Advice from average players

Hey guys im looking for some chess advice to help me get to 1000 which has been a goal of mine for a little while now. Please note i dont want any advice from players 1500+ as I feel like since they were usually very naturally gifted they dont truely understand what we go through. any help would be appreciated

Take your time, I think that's the best advice I can think of.

Practice tactics, a lot, until you stop hanging pieces left and right.

One thing I did, when I was starting, is to install a chess game software in my phone and I played starting from the lowest level to highest. Then I review my games, especially the ones where I lost, on what went wrong.

To develop my strategy a bit, I always keep playing chess puzzle which force me to think deeper. Some puzzles took me a couple of minutes but I always try not to click the hint button.

After all, it's all about practice and your patience to learn. 

Play loads of games your subconscious will remember them

I think all of this advice is great. Thanks guys

Take your time and really THINK before you move is the best advice for a lower-rated player. Of course, it goes without saying that playing slower games (and online games as you do) is far superior to bullet and blitz and rapid.

Get a couple of books of tactical puzzles (not advanced ones) and study them over and over until the covers fall off. You want to get to the point where you recognize the tactic at a glance.

But if there is one other thing that you can do very enjoyably, it is to play over dozens and then hundreds and then thousands of master-level games. The explorer feature here on chess.com will let you do that. For a dedicated site that has nearly a million such games, go to chessgames.com. There you can search by player, by opening, by year, etc. This is not just my advice, by the way. The great chess teacher and author Jeremy Silman has been giving this advice for years. Click through the games slowly enough so that you can see what was done and what threats were made or parried, but no slower. Your goal here is not to analyze every single move as the GMs or annotators might do; your goal is to play over lots and lots of games to get a feel for the flow from the opening through the middle to the end.

Finally, get one or two really good instructional books and really study them. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess" by Wolff is fantastic, and Irving Chernev's "Logical Chess Move by Move" is on everyone's top ten list for beginners.

There are many other steps along the way, and the study of endings and openings cannot be ignored, but you will be well over 1000 in no time if you practice these simple things.

You can tell from my rating that I am not a gifted player, but doing what I have recommended above has helped me a lot.

I've gone from 900 to about 1250 in the last couple of months, and one thing that helps tremendously is avoiding simple blunders. In most games at the 900 - 1350ish level, maybe even higher, the game is generally decided on a simple blunder, a hanging piece, or some other piece winning tactic. So what I would advise, is before you move, consider whether the piece you're moving is safe, whether the spot you put it allows some kind of tactic, and if the opponent's previous move is threatening something. If think for a couple extra seconds about that, it will help a ton.

Here is what I advise:

1. Ignore the rating.

2. Make your goals related to the game itself. For example, if you do not know how to develope all of your pieces within 9 moves, figure out how. Or, understand why the Bishop pair is so important or why Knights are strong in a closed game. Or, understand the advantages of King-side castling vs. Queen-side, and what opposite castling does for you. These are the goals you should make for yourself; they are more valuable than a rating.

3. Play stronger opponents who are willing to explain their moves to you during or after the game (an unrated game obviously).

4. As mentioned, tactics. But, don't only guess at them. Ignore the timer and try to understand why you succeded or failed the problem.

5. Patience.

6. And most of all: enjoy it.

Thanks guys the comments mean alot. Ive been playing chess about 6 hours day for the last month or so without much progress so these comments are really appreciated.

I looked at a couple of your games. Start with counting (I'm not joking, it's not what you think), then work on general tactics and the suggestions of the other posters. But counting comes first in your case.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140615153114/http://www.chess.com/article/view/counting-vs-counting-material

Well, you said only players under 1500.  I assume you mean at blitz because that is what most people play here.  I am over that in slow, but anyway...

One thing which is helping me a lot, I have started to analyze EVERY SINGLE GAME I play.  I used to analyze quite a bit (more than most people, I think), but only games that I thought I made serious errors.  Well, now I do EVERY GAME, and my rating has gone up like 150 points.

There are tons of mistakes in every game, and they are the same kind of mistakes over and over.  Honestly, you probably can't believe it until you do it and see just how many mistakes (and I don't mean 5 deep mistakes that you'll never see, I mean super obvious mistakes).  So after every game, look at it with a computer.  Prepare to be embarassed by your terrible play, but at least you will learn something.

Also, whoever said "avoid simple blunders" is right especially in blitz.  I now basically say to myself:  1)  Did my opponent just blunder?  Pause just a second because sometimes you are so sure they wouldn't just hang their queen that you don't even see it.  2)  If so, exploit.  3)  If not, how can I make my position better (a quick answer--there isn't a lot of time in blitz).  4)  Check is the move I am thinking of a blunder (just obvious stuff like "oh, yeah, he can get my queen!" or "oh, yeah, mate in one!"  5)  If not a blunder, play move.  Eventually, you're opponent will probably blunder if you don't first.

In slow, I play much more carefully, assess the position, come up with candidates, pick the best one, etc., but in blitz I pretty much try to use the "blunder less than my opponent" method.

I would analyze each move you make before you make it.  Ask youself, "what does this move do?"  If it doesn't set up another move or attack or defend something, why are you making it?  You'd be surprised how many less pieces you leave hanging when your moves count.

Check into openings and learn a few.

Rather than play 6 hours a day, spend some time studying too. This (my) study plan is working well for me.

http://becomingachessmaster.com/study-plan/

be nice too your mum

Thanks for the tips guys. sinc e i posted this i have inproved a little bit however im still pretty stuck. I guess every little bit counts

Avoid outright blunders (hanging pieces, allowing simple tactics, etc.).  Before making a move, try to find your opponent's best response.  You'll be at 1500+ in no time!  Good luck!

Thanks joe. means alot

Proud to say i reached 900! 1000 here i come

Keep in mind that since chess is very diverse it takes gradual improvement in all areas to improve overall, which means it takes time, maybe several months, for your brain to connect the dots and make an actual leap in playing ability. All the other specific advice looks good for a player at your level.