Reality Check (1200 and I still suck)

I've been playing chess seriously since January. Since then I've risen from the trenches of the 300 elo level up to what I thought was an impressive level, 1200. And I realized last night after playing way too many games that I am still REALLY bad at chess. I mean, HORRIBLY bad. And I'm not wallowing or sulking. It's just a very realistic sense of where I am in my abilities with chess. I have not even begun to climb the mountain yet. 

So I think I'm done with cheap milestones and the self-loathing and deprecation I usually feel after not playing well. I'm still a beginner, ergo I will naturally play very badly sometimes. But last night was humbling. I hope to learn much from it. 

It's time to REALLY start studying. I'm talking notebooks, analyzing every single game, puzzles every day, etc etc. Any and everything to achieve the goals I dream of. 

If the day comes that I hit 2000 I will make sure to make a post then and have a beer to celebrate. 

Good vibes!

i wish you good luck, but it's quite the opposite for me i'm actually good and im stuck in the 500s.

if you really want to get good analyse other peoples games and see if you can improve from those, it really helps when you get to sticky situations.

You're in good company my friend. All of us amateur players suck chess.

I am currently reading Jeremy Silman's book The Amateur's Mind. He shows these beautiful GM games and then gives his students a position from the middlegame where they start with an advantage and almost always after a few moves the student is in dire straits. He has some students who are rated 2000 or more and difference between a class A player and a master player is much bigger than I ever appreciated before.

It is a difficult game but you have made good progress already. Look at some of the games you played when you were 300 rated.

it happens to us all

I second KevinOsh’s remark: us amateurs suck. I also add my vote for Silman’s book, “the Amateur’s Mind”. It was amazing to see the differences in the way beginner and intermediate players think compared to the experts. I also found it extremely helpful to read the explanations of WHY the amateur thinking was incorrect. Check you local library to see if they’ve got a copy. 

But just because we’re terrible now, doesn’t mean we can’t improve. Check your own progress for proof of that! Good job, man.

Chernev - "Logical Chess Move by Move"

Chernev/Reinfeld - "Winning Chess"

The first book is for strategy, the second book is for tactics.

I will second "Logical Chess Move by Move" as it helped me break through this rating level in the first place

What are you talking about? 1200 is practically Grandmaster level. You only have to gain 1200 more points!

And then you are "practically" grandmaster level !!!

@1

"playing way too many games" ++ Less is more. Better play one 15|10 game and think carefully than many fast games playing hastily.

"I hope to learn much from it." ++ Analyse lost games. Learn from your mistakes.

"analyzing every single game" ++ Do not analyse wins, analyse losses only.

"puzzles every day" ++ That is good, but do not exaggerate. Try to get a puzzle rating above the play rating you aim for. Solve puzzles in less time than you spend on a move in a game.

"If the day comes that I hit 2000" ++ You can get to 2000 in 1 year if you do the right things.

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

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

I am a 1500 rated player and I think I am very nad

I am a 1550 rated player and I still think that I'm very bad. You will still feel that your chess skills are horrible even if you progress