Hello 1600 club!

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Avatar of ofircohen_16

I have recently passed the 1600 line and I'd like to ask you how can I stay here and continue forward?

I noticed that far less games now end in the middlegame, or in a very one sided endgame. Most games now get to an endgame in which the material difference is 1 or 2 points, if any at all. My biggest weakness is in the endgame. Today I lost 3 games, all in the endgame.

I'm good with tactics, and about alright with positional stuff, as long as it's in the middlegame. The endgame stage violates all principles and has no organized structure. Everything is all over the board. The bigger issue is learning endgames is extremely boring. If anyone can suggest a method of learning it without it feeling like math class, I'll be thankful.

When I can't get a huge advantage in the first 40 moves, the game will proceed into a roughly equal endgame, and that's where the nightmare begins.

Advice about openings and middlegames are appreciated too. 

Avatar of amilton542

I love my end games! The more you know about end games the easier it is to simplify to get the end game you want. Since the king now becomes an attacker you need to know about triangulation, opposition, how to win basic pawn king endgames, how to draw with pawn on the side king endgames, how to draw with opposite coloured bishops with two connected pawns, how to win with same coloured bishops and pawn, rook end games such as philidor etc etc.

I'm currently in the middle of an end game in CC right now. Pawn majority for me on one side, pawn majority for them on other side, kings in the centre. I havn't encountered one of these before, I'll do it my way then see how it should have been done after them game ends then I'll know what not to do next time round.

Avatar of ap_resurrection

im a little bit behind you but noticing that the stronger players i play (1500+) also dont blunder much and the wins, if they come, either come from one move failures on their part or finding and converting advantages, like weaker pawn structures - i usually dont just blow someone away with a tactic, though it happens more than i think, so i still make a point to look always

Avatar of chester6

Congratulations, ofircohen!  I hope to be crossing that threshold very soon, myself.  I hope some higher rated players come along and give you more qualified advice, but in the meantime, you might want to check out the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis's youtube page.  They regularly post videos dedicated to endgame instruction, and I credit them with a large portion of my knowledge and awareness.  They're also a lot easier to ingest than the same information in books. 

I think I'm a little stronger in the endgame than opening and middlegames.  It allows me to recognize opportunities to bail out into a winning endgame from scary middlegame positions, and I've gotten some wins against players who outplayed me early in games.  If you strengthen your endgames, I'm sure you'll stay above 1600, and begin to progress past that as well. 

Good luck!