How to Improve Consistency

I've been playing a lot recently, mostly Blitz and some longer Rapid games.  I find that I'm capable of playing really well, with many games +90 accuracy, and then games in the 30s, even in the same openings.  What's the most straightforward way to improve consistency?  Also I know that "accuracy" isn't the end all be all of how well you are playing, just using it here to show that there are wild swings in my play. 

My gut instinct is the answer is "play fewer games" and thats fair but I've also noticed that it takes me a few games to "warm up."  Does anyone have advice on something quick to do before playing a live game?  I usually do puzzles but that doesn't seem to do it, it still feels ackward that first game.

Accuracy varies a lot. It depends how complex the game was. If you have a straightforward game full of forcing recaptures and straightforward endgame, the game will have a high accuracy. But if the game is full of potential tactics, accuracy can be low. 

Yep fair enough, espcecially if the tacitc is unnoticed by both players.

For instance, opponent pushes pawn and attacks your knight. You can either move the knight or push your own pawn. All of that needs calculating it can get really sharp. Under those circumstances it is much tougher to find the best move than when someone checks you for instance or if he takes your queen and you should recapture it. Sometimes it can be harder to score 70 than 99 in some cases.

It might not be as bad as you think. With the analysis tool you can replay mistakes and it will show you the new accuracy. I haven't used it much but I noticed that in one of my games, replaying 4 moves took the accuracy from 70% to 90%. So low accuracy may be just a handful of errors in an otherwise good game.

Thanks for the reply.  I don't care so much about the accuracy number as to the consistency of play, I was just trying to use the number as an expression of the problem, very good games and very bad games, and not even games that were swung on Blunders, although punishing my opponents less than safe attacks is part of my issue.

I understand, what I meant but failed to explain is that accuracy might be a too sensitive measure. You may be more consistent than you realise. Another thought, how is your planning? A good plan unifies moves and gives a game internal consistency. You can quickly narrow down candidates to only the moves that are consistent with your plan and hopefully frustrate your opponent. Is that a factor? Do you feel your less consistent games had good plans or weak plans compared with your better ones?

Yeah plans are definetly an issue.  I feel I've fallen into more of a "don't make a mistake" mode and probably give away tempo too much.  Also in Blitz I'm bad about just playing defensive moves vs looking to counter attack, and sometimes time is a factor there (I don't often flag, but I'm usually behind on clock until late). I'm going to play some slower games and work on my calculating and hope that speeds up my decision making.

I'm just finishing Amateur's Mind by Silman. I thought it was a great introduction to planning and positional chess for 1300+ players. It is also very good on psychology and not playing defensively - giving your opponent the initiative and allowing them to execute their plans largely unchallenged. If you think you'd benefit from learning how to evaluate the strengths in your position and build a plan around them, then I recommend it. I have a better understanding now about what is meant by playing the position.

Well you do have a diamond membership! Might as well take use of that.. maybe do more puzzles, study more openings, Try the lessons https://www.chess.com/lessons and well thats call I can tell you, hope it helped

After 9 years, and almost 3300 blitz/rapid games.  Is what you are doing working?  Depends.  Playing nothing but speed chess will only gain you so much improvement. 

I dunno where I can post it. I am 14yo and I've been playing chess for about a week. Definietely I am the best at 1 min bullets, I have about 650 points and I’m still winning about 75% games. My tactic is to play Reti Opening, then King’s Indian Attack with castle and then fianchetto, most games winning by time. How can I improve this tactic?

@IMBacon thank you for responding.  I haven't really played with too much of an eye on improvement, mostly just for fun with extended breaks over that time.  I will say also that most of those games were at 10|0 and the 5|0 has been an adjustment.  But in general you are right, aside from doing puzzles on chess tempo I haven't done much studying, mostly because the advice I read is its all tactics up until 1800.

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

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

Thanks for the clarification.  While i wont argue that tactics are important (because they are).  And i know guys that have done nothing but tactics, and crazy openings and they are both USCF Expert players.  If you're looking to be a more well rounded player?  You need to study all 3 phases of the game.  An obvious statement i know :-)

And by "studying" I mean studying...again...another DUH moment.  I dont mean just reading a chess book.  I mean actually studying it.  Using a real board and pieces, pen and paper to write down notes, thought, ideas, plans, etc.  You want to simulate OTB tournament conditions as much as possible. 

Openings: Your study should consist of finding an opening that you're comfortable playing, and gets you to middle-games you're comfortable with.  DO NOT memorize lines.  Gain some understanding of "why" the pieces and pawns go where to go. 

Middlegame: This is where the real fun, and study begins.  Plat over Master games for the openings you are trying to understand.  Again..."Why" do the pieces go where they go?  "Why" do the pawns go where they go?  How do you formulate a middlegame plan?  What did the Masters do?

Endgame:  Basic mates.  KQ vs. K, KR vs. K, KRR vs. K.  King and pawn endings.  Opposition (direct, distant, rectangular, knight opposition).