Getting better on a budget?

And by budget I mean, well, free. I have enough bills, and other hobbies that cost me enough money as is. But Im a competitive person and I always want to be better at things. Including this game, which I do enjoy.

Just wondering if anyone knows some sites or videos or anything that could help someone like me get better. I watch ChessNetwork and kingscrusher on youtube a lot, and they have given me plenty of help. But Im just wondering if there are other places I could be going or things I could be doing

I use ChessTempo.com for tactic training and Chessgames.com to review master games online.

Some of the great classic books by chess masters from the romantic era have defaulted copy right and are in the public domain and can be downloaded here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/1677

I think Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca is a great book!

i use chesstempo myself. and i know of chessgames. so I guess my question is how exactly do I review games? what am I looking for?

And thanks so much for that site. Ill definitely be checking out those two books

When you reiew master games, you are trying to figure out what moves they made.

Join a group that includes strong players who are willing to play unrated training games against weaker group members.

Try chessgym, too.

what group would that be? somehow i cant see many 1800+ players playing me for the point of me getting better

just bit torrent pirate that shit whatever you need bro

I used to study master games in depth, now I tend to play through them a few at a time. The idea is to familiarize yourself with typical plans in different openings and patterns that you start to assimilate over time. The only games I study deeply now is Solitaire chess in Chess Life, which gives explanations to why X move is best, what's the ideas, and if another move is also a good alternative or not. I find that more useful.