STUDY END GAMES NOT TACTICS.

Tactics are important, but without positional sense, you're just throwing random punches.

I can’t do that because I can’t afford that.

I try my best to go threw this process. There are things I can see they are doing but sometimes they will pull out of left field plays that throw me for a loop. One thing I struggle dealing with is pawn storms where they don't even develop. Another thing is I will get these games where I can't find anything even when I'm actively looking for a tactic. When I can't find one I try to calculate so far ahead for a super complex tactic because I feel stone walled by my opponent. This results in me losing because the calculation was overly complex. Like 5-8 move calculations that fail. I have reached a 2040 puzzle rating on here, and this is not the only place I do tactics puzzles. Yet my rapid rating is only 700 and I exclusively play 30 min games.

Comments like this make your credibility fall off the cliff. This is just complete nonsense disguised as chess advice.

ImTrashLOL_91, you're last comment sounds like you're panicking. Don't make mistakes because you can't see anything. Sometimes you need to wait and see what develops. It's not a bad idea to wait for an opponent to make a mistake. Players often overextend when attacking.

Thought just occurred to me that you're not calculating your opponent's tactics. Is the tactics he trying sound? Puzzles should help decide on his tactics as well as your own.

You're responses are entertaining lol

Four points there.
I agree with the last three but not the first one.
How doing tactics puzzles works out depends on how its gone at.
Tactics puzzles ratings are almost meaningless because that rating system rewards points even if somebody took far too long.
Plus - anytime somebody knows they can't solve the puzzle then they can just log out and not lose any rating points.
Tactics ratings mean very little.
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Like so many things - there's perspective.
Playing puzzles - playing speed chess - and chess at slower time controls.
Looking at chess videos like by GM Smirnov.
Balancing endgame with middlegame with opening.
Balancing tactics with other things.
Discussing chess with other players.
Going over one's own games and other games.
(suggestion: there's a notion that going over GM games and other master games - doesn't help beginners and novices and intermediate players much if at all. It leads to playing by rote. Not good. )
Much better to play and study within yourself. That level will change (maybe).
Its the same with many things.
Don't try to study differential equations in calculus - if you don't know any geometry and other basics.
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Taking frequent good long breaks from chess to keep it balanced.
But that's where something very convoluted can happen.
Which concerns the motivations behind playing in the first place.
'Keeping it balanced' may be exactly what many players don't want.

A good point. Broadening the perspective.
Related - using your opponent's clock time.
But there seems to be a notion in the forum that 'endgames' and 'tactics' are separate.
They're not separate. There's a gigantic overlap between them.
There's a related misplaced notion that tactics and positional play are 'separate'.
They're not either.
And a move can be both tactical and positional.
You can play tactics to get more tactics.
You can play tactics to get positional.
You can play position to get position - and to get tactics.

hi

to be good at endgame you need really good calculation and tactics too

That can be said about any part of the game, but endgames really need a certain level of understanding. I can be the best calculator in the world, but if I don't know what to calculate, I'll be blind in the endgame, or I will have to spend a LOT of time to find certain moves when a regular person can find them in a few seconds.

well for me, I still struggle to apply the concepts when in a complex endgame because my calculation skills and tactics limited me, but i do agree that endgame require a lot of study and understanding

Also, it might be because its easier to teach tactics then positional play
As someone who has some hours (not many) on teaching beginners, it's really hard to teach positional chess when they don't even get simple tactics and hang pieces every few moves despite having ~30 hours of lesson (not including playing, reviewing games etc.)

Yeah, positional play is pretty complex on the most part, but things like outpost squares or bad/good bishops, and other things on those lines can help beginners improve. But things like pawn play, pawn majorities/minorities, and positional advantages/disadvantages is definitely too complex for a beginner to understand.

It definitely is easier to teach tactics.
With positional play it is so often not clear 'what to do?'.
Lasker - the 2nd world champion - talked about it in his manual of chess.

Correct.
But there's a misconception about 'calculations' too.
Failure to distguish 'observations' from 'calculations'.
Observations are about looking at what's going on in the position in front of you and in future positions you're considering.
Calculations are about preparing and comparing carefully worked out sequences of moves in order to select a move.

The title is a little misleading and sort of broad. Tactics are a MAJOR factor of the game, considerably just as important as the end game, or positional play. To strictly put one over the other is the wrong way. A balance of these aspects is perfect as it creates a well-rounded player who's good in every part of a chess game. Clickbait title, but I do agree with OP's original statement on #1, as just doing 'more tactics' will not significantly improve your game, and you must also improve your skills on the other aspects as well.