Don’t feel any improvement and seeking help

400 rapid. Played hundred of games. Googled all the advice time after time. Try to analyse my games especially after losses. I can see my mistakes but i struggle to see good moves. Especially developing ones. My focus to make good development means i keep hanging pieces. Haven’t got much time to study or the memory to take in what i read/study. Chess is exhausting me but i really want to improve :(

To add, chess makes me feel like an idiot. Not because i lose, not because i make mistakes. Because i cant seem to learn or take on ideas. Chess puzzles on lichess can confuse me for hours or days.

I'm going to preface things by saying that you don't have to do what I've done. Only that it's worked for me. Also that you aren't the only one who feels like an idiot. Chess makes idiots of us all. Every player hits a wall every now and then.

I improved about 400 rapid rating over the last year from only playing on average 1 rapid game each day. Sure I did other things like 15-30 minutes each day of puzzles, analyzing my games, making interactive chess studies for myself on lichess. But I thought I'd point that out in contrast to what you are doing: playing ten or more games per day.

You mention not having time to study, and it seems to me you could have time if you played less and studied more. Plus in playing so many games each day, when you have a losing streak it's probably not helping you from a mental health standpoint. Being in a good headspace is so important to chess improvement, and if you are feeling beat down and defeated, that's going to be counterproductive.

Also, some game advice. I just watched a game where you had the black pieces and you played a hypermodern opening - one where you don't fight for control of the center. I wouldn't suggest that kind of opening to anyone under 1200. Fighting for control of the center is a basic chess principle. The idea with hypermodern openings is to fight for the center from afar and eventually pawn break in the center. But that's crazy complicated for a novice level player. It just leads to giving your opponent a space advantage and being rather passive.

Looking at your games as white - this as an example https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/147673492586/review. 1.c4 is a really complicated opening to play as a novice, so I feel like you are making the game more complicated than it needs to be. I would recommend 1.d4 or 1.e4. Get a pawn in the center, two if your opponent lets you, and develop your pieces asap. In the game I linked, you got steamrolled because you fell behind in development. Count the number of pieces being developed in the opening. If black has more pieces developed than you, that should be a red flag - you are playing white. You should always lead in development.

All that said though, if we look at the last 90 days, you have been improving and your win rates aren't too bad. If you can just get them up by 5-10%, you can start making progress.

Thanks for the advice Sprout :) . I didn’t know that my openings were advance. Particularly opening with c4. I played my first game on chess on this chess.com account.

I will spend time studying new, more simple openings for white and black following the principles i see and youve said too. Control the centre (especially e4/d4 pawns) and developing pieces. I struggle to understand what good development is or look like but maybe im making it harder because my openings are too complex for my level of understanding. I watched a few openings videos for black and kings indian was showing up a lot and that’s why i studied it.

Some days i do get time to play a good amount of games but im meant to be doing other stuff and using chess to procrastinate but you are right. I should either do what im procrastinating for or spend that time studying and i now know what i want to study.

Would you recommend i study any specific openings for white specifically or just practice basic opening principles considering my elo?

hello jack and sprout lol ! im a beginner (200) but really seeking to improve, I see alot of videos everywhere on social media with multiple openings for black and white for “beginners” but can’t seem to really analyze and comprehend what’s a good opening for a beginner like me. I’ve studied understood and learnt 1 opening for each, queen’s gambit accepted and declined for white and kings indian for black is this okay for my level? if not pls recommend what opening should i start with then.. I just find it easier for now to learn one and stick with it until I master it and improve. thank you in advance !!

I’ll coach u for free if u want

I’ve coached a bunch of 400s y’all all make the same mistakes like not knowing which side to castle and then actually when ur knights get attacked by pawns a lot of times y’all don’t even move them

1. Stick to one opening. (I personally use Bishop’s Opening, Berlin Defense, Ponziani Gambit, 600-900 rapid :)
2. Play less games and review them (i don’t cuz i know what lost me the game - a blunder)
3. You should also try puzzles.
4. Think about each move and potential consequences
5. Castle, develop carefully but quickly, don’t bring your queen out early, etc
6. Watching YT videos could help.
7. Try crafting a mating net instead of randomly checking.

