"The key to success is the ability to go from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill
Getting to 1500 or 1600 in a year or so is quite do-able. Just improving your situational awareness to eliminate one-move blunders from your game should get you to that level.
Thanks, and that quote is true for most things in life but even more so in chess it feels as there's always someone out there who's more prepared and readily capable of beating you it's unforgiving for a competitive person who doesn't like losing, but at the same time it's fair and rewarding to make tangible progress and know what your level is the losses teach you that.
Im 44. I started January 2020 almost from scratch. Currently 1550 at Daily. So I agree, 1600 in 12 months at 10-20 hours a week is doable. I probably manage about 7 hours a week study. Just do the right things: tactics, long games, etc. Dont waste it all on blitz and memorising openings.
Im 44. I started January 2020 almost from scratch. Currently 1550 at Daily. So I agree, 1600 in 12 months at 10-20 hours a week is doable. I probably manage about 7 hours a week study. Just do the right things: tactics, long games, etc. Dont waste it all on blitz and memorising openings.
Well done and good luck with your progress.
I was shocked to look at my stats and seen I'd played over 1000 blitz games years ago. I must have been drawn to the fast action but was probably just frantically clicking random buttons hoping for the win.
Only playing rapid games since I've started back up the 10 minute clock is about right for me not too fast or too slow although I do run out still sometimes thinking too long.
10 minutes is still to quick to properly support improvement. Try and find time for one or two 30 minutes or longer per week. Even Daily. You need the time to properly apply what you study. Otherwise you'll still be just reacting not analysing and thinking.
Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
Plenty of info there
Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
I second this. Invaluable information for any would be serious chess player.
Since yesterday I've started using the analysis engine after games to look at mistakes and the strongest moves I could have made which is really helpful.
Mostly playing puzzles for now though and just a few games while I continue to learn and build confidence.
I make a lot of blunders, e.g., give away my queen. Focus on next move; overlook reason not to make it. Have no strategy; react to opponents move; defensive
I fail to see how I can learn from other's games?
Hallo
I’m on the same boat, lots of mistakes and blunders, but now I have that quote from Churchill to go by, lol, thanks
I've been in a very similar situation, I only started playing seriously recently but playing a lot really helped me improve. I try to analyze every one of my games and learn something from each one. Playing against the bots on assisted also really helped my blunder count go down.
Greetings everyone,
I joined this site many years ago when I first got into chess, however I am still very much a beginner because my enthusiasm waned after a few months and I gave up as my inadequate ability to play at a competent level made me feel frustrated.
I have started playing and studying chess again in recent weeks with fresh motivation, perhaps as I'm older now (32) I have learned to be more accepting of my failures and just enjoy the game for what it is.
My rapid rating is hovering at around 1200 right now as I'm wildly inconsistent, still make plenty of blunders, don't know a lot of openings and sometimes get trapped fast, or how to develop a mid game plan, or how to work the end game combinations.
I'm hoping to brush up on all these things in the next year and get to a semi decent level. I have invested in the premium subscription here as my preferred way of learning at the minute is doing the puzzles and lessons available plus watching the occasional youtube video which analyse games between GM's.
It's tough to put a number on what I want to achieve and in what time frame, but seen as the rating system is the main metric by which we judge a chess players' ability I look at 1500 rating and consider that a good milestone for a beginner player who's aiming at moving up to intermediate level.
I understand 2000 and beyond is expert / master level and would take many years and thousands of hours to achieve, but I'm optimistically hoping that the jump from 1200 to 1500 can be done in under a year with roughly 10-20 hours a week invested.
I'd love to hear any thoughts whether you think my goal is realistic or not.