How do I improve in chess.

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russ6200
Oh and also, I asked a very similar question here about a year ago. My biggest advice is keep asking yourself that question.
sholom90
Cooper5568 wrote:
I am a sub-1000 player right now in rapid. I don’t know my real rating in daily, as I just started there. My puzzle rating has gotten as high as 2,000, but seems to be fluctuate between 1800-1900 consistently right now. I started improving by learning a couple of simple openings and “why” they were being done. Once I find I could get to middle game safely, I just stick with those openings. I have done numerous tactics puzzles, getting pretty decent at recognizing the patterns now. Those things helped a moderate amount. I study externally, mostly by watching some online YouTube content providers. Those ideas are interesting, but it is difficult to know how much that has helped. The biggest impact I’ve seen so far is game time. I recently switched to playing 3 day games. I am currently limiting myself to one game each time. I find I have a lot more time to find the blunders and mistakes before I have to move. Occasionally. I’ll play some other 10 minute games for fun, but find I still mess those up pretty badly. During the Daily games, you can use the icon at the bottom (not sure what it’s called) to study how it looks if you make a particular move. I view it from my opponents POV and basically play against myself for a few moves on each turn. I find this does two things. First, it allows me to find the obvious blunders. Secondly, since I’m spending so much more time analyzing every move, I remember the positions better than before. Not sure how this will help in the long run, but I certainly don’t remember as much when I play the rapid games. I don’t know chess as well as I’d like, but that seems to be helping me for now.

That's great that you are looking hard at which things work for your chess progress, and which things do not.

If I may -- let me recommend playing "slow rapid" (aka classical), such as 30- or (even better) 45-minute games.  If you have the time, play lots of them, it will help (after all, it is the closest thing to real OTB play)

russ6200
Good idea, I’ll take a look at playing 45 minute games. I think I like playing the 10 minute games just for fun more than anything else. It’s like cotton candy for my brain. Unfortunately, like cotton candy, there’s not much nutritional value. 😎
sholom90

You night find of interesting the following article by NM Dan Heisman, who goes so far as to say that time controls between 10-25 minutes can hinder development by causing bad habits.  I encourage all to read the following Novice Nook of his:  https://web.archive.org/web/20140627030447/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman115.pdf  

It's an interesting article, because he does list the benefits of playing blitz, and of playing slow, but then explains why intermediate controls hinder growth.