Some players have posted they have played hundreds of games and still below or around a 1000 rating
Any other sub-1000 players who aren't just "starting out"?
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I suspect that the problem is often too much of a focus on fast games.
Jun 24, 2019
0
#4
FforEffort wrote:
My strategy is to look out for any mistakes I'm making. I tend to overlook obvious positions of threat and play my pieces right in the trap. Gotta have to improve that.. lol
Just curious how many others are in a similar boat. I started playing online chess ~6 months ago, and after initially plummeting to the 400s in my first weeks, my rating currently hovers around the 800s. It doesn't bother me too much as long as I still win occasionally against similar-rated players,but yeah. I know it's a little low. Oh well.
Can anyone else relate? If so, how long have you been playing, and what is your score? How would you describe your strategy? (Personally, my strategy is to hope my opponent makes more mistakes than I do) XD
MustafaMoiz wrote:
I don't know which rating you're talking about. My Blitz rating is in the 700s but my daily games are over 1000. I've been playing all my life, but recently have really increased my study and implementation of tactics. I'm happy with my rating because I am always looking at new tactics and experimenting so I don't really care about the result as much as an interesting game.
Either! I'm below 1000 on all game modes.
Jun 25, 2019
0
#6
Focus on rapid and buy a book. Those are the two best pieces of advice I can give.
Oh and go to chesstempo.com for tactics (or this site if you have a membership)
"... for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard.
Play opponents who are better than you … . Learn basic endgames. Create a simple opening repertoire (understanding the moves are far more important than memorizing them). Study tactics. And pick up tons of patterns. That’s the drumbeat of success. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (December 27, 2018)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/little-things-that-help-your-game
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-start-out-in-chess
https://www.chess.com/news/view/a-new-years-resolution-improve-your-chess-with-new-lessons
"... In order to maximize the benefits of [theory and practice], these two should be approached in a balanced manner. ... Play as many slow games (60 5 or preferably slower) as possible, ... The other side of improvement is theory. ... This can be reading books, taking lessons, watching videos, doing problems on software, etc. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627084053/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf
"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
Here are some reading possibilities that I often mention:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5856bd64ff7c50433c3803db/t/5895fc0ca5790af7895297e4/1486224396755/btbtactics2excerpt.pdf
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf
Jun 25, 2019
0
#8
MatthewFreitag wrote:
What book do you recommend?
Focus on rapid and buy a book. Those are the two best pieces of advice I can give.
Oh and go to chesstempo.com for tactics (or this site if you have a membership)
I would suggest browsing through the above info and choosing something that looks interesting to you.
Jun 25, 2019
0
#10
kindaspongey wrote:
I would suggest browsing through the above info and choosing something that looks interesting to you.
Yes, thanks a lot
have you checked out john bartholomew’s “chess fundamentals” and “climbing the rating’s ladder” series on you tube yet?
start there
i would also recommend getting a chess tactics book- either an online book (like chessable) or a live copy to work on
i would also strongly recommend noting your thoughts and ideas and fears as you play a 30 min or more game; and after your game going through the game as best you can noting points where you werent sure what to do or tactical blunders that were made
when i started here i plummeted into the 400’s and i grinded for a year to get into the 1000’s
my biggest accomplishment in that range was finally traversing and defending the scholar’s mate
after “getting my head above water” the next great help was playing otb tournament games coupled with having a chess coach go over those games- where the coach could really pinpoint errors i was stuck on and, then, giving me exercises/positions to work on strengthening these areas
it is really a matter of hard work to plow ahead and having some good benchmarks to help channel your hard work
start there
i would also recommend getting a chess tactics book- either an online book (like chessable) or a live copy to work on
i would also strongly recommend noting your thoughts and ideas and fears as you play a 30 min or more game; and after your game going through the game as best you can noting points where you werent sure what to do or tactical blunders that were made
when i started here i plummeted into the 400’s and i grinded for a year to get into the 1000’s
my biggest accomplishment in that range was finally traversing and defending the scholar’s mate
after “getting my head above water” the next great help was playing otb tournament games coupled with having a chess coach go over those games- where the coach could really pinpoint errors i was stuck on and, then, giving me exercises/positions to work on strengthening these areas
it is really a matter of hard work to plow ahead and having some good benchmarks to help channel your hard work
I've studied chess daily for YEARS and still have very low rankings. inherent personality flaws can be serious impediments to your game. I have no patience for blunder checks and often throw away great positions with one or two poor moves. I also have a penchant for drama and often make unnecessary sacrifices in order to spice up a boring game. on my occasional good day I can win a series of games into a temporary score boost 2 or 3 times my regular rank, but most of the time I'm stuck. So yeah. I know your pain...
Same boat, just broke 800 rapid. I'm a mathematician too, i feel like i can do better.
I want to add to the current crowd and say that John Bartholomew's chess fundamentals is AWESOME for sub-1000 improvement. Heck, implementation of the ideas in just those videos will easily get you to 1200. I think it's a far more practical and focused idea than any of the other ideas in this thread and I'm glad daxypoo mentioned it.
One thing I see is that whenever people talk about that they suck at chess, people always post pages and pages of all of the stuff beginners suck at. "You need to work on openings, tactics, middlegames, visualization, strategy, endgames, mating patterns, making plans....." it just makes it sound impossible to improve. Please, I recommend so highly to just watch and implement Bartholomew's chess fundamentals series. Lesson one is an hour of playing games with beginners and focused only on undefended pieces- it's so simple to apply to your chess and he's such a teacher. Don't start drowning yourself in all the facets of the game you suck at until you are at a strong enough standing to enjoy chess, and application of the lessons in his videos will absolutely get you there.
EDIT: link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao9iOeK_jvU
I know chess teachers that follow a curriculum start off beginners with how the pieces move, then each lesson, usually one a week, step through different topics, each building on the last one.
I know it has to be intimidating for a beginner to ask on a thread how to improve, and people making long posts about every aspect and minutia a beginner should do before making a move.
Each bullet point on a checklist of what to do before each move should constitute a single lesson.
xman720 wrote:
… One thing I see is that whenever people talk about that they suck at chess, people always post pages and pages of all of the stuff beginners suck at. "You need to work on openings, tactics, middlegames, visualization, strategy, endgames, mating patterns, making plans....." it just makes it sound impossible to improve. ...
Like it or not, beginners do tend to have problems in a lot of areas. However, at least in my opinion, there are a lot of options about how to go about trying to begin to improve. I like to give some indication of the multiplicity of possibilities.
kindaspongey wrote:
xman720 wrote:
… One thing I see is that whenever people talk about that they suck at chess, people always post pages and pages of all of the stuff beginners suck at. "You need to work on openings, tactics, middlegames, visualization, strategy, endgames, mating patterns, making plans....." it just makes it sound impossible to improve. ...
Like it or not, beginners do tend to have problems in a lot of areas. However, at least in my opinion, there are a lot of options about how to go about trying to begin to improve. I like to give some indication of the multiplicity of possibilities.
Xman720 has a point: beginners learn and retain more information if they follow a curriculum where each lesson builds on the prior lesson.
Its much better than picking and choosing random things to practice on.
Caesar49bc wrote:
… Xman720 has a point: beginners learn and retain more information if they follow a curriculum where each lesson builds on the prior lesson.
Its much better than picking and choosing random things to practice on.
As long as the beginner is happy with the curriculum, fine. However, I do not think remote curriculum selection is a sure thing. I don't advocate random picking and choosing. I suggest examining available information and choosing what seems potentially interesting.
Just curious how many others are in a similar boat. I started playing online chess ~6 months ago, and after initially plummeting to the 400s in my first weeks, my rating currently hovers around the 800s. It doesn't bother me too much as long as I still win occasionally against similar-rated players,but yeah. I know it's a little low. Oh well.
Can anyone else relate? If so, how long have you been playing, and what is your score? How would you describe your strategy? (Personally, my strategy is to hope my opponent makes more mistakes than I do) XD