How to go ahead? (800)

As in the title im currently at 850 , but generally im on the border of 800-825 and rarely break this. I played casual chess as a kid and a few months back i re-started chess on chess.com . I dont know many standard opening , i just use the 2 which work for me 

I feel the reasons for this are :1) blunders , yes i sometimes make blunders tho im getting better at it . 2)lack of tactical knowledge

Ive seen forums and seen varying advice , some say reading chess books , some say go for puzzle books , some to watch videos and learn or just read about various openings and endgames. Im confused , what should i do?

You don’t need to study openings if you are under 1000. When it comes to openings learn and apply the opening principles. If you decide to study opening learn the ideas behind the moves, and what this particular opening is trying to do. Don’t memorize more than 3 moves, and your opponents probably won’t play the moves you memorized.

Endgames are important to learn but you really only need to know the overkill mates (two queens, two rooks, queen and rook, king and queen vs king, king and rook vs king), and be able to do them in 30 sec or less. That way you can convert in severe time pressure. Also learn the principles of the endgame. This will help you in any endgame you get into. You can learn the basics of the king and pawn endgames if you want as once you get to 1000 you will need to learn that, but it is not necessary at this point in time. This is how stronger players convert one pawn advantages into wins.

Learn the very basics of strategy can be useful, but really learning beyond what they are and the basics of evaluating a position are all that is necessary. You should spend the least amount of time on this right now.

Tactics is what you should focus on the most. Doing lots of puzzles is what you will do the most of. Also learn how to blunder check. These two things are what will give you the best return on your time. Not giving away pieces or blundering 1 move tactics will increase your rating the lost right now.

Hope this helps

K do

I also can't advance

If you can't advance then that means you are not trying to learn from your games. If your goal is to advance then you need to analyze your games after each game. Especially your loses. I am not talking about computer analysis. This will not help you much at your level. You need to figure out why you think you lost that game, and learn how to improve that area. Here are ten areas to categorize your loses in from the study plan of Bringing it all Together for beginers here on the site:

1. I did not see (or underestimated) my opponent's threat(s).
2. I did not develop/get castled.
3. I ignored a passed pawn that ultimately promoted.
4. I sacrificed prematurely to attack and could not find a checkmate.
5. I got behind on material from bad tactics.
6. I could not stop a mating attack.
7. I did not try my hardest (lack of focus).
8. I played too fast.
9. I took too much time, and eventually I ran out of time or blundered.
10. I did not have any idea how to proceed or find a plan.

Categorize your loses into one of these reasons, and then when you see a pattern you can focus on that reason, and get better at it.

I also recommend the Youtube Channel Chess Vibes it has a lot of content for sub 1000 level players: Chess Vibes

Hope this helps

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

Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it.
Hang no pieces, hang no pawns.
That little mental discipline alone is enough to reach 1500.

@Honchkrowabcd. Dude you are on a beginner forum. Answers like this really anger me. It's not easy for most people to just skirt along at 2000 rating like you. Some of us have a hard time progressing, and all we get for answers are, "all you have to do at 800 is take the hanging pieces". Dude seriously, I try that myself and still struggle. If our questions are so annoying to you, don't post on a frekkin beginner forum. Go somewhere else. If you have some actual good advice, then by all means, help us.

To most of my students, I give this advice (and it's almost all they need):

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The biggest reason people struggle in lower-level chess is because of blunders. They make them in almost every game.

A mistake can instantly put you in a bad position, no matter how well you played earlier: if you had great opening knowledge, great positional skills, great endgame skills, whatever; a single mistake can change everything (you lose a piece or get checkmated).

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So, how do you avoid blunders? Follow these two simple steps:

1. After your opponent moves, think if it's dangerous. Ask yourself, “What’s his idea?”
2. Before you make your move, think if it's safe. Ask yourself, “What attacking replies can he play?”

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If you feel like getting to levels like 1600, 1800, or 2000 in chess is super hard, let's look at it in a different way. Those players you're facing make blunders in nearly every game they play. Beating them isn't so tough if you stop making big mistakes and start using their slip-ups to your advantage.

Again, it does not require you to become a chess nerd or spend all your time on chess. Just doing this one thing can boost your rating by a few hundred points right away.

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Lastly, while avoiding blunders is crucial, I also share a few basic principles with my students. These principles help them figure out what to do in each part of the game - the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. Understanding these simple principles is like having a map for your moves. When you use this knowledge along with being careful about blunders, you're not just getting better at defending. You're also learning a well-rounded approach to chess. Keep in mind, chess is not just about not making mistakes; it's about making smart and planned moves to outsmart your opponent.

Its kinda funny that chess.com has allowed the last post, which could certainly be seen as racist, but has disallowed and warned me in the past for using really offensive words, like [and the words still have to be manually removed; DS]

?

Words can be filtered, and have automated triggers for posts, not comments like that. They have to be removed by an actual human.

I am stuck on 801 - 828 I have noted games.the thing that you have to do is play defensively or aggressively in the middle game and don’t trade

You see varied advice because different things work for different people. Some people are visual learners, some are more tactile and need to move the physical pieces and other people learn in other ways.

You can't know what will work best for you until you try them all and see which method(s) of learning resonate most with you.

With that being said, most people will learn most at 800 level from learning opening principles: https://www.chess.com/blog/KeSetoKaiba/opening-principles-again for their openings, solving many chess tactics puzzles for their middlegames and learning the basic theoretical endgames for their endgames. This recent video of mine is one of these key endgames every chess player should learn how to convert into a win:

@Honch. Lol okay.. pro advice right there.

Not sure what my affiliations have to do with chess.

@masterius77 doesn't owe you an explanation @TomekPrzemek16

They can use whatever chess.com flair they like.

I'm American... I have friends that live in the Ukraine. As for who I support, I'll leave that out of the chess forums for now.