🧩 My Worst Afternoon in Chess (So Far...)

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Today was by far the worst afternoon I’ve ever had in chess — at least so far, I guess.

Games: 17
Wins: 2
Draws: 1
Losses: 14
ELO Drop: almost 100 points
My Precision (in this awful stint): ~68.5%
Opponents’ Precision: ~74.5%
Average Moves per Game: 32

I’ve been playing chess since January 2025, and I already have around 2,800 games.

💭 What I’m Wondering

I’ve heard many times that at my level (around 600–700 ELO), openings don’t really matter, and that I should spend 90% of my time doing puzzles instead.

I also keep hearing things like:

“Players under 700 are extremely weak and don’t know almost anything about chess.”
“If you need more than 500 games to reach 1000, something’s seriously wrong.”

Well…
I’m at about 60% of that goal, and it’s taken me five times longer than expected.

So here’s my question:
👉 Do I need way more puzzle training, or should I start studying chess more systematically — maybe by buying a proper course?

For context:

• I’ve completed almost all the standard lessons on the platform.

• I play daily games against much stronger friends.

• I’ve done over 2,400 puzzles already (which is probably not working).

And still, I feel stuck.
The only thing I keep remembering is GothamChess saying “600 ELO chess is hilarious.”
Right now, I honestly feel like the dumbest player alive.

📊 Snapshot of My Opponents Today

🧠 A bit of my journey

I’ve made a few posts before — one when I reached 500, another when I reached 600, and now again after spending quite a while in the 700s, only to drop back down to 650.

Each time I write these, I’m hoping to understand what I’m missing, and maybe help others who are stuck in the same range.

Would really appreciate your thoughts — especially from anyone who managed to break through this 600–700 “trap” range.
What actually made the difference for you?
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⚔️ What Surprised Me the Most

The funny thing is I'm running into normal stuff: Scotch, Four Knights, Italian, Petrov, Center Game, and even the modern double-fianchetto setups.

And of course, every imaginable version of the Scholar’s Mate (Qh5 + Bc4) — which, ironically, might be the worst opening in the world, yet seems to be played by some of the most tactically gifted players I’ve met, same for Scandinavian.

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To my surprise, I’m also facing Caro-Kann, Queen’s and King’s Gambits, and positional closed systems like the London.

One opponent even played a Grünfeld Defense at 650 ELO!

I honestly didn’t expect to see that below 1000.

The big popularity spike in chess means that a 1500-rated player in 2015 is a lot weaker than a 1500-rated player in 2025. People in the 800s definitely know how to play the game and absolutely can see tactics, though they miss them just as often.

On a different note, I've never heard anyone say, "you should be 1000 after 500 games." Though funnily enough, it took me almost exactly that number of games to get there (502, I think).

I think your problem is that you play way too many games in a row when you're clearly not with it. If you're playing abnormally badly, you should stop immediately and come back later.

Another common problem that occurs with people at your level is that they often move too quickly, missing game-changing moves and playing ludicrous blunders because they aren't even paying attention to what they're doing. As long as you play slowly and really think about what you're doing, it shouldn't be difficult to bulldoze your way through to my level. Try playing with a longer time control and/or an increment so you can be more careful.

For me to reach 1000 rapid the first time it took 619 games, but at least a decent chunk of these were against cheaters. I encountered way more cheaters below 1k than above it btw. Against 100% real players I would had a lower number. But after reaching it I dipped below 1k again and spent another good while at 900 before I reached 1k again and now got to stay there. I'm pretty sure that if I used a seperate drunk account (I don't) and never encountered any cheaters I'd be quite close to that 500 games mark myself.

I think you are playing way too many games. Which I don't say often. I think you could do a lot more with 1-3 games a day and thoroughly reviewing them, compared to the many games you are playing. Plus with all of those games, you have the risk of being upset or in a bad mood which can make you lose many games in a row. Which seems to be what you are describing as happening in your post.

If you want to learn some openings and think that would help, try to learn some openings. The advice that beginners don't need to memorize openings (advice I give as well) is just general advice but might not apply to how you learn and your style of play. I don't think learning a few openings could hurt. But I do think the biggest way for you to improve is by playing less and reviewing more.

bro trust i gained 162 ELO in the last 7 days and literally all u have to do is just lock in. i know that sounds obvious but what I mean is whenever you play a game dont think about anything else except the game. that way you blunder less. to gain a lot of ELO the trick isnt playing more, its actually playing less but with serious review after so you can learn from your mistakes.

First time I see someone crediting AI for the formatting

If you cant figure out by now that a year of speed chess is not going to make you better? Keep on doing what youre doing.

Lol?

Law of diminishing returns.

This is really normal, all the players have that before. Once I'm playing bullet and I've got 800 elo, I dropped 200, 200!!! rating points bro!

not on this account but the other, so never ever look at my profile, thx!

Watching 600 ELO games is like a fever dream....

Anyway, my advice is:

1) Decide on an opening or 2 as white and black, and stick to them. Learn the basics of the opening, and common traps. This is all on Youtube. You play a lot of e4 openings as white, so I'd recommend looking into Ruy Lopez and the Sicilian, as that's what you'd probably face the most. If you ever decide to be a real man and play d4, then the London is pretty much free, as its easy to play. Openings DO matter, as it helps you to estabish an easy plan each game, based on where your pieces are.

2) Do puzzles. Then do more puzzles. Then do more puzzles. They help you not only to understand common tactics, but to spot them faster in games. At your rating, your games are going to be decided with a player blundering their queen to a pin or a skewer 11 times out of 10. Make sure that it's your opponent and not you.

3) Focus on the quality of your games, not the quantity. For rapid games, you should aim to play around 5 - 10 per day. For blitz, around 10 - 20. For bullet, around 20 - 30. Any more than that and your brain will melt. But be sure to analyse your games once you're done, looking for mistakes in your opening (especially useful if you play the same 2-3 openings), and tactics missed in the middlegame. 600 ELO endgames typically have one player up 5 queens, so endgames aren't as important.

4) Your rating is going to rise and fall. It's natural when you play people at your skill level. Don't get triggered over it, as that will lead to you losing more rating.

That's all I can think of right now. Might add more if I feel like it.

Im too scared to lose me 700 elo so i just like gave up on playing rapid lol

You have played thousands of speed games and solved thousands of puzzles. You don’t need more of that—it hasn’t helped much. 

Read basic instructional books on how strong players think about a position and select their moves. Take a month to read things like Reinfeld’s Complete Chess Course, Chernev’s Logical Chess Mive by Move, and Euwe’s Chess Master Versus Chess amateur. In my experience, a month of actual solid instruction will be far more helpful than what yo have been doing for more than a year.

For a 700 ELO? Really?