: Endgame 5-Imprisoning the Stronger Side's King I also want to try to work on Jacob Aagard's Positional Play and Thinking Inside the Box I've been slowly trying to analyze all of my Classical games, and putting them into Lichess studies, but it's been a slow process.  I know this journey is non-linear, and will take some time, but I hope my goal of expert by the end of the year is reasonable.

Chess.com RatingsBullet: 507Blitz: 678Rapid: 8901351 games and 336 puzzles in the past 30 days. I pretty much started on chess.com 3 weeks ago, so I'm trying to go hard the next week as well to see where the ratings end up at.It's unconventional, but I'm trying to get my bullet rating up because it's fun, to help with my blitz rating and time troubles. 10 days ago I was about 300 bullet rating which was correct imo. ~350 a week ago. The diff from that to 500 was puzzle rush, and I only started doing it 5 days ago. I'm really surprised at the diff, since it doesn't feel that much diff playing from 10 days ago. I'm documenting everything here since it feels like I'm plateaued at puzzle rush, but it could still be helping.I'm still sprinkling in some dailies and 15/10 rapids. I also really like daily and rapid 960. I find it funny that I rarely am ahead in time in 15/10 games, but I really like bullet.

Starting Chess.com ratings:Rapid: 878Bullet: 1311 (across 2 games, I expect this to drop)Blitz: 777Puzzle: 1804 I've been playing chess for years but never seriously tried to improve except for one year that I participated in my high school's chess club. We did one tournament, at which I went 2-3. I started playing again recently and was doing pretty well for a while, but my rating has dropped about 180 over the past couple of months. I think I was playing much more carefully when I started playing again, but I've gotten careless. I'd like to get back to that point first, then get better!

Hi guys, I'm not new in chess, but I would like to compete next year in a local FIDE-rated tournament. Starting ratings: Lichess Rapid: 1229 Chess.com Rapid: 803 (only 6 matches played) Training Tools: Tactics: The Woodpecker Method (on Chessable) Strategy: How to reassess your chess by Jeremy Silman Openings: Courses about Ruy Lopez and French Defense on Chessbase Endgames: 100 Endgames you must know by De La Villa (on Chessable) Tactics, tactics and tactics

These are my goals for 2025 FIDE ratings improvement: 1542 to 1600 Lichess classical: 1900 - 2000 Lichess Rapid: 1850 - 1950 Lichess Blitz: 1650 - 1750 Chesscom Rapid: 1700 - 1800 Chesscom blitz : 1450 - 1550 Complete at least 5 middlegame books Complete at least 2 endgame books  Complete 3 opening repertoire books  Complete at least 1 grandmaster-based book

Greetings everyone,  I found out about ChessGoals while listening to the Perpetual Chess podcast. I downloaded the study plan to improve my chess. My medium-term goal is to get to 1600, and my long-term goal is to be around 2000. Good luck to everyone with their respective goals.