do I have a chance ? from 1706 to 2000 in a year !

which is also playing with initiative:) initiative isnt the same as attacking the king. the guy who "calls the shots" is the one with the initiative even if its in the endgame

I don't know about YOUR experience, but in MY experience improving my openings and play with the initiative was absolutely essential for me reaching 2000. Speaking of positional play, the main thing I improved was my play with a space advantage, but that only really showed in a few games.

I absolutely did get very strong or winning positions out of the opening (with both colors) partially because I improved my knowledge of theory, but MAINLY because I finally figured out how to handle the initiative and not be passive when my opponent hesitated. I am not, and never have been, an attacking player. I reached 1800 playing stuff like the Fort Knox Variation of the French, and trying to survive mating attacks from KID specialists.

For me, even now, I rarely beat players over 1800 because of tactics. Under 1800? Yes, they blunder a lot more.

The tactics are only for the finishing blows (for me, those are rarely mates...they're decisive gains in material).

I don't think it's realistic to expect to outplay higher rateds (I stipulated 1900-2200) positionally, long term. Get a good position out of the opening (or one where you may be slightly worse but know exactly how to play), take the initiative and keep it till you win or draw a higher rated.

Ding, Ding, Ding. Thank you very much.

Heh, the bickering between 2200ismygoal and harding makes sense to me because players rated 2000 still have a lot of holes in their understanding... so there are many ways to get there.

I thought their advice was good, and I also thought it was probably colored by their own experience with chess.  Maybe learning an opening inside and out really gave harding the edge.  Like someone else pointed out in sicilians for example this can win you a lot of games vs an unprepared opponent.

And of course you can also get to 2000 if all you did were tactics.  You don't need to know any rook endgames if you win your games before move 30.  (I prefer a more inclusive approach myself, just making a point).

The most valuable advice here IMO is that you should work at it every day, and go to a lot of tournaments.

Why, do you have a bet?  Is this a race?  Does it matter to you what I (or anybody else) think your chances are?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then no, you're probably not gonna make it. 

Hey wafflle, weren't you the one who was saying this stuff was all relative?... 

I think the UTD, a university in texas, offers a chess scholarship for those rated over 2000.  Don't know how competitive it is though... maybe some guys rated 2400+ win them every year :p

Haha, yes

Based on my tournament this weekend, I know this weak 1750 who got 6/7 and got lucky in like 5 of his games, which was frustrating as I was better but got 4/7 but played solidly.

So that being said, he went from 1750 to 1960 in 1 tournament!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Frustrating as I know he is very weak and that I can destroy him any day of the week.

My advice is that it is possible, just have one GREAT tournament and your rating will skyrocket. 

P.S. Now I know why sometimes people say "rating is just a performance in the last year or so." Because this guy is not very good, and he just had one good performance and his rating is very good now but I know he is very weak.

whats your rating now seribianchessStar ?

if you want to do chess in college and possibly get scholarships for it...

http://www.chess-class.com/scholarships.html

Why is a 2000 rating so important to you? *shrug* 

I seriously doubt there's a set recipe for improvement (expecially by THAT much). I'd personally recommend finding your weak points (playering against stronger opponents help here), creating a plan focused around improving on said weak points, and then practice practice practice. 

lol...yeah, it's how I got in to mine. 

I got in a year from 1400 to 1850.1400 was just too low.Whats the name of the weak player with a high rating?I need some extra points lol.

No it doesnt, hopefully I wont be the same with my CM thread lol.

Battlefield 4 is soooo great, Im a bauss at it, but chess calls me.

Why the hell did I play battlefield 4 again, violence is wrong!

Getting to 2000 rating is not too difficult. I did it.

What one fool can do, another can.

With only those 2 books?

Agreed. My openings are garbage, I don't bother to fight for the initiative (my usual opening is Nf3 then g3), I make silly blunders... and I made 2000+ OTB easily.

You need good tactics skills, a few simple rules of opening play (NOT specific opening variations, although they would be useful), a basic knowledge of endgames, and a rough understanding of the relationship between Pawn structure and middle-game plans. Everything else is just a bonus.