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MetzCity

Hi all, recently I have decided to get into Chess at the age of 32. 
I have a long background in competitive gaming and have achieved fairly well at this. 

I have two questions.

I am thinking about buying a Chess.com Diamond membership. I am rated 418 ELO ( I know all the rules of the game etc and am trying to work on improvement) 

I also made the following "Study Plan" and was wondering if it was correct for my goals. I have joined a Chess Club locally and have enjoyed my time getting destroyed.

Study Plan 

Puzzle Rush and Two Rapid games. Everyday
Book Puzzles. 4 times a week 
Save and review all losses. Once a week.
Watch an instructional video and make notes. 3 times a week.

Any help or tips would be awesome  

justbefair

Sounds like a decent plan.

Good luck!

idonlikeplaychess
I will study it
RussBell

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond…

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

Dragonhorde

Hmm...First off, I would use chesstempo in place of book puzzles. It is far more convenient, efficient, and sustainable. Secondly, game review might not help you that much at your level. In fact, game analysis could become a catalyst for "paralysis by analysis" from a practical standpoint...Just because of your current level. But if you have some particularly interesting game where you feel like you do not know where you went wrong, it would be good to review it.

Anyway, I would say that most of your time spent should be on solving tactics...Somewhere between 70-90% of your training.

ThinkSquareChessAcademies

Quick tips that can help:

  • Play slower games (like 30|0 or 15|10) so you actually have time to think.
  • Focus on basic tactics (pins, forks, skewers) — solving 5-10 puzzles a day consistently is more powerful than cramming.
  • Don't memorize openings, just understand basic opening principles: control the center, develop pieces, and castle early.
  • After each game, review your blunders instead of just jumping into the next one. Fixing a few big mistakes makes a huge difference fast.

I am 2200 and can offer you advice and coaching. I've sent a PM. Looking forward to a reply!

Dragonhorde

I agree with all of those tips, but I prefer 10+0 over other time controls because the experience feels more organic (there is less cheating, cheating is more likely to get banned, its a popular time control, and a lot of good and legit people seldom play 15+10 and so can be vastly underrated often times).

ChessMasteryOfficial

Learn exactly how to think in the opening, middlegame and endgame — this is what I teach.
Always blunder-check your moves.
Solve tactics in the right way.
Analyze your games.
Study games of strong players.
Learn how to be more psychologically resilient.
Work on your time management skills.
Get a coach if you can.