88AlphaSierra I'm interested to hear your game plan since I'm in much the same situation as you having joined chess.com last month. It looks like you were improving in the Rapid games but not playing them as much recently. I have found I get into time trouble regularly with the 10 minute games, but with the 30 minute games I always have as much time as I feel that I need.
What's a realistic rating to shoot for in a year's time for a beginner?
Sort:
Jan 1, 2021
0
#43
I’ve been playing for about a year now, but joined chess.com back in October. I’m 1200 in Blitz and a 1450 in rapid (I’ve been very consistent) I think that learning from scratch and playing for a year you should be able to get at least over 1000.
u might but keep in mind, im pretty sure that chess.com is putting u with people who r in the same rating area as u. but even so, if u r a good player and see ur opponents strategy then u should be able to win and u might get a rating of at least 1500-2000 depending on how good u play in ur first year. and also study openings it will help u.
I started playing Chess in March 2019, so a little under 2 years ago - and in that time, I’ve climbed from 600 in blitz to around 1700 blitz. (Fluctuate between 1650-1740)
The climb from 1500 to 1700+ took just as long for me as 600-1500 did lol!
ChessCoolTime wrote:
I'm just curious, how much time do you spend on chess each day? I've played for about a year as well and my rating goes up and down between 900-1050. I'd love to reach 1500 this year and appreciate the pointers. 😊
I'd say on average I spend about 2 hours a day doing puzzles, watching lessons on here and youtube videos, and playing bots and people.
KevinOSh wrote:
88AlphaSierra I'm interested to hear your game plan since I'm in much the same situation as you having joined chess.com last month. It looks like you were improving in the Rapid games but not playing them as much recently. I have found I get into time trouble regularly with the 10 minute games, but with the 30 minute games I always have as much time as I feel that I need.
My problem is I constantly have honey-do lists stuff and father/kid stuff to do and I don't want to get into a game at any point where I'll be interrupted. It's all a balancing act with time. I only play 30 minute games. I've tried 15 minute games and it's too stressful and I make too many mistakes (I make too many mistakes in 30 minute games!). So I'm sticking to "rapid" for awhile.
shmulihacohen wrote:
Peer reviewed literature on goal setting suggests you set an open goal rather than a fixed goal. That way, you avoid failure and are more motivated to improve. An open goal can be, “by end 2021, I would like to be a much better chess player than I was at the beginning of the year”. Operatively, the clause “ much better” allows you to define and manipulate the goal as you progress during the year. Good luck!
In my personal experience, I do not prefer open-ended goals as it doesn't hold one accountable. I follow the SMART principle -- Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. So, something like, "I will achieve a chess.com rating of 1200 by Dec 31, 2021" jives with me much better. I can then set a series of sub-goals or a roadmap to get me there (e.g. play a minimum of 6 30-minute games against a person each week, average of 2 hours of chess practice/study each day, etc.).
TestPatzer wrote:
To put this into perspective: imagine a new martial arts student asking, "What's a realistic belt color that I should expect to have in a year's time?"
Any decent instructor would point out that this is entirely the wrong question to be asking.
It's extremely interesting that you mention that, because I've done Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (a style of submission grappling, for anyone who may not know) for a number of years and I know exactly what you mean. I've also had black belts tell me, "The best way to get to black belt is to not be focused on getting your black belt," which I totally understand their thinking on that one. While I still want to set a goal that is concrete, I am also taking the approach of focusing on one game at a time, doing the best that I can, learning from my mistakes, and reinforcing what strong points I may have.
The other thing is this...and this also pertains to chess and martial arts...but I used to fly AC-130s as a navigator for the USAF. It was extremely difficult to learn, particularly as the navigator. Academically, it's the most difficult thing I've ever done. And instructors would tell me, "Don't worry about mistakes at this point. Study hard, put in the effort, and one day you'll show up to fly and everything will just click. My BJJ instructor would say the same thing. Sure enough, with both endeavors, flying and grappling, one day I showed up after putting in months of dedicated study/practice, and things just "clicked." I just "got it." And everything started falling into place real quick while my capabilities took a major leap forward.
I'm feeling the same thing will happen with chess as well. Only time (and dedication) will tell.
88AlphaSierra wrote:
TestPatzer wrote:
To put this into perspective: imagine a new martial arts student asking, "What's a realistic belt color that I should expect to have in a year's time?"
Any decent instructor would point out that this is entirely the wrong question to be asking.
It's extremely interesting that you mention that, because I've done Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (a style of submission grappling, for anyone who may not know) for a number of years and I know exactly what you mean. I've also had black belts tell me, "The best way to get to black belt is to not be focused on getting your black belt," which I totally understand their thinking on that one. While I still want to set a goal that is concrete, I am also taking the approach of focusing on one game at a time, doing the best that I can, learning from my mistakes, and reinforcing what strong points I may have.
