Finding the 'why'?

Hi all,

So I've been quite down recently because I feel like I'm making very little improvement despite putting in lots of work. I got a Aimchess account recently so moved all my puzzle playing to there as it's meant to target your weaknesses and I have made the most improvement I have seen using it (about 50 points in 2 weeks).

So, rather than wallowing in my self-pity, I tried to work out why I was not improving. After all, I had data-driven evidence to tell me that:

• I need to improve my white opening repertoire because I have a really poor win rate with the white pieces
• Certain days of the week I struggle more than others
• Whilst I blunder less than the average 500, I don't capitalise on any advantage gained.

The thing is, it's all well and good identifying the issue but what I don't understand is the whys. Does anyone have any tips to understanding why things work/why one is or isn't improving/why one makes certain mistakes or has certain issues? 

Seems like you're emotionally affected by this. Try taking a break. Really.

Not saying it's an emotional issue, sorry for my bad english. It's just that everything too much is not good. If you know the days u play worst, choose them to a new activity. You have to wait to your long term memory to absorb everything too.

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

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

No, your English is great and I understand what you meant. I just don't think I was being clear.

Yes, sometimes I have an emotional response but I know to step away at that point. My point was more about how to learn to think more like a chess player, I guess. There seems to be a mindset that I don't have right now that I would like to learn. Does that make sense? 

To understand the "whys" and having a proper logical thinking in chess ( which is basically the objective of everyone rated below master level), you simply need to study chess. Sorry, there are no shortcuts. If I were you, I would start with a good understanding of opening principles, basic principles of the middlegame ( you can also buy a book about that, like "winning chess strategies - yasser seirawan" just to name one), and endgame fundamentals. 

After that I guarantee you the whys will become more clear

Yes, I totally I understand you.

In that way, I would reccomend you to read some classical books on pawn structures, opening principles, etc...

Also, try to understand what makes you confortable during the game. Closed positions? Semi open? Having a passed pawn as a constant threat? I believe this is the best way for you to find your why. Since I've been looking for this "what I am confortable playing", I've been able to improve and enjoy the game much more.

The 1st step to improvement is to start doing the right things. What are you doing? First thing...playing fast. How much time do GMs spend on moves? How can you expect to play just as fast and while learning the basics? You can't, there isn't enough time for you to think, much less think within a process.

Capture your process by thinking out loud (or recording) during each sides moves, taking notes is better (ah daily or 30+ minutes might be good).

Transfer notes (all the whys for every move) to the game comments afterwards to annotate. Post annotated game in a forum (if you don't know someone) to get help with your play.

Try to identify key mistakes, critical positions, missed tactics, etc on your own.

That would be a start

I don't think you are doing that bad. Your rating will fluctuate, but judging by the accuracy of your most recent games, your rating will bounce back without any problem.

Regarding blunders

Just a piece of advice after quickly looking at your last game.  13. Qxb4 is of course a massive blunder, but the underlying problem is you spending 4 seconds on the move. You have to chose between Qxc7, a3, d5, Qb3, O-O-O and Qxb4 (to name a few). Four of these are good moves, two are very bad. Evaluating this position takes more than 4 seconds.

I agree with everything said here. You need to play slower games, perhaps even daily, so you can think develop good chess thinking patterns, and you need to try analyzing your games without an engine, or ask help from someone a little more experienced for help analyzing your games. I personally wouldn't bother with an opening repertoire, you need to understand generally how to develop pieces, but even at my level, I would not say my opening choices are really the reason I win or lose. Not hanging pieces and recognizing tactics when they come alone will get you to at least the 50th percentile on chess.com. Do that first and you can learn more later.

It's unlikely to be your opening repertoire. Google Opening Principles and watch a few videos: centre pawns, knights out, bishops out, castle. That's all you need. Most beginners lose because they blunder pieces, giving their opponent a material advantage which they convert to a win. Watch John Bartholomew's s Chess Fundamentals on you tube. The first video is on Undefended Pieces, it'll help you understand the importance of guarding material and looking for these weaknesses in your opponents position. Beginners often look at only one move or idea. Instead look at 2 or 3 different moves (candidate moves) and try to predict your opponents likely replies to them, and what you would do next, and whether that outcome is good for you. This will help you see more opportunities. As your knowledge increases, you'll incorporate it into your analysis of candidate moves, but you first need to start developing the habit of looking at a few ideas and evaluating them. Say the evaluation out loud as others have suggested. All this takes time of course which is why playing long games is important. You need time to develop the right habits.

