Feedback on self improvement plan?

Hi All,

By way of a quick introduction I started playing chess as an adult about 7 weeks ago after my 10 year old son asked me to play a couple of games with him (the last time i played was about when I was 7 or 8 and that was only for a few months). Only other relevant piece of information is I became unwell earlier this year and the illness I have affects my cognitive ability to the point where I am also taking the remainder of the year off work to hopefully recover. The medication doesnt much help my concentration or memory either.

Despite all this I have really been enjoying myself. Chess has kind of become my silver lining in a tough time. It lets me bond with my family and gives me something to take my mind off the other challenges in my life. I have set myself what I hope is a reasonable goal of trying to improve to a 1000 elo rating by the end of the year. Also happy to accept feedback if I am deluding myself. My condition does mean that I do struggle a bit, and one of the primary impacts is my inability to use screens most of the time, or when I can generally for short periods of time only (i've been working on this post for 3 days now). This means most of my games are OTB with my wife or son, who are both beginners themselves. I play on average 2 - 3 games a day that way. My games are really inconsistent. Based on my state each day I play either a little better.. or a lot worse.

What i've done so far:

• Read the beginners guide and done all the content from here - https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
• Done the beginners chess course here - https://chessfox.com/free-chess-course-for-beginners/
• Completed all the lessons and "practice" content on lichess
• Completed all 138 lessons on chess.com
• Done about 1600 odd puzzles on chess.com
• Play lots of bots
• Review my games but to be honest Im not sure im actually capable enough to understand the feedback. Quite often i look at the alternative moves it suggests and I dont really get half of them. Of course sometimes I do as I did a silly blunder, but I feel this level of information may be a bit wasted on me at present.

I'm pretty dedicated to my goal but also understand my limitations. Part of me hopes by continuing to try I will keep my mind engaged enough to help my recovery. I also understand that when I hopefully do get better that I will never have this much time to dedicate to a hobby so I may as well make the most of it. I dont ever expect to become a great player (starting at age 42) but id like to be a competent one.

So where im at.. Im a solid 400 player. If i play 500 elo players they generally beat me. Bots wise I generally aim for aroung the 1000 level bots. I give the 1100 ones solid games, the 1200 ones I win rarely and the 1300 ones destroy me. If I play real players at my level its usually a 50/50 hence why I think im at the right spot for my current capability. Some of my problem may be attributed to the challenges I have with screens, which im hoping to rule out. Ive ordered a chessnut to see if that helps. I dont think its all of my problem though... im just not very good. When reviewing the 4 main mistakes of chess players from "https://chessfox.com/free-chess-course-for-beginners/" I make them all... regularly. Sometimes its because of my confused state, others, its just because I do. I feel like im at the point of engraining really bad behaviours which is why im taking stock and writing this post.

What im thinking of doing:

• I want to slow my playing down. I think I rush. I really want to engrain the thinking of the 4 mistakes into every move I make. Im thinking of making myself a checklist each time I can check off to make sure im introducing better thinking. Now I understand that means I might not be able to win 10 minute games because im too slow, but maybe, if I practice enough I will get quicker at it and it will come more naturally even if I time out a bunch of games in the meantime?
• Try using the physical board to see if i do play better I feel like I do, but its hard to say as im not exactly getting an ELO rating from playing my family. Hope the chessnut helps in this area.
• Im thinking of trying to find a local coach. Its going to be a challenge as id need someone pretty patient to deal with me, and im not sure im worthy of coaching yet. 
• I think the weakest part of my playing is the mid game by far. My openings also arent great. I pretty much play a variant of the Italian or Rui Lopez every game as when I try to do something different it generally ends badly. Suspect this doesnt help but going off the advice to work on the other parts of my game first.

Know this community fields a lot of these questions and sorry if this is another frustrating beginner stuck at 400 post (which ive read many of). Just really looking to see if people think im on the right track or completely looking in the wrong places. Thanks all for your time to read such a long post.