The other thing is this...and this also pertains to chess and martial arts...but I used to fly AC-130s as a navigator for the USAF. It was extremely difficult to learn, particularly as the navigator. Academically, it's the most difficult thing I've ever done. And instructors would tell me, "Don't worry about mistakes at this point. Study hard, put in the effort, and one day you'll show up to fly and everything will just click. My BJJ instructor would say the same thing. Sure enough, with both endeavors, flying and grappling, one day I showed up after putting in months of dedicated study/practice, and things just "clicked." I just "got it." And everything started falling into place real quick while my capabilities took a major leap forward.
I'm feeling the same thing will happen with chess as well. Only time (and dedication) will tell.
I did Judo for most of my teens, and BJJ for only a year (with Nick Gregoriades school - Roger Gracies' first given black belt). I was put with beginners to help them improve - men, women, kids, etc.
Belts most certainly are a level of progress and having standards. In fact, one of the things I liked most about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu over Judo in that regard was the level of accountability when it came to that.
I can understand people not being goal orientented, but I cannot understand telling someone who is not to be. I do not recognize the mindset in martial arts tbh. You literally have to travel all over the United Kingdom to progress in these disciplines; it doesn't just happen by accident one day when you least expect it minding your own business.
Seriously baffled by the point of view. The topic creator is asking simple straight-forward questions.
88AlphaSierra wrote:
KevinOSh wrote:
My problem is I constantly have honey-do lists stuff and father/kid stuff to do and I don't want to get into a game at any point where I'll be interrupted. It's all a balancing act with time. I only play 30 minute games. I've tried 15 minute games and it's too stressful and I make too many mistakes (I make too many mistakes in 30 minute games!). So I'm sticking to "rapid" for awhile.
As a father also, I play daily games exclusively because it doesn't matter if I get interrupted. I really suggest it for those that want to play chess, but whose lives are not going to involve chess clubs, OTB tournaments, an aiming for titles.
Jan 1, 2021
0
#52
@88AlphaSierra is the OP (the thread owner). The thread is about whatever topic he wants to have discussed.
Didn't realize that the guy was the topic creator. Quite funny.
My disagreement would not have been voiced otherwise.
kartikeya_tiwari wrote:
ChessCoolTime wrote:
kartikeya_tiwari wrote:
88AlphaSierra wrote:
I just started playing chess toward the end of November and earlier this month I decided I would commit 2021, to the maximum extent practical (being a father of 3 and a full time teacher), to becoming the best possible chess player I can be.
That being said, what's a reasonable rating to aim for within a year's time? 1200? 1500? I paid for a platinum membership here and I've mentally committed to about 2 hours a day to studying, practicing, and (naturally) playing chess. So far it hasn't been difficult because it's so enjoyable. But I want to write down some measurable goals and wanted to make sure I'm on the right track.
I'll provide more details of my gameplan if anyone is interested.
Thanks in advance!
If you want to invest only 2 hours in chess (it's a very low amount of hours per day) then i highly, highly suggest analyzing stockfish games on your own... get on stockfish, play some random moves, stop and THINK about a position, take 30 minutes if you want to and then go over all that you have thought about and what u have missed.
Doing that i believe you will reach 1500 in here relatively quickly
I'm just curious, how much time do you spend on chess each day? I've played for about a year as well and my rating goes up and down between 900-1050. I'd love to reach 1500 this year and appreciate the pointers. 😊
To be honest i only play / analyze one game per day(spending about 1.5 to 2 hours on them) but i used to spend around 4 hours a few days back but recently have been busy.
In my opinion what a lot of people don't do is "think" in chess and that's why they stop improving at a lower elo. We are truly blessed to be living in the era of stockfish which basically gives you the best move for each position so it's important to make use of it.
Pretty much all of my general chess understanding comes from chessnetwork youtube channel, hands down the BEST teacher of chess on the internet. However i started seeing improvements only after i combined those understanding with increasing my visualization. Basically, start stockfish, play two or three opening moves and then stop and think about your next move, take as long as you want. Think about what the opponent can or can't do, then make your move and see what the engine's reply is. If you were able to figure out the engine's reply beforehand then well done. However if you see the engine playing some other move then think about why that move is played and what if instead of that the engine played your move(the move you thought it would play before you played your move)
I strongly believe that one hour spent on analyzing and visualizing ONE sharp position and thinking about possibilities is way more beneficial than playing a full game
Great! Thanks! Now I have to research how to use stockfish and find the chessnetwork channel on youtube... I really am new at this, but thanks for the tips! 😁
Jan 1, 2021
0
#55
wyoav211933 wrote:
88AlphaSierra wrote:
KevinOSh wrote:
My problem is I constantly have honey-do lists stuff and father/kid stuff to do and I don't want to get into a game at any point where I'll be interrupted. It's all a balancing act with time. I only play 30 minute games. I've tried 15 minute games and it's too stressful and I make too many mistakes (I make too many mistakes in 30 minute games!). So I'm sticking to "rapid" for awhile.
