What % of time to devote to play vs study as a beginner?

I think one just needs to get really good at tactics to reach 2000. Until then, there is no need for too much review and all that.

I don't mean to say that there is no need for review at all. I am just saying that too deep analysis is not required. Just knowing the major blunders(to avoid them in future) is enough.

That's a great opening post. Good research, well presented. I don't really have much to add to it. The 3-1 ratio that Lasker gave seems reasonable to me. You certainly don't need books by the way. I've never read a chess book. To be honest, I haven't done any of these things much. Also, the Saint Louis Chess Club videos on Youtube are fantastic. Particularly those by Ben Finegold.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbRkqqawcTo

I think one must review 10% to 15% of playing time. If your game time was for 5 min. Then, it requies just a 1 min to 30 sec review. If your game time was for 30 min, then it requires just 5 min review. If your game time was for 2 hrs, then it requires 15 min review. If your game time was for 4 hrs, then it requires 30 min review. 

If you're only spending such a short amount of time reviewing, you probably aren't reviewing as well, or as deeply, as you could be.

The better you review, the better you improve.

Most games are won or lost at some crucial moments or some blunder by one side. That requires just a short review to locate the blunders or the crucial turning points. Beyond that, I think a too deep analysis is not necessary.

 I guess studying positions has its advantages in understanding the chess board & pieces & patterns. But thats different. Thats not review. Thats a positional study.

Hmm... One interesting thing that helped me improve my chess when I was your level was to stop play chess online. I quit chess.com for about 6 months and thats when my playing strength jumped from 1100 to 1400. It might be coincidence but after I took the basic lessons from chess.com, playing online really didn't do much to help me improve. What did help me improve though is going to chess tournaments with my school, and playing in a club. IMO the best way to improve is to interact with other chess players. You can't learn by sitting in front of a desk clicking your mouse. You can't really analyze your games with your opponent online, and playing online just doesn't bring out your full potential as a chess player. For all we know the opponent could have a chess engine in front of him. When you lose online you feel discouraged and feel overwhelmed, when you win online, you feel your opponent wasn't playing at his best or he just blundered. Online should be for practice, not for learning. Thats just for me at least. When you play with an actual person in front of you, your win gives you confidence, knowing that you both gave it your best. When you lose, you can learn from it since you know both of you gave it your all. I know your situation is a lot different than mine, almost the exact opposite, but what I suggest is finding a chess partner. Someone that is atleast at the same level as you or better. Someone that you can regularly meet with like a co worker, your neighbor, an old friend. As for studying itself, thousands of tactics a week. Thats all you need and basic opening and endgame especially in the sub 1200 range. Play something simple and strong like the Ruy Lopez. Playing real, USCF rated games is probably the best way to improve as a beginner IMO

You're not 1400. You're not nearly 1400. You're lucky to even dream about being 1400. In fact, your current strength is lower than that of the OP. I quoted all I could manage to read of your post.

Thanks everyone for the replies, this is exactly the sort of feedback I was hoping for.

I think my new "study plan" will be to try and continue with tactics drills, play 1 game per day (30 minute per player time controls) and analyze it (trying to keep the 3 to 1 play:study ratio mentioned earlier).  From there I'll try to work in some extra study using chess books on free weekends and such.  Ideally I can get some extra games in on free weekends to, also trying to get more OTB time in at some point. 

This is going to be a shift more towards "quality over quanity" compared to what I was doing.  Jumping immediately into another game because I was frustrated by a loss or elated from a win without stopping to see why the result ended up that way is not helpful.  Funnily enough I had the same issue with tactics.  I think slowing down to see the why behind my loss or failure at a problem is going to be vital to removing roadblocks to my improvement. 

Bingo!

Someone sent me a message with regards to this thread but when I clicked on it it then vanished.....I was using the Android app at the time.  I can now find no trace of it in the app or in my web browser.  Someone else who messaged me regarding this thread had 1\2 their message cut off so I'm wondering if there are some bugs in the mail system here.  Anyone else had problems with this?

Anyway, the message was something about working together on chess so whoever sent that if you're still interested, message me again :) .  

Two hours playing for each hour studying.

he could still be 1400 in that club rating is relative. what he said is spot on advice there is no substitute for joining a real-life chessclub if you want to get good at chess

Books are great, but def not the be all end all. Especially at your level, where almost anything you do will improve your game.

Highest yield FREE stuff at your level:

- Chesstempo tactics. Free, but do a lot more than 5 per day. Shoot for like 25 per day, for a long period of time, and you'll definitely improve at tactics.

- Youtube chess videos, especially John Bartholomew and chessnetwork. Even if you don't play blitz, you'll get a ton of practical play knowledge and examples by just hearing their thought process in blitz games. They rarely require deep 5+ move combo tactical ability - they win mostly by getting a superior positional edge which is then easy to convert or easy for their opponent to blunder in. 

- Watch online BASIC endgame videos and then PRACTICE them against a computer (there are many websites that do this. This is super important! At your level, people always assume they can easily win Q vs K endgames or even Q+P+K vs K endgames, and then they proceed to stalemate or do it so inefficiently that they lose on time in blitz and standard games. You should know these so cold you can do them mindlessly against the computer. With premove on, you will be able to win these endgames even if it requires 15+ moves, even with <2 sec on your clock in blitz. 

Well, my chess.com rating doesn't reflect my actual rating, I don't play much or like to play serious games on this server. I pretty much only use the forums, and maybe have some fun with bullet games when Im half asleep in the morning. My USCF rating is 1204 for quick but I'm still in my 9th provisional game and going up by about 50 points every 3 games I play. Its an estimate anyway but my playing strength should be around 1400. Anyway, my rating should have nothing to do with the forum or my advice.

(I've won 7.5/9 points against other 1200 players in OTB, so I think I'm atleast 1350. If your talking about FIDE then yes, Im probably not 1400.)

Hello my name is Sultan Gümüş

You need a small basic opening structure to avoid getting into trouble early on and to have a pattern and goals to reach for. My advice is simple ones like London as white, French Fort Knox against 1.e4 (Rubinstein later) and Dutch Leningrad (Stonewall with 1.-e6 later) against all other frequent white moves. It also gives you initial confidence in a game.  All these openings are pattern openings with repetitions. Learn them well.

Before every move you do ask these questions to yourself:

1.are there any threats? If so neutralize them.

2.is my development finished? If not make a developing move.

3.can I improve a piece or a pawns position? If so, do it.

Sooner or later you will get winning chances.

And play through a lot of games with your openings and with good comments.

Always set up a real chess board to get a real feel for chess and for concentration.

If you have 10 hours a week: 2h for the openings, 2 for playing through other games, 5h for playing yourself and 1h for going through your own games.