Stuck in the 200s

I’ve been playing chess for a couple months. I think I have around 300 games played against real people and who knows how many against bots. I still suck really bad! Is this normal or do I just not have the mind for this?

I have watched countless hours of videos on openings, speed runs, etc. I can memorize the the basics of the openings but still struggle really bad in the mid game.

I’ll admit I’m making a bunch of really bad mistakes like leaving pieces hanging, blunders, getting forked, and most likely not realizing I have mate in one or two.

I feel like with the time I have spent I should be better than I am, but my play proves otherwise.

So the question is where do I go from here? The internet suggests wide variety of options. I just don’t want to go down the wrong path and waste more time. Sure I would love to get to 2000 but let’s focus on baby steps for now. How do I get to 500?

I have come to the realization that I’m trying to focus on material that is to advanced for me. Sure I can study and opening but that opening goes to hell in a hand basket when the people I play against don’t follow basic chess principles. I then run into scenarios that never happen in the YouTube videos. I’m guessing I should be able to punishes them, but… I’m not lol.

I would love some feedback from someone who was where I am at now. If you give advice on what to do next please be specific. If you say “study tactics” how?

I’m incredibly frustrated but it’s also fueling my obsession with getting better…

Thanks in advance!

its normal try playing rapid so you have some time to look at the whole board for threats and blunders. I have played 500 games on and off for 4 years (no study) and I'm hovering around 250 but my game rating is usually 800+ so the normal rating you have isn't that accurate.

You mention that you have watched youtube videos about openings. The problem with playing people at your rating is most will not make good moves or play into the openings you've learned. So you can get off script really quickly and not know where to go or how to response. Most of the time if someone plays something random, it's probably bad. But that doesn't do you a lot of good without the experience to know why it's bad or how you should respond.

If you'd like a can take a look at a few of your games and make a detailed video review of them with a summary at the end of areas I think you can improve. I also do chess lessons for people in your rating range. Let me know if any of that sounds good. I'm happy to help!

Your problems are the usual. Speed chess. Not following opening principles. Moving too fast. Blunders and missed tactics. And the biggest misconception. "I need to study openings.". NO ONE at your level knows or understands openings. No amount of studying is going to help if all you do is play speed chess. You are not giving yourself time to think.

HeckinSprout yeah feel free to review some of my games. I’m not sure I’m ready for lessons yet. I feel like there are a lot of basic things I need to work on before I do that.

Lieutenant Frank I have been playing a lot of 10 | 15. Are you suggesting longer? If so what length?

Look at your last loss. You lost in 17 moves and still have something like 13+ minutes on your clock. That's what I mean about moving too fast. It won't matter what time control you play, if you're going to leave a bunch of time on the clock. There is no way you can think, develop a game plan and calculate moving that fast. Choices. Play speed chess if that is what makes you happy. Slow down and think if you're serious about improvement. But you can't do both.

At the very least. If you're serious about improving. Play nothing faster than G45.

Simplest example from one of your games:

You play good but sometimes overlook easy tactics. Try to improve with puzzles and maybe a bit of vision training.

Simply not hanging pieces at longer, lets say rapid time control, is surely a big step. Play longer games and try to think more on every move. Try to implement opening principles and that alone will surely get you to 1000 elo. Do puzzles everyday and just keep watching and learning. It is a grind

Is upgrading my account to diamond a good place to study things like tactics and vision? Have others found it worth it? Without it I haven’t gotten very far into any of the lessons so it is all very basic right now and hard to tell if paying for it is worth it or am I better with other options.

Until you make the decision to slow down. Paying for anything is a waste of time and money. And honestly no need to pay when you can get what you need for free.

I looked at several of your games. Frank Colombo is right. You move too fast. You don’t check your opponent’s threats. You don’t consider annd select the best option for meeting their threats. You give away material for no reason. You fail to consider options that would win material.

These are all beginner mistakes. The ways to improve include:

1. Checking your opponent’s threats before moving.

2. Consider ALL of the ways to meet a threat before selecting your move.

3. Check to make sure that the move you are considering does not give away material.

4. Play more slowly so you have time to do the above.

You should also learn basic opening principles: develop quickly (don’t move a piece twice until you have developed every piece; don’t move your queen out too early else your opponent can gain time by developing and attacking the queen); occupy/control the center; castle quickly. You say that you have watched many instructional videos, but you are not putting into practice the lessons that you should have learned.

If you concentrate just on following these three opening principles you should be able to beat other players at your level.

Try playing blitz and focus on checking a move to see if it blunders. Also learn basic endgames, checkmates, and tactics. That can take you to 1200

I got u on some free lessons big dog

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond…

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

I can help you out. Feel free to message me.

Most important thing is learning the theory of the opening you play, learn every single line and not play til your knowledge of this opening is 100%, i personally think the grob is a great opening, the best time control to improve in is Bullet, or even hyperbullet if youre feeling it. Whenever you lose a piece, or even just a pawn, you might aswell resign as there is no hope for winning. Dont develop any sort of plan, i just like winging it or using a random move generator. AVOID RAPID AT ALL COSTS, ITS THE WORST! (For anyone who didnt get it til now, my advice is everything you should NOT do, follow all the advice listed in the comments above, my sarcastic advice is the OPPOSITE of what you should do!)

if you're watching speedruns I don't feel like that would improve you

my cousin goes to chess class and he's stuck at 100

honestly you don't need to but ive been playing for 6 years so I cant really be talking