Bblvn i play kings indian a lot as i heard the same advice but maybe just like me maybe playing an even more simplified opening would help teach you development and positional play better so in future you can use kings indian.

I have the same ethos that ill play one opening until i understand the rest of the game but maybe i/we need new openings to help teach us

Favela feel free to message me we have different time zones but ill appreciate your help and will take it wherever i can

Xneret i often forget the consequences of moves in 10 min rapid games after getting caught up analysing every other potential move.

What do u recommend? Should i play a longer time?

The Framework

1. Learn core principles.

2. Apply them in slow games.

3. Analyze your decisions afterward.

This is the framework I use with students I coach.

Here are the core principles:

• The Principle of Activity & Material: These are the two pillars of chess. You must constantly strive to increase the activity of your pieces while capturing material whenever it is freely given.

• The Principle of the Least Active Piece: When you aren't sure what to play, identify your "worst" piece and improve its position. This is the secret to consistent positional play.

• The Principle of Attack: Attacking moves are superior because they force the opponent to react. Prioritize calculating Forcing Moves (Checks, Captures, and Threats) before anything else.

• Maximum Activity: Place your pieces as forward as possible to restrict your opponent.

• Keeping the Tension: Do not release the tension (exchange pieces/pawns) unless it gives you a concrete advantage. Releasing tension often helps the opponent free their game.

• The Principle of the Center: Centralization is the most efficient way to dominate the board.

• Neutralization: If an opponent has an active piece on your territory, your immediate priority is to attack it, force it back, or exchange it.

• The 3 Opening Tasks: 1) Develop pieces, 2) Castle, 3) Connect rooks.

• Endgame Strategy: In the endgame, the logic changes: Activate your King, advance passed pawns, and attack opponent's weak pawns.

I think I see a problem. How do you know what to google? Or which advice to follow? A lot of the free advice out there is crap. You get what you pay for. Try a good book to get you started. You can't go wrong with a book like "Logical Chess, Move by Move" by Irving Chernev. There are plenty of others. Amazon ratings are usually pretty reliable indicator of quality.

Sure, 1.c4 is a little more subtle of an opening than 1.d4 or 1.e4, but that is not the cause of your problems. Don't be afraid to play mainline openings such as the Queen's Gambit, especially when you consider that you are up against players of similar skill level. If you make it easy on yourself you make it easy on your opponent. Likewise for making it difficult. Middlegame is what sepparates the good player from the not so good.

have discipline with a schedule of studying

(Please note this is advice not a certainty that it will help you improve) I know you feel like puzzles are confusing but - at your stage - don't worry about actual openings - learn the principles (Loads of people explain them on youtube or just google chess opening principles). Then start your puzzle journey but with a twist. When you finish the puzzle if it did not end in checkmate then use the Target with an arrow on the bottom right puzzle page - this allows you to carry on the game against the computer - play out the game, if you go wrong go back to the start of the position and try again. This serves multiple purposes - it helps you to learn how to win a won game, it will teach you defensive tricks, pushing your advantage and a whole host of skills. If you can't win, then switch sides and let the computer thrash you and see how it achieved the win, then flip again and learn to whoop it. This simple approach will improve your playing as you improve then you may want to look at openings/endgames etc...but this simple method will help you improve your general play.

I can guide you if you want, Iam a coach, dropped my price to 3$/week which will end on Wednesday, PM me if you are interested🙂

I have never seen this particular advice before and i think this could really help. Thank you. I have struggled a lot with converting winning positions into effective checkmates and this should target that skills i lack very well. I haven’t had the time the play chess games like i want or study it like i want but i definitely have enough time in the day to do a puzzle and see it through till checkmate so this works on so many levels for me thank you so much