Help Wanted

Looking for mentor/coach/anybody who is willing to provide an effective approach to improving my game. I love this game so much that I have literally spent thousands of hours watching various YouTube videos on chess. I am infatuated by the history of chess and I appreciate all great chess players for their mental prowess. I even have books (one being, How to Reassess Your Chess) on the subject, although I honestly haven’t read them cover to cover. I am also a chess coach to a group of children (relax, they are 7-8 year olds whom I teach the general basic rules of the game i.e. how to move the pieces, how to checkmate, how to castle, and other rudimentary topics) Even though I have been exposed to so many chess concepts, I still seem to forget many things I learned and make terrible blunders. My goal is to reach 1800 blitz. My dream is to look at any position and know which move is the most logical and why. I understand that this will require some serious training but I don’t even know where to begin. With so much information out there, I would much rather take the advice of someone who’s been there and done that and knows what it takes to become a better chess player. Again, if you think you can help an eager student who’s willing to put in some serious effort into this beautiful (although painful at times) game, then please contact me. Thank you for your time and I look forward to working with you.

Thank you for your input. I have read this many times before and only recently started to transition to blitz 10 and 5 min but I keep getting crushed.  But yes, I’ll definitely do more daily chess now that summer is coming up. 

5 and 10 minutes are not slow time controls.

So what is considered slow time controls?

So your opponent played some general moves, with no real plan in mind.  You sacrificed the Exchange on C3, which is risky, but it looks like his bishop on B3 is dead.  So maybe youhave compensation for the Exchange.  I need to see the rest of the game to evaluate how you play.  Ghost is right that you should play longer either, as he suggested, 40/2, or 40/1, or 60 for the whole game.  If you don't have that kind of time, I suggest 15-30 min games, where you must think and see and have time to do so.

Thank you all for the input. Looks like longer games are in order.

it took me a little over a year to go from 1200 to 2000 USCF. All I did was the tactics trainer on here and read a few opening books. Everyone learns differently but if you spend a few hours a day doing whatever your weakest at you should improve. 

Man, I totally agree with coleblakeman01 on this one. If you consistently focus on that one area where you're the weakest and train hard you WILL improve fast. Whether that be strategy, tactics, or some other area. When I'm not training here I usually train on chesstempo.com or watch free training tutorials on chessdealhunter.club.  Hope that helps you.

Great idea GrizzLite. I checked out those sites and will be practicing a lot more this summer. Also, some professional coaches contacted me privately so I will be looking into that as well. Serious training starts June 1 - August 10. I play chess every day but I don’t study every day. That needs to change and this summer I will not be working so I can dedicate most of my time to chess. Thanks again you guys. Sincerely appreciate all the feedback.

how much can you afford for expert help ?

If you want to improve your game then I would recommend you to visit ChessOnDemand site as they offer the best chess learning videos and DVDs which will help you to improve tactics and strategies and will ascend your playing skills to a whole new level.

Part 1.

60 minutes per game is slow time control.

40 minutes per game is speed chess. That's the time I like to play at. Slow enough to think but fast enough to defeat slow players. I like playing at the rhythm of my choosing.

All fighting is rhythm based. That's why the Spartans have to learn music. That's why Rose Namajunas is so good in MMA; she's a musician.

 

Part 2.

Play the video Budokan for DOS, using DOSshell and DOSbox.

Karate has 3 forms of training.

Kata - books

Randori - sparring (with a person or a computer)

Kumite - real games. (You've seen Bloodsport.)

I don't which percentage of the training you have to divide into these 3 parts. My uneducated guess is you do each part equally.

That's my 2 cents.

That's ancient Chinese Kung Fu secret I'm not telling you now.

I spent so many hours too. I plan my study with chess books. Playing is after study, you would be lazy to read after spending a hour or two playing . I try to do it every day. Each and every day