go to learning mode on the tactics trainer, then select puzzles at about the difficulty that you fail at puzzle rush and train as many as you can. when you can do about 25 or 30 without getting any wrong in a reasonable amount of time increase the difficulty by 50 to 100 points. aim to get at least 50 to 150 puzzles done in a day. its not about the max difficulty if a puzzle that you can solve that makes you a better player but what difficulty you can spot in 5 to 15 seconds most of the time that matters for blitz and fast rapid games. maybe 30 to 90 seconds in classical and long rapid. if you cant spot them by then you will probably not notice it if you didn't know it was a puzzle and you wouldn't have seen it in a real game.
Improvement suggestion
Sort:
Thanx. I will try that.
"... For beginning players, [Discovering Chess Openings] will offer an opportunity to start out on the right foot and really get a feel for what is happening on the board. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
I think that there is wide agreement that the way to start learning an opening is by playing over sample games. Some of us think that it can be useful to use books like First Steps: 1 e4 e5 and First Steps: Queen's Gambit
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf
https://chesscafe.com/book-reviews/first-steps-1-e4-e5-by-john-emms/
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7652.pdf
as sources of games with explanations intended for those just starting to learn about an opening. Be sure to try to use the openings in games in between sessions of learning. Most of the time, one faces a position with no knowledge of a specific move indicated in a book. One has to accept that as part of chess, and think of opening knowledge as a sometimes helpful aid. After a game, it makes sense to try to look up the moves in a book and see if it has some indication of how one might have played better in the opening. Many opening books are part explanation and part reference material. The reference material is included in the text with the idea that one mostly skips it on a first reading, and looks at an individual item when it applies to a game that one has just played. Resist the temptation to try to turn a book into a mass memorization project. There are many important subjects that one should not neglect because of too much time on opening study.
https://www.chess.com/article/view/learning-an-opening-to-memorize-or-understand
https://www.chess.com/article/view/3-ways-to-learn-new-openings
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-understand-openings
https://www.chess.com/blog/HanSchut/understand-your-opening-using-tabiyas-pawn-structures-model-games-and-typical-tactics
"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... Everyman Chess has started a new series aimed at those who want to understand the basics of an opening, i.e., the not-yet-so-strong players. ... I imagine [there] will be a long series based on the premise of bringing the basic ideas of an opening to the reader through plenty of introductory text, game annotations, hints, plans and much more. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055734/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen38.pdf
"The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf
"... Once you identify an opening you really like and wish to learn in more depth, then should you pick up a book on a particular opening or variation. Start with ones that explain the opening variations and are not just meant for advanced players. ..." - Dan Heisman (2001)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626180930/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman06.pdf
"... For inexperienced players, I think the model that bases opening discussions on more or less complete games that are fully annotated, though with a main focus on the opening and early middlegame, is the ideal. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)
Geee.... it seems I cannot deviate from the "opening" strugle afterwall. Thank you so much for the insightful response.
Im not to good but for what its worth ive never studied openings. Just experience and watching games is where I learned my opening knowledge.
Sep 2, 2019
0
#7
Never try to memorize openings. Be familiar with some and find a few favourites. Since most beginners start and learn e4, then d4, I favoured less studied openings and defences my opponents would be less likely to know. Stick with your favourite opening and defence.
But it is much better to understand opening theory and general principals (ie development, importance of centre and piece positioning, King safety). Concentrate more on middle game strategy and endgame mates.
My favourite book on openings is by GM Yasser Seirwan. He also has good books for strategy and tactics. Here are 2 videos from him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1luv3WpSmwM and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJmjt9GGhA8
Good luck.
Thanks all for the tips. I will let you all know when I reach 2000 
Sep 2, 2019
0
#10
Fgsjd wrote:
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go to learning mode on the tactics trainer, then select puzzles at about the difficulty that you fail at puzzle rush and train as many as you can. when you can do about 25 or 30 without getting any wrong in a reasonable amount of time increase the difficulty by 50 to 100 points. aim to get at least 50 to 150 puzzles done in a day. its not about the max difficulty if a puzzle that you can solve that makes you a better player but what difficulty you can spot in 5 to 15 seconds most of the time that matters for blitz and fast rapid games. maybe 30 to 90 seconds in classical and long rapid. if you cant spot them by then you will probably not notice it if you didn't know it was a puzzle and you wouldn't have seen it in a real game.
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Me:
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That is a good recommendation for a beginner. The goal is to eventually do your own kind of tactics. I personally play chesstempo tactics. At least I did in the past, and occasionally I went over my missed problems. The sets are so big that I never got to do all of them so I lost interest in that. I also study from a book, Sharpen your Tactics. I’m no expert, but I’m told by some that studying from books first is the way to go, but evidently, others think differently. There is no right or wrong answer with this, and this advice given to you (The paragraph written by Fgsjd) is good enough advice to be taken to heart verbatim.
