+300 rating points after two years of playing

Hi everyone! At first I was pretty terrible at chess, after almost 2000 games in two years I've become a bit better, but not much (and only myself to be blamed - could've trained more, etc), but nonetheless gained 300 points and a lot more confident now in what to do when playing. I do not have any aspirations to become a professional, but curious about my progress ratingwise: is it slow?. Or is it ok?) I watched a video where Benjamin Finegold told a story of his childhood when he lost literally thousands of games, if I remember correctly. And it didn't stop him from becoming a GM - and I would be really proud of, say, 1800:)

Yeah, the amount of games is the most relevant thing, and I totally get that mine isn`t huge, that`s why I stated how many I played.  If it took a lot more games for you to cross 1000, I think, it means for me that I have a shot to get there, too, since I haven`t played that many yet and already somewhere in the middle. Thank you for your answer!

How old is the OP?

Nice progress

Thank you!) 

just do 20 min a day of tactics puzzles before you play and you will be 1500 in no time

Yeah your basic tactics are really bad, that's something you need to improve.

What I recommend is playing against the bot on (from the main menu on the left) Learn tab then Practice:

Then once the game screen pops up, you just start playing.  After every move, the computer will tell you what it thinks of your move.  So in the picture below, it went 1. e4 e6; 2. d4 d5; 3. g4.  The first two moves it said were book, and the third was a mistake.  It does that for every move.

You just need to drill that stuff out of your system.  Against an opponent who never misses an opportunity to take something, you will pretty quickly learn to check the board before you move to make sure you aren't missing something.

If there is still an option somewhere to "confirm move", you should put that to "on".

Thank for your answer! I found the video (https://youtu.be/B5bCfwCyo18) yeah, he didn't say he lost thousands of games, but that he kept losing a lot for at least several years. And that it took 10000 games for him to get good - he didn't specify how good, though. 2000 isn't a whole lot, I agree, but at least something) a lot of work ahead) 

Thank you for your reply! Good advice - sometimes I start to play with losing a few games before switching to "chess mode", good idea for a warm up before playing) 

Thank you for your suggestion! I'll use it) 

Yeah, I have to work on my tactics, and sometimes I just move too fast and make foolish mistakes because of that, sometimes even in the openings) 

But you're not a beginner, I guess?.) I mean, these are not your first 359 games, you've had some experience or training before?. 

Probably, unless they are a prodigy.

I am old (compared to most players on the app) and just started playing chess again to keep my mind sharp, and agree that you’ve made good progress. If you aren’t planning on being a pro then you are basically playing against yourself, like golf. So I wouldn’t worry about what others think (although it’s always nice to have encouragement and a pat on the back). If you are enjoying yourself, then you are winning. I quit golf because I was always frustrated! 🙄 Enjoy journey.

Btw - I agree that it’s not time in years that you play that counts but how many games you’ve played, and like any hobby/profession - how much effort you’ve put in for studying and applying that to your game is just as important. I’ve seen people play a lot but hit a wall (myself included) without training.

Finally - read about a GM who played 30,000 games in a year! I’m retired and don’t have that much time to work on my game! But I’ll never make money at it! 😅

Thank you for your reply!) 

I would've liked to become a pro someday, but it isn't really realistic, I guess - but I can, probably, become a decent club player with enough effort - that would be great) And it's just interesting what others think compared to my own opinion - just to have an unbiased view. I agree,to love what you do is the most important thing, to have joy and funAnd I like to play, sometimes I get a feeling that  I really can put up a good fight, but sometimes get mad at myself for silly blunders..) 

About your notion of the wall - yeah, that's a mystery, where is it..) In general, that is why we play, essentially, I guess - and every game like an endless exploration of an ocean of possibilities) 

One game may turn out to be bad, but the next one may give you a hidden treasure of one more piece of chess understanding)