As a father also, I play daily games exclusively because it doesn't matter if I get interrupted. I really suggest it for those that want to play chess, but whose lives are not going to involve chess clubs, OTB tournaments, an aiming for titles.
I totally stopped playing daily games because it felt like a choir after a year or so. Sometimes you would get busy and timeout or just not feel like playing every day. Also daily ratings are way inflated next to any other time control ratings because many wins are just timeouts by people that quit chess or the site for whatever reason. To discover your true rating you really have to play time controls even if long ones. When I was diligent with daily and made all moves on time for months my rating in that was 300 points above my OTB USCF rating. If you just want a great rating for show or to brag to your friends, then play daily, I was 1900 when I played that 5 years ago and I'm a slightly better player now. I hear you though about playing when you are a dad or at times you know you will get interrupted; I never play on days when my wife is off because it is almost 100% certain I will get interrupted.
88AlphaSierra wrote:
I've also had black belts tell me, "The best way to get to black belt is to not be focused on getting your black belt," which I totally understand their thinking on that one. While I still want to set a goal that is concrete, I am also taking the approach of focusing on one game at a time, doing the best that I can, learning from my mistakes, and reinforcing what strong points I may have.
If you're going to set goals, SMART goals are the way to do it. However, I think that focusing on a goal is best done in situations where you have a great deal of control over the outcome. An example of such a goal is "I'm going to read <such and such textbook> and complete all of the exercises in it by 31 March 2021."
However, a competitive goal such as "I'm going to win <such and such tournament> by <the end date of the tournament>" is less amenable to this approach because you don't control the actions of your competitors and thus you don't control the outcome (although, of course, you influence it).
The relative and competitive nature of chess ratings makes a goal such as "be 1500 rapid by 31 Dec 2021" more like the second type of goal than the first type in my view. In situations like this, I find it better to be process-oriented rather than goal-oriented, since one has full control over one's process. Sure, have a SMART goal in the back of your mind as a target, but focus on the daily process that will lead towards achieving your goal. (If, after some time has passed, you judge that you're not making sufficient progress, then, sure, adjust the process.)
On chess.com, a process-oriented approach might look something like "every day, do a survival mode puzzle rush, do 5 rated puzzles, play two 15|10 rapid games, and analyze them." In your BJJ example, it might be "go to the dojo x times per week and practice for y hours" rather than "earn my <color> belt."
The benefit of a process-oriented focus like this is that you can have a daily victory without relying on the actions of others or events outside of your control.
The book Atomic Habits by James Clear goes into more detail on this topic of process-oriented vs. goal-oriented thinking. While I've found the idea of SMART goals to be useful, I've also gotten some value out of this idea of a process-oriented approach, particularly when working on mastering a new discipline.
True
Jan 2, 2021
0
#58
I've just hit 2000 in rapid, which was a big goal for me. But I'm 22, been playing since I was 5. I could definitely give novice adults a good game after a year, so... 500? 600? I was competing in tournaments, and probably 1000 rated after 2 years, based on my ECF grade.
I acutally recently bumped into a scoresheet from 2005 where I had a long, hard game with one of my contemparies. He's an International Master these days...
We all improve at different rates. I didn't really do bookwork, I just played, and that's one of the big differences with the masters - they study, hard, and it pays off.
That said, you can learn plenty from just playing, and it's more fun... it depends on what you feel is right, at the end of the day.
I also started as an adult because my son picked up chess. so far I have been able to get to 1700-1800 on chess.com and about 1650 uscf (only played few live tournaments though) in about 2 years time. I study by
* watch youtube videos from Daniel Narodistky (speed run series and end game series are the best), ChessCoach Andras (inside my mind, the coach reacts series)
* play games on chess.com and lichess, and analyze the game carefully afterwards, especially the first 10 moves or so, I want to try to avoid making any mistake in the first 10 moves.
I've got 1400 daily and around 1200 rapid going from completely zero, not knowing the rules, and playing against the toddler AI on chessmaster lol. Could have been a fair bit more, if I knew what I was doing and didn't stop/start/stop/start.
Some tips
- practice tactics. Use the trainer here or on chesstempo. Make it the main part of your practice. Very important!
- research some openings and then stick with a narrow few openings, if you want to maximize your time and gains. Don't change constantly.
Link is playing up. Search "The United States Chess Federation - Greg on Building an Opening Repertoire (uschess.org)". Pick two and stick with them.
- learn endgames sooner rather than later. Learn them from books that treat them like puzzles so that they are fun, relaxing, and you enjoy doing them (such as Pandolfini's endgames and Chernev's endgames).
- analyze your games. Play slower games so that your moves mean something and each game means a bit more
I like your tips. They are very usefull. Thank you