Best Resources for Improving

Hi all,

I've been a happy chess player for years - I really enjoy the game and like reading about it. However, I see in all my years of playing I've bounced around 1200-1400 for turn-based matches. Today I'm at exactly 1200, which is depressing considering I've been playing on this for five years.

Are there any "best" resources I can look at for improving my game? I've gone through some of the "study guides" that have been posted on here, and I've gone through a lot of lessons on chesscademy and watched other videos, but I simply can't manage to improve my game :(

I'm no authority on this.

But out of the books that I've peeked

I've found jeremy silmans most enjoyable

This will cause a backlash as I never realized he was disliked to much until I started frequenting these forums (still not sure why) but his books are a joy to read.

I'm sure there are better out there to advance purely on skill but I hate material that insider

His jokes may be cringe worthy at times, but other chess books I've tries to read and play through bore me to the point of stopping.

Not to mention some books just seem way Over my head. Just material is extremely accessible

Even his reasess your chess book can be enjoyed by someone fairly new at chess.

Lessons and videos are not enough, you also need to do puzzles/exercises. Looking at your profile, I see that you haven't used the Tactics Trainer much. Try using it regularly. You could also solve tactical puzzles at chesstempo.com. If you are serious about studying chess in order to improve, consider purchasing Yusupov's nine-book course.

I agree, tactics are a great way to improve. Often we lose games simply because we didn't see what was directly in front of us. Working on that helps. Also, I got an app on my phone called Chessbase that tells you the statistical success of each move you do. It is a great way to learn how to seize a statistical advantage from the very beginning of the game.

Maybe you'd be up for some chess lessons?

hit tactics... hard

I also agree with Synaphai. But also I suggest you to play against engines (slightly stronger than you) on slow time controls: they are more punitive than humans (with the same strenght), so if you analyze your losses you'll find the gaps on your thinking process and probably improve. 

Learn the Opening Principles

Study Tactics

Basic mates

Tac tic training helped me