dont give up on openings they will help you get a better position off the bat
Stuck in the 700s
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There are things that get worse with age, the only way I see that your ability to concentrate and see your game improve is to do physical activity of a certain intensity and improve your diet. Also make sure you get quality sleep.
If you do not have good health habits, at that age it is impossible for your mind to become clearer than its current limits.
Mar 18, 2024
0
#24
Just play sound moves. Wait for your opponent to blunder, they will. Tarrasch said something like "If you don't know what to do, wait for your opponent to get a plan, it's sure to be wrong!"
Mar 18, 2024
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#25
I had to slow down. I'm still working on that. At our level, there's a lot of mistakes that people make and you can basically play defensively and wait your opponent out until they make mistakes.
Doing lots and lots of puzzles really helped me with recognizing patterns and avoiding mistakes when checkmating.
Determine what your weaknesses are and fix those. Reviewing your games is critical. Ask others to critique your games, especially if you're noticing a problem that you're having a tough time fixing.
It does help to learn some openings for white and black, or at least systems.
Additionally, try a variety of openings to acquaint yourself with the most pawn structures you possibly can. The character of any and every game you play is determined by the placement and symmetry of the pawns. Moreover, every player has their own personallity and playstyle that meshes well with some opening structures and not others.
I recommend learning some motifs in the sicilian and to try the scandinavian in e4. But virtually any opening is viable until 1500 or so. The Kings Indian Defense against d4 or c4 is an easy setup and difficult to play against for people at your level.