Give it to me straight. If I am under 1000 elo after almost 2k games w/ studying, am I simply dumb?

@mikewier. thank you for looking over my games.

i watched some chessbrah videos before and his advise was to always trade when you're a newer player, and I've always suspected that was bad advise but maybe it's still influencing me.

i'm usually better about pawn structure, but the other things are probably true in all my games. i try not to trade without reason, but my reasons are probably bad. if I am overlooking hanging pieces, then I really need to [redact] myself because that's simply not acceptable for anyone with a functioning brain. i know it's happened though, and I often make mistakes when I can't mind a move and then panic because of time. but again, the problem isn't that I make mistakes, it's that I'm too dumb and/or mentally ill to improve at an acceptable rate or at least it feels that way.

i don't have any clubs near me to join. no one i know plays chess.

The nms advice is fine if you want to the coaching or otb training rout but if you don't want to do that my opinion you should experience in both slow chess and speed chess time control 10|0 is a weird time control tho so if you wanna do speed chess 3|0 5|3 are completely fine you won't know what to do with your extra 30+ min unless you learn time management anyways so my personal recommendation is 5|3 (even tho I don't play it ) the most important thing at your less is not the blunders you make but punishing your opponents mistakes if they make a bad move in the openings actually take the free piece don't try to apply opening principles in that situation (tho you should usually use opening princibles like control the center etc ) the most important thing is just continuously try new things are strategies chess is a pattern recognition game so you always need to find new patterns as well

Uuugggg eeewwew always trade is bad advice I understand simplifying but e if you wanna punish your opponents when they make mistakes that can cause blindspots which means not trading(sometimes) also in 10|0 or games without increment you wanna keep peices on the board for as long as possible to make your opponents think more trl

Try studying the underlying ideas, and actively look for them(Skewers, pins, discoveries, adding pressure to a isolated pawn). I broke through 1300(on a different account) just due to avoiding blunders, so double check that as always. Also try to have some strategy throughout the game (e.g. kingside attack, pushing h-pawn). About trading pieces, I wouldn't recommend that due to the sheer amount of blunders at the ~1000 level.

slower time controls are better for your nerves you can think more which is better for your game style longterm. when i switched i went up 200 points. Its how i got to 1200, also 2000 games isnt that many games i think i had about the same amount played at 900

Oh yeah, and if you find yourself ending games with 5+ minutes, spend some time on each move. I sometimes spend a minute on just one move in 10|0.

Honestly not even blundering you can get away with being down a full queen until about 2000+ (see hikarus botez gambit speed run) but yes you need strategies moreso then anything else usually you just have to play and try new openings and positional ideas playing moves aimlessly won't help at all also try to win even when you blunder 800s are worse then you think

I somehow fixed that issue with playing some bullet (of course not too much ) if your less scared of getting low on time you'll play slower but that doesn't happen for everyone

when I'm locked I play 10|0, when i'm not focused, I play 3|2. timeout is usually not the issue for me cuz I blitz out moves under 2 min and I try to be level on time w/ my opponent.

it did work, I got 2k on my main recently (tho my blitz is like 1600)

Honestly that's also gothsmchesses advice if you pay attention lol the only thing I get annoyed at is "blunder checking " you should 100% think before you move and try to see if it's a mistake or not but how you gonna blundercheck when you don't see that it's a bad move

dagvmshawk I have been studying tactics, I guess I just don't see them in game. I'll try longer time formats but I'll be 100% honest, it doesn't feel like my problem. It's easy to say "just don't blunder" and of course I agree, but what always happens is I play a move and then 0.1 seconds later I realize it was terrible, I lost continuity or something

thats fair, i've been playing for half my life. also, I checked your 90 day chart, you have roughly 10 games a day, burnout is real in chess. especially tilting.

Try both longer and faster formats speed chess actually helps with nerve in longergames to

Everything that #18 said.

The way to improve in chess is to put serious analysis into the position you are studying or playing. This translates into spending a good stretch of time on the position. Definitely play long time control games, even if only against bots.

True if you wanna do ten games a day do blitz that's about 1 hour-2 hours which is around how long you want to be playing or studying anyways just analyze your games afterwords first without stockfish then doublecheck you don't want the engine thinking for you

If you don't do that with a chess club or otb actually not as helpful as you think the important thing is to analyze your games after and try to figure out what your blindspots are (also improving on everything anyways ) the helpful part in the nms post is talking and learning from stronger players but playing a mix of long format and fast format is important playing only classical isn't great advice but neither is playing only blitz since you focus on different things depending on the time control

I don't have stronger players irl to learn from, that's why I watch videos and play online

Boy, that's a lot to take in. From what I've read, it seems that your problem is not with chess, but with your psychology around it. I'd like to go into more detail, but frankly, I think it's best if we talk about it without all this noise. By all means, reach out to me through chess.com messages; I'd like to have a chat about this!

My Dear friend,

Firstly... PLEASE, don't be hard like that on yourself.

With Chess.com and Lichess put together, I have played something like 600 10+0/10+5 games, but more than 4000 games, adding the other lesser time controls (bullet, blitz). Believe me, they are practice too, as are puzzles.

My rapid rating is only 999 (and very less than that in the other time controls). All that I wanted is to go over 1000, but I can't get myself to play another game, since I am so "close" to 1000. I was feeling horrible about this as well, and there are mean people out there, on FB or other social media groups that will use such thing as an online chess rating to hurt you. I started playing OTB small amateur tournaments (10+2). Every tournament, I do 50 to 60% victories. When the opponents I defeat ask me my online rating, they just can't believe I am only 999 rapid. I say "nine hundreds" and they are listening, pretty naturally "nine-teen hundreds", untill I repeat "zero-nine-zero something".

There is something that happens in online games that doesn't in OTB. I can't tell if it is the visual stuff, the anxiety or whatnot. What I can say is that in these OTB games I am super chill and high spirited, and even when I lose (40 to 50% of the games) I don't feel a bit of "rage" or frustration.

There is no such thing as "chess is not for you". Maybe "professional chess", just as "professional basketball" and "professional football". Professional play is something build, at the most, since early teens. Excepcionally, someone gets great starting later. But the standard is: if one is not started as a kid, it is already too late to ever become a "professional". And guess what? 99.9999% of people playing chess right now ARE NOT even close to any "professional" level. I am fine with this, and you should be as well.

Enjoy life, a life with chess as your beloved game. One day I will go over, or fall from my 999, and the Earth will still be going around the Sun, my wife and cat will still love me. You will still be loved as well, whatever your "online chess rating" is.

Cheers!