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On what Kingspondgy wrote:
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As long as you follow his explanation, and not tackle those books as a massive memorization project, those are fine. I skimmed through one of Silmans articles in there and I liked what I read. However, it’s still possible to totally skip buying opening books, even if the goal is not memorization, and just focus on a more general approach of going though games from books like Logical Chess Move by Move. However, some people are different. Some need the opening books (remember the goal is not memorization but the applying of the general principles taught in the book). It’s up to you to determine what you do and do not need. Get what you need. If you need an opening book get it, if you think you can get away without learning about openings and just focusing on a more general approach, get books like Logical Chess Move by Move instead. You can only spend your time focusing on a limited amount of master games, with time constraints in place. Try and get the most bang for your buck. Opening books may be it for your, or a more general approach, but it’s up to you to decide.
Sometimes you lose games as a beginner because you are just randomly making moves and sometimes you fall for a trap that wasn't planned for on your part but was played before by your opponent and he used your lack of knowledge to get a better game.
Here is another example:
So you see, as a beginner often you will fall for opening traps based on your lack of understanding of the opening phrase of the game and are just making random moves. The remedy for that I thought was to develop an opening repertoire as a beginning player, but that may not be the best route. It could be, if you study books like Discovering Chess Opening and Maybe some of Morets books, as long as you don't take them as a massive Memorization project as Kingspondgy said, but one approach, maybe better than the other based on different individual needs. Some people need to study openings. Maybe I was that person, and I took it a bit overboard, and now I am paying for it, but it is entirely possible to go for a more generalized approach and not really focus on the opening at all and just pick books with master games that can be on just any opening, books like Logical Chess Move by Move.
Something to think about:
So sometimes you have to calculate it out, and not just rely on pattern recognition if in fact the game being played is a little different. And, after losing to your mistakes, you learn.
I think the good thing about getting a repertoire book is that you are able to scan all the openings and at least go over the first 4 moves of each opening as they happen to you. You can do that until you are finished with the whole book. It is a good way to learn an opening repertoire, just learn the first 4 or 5 moves, and make up the rest. I've used this approach with great success. But, everybody is different.
Studying master games whether they be on a particular opening or not, are both pursuits that one must use or do daily (at least 1 game a day for a beginner) if they want to drastically improve their game.
Tactics Tactics Tactics, I covered this already.
End Game Study Possibly Silmans Endgame course
A Theory book. A guide to chess improvement can give you a better guide for the rating humps.
I'm not entirely sure exactly what theory book you should focus on at your level. Perhaps just going through the John Bartholomew, maybe some IM Danny Rensch videos, Chessexplained, or Ben Finegold, to name a few. A Guide to Chess Improvement might be the Theory book for you to Bridge the gap from 1000 to 1200, it might not. You're ultimately going to have to do your own work. I am not high rated myself, all you can do is take what I say as just ordinary advice. Chess for Zebras has good games in it. It's just as hard as the Amateurs Mind, but a lot less thick. I'm not sure if that is the best fit for you though.
Eventually, you're going to have to put some time studying the Middle game. I know the pawn Structure chess book and the videos in the pawn structure 101 series by Danny Rensch are good, but there are a lot of different approaches out there. Here is something free you can go to for now:
Play a lot of games. The Slower the better. 30 minutes isn't long enough. Blitz is only for fun or to practice openings. Have fun learning the game of chess!
Wow, U guys R the best. I loved the Fried Liver examples. Simple yet very insightful and quite powerful.
Nov 5, 2020
0
#12
What about reading this article and try to memorize them? https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-memorize-chess-openings-variations
mockingbird998 wrote:
What about reading this article and try to memorize them? https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-memorize-chess-openings-variations
You felt the need to jump in over 1 year later to post that? o.O
Nov 5, 2020
0
#14
I started improving when I started to memorize openings. I was a beginner. I started to learn what to do in the opening phase. Then learnt some plans in the middle by playing the memorized lines a lot. Is it only me? All I see everywhere is do not memorize.
giant_of_style wrote:
I started improving when I started to memorize openings. I was a beginner. I started to learn what to do in the opening phase. Then learnt some plans in the middle by playing the memorized lines a lot. Is it only me? All I see everywhere is do not memorize.
What do you mean you learnt some plans in the middle by playing the memorized openings a lot? Do you mean you just did your opening lines as your middlegame plan somehow, or that the repeated games gave you enough familiarity to develop a middlegame plan?
Dec 5, 2020
0
#17
mockingbird998 wrote:
What about reading this article and try to memorize them? https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-memorize-chess-openings-variations
haha no, I just met this post accidentally and I wanted to be helpful
Hi there, Any way/suggestion to improve rating without having to memorize openings? I have ~1100 at chess.com. I can defeat komodo3 easily but loose (easily as well) to komodo4. I want to improve but I am not willing to memorize opening variations.