Chess epiphany

Is it possible to have an epiphany in Chess?  A sudden understanding or realization that results in a significant improvement in play?  I won recently against a much higher rated player (about 800 points higher) and now I just played a game with zero mistakes or blunders which is rare for me.  It's as if my victory against a stronger opponent gave me confidence to say "okay I can do this".  My last game against a similarly rated opponent I stayed cool as a cucumber and it felt like I was just playing against a tactics trainer.  Normally I get more tense around low rated players like myself because I feel like I should win.

It's a realization that half the game is psychological and staying neutral and just playing the board objectively, not worrying about your opponents rating is as powerful as any tactics or strategy.

Do you think it's possible to make a leap in play, or does improvement always come in small increments over time?

I'm very driven to become a much better player than I am currently rated at.  I have a strong engineering and maths background so I feel like I have the intellectual aptitude to become a strong player,  my biggest handicap perhaps is that I started playing chess a few months ago (in my mid-30s), and not when I was a little kid.  A life goal of mine is to become a titled player, so I'm interested in how strong players experienced advancements in their play?  A little at a time? Or big jumps?

I think it's certainly possible to have a jump in strength.  Being able to play the board and not worry about your opponent's rating is also quite helpful.

Have you done anything to bring this about? Read some books? Taken some lessons?  Something else?

I have a busy job so I don't get much time to read books, but I do study videos and listen to chess lectures on youtube when I am driving or running at the gym:

IM John Bartholomew videos, Ben Finegold lectures, Chess edge and Remote Chess Academy  youtube channels.  I think the chess edge videos on the six power moves were the most helpful to me as they can be applied in any position - using pins, forks and checks, controlling initiative by attacking the queen, little guy harassing big guy, etc...  Also remote chess academys "to take is a mistake" rule helped me - letting my opponent capture my piece so I can recapture in a way that develops a piece instead of always being the one to initiate trades that help my opponent develop

I would like to complete the chess.com lessons section and study a comprehensive course like Jeremy Silman or Sylmans however you spell it, but I have trouble finding the time to fit it in with having a busy career.  Youtube videos seem to be the most accessible as I can listen to them while I am driving or doing something else like working out.

I play in focus mode so as not to see the oppo's rating.

Sometimes we see moves that we do not always see. Consistently playing with your new vision is the goal, more will be revealed. 

This is the game I am referring too - according to maximum analysis I played 19 excellent moves, 5 good moves, 0 inaccuracies, mistakes or blunders.  It gave me a CAPS score of 96.63 which is equivalent to 2400+ level play supposedly.   Also my opponent showed a few mistakes and inaccuracies but zero blunders, so he actually played well too for a player rated under 800! most under 800 games are rife with blunders. 

I know from this I have the capability to play at a much higher level than what I am currently rated - It is just making it consistent and not getting in my own way with compulsions and doubts that has been challenging

That was a good game. Ignore the CAPS comparison to 2400.  They haven't really done much with CAPS since it was rolled out.  I think it hit with a big thud.

Your opponent did not play well.  Losing the exchange and a pawn by move 8 has to be owed to bad play, whether they call it a blunder or not.

I was saying he played well for a 715 rating, at least he found a way to recapture instead of totally hanging material which kept it a mistake and not a blunder (also when I post my win against someone I try to find something nice to say about their play, I'm not trying to brag or draw attention to another players loss ).

the experts think there is two kind of inspiration sources : a backward inspiration , and second :  a vertical inspiration sources , from your over self !

As they say, get over your self 😎

it is not always a plus that you was beginning to play chess when you was a kid ; many GM play in a closed system of chess experts, and they never get inspiration from the vertical inspiration sources , the play all of them the same tactics , there is nothing news to find in the established chess world , exactly also what Bobby Fischer  said  ! What we need in the chess world is some new , something never seen before !  I believe that chess is much more than we see today , our grandmasters only repeats what they have learned as kids , in that closed system , like fx youths on university , backward inspiration !

we need vertical inspiration  !

we have heart that before  : repetition 

I come close to the mark! I jumped from around 1500 - 1800 in a short period of time. I spent 3 months in a row solving 3-4 hours of tactics a day when I was a 1500. At the end my rating decreased a little. After a short break from chess, I returned and my rating jumped up to 1800. 

I didn't feel any different/stronger, but rather my regular opponents started to feel weaker. 

I don't think chess improvement is linear (at the class level at least), and I think we need time to process the patterns/info we pick up before it can be useful in our games. 

exactly what we can expect , also in the future  !

Thanks for your input-  what are your aspirations?  Do you seek to continue improving? Break 2000? Become a titled player?

I took a break after hitting 1800 to prioritize grad school, but I've been back on the grind stone for the last 6 months or so.

I set goals for myself based on completing some definite amount of training each day rather than reaching a rating. That being said, I doubt I'll stop before I hit 2200 (however long it takes).

Right now my goal is to complete the woodpecker method! I've been studying it on chessable, and I'm through 1000/1150 problems of my first set (while also doing all of chessable's review sessions).

What about you?

 Op writes : "I'm very driven to become a much better player than I am currently rated at.  I have a strong engineering and maths background so I feel like I have the intellectual aptitude to become a strong player,  my biggest handicap perhaps is that ..." -

 your belief that good chess play is synonymous with intellect.

Op asks: "Is it possible to have an epiphany in Chess?  A sudden understanding or realization that results in a significant improvement in play?'

Sure, why not? Might be worth 50 rating points. But ask yourself, are you playing only to gain points? If that's the case, your epiphany will be short lived and soon forgotten.

TP asks: "are you playing to gain points?"

Points/ratings are a thing, for a reason. Some people's ratings are low, despite ability. These ones lack consistency or the mother of all skills: repetition, as it were. Conspiracy, is also a thing, tho we shan't theorize.