#1

"I'm making very little improvement despite putting in lots of work."
++ Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it. This little mental discipline is enough to get you to 1500. As long as you hang pieces and pawns all work is in vain.

"I need to improve my white opening repertoire because I have a really poor win rate with the white pieces"
++ This has nothing to do with repertoire. You probably become careless and blunder. 
"Certain days of the week I struggle more than others"
++ That is normal. When you are tired or you have other worries then you can concentrate less.
"Whilst I blunder less than the average 500, I don't capitalise on any advantage gained."
++ You probably blunder as often as the average 500, otherwise your rating would be higher. When you have an advantage, trade pieces, not pawns.

I think you're hitting on the biggest problem that there is when you're trying to improve on your own. After my first few years, I didn't have a trainer either and I had to get better on my own as well. This has actually been one of the driving forces behind me becoming a chess trainer for my home town chess club for many years. If I compare learning chess on my own versus my pupils learning chess with a teacher, the biggest difference is that a trainer can immediately point out a bad move or a bad idea and can tell or show you why the move or idea is bad. A strong trainer can also make information much more concise and appropriate. You don't need to read whole books for information a trainer could potentially give you in 3 or 4 different positions. And you don't need to know about all the possible exceptions when you're just starting out.

So having a trainer would be a nice solution to this problem. But... we don't all have one and we might live in an area where there aren't any trainers to find. Asking questions is, however, a good 2nd option. Usually you'd want to find some approachable stronger chess players and just ask them a few questions. That might already be helpful. These forums are a great place to ask questions as well, but asking people in real life is usually better, because it's so much easier to ask follow up questions etc. 

What really helped me was watching stronger players play blitz and commenting on their games. Once you see the moves they play instantly, you really get a feel for what moves are natural to them. That might be interesting to you as well. You won't understand everything they do, but you'll easily start to see patterns. They move their rooks to open files, don't trade their bishops easily etc. It'll give you a feel for 'normal' moves and the more normal moves you play in your own games, the better it usually is. 

For you, as a lower rated improving player, I would advice though to keep things simple. You're doing really well with doing tactical puzzles. It will get you better, even though it will take time. It will take many months, it will take years. Apart from that, stick to the basics and try and do those basics really well. So don't bother with learning opening lines, but try and apply the fundamental opening principles. They are: occupying the center with a pawn (white preferably wants to get e4 and d4, black needs to prevent this), develop your pieces to the center (each piece should only move once before you've moved them all) and get your king safe. In my experience, I've played against 1600-1800 players that, without fail, will break one of those rules at least once during the first 12 moves, always giving me the advantage. Doing them really well at your level will get you big advantages every single game. And for the tactics, I'd suggest to be aware of the fact that only doing puzzles is not the only way to train tactics. You need to also learn about (new) tactics and there's also something to be learnt about the process of finding tactics in the first place, being it in puzzle form or in-game. For example, it could be a good idea to look for some strategies on how to solve tactics instead of just doing puzzles for a day.

I know I didn't really answer any of the questions you posed, but that's also because it's hard to know what's going on in your specific case. Losing a big advantage can have many different reasons. Maybe it's mental: you've lost focus because you feel the game is won. Maybe it's got something to do with your chess evaluation: you think you've got a big advantage while in reality it's not all that big or it's a really tricky position. Maybe it's something chess-related: you don't know what to do with an advantage or how to win certain endgames. You could for example start a new thread, post a game that you feel is typical and then ask some detailed questions and that might make it a little easier to answer.

Just focus on improving your calculation skills. That's what I've been hearing. Stare at a puzzle for 10 minutes and calculate all forced moves good and bad. I think this is the most important skill for novice chess players to gain first.