you should be analyzing your games every time you lose, or even play. that way, you'll catch your mistakes a lot more and learn not to commit them in future games
Stuck and frustrated, suggestions?
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Same boat. the lower rank is all smurf and troll
May 21, 2021
0
#24
Project_Invictus wrote:
I have been playing for almost five months now and I am seeing no improvement in my play and i'm kind of at a loss for where to go from here. I had another account before this one where I constantly lost to cheese openings and plummeted to 550. Through lessons I learnt how to avoid cheese openings and I started this account so my elo would be fresh but have been stuck at 700-800 ever since.
I watch chess lessons from GM's and IM's, I have tried lessons and puzzles and I've looked through the study plan directory for beginners. For all that effort and study I still can't hit and stay at 800 elo and most of my games seem to come down to a King plus one piece vs a king unless they're a stomp.
I keep randomly getting put against 1200 elo players, I get questionable opponents who suck for the first 20 moves then drastically improve after they start spending two minutes per move (probably inputting moves into a bot?). I seem to hit a wall every month where I just ping pong between 700 and 800 elo.
At this point i'm debating just forcing myself to quit playing (which I don't want to do) for the sake of my mental health. I enjoy competitive games and thought that chess could be fun, but after this long with no meaningful progress and no idea how to get past the wall I have hit i'm starting to think it's a waste of time and effort. Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can try to break out of this rut I have been in for months now?
Yep, other than study there's a specific thought process that holds people back. It's been known by lots of people for years, but recently I've been dissatisfied with the resources that explain it... so I made a post:
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/for-beginners/the-most-important-concept-for-all-beginners
May 21, 2021
0
#25
I upgraded to platinum for the unlimited puzzles and I realized I didn't understand pins as well as I thought and I also completely forgot about the concept of magnetism. I feel like i'm getting tactics a bit better now but I need to slow down now as multiple people mentioned.
I just have to keep reminding myself, okay that seems like a good move but if I do that what can they do? Is there a better move? And i'm trying to pay a lot more attention to when a piece moves, was it guarding something before that it isn't now?
My last game I played started badly because I tried to fried liver him and he knew the defense. But I managed to bring it back because I was able to force/trick them into moving his knight which was defending a pawn that stopped me from activating my Queen. That one blunder cost him the game so that really hit home that I need to slow down and maybe find a couple of openings that are safe and can let me reach the midgame in an even or winning position.
Project_Invictus wrote:
I upgraded to platinum for the unlimited puzzles and I realized I didn't understand pins as well as I thought and I also completely forgot about the concept of magnetism. I feel like i'm getting tactics a bit better now but I need to slow down now as multiple people mentioned.
That's a great start. Getting better at chess simply takes time, a lot of time. You can't rush it. If you do you'll simply get frustrated and disillusioned with the game. Try to enjoy the process of learning chess because you will always be in learning mode no matter your rating.
Also there are no shortcuts or killer openings or secret traps/tactics to dominate your opponents with. It might seem like there are when starting out because at the lower rating levels you can get away with unsound moves. However as you rating increases these gimmicks will fall apart like the cheap suits they are.
The reality is that you don't win games of chess, you lose them. It's a game of precision and the person who accumulates the most inaccuracies will lose via a tatic, mating net or fatal endgame position.
Having said all that... it's also perfectly fine to not take chess too seriously, throwing all caution to the wind, trying to mate your opponent in the first 9 moves and to hell with study, if that's the kind of game you enjoy, and you don't care about ratings. I wonder how many people work to improve their chess and then find they were much happier not knowing so much about the game...
May 21, 2021
0
#27
Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a chess coach and chess YouTuber based in California:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q
I have tips to help you improve your chess skills so you can win more games.
-I offer a free beginner’s free eBook on my website, www.ChessByLauren.com in case you are interested. The book is about asking questions before each move.
-Learn basic tactics such as the fork, discovered attack, pin, and more. I offer interactive puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php
-I recommend two books for you: “50 Poison Pieces” and “Queen For A Day: The Girl’s Guide To Chess Mastery.” Both books are available on Amazon.com. Both books are endorsed by chess masters!
-If you are serious about chess, I highly recommend you hiring a chess coach to help you.
-Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side.
Here's the bottom line: HAVE FUN!!
I hope that this helps.
Got this from somewhere else:
Glicko is mathematically better than ELO, but requires more calculation. Elo was conceived around 1970 and could be calculated without a computer. Glicko is only practical with a computer. Glicko and Elo should reach the same rating, but Glicko reaches the right rating faster.