I get out of opening, so what ?

Hello,

This game is typical when I play white : I go through my line of italian, castled.

Ok, now, according to the game analysis, every following move was sub or blunder. The worst of it that each move I played after had a strategic reason, no tactical trick intented. But it all went downhill.

This is the same for my past 20 lost games. I had spent the 4 preceding weeks not playing, doing puzzles and analyzing my games. Thing is, I do not know what to train on. 

Please, do not mention puzzles

I am stuck at 1420x roughly. I focus on one opening for white, one for white and try to understand the plan and the ideas on these but to no avail. Any good books (Read Nimzowitch system, didnt like it, Euewes book amater becomes master, playful but not really instructive, also read Sliman's How to Reassess Your Chess)

Should I just Quit playing and only read ALL these with a chessboard ?

"... Logical Chess [(Batsford edition by Chernev)] ... a collection of 33 games ... is definitely for beginners and players who are just starting to learn about development, weak squares, the centre, standard attacking ideas, and the like. In many ways, it would [be] a wonderful 'first' book (or first 'serious' book, after the ones which teach the rules and elementary mates, for example), and a nice gift for a young player just taking up chess. ..." - IM John Watson (1999)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/assorted-recent-books

"... Certainly for players who do not fully grasp the meaning of terms such as skewer, pin, fork, discovered attack, and the like, Winning Chess [(Batsford edition by Chernev and Reinfeld)] is a wonderful resource to bring the budding player to a much greater appreciation of the game. But also for intermediate players who all too often fall victim to these tactical maneuvers, or who realize in postmortems the many attacking threats they overlooked, this should be a book to consider. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf

"... Silman’s Complete Endgame Course ... I'm convinced that Silman's book will take its place in history as one of the most popular endgame books ever. ... He writes in a clear and casual style, and time and again has shown the ability to reach those who feel intimidated by the lofty approach that a grandmaster will often take. ..." - IM John Watson (2007)

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all

https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/silmans-complete-endgame-course/

First Steps Fundamental Endings

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7742.pdf

"... For beginning players, [the book, Discovering Chess Openings by GM Emms,] will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Chess-Openings-Building-Principles/dp/1857444191?asin=1857444191&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1

"... [Simple Chess by GM Stean] will definitely help players in the general rating range of 1300-2000 with their positional play and strategic thinking. ..." (Emphasis added.)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104258/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/review400.pdf

https://store.doverpublications.com/0486424200.html

"How to Reassess Your Chess, 4th Edition was designed for players in the 1400 to 2100 range." - IM Jeremy Silman (2010)

"... The Amateur's Mind … (for players 1000 to 1600) …" - IM Jeremy Silman (2010)

"... The Amateur’s Mind ... is one of the best instructive books in print. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094419/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.pdf

https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/amateurs-mind-the-2nd-edition/

"Simple Attacking Plans is an ideal book for a beginner or casual player who wants to become acquainted with some standard attacking motifs. ..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf

Better Chess for Average Players by Harding

https://store.doverpublications.com/0486290298.html

"... Winning Chess Tactics and Winning Chess Strategies ... Readers will not come away from reading these books and realize an immediate 400-point jump in their rating. However, this accessible and entertaining series of books is an easy way for beginning players to broaden the foundation of their chess knowledge."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090229/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/review492.pdf

Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf

https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5856bd64ff7c50433c3803db/t/5895fc0ca5790af7895297e4/1486224396755/btbtactics2excerpt.pdf

"... Irving Chernev’s The Most Instructive Games of Chess Every Played was ... originally published ... in 1965. It contains sixty-two well analyzed games, each one possessing both artistic and educational value. ..."

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/

"... Giddins has admirably achieved his aim of providing an update to Most Instructive Games, and while 50 Essential Chess Lessons might reasonably be viewed as a successor to Chernev's earlier book, it also stands on its own as a well-crafted, thoughtful, and original work. …"

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf

https://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/50_Essential_Chess_Lessons.pdf

Best Lessons of a Chess Coach

https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-best-lessons

"... [First Steps: 1 e4 e5] is a fun and informative book. ...” (2018)

https://chesscafe.com/book-reviews/first-steps-1-e4-e5-by-john-emms/

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf

First Steps: Queen's Gambit

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7652.pdf

My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf

https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/

Opening Repertoire 1 e4

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7819.pdf

First Steps: The Colle and London System

https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-understand-openings

The Colle: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala (2013)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627110453/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen169.pdf

Because I am not sure that just reading books will just bring some magic light in my brain. But maybe that's how it is supposed to work ? just reading with a board ? 