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

Hey Russ, as mentioned have read your material thanks. Havent done the seven step process yet as it was recommended to do the 7 step basics first? Just trying to workcout how to best apply it now.

@maraach -

Sorry, I missed your reference to my blog article in your lengthy initial post. Also I am not familiar with your reference to "7 Steps" so can't comment on that.

However, I noted your comments in your post under "What i've done so far:" and I must say that considering you created your Chess.com less than 2 months ago, I'm amazed that you have completed all of those items. If so I must say you appear to be on the right track.

I also noted (unless I missed it as well) that you make no mention of the time control you typically play, i.e., that all of your games up to now (with one exception) appear to be rapid 10 | 0 games. This time control is much too short for a beginner and not conducive to playing good chess (maybe fun chess, but not good chess). I suggest if you are going to play "speed" chess, to play a time control no faster than 10 | 30 or 15 | 15 - something like that. The rational is provided in my commentary "Play Longer Time Controls" towards the end of my article (link above), as well as at the end of the following article...

Time Controls - Everything You Wanted To Know...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/time-controls-everything-you-wanted-to-know

You might also check out my post (#3) in the following forum thread regarding suggested openings for beginner-novice, etc....

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/for-beginners/whats-a-first-time-friendly-opening-to-learn

Thanks Russel

Sorry i misused the terminology, I was referring to the "7 steps" from the chessfox training you linked to - I think it makes a lot of sense. Its probably further down my to do list as I think ive probably gone too far on the knowledge front but my application of it is not where it needs to be.

You make a good point and its something i've wondered myself regarding the pace of my learning. Because of my situation I have a lot of time on my hands and I may well have rushed through the content too quickly to really be able to apply it correctly. I guess my approach was to consume all I could realising that I would have to revisit a bunch of it, but hoping some would stick.

I suspect you are also correct with the timing issue. Reading others views on what learning is required to be "1000 elo" I have completed it, but im nowhere near that level. Upon reflecting I think ive picked up a bad behaviour pattern of rushing which causes me to make way too many blunders and is a embedding really bad behaviour patterns. I hadnt read your article on time controls and didnt realise there was a variant on chess.com greater than 10 minutes that wasnt daily - which I either dont really understand or just dont like. I play on the android app and from what I can see rapid defaults to 10 minutes and cant be changed?

Ive just logged onto the website and can see there is an option to do 30 minute games which makes a lot more sense. So my sense is to start there and use the chessfox "4 most common mistakes" as a checklist for each move. I *think* that would be better than trying different openings at this stage but happy to take advice to the contrary if my openings are causing me issues.

Hey I just did the same push got up from around 500 rapid elo to 1200 in a month or two. I know you said screens are part of the issue for you but rather than trying to learn openings or spending money just go on yourube and watch the building habits series by chessbrah its filled with lots of reasonable tricks and thought processes for the lower elos. That series alone is probably the most responsible for my increase in elo. Good luck reaching 1000 elo

@maraach -

Based on your reply I think you have a pretty good handle on how to proceed from here.

As you have probably been made aware by now, when playing a game the most important thing, especially at the beginner-novice level (in truth, for any level) is, before doing anything else, immediately after your opponent makes their move and prior to making your move, check every one of your pieces/pawns to see it any of them are under direct attack or threatened attack (i.e., threat of capture). You never want to give away any pieces/pawns for free unless you have made a conscious decision to do so. And typically you should not be willing to do so. Even though you may know that I thought I would emphasize it once more for good measure.

Another good habit to get into is to analyze your games IMMEDIATELY after you finish them, Even it it means just checking for the blunders. The adage still applies - you typically learn more from your mistakes than from your successes.

Note also: technically speaking, in the chess lexicon, pawns are to be distinguished from "pieces". That is, pieces = K,Q,R,B,N. Pawns are pawns.

Finally, and this would eventually have become obvious, you and your opponent can make moves in a "Daily" game as quickly as you like. That is, there is no minimum time per move in daily chess. The time control for a daily game simply specifies the maximum time you can take to make a move without timing-out (i.e., losing on time). So you can move as quickly or as slowly as you like in a Daily game as long as you don't exceed the maximum time-per-move limit (i.e., the Daily time control, which is specified as so many 'days per move'). Thus, you could actually play a Daily game at the same speed as you might for any live game, and finish it in the same amount of time, for example in a single sitting, assuming your opponent is also willing to play at a faster rate than the Daily time control chosen for the game.

Note also that playing with a daily time control results in there being less time pressure for making a move. For example, in a 10 | 0 Live game time control, the maximum allowed time for making a move is, obviously, 10 minutes. However if one were to instead play using a daily time control there would be no such 10-minute constraint for making a move. That is, you could take as much time to make a move as you like (as long as you do not exceed the Daily time control, which is specified in day(s) per move). Should you ever like to give it a try you could ask your opponent how they feel about it in chat prior to the start of the game (understanding that many players may not be aware of that option, due to not ever having considered it before).

From my Time Control article...

How "Daily" Chess Works...

https://support.chess.com/article/669-how-does-daily-chess-work

https://support.chess.com/category/158-daily-chess

One more, relatively minor, point regarding the time control for your live chess games. You might consider including an "increment" (i.e., bonus time after each move) in addition to the "base" time. For example a 15 | 30 live game would have a 15 minute base time plus 30 seconds added to your clock after each move. By including an increment you are rewarded such that you could conceivably end up accumulating much more total available time than the base time, assuming you play fast enough. I believe you would find many opponents willing to play that time control, or something similar. But go ahead and experiment to see what works best for you.

Finally, in case you were not aware. Elo is the name of the man, Arpad Elo, who created the Elo rating system....

Elo...

https://www.chess.com/terms/elo-rating-chess

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elo_rating_system

But you have not reached 1200 rapid yet and you have not been at 500 for at least a year either. At least according to your stats. What am I missing?

My experience tells me that working on tactics and analysing classical games is a good way to improve fast. I am rated 2100 fide and my first fide rating was 1096 four years ago.

Keep grinding 😃

Work on tactic. That is all you need.

Go for longer reflection time. 30 min+30 so you have tume to think without stress. Use a physical chessboard and a mobile screen beside to get and answer moves. Analyze your games afterward and train and read about what went wrong.

One note that I will say on analyzing your games after is to even do it with out any computer input at first, and write down (or make some kind of note) on where, and why you lost that game, won that game, or salvaged (or blundered) into a draw. That way you can see what is causing you to lose the most games. The computer may tell you a three, four, or ten move sequence that proves you are winning, but unless you are a player capable of seeing that far in advance that will not help you much (if at all). The computer does help you see where you missed opportunities, but don't concern yourself yet with not seeing the 5 move sequence that the computer said you should of done. The only exception on that would be on piece exchanges. They are typically easier to calculate, and you should always calculate every exchange to make sure it is good for you.

Also you probably have gone over at least once all the things I would normally mention for sub 1000 players learn/ focus on. I would like to mention is focusing on tactics, be able to do the basics of endgame (overkill mates) in severe time pressure (ie. 20-30 sec) (this way you can win a won game with little time on the clock), principles of both the endgame and opening, and not blundering (Chess Vibes Blunder Check video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfmDBpbqMAI&t=3s) are the most important things at the 400-500 rating level.

@alphateam that's great advice. That's exactly what's happening. I got diamond to get the feedback thinking that was the missing piece but when I click on their suggestions it gives me.. a 10 move sequence I never would have seen.

I'll give your approach a go. Thanks!

That's good. Chess is a slow and painful process to master. Took me almost 7 years to even get to the elo where I am. Other people may be able to learn faster than others. But, good luck on your journey for chess.

Your original post indicates to me that you also love the art, science, sport and game of chess. That is probably the most important ingredient. Solid plan and goals. Keep it up!