So far, to be honest, I am quite disappointed by the results I got though analysis of my defeats, since it did not shed more light during the games I tried to play.

I am not learning the opening by heart, I know this is pointless.

I also do Chess.Com Lessons

Thanks for your help.

None of the books listed are focused on the Italian opening and you are playing moves that don't make any sense. For example in the last game you play 5.d3 h6 6.d4. If you wanted to play d4 you should have just played 5.d4 in the first place.

You are also playing much too quickly and resigning with more than half of your time left on the clock. So my advice is slow down, do not play the first move that comes into your mind. Take the position that the move that you want to play is in fact a blunder and look for moves that your opponent could follow up with that would punish that move. Even if you satisfy yourself that it is a good move, there might be a better one. Aim to win your games with 1 minute left on the clock.

[Removed: no profanities please - DB]

First of all, you’re not doing that bad. Your rating has remained the same the last couple of months, which may feel like a lack of progress but compared to a year ago you are still up around 175 points. The higher your rating gets, the harder it becomes to gain more. You won’t progress at the same rate as you did before. You will face better opponents and fewer and fewer games will be easy.
To put that in a practical perspective. When you play a 1400 rated player you will win 50%, a 1450 will win 57% according to a standard ELO win Rate Calculator. The way I see it, you will need to win 57 games in the next 100 games to get to 1450, instead of 50 games in the next 100 which would keep you at 1400. If you want to win 7 more games, you'll have to fight for each of them.

After looking at a couple of your games, there were a couple of things that stood out to me. Kevin already mentioned playing too fast and resigning too early. A good example of playing too fast is your game vs Tom-R, where the final blunder was played after literally one second. An example of a game you should not resign is your game vs BlancoDG.

King safety

The other thing I noticed is that you don’t pay enough attention to King safety. This is based on a fairly small sample size, but perhaps you should look into more.

Example #1

The first example is from your game vs sisunfun, specifically this position.

On the kingside, you are attacked by a Queen and a Knight, you have Bishop staring at your King, pinning the f2-pawn and two Rooks lined up on the f-file as well. It doesn’t look like you are aware of the danger hanging over your head.

First you move your Knight to the queenside (Nc4), locking in your Queen even more. After Nxe4 dxe4 Rxf3!!, your Bishop is no longer guarded. If you move it your g-pawn will be pinned by the Queen. Best solution is Be3 so at least your f2-pawn is no longer pinned. An alternative, worse but reasonable, would be Nxb6, removing the Bishop. Even worse options are Kh1 and Kh2, losing your Bishop, but at least unpinning both pawns in front of the King.

Instead you played Bh4 to save the Bishop, leaving the King totally unprotected. After Rxh3, the game is over. You moved the Bishop (Bg3), where it’s just as undefended as where it came from. And it’s mate in 3 because after 19. Qxg3 there is nothing you can do to prevent mate.

Example #2

The second example is from your game vs DanStaxpawnx69. This position.

After bxf3 you have just played 22. gxf3. Better moves are h4, Kf1, Kh2, Qe3 or Qb3. Material is not always the loss in King safety.
After 22. Nxh3 you play 23. Kh2. Now your King is exposed and vulnerable on the kingside, your pieces are stuck on the other side, practically unable to move towards your King and help out. Your Bishops are locked out of the game and your a-Rook is blocked by the other Rook. Only your Queen can get there in time via Qf1.
After 23. Ngf4 24. Qe3 it’s game over. Now even your Queen can't get to your King. 24. Qh4+ is just mate in 3.

In the first example you blundered mate after spending 17 seconds, in the second one you blundered mate after thinking for 13 seconds.

Example #3

The third example is from a Daily game you played with me. In this game I had thought of a genius way to trap your Queen, without realizing that it cost me a Rook, a Knight and a pawn in the process. We get this position.

You played 32. Qxg1, thinking the Queen was lost anyway. Instead you could have played Qg6. After 33. Rxg6+ hxg6, your King would have been in a much safer position. My checkmate, twenty moves later, was made possible because of the vulnerable position of your King.

This is all I have. Good luck on your chess journey. Shoot me a message if you'd like to discuss the games we played against each other in more detail.

Regards, Duck

Good Positional Chess, Planning & Strategy Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell