Help... I am stuck at 1500, what's next.

I am currently rated mid 1500's on both chess.com and the mainsite I play on and I seem stuck. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on what to do next.

Here is a small break down of my chess:

1) I have never read a chess book, but own several (I am good at collecting ;))

2) I do not do tactics every day - I have tried but every time I do my ratings (and Play) get worse.

3) I do not do any studing at all and never have... just play - mostly 30 mins. but on chess.com I play 10 min a bit out of bordome.

I go over every game I play - ussually about 20 mins that is the only thing I do to get any better- I have watched a few video's, read excepts of books, gone over a couple of master games through the years but nothing serious. 

I do not have opening reprotore - 1.e4 develope the peices, castle,  and dont do anything stupid - thats about it. (and honestly that is fine with me)

I bought chess strucures - a grandmasters guide by Mauricio Flores Rios last month ( book number 137) but that seems a little over my head to get any real use out of.

I really just want to get to the 1700's now and am willing to put in a little work - not to much since I put in zero now. Mayhbe a half an hour to an hour a day.

I have heard every idea in the world - play master games, do tactics, read such and such does any one have an idea that works. 

I used GM Secerts by (I foprgot who - nice little video and practical program) it added a solid 100 points in about 3 months - that is what I am looking for something that I CAN DO that will prodeuce results.

Thanks

I have the same problem with taking showers and keeping up with the Joneses' hygiene.

The reality is you don't need to be higher than 1500.  Everyone is inflating their rating by making improvements they will just forget once they stop.  It's like a muscle.  Magnus Carlsen is number one because he works hard, and when he stops, he will atrophy like Kasparov.

It reminds me of that story, Flowers for Algernon. You make yourself good at something and then all of a sudden you find out your manmade attributes get taken down by natural processes in the body and mind. 

In this video (especially from 33:00 minutes on), IM Rensch says that 1600 players just blunder less, and that's how they start to get better, by developing discipline and dealing with their opponents threats rather than making their own. 

http://www.chess.com/video/player/amateur-game-review-chess-crimes-1

I guess Karpov agrees:

“First learn to not lose, then the wins will come.” – A Karpov, World Chess Champion, 1975 – 1985

1. That video only shows a few minutes, no mistakes shown.  I'll get to that later, but the point is you have to pay to see more and nothing was given in the intro except a sales pitch.

2. It would seem less biased if the link went to another site, perhaps one that shows exactly what would help.

Oh I have the answer, yes I do, click here.  Oh, I forgot to mention, I don't have the answer and you have to go elsewhere and pay someone to get the answer.

Sounds like a politician after he wins an election, "Who me?  I promised that to get your vote?  Well, golly, we're just gonna have to raise taxes then and cut spending.  Now, you don't want that do ya?  What? You want your vote back?"

3. The openings referenced assume someone already knows them.  If he is going to introduce a Philidor he should mention something about it (what is white's objective, what is black's object?)

The other openings were not illustrated.  It makes one wonder what they would get if they did pay to see the video.

4. The original post was simply to troll.  They weren't seriously looking for an answer.  If they are that lazy, they aren't going to worry about threats on the board.  The couch not breaking from their huge beer belly is more a threat.

what do you mean by stuck? How do you know you are really stuck? did you go from your initial rating to the one you have now in 1 huge jump? Give it time and if after a 6m to a year period  you see no improvements then ask this again . 

You'll eventually be 1300. If you play in an OTB tournament, you'll get a rating near 1100.

Of course, you could improve. You could read a chess book or do tactics problems or otherwise pull your head out of your ... 

You are not trying very hard to improve, so why should you improve??

I agree with Zyrab and Ponz (both strong Players).  why do you think you 'deserve' a higher rating without putting in some effort at studying?!

are you really saying your want a magic pill for chess improvement that doesn't involve hard work?

I am a patzer and I'm not going to imply that I am anything else... but I think you can either STUDY, PLAY for FUN (and screw the number) or MOVE On to something else. 

take for example Video games- do you have to genuinely develop any new skills to play video games?? no. It is part movie, part running a maze; (play-die- play again knowing whats going to happen...)

there's no study in video games.  tons of fan participation.  both my kids are AVID about videogames.  pretty much totally gave up on chess.  they weren't interested into studying, either.  Videogames make a lot of sense if your simply into gaming.  but there is no sense of accomplishment... because there really is no accomplishment.

and this accomplishment is why I'm working on my chess.  maybe as an old(er) man; its limited.  but gosh darn it- I'm going to try.  I've already learned alot.  and that means , obviously, alot of studying- and all those activities you don't want to do.

well, reread it a little.  maybe the tone is a little off.  you do say you are willing to do "some" work to improve.

but hesitant 'limited' efforts are pychologically doomed from the start.  I'm not saying you need to spend 8 working hours working on your chess; THAT would be silly and pychologically doomed as well.

but you ought to approach the task with a little more enthusiasm.

as for What to study, exactly.  THAT is the magic question.   I think a program should be individual for everyone.  try a little of all kinds of things; what helps?  what doesn't.   you ask "what works?"- if it didn't work for some people it wouldn't be suggested!  some things are mentioned alot , because it works for most people.  (tactics puzzles for example).

--I'm thinking, take a little free time. try tactics.  work through your book. see if helps. 

the key is the attitude.  an "improving" player- not just an idle amusement.  all that stuff about accomplishment. IMHO.

I give OP credit for going over his games. That's big.

But not studying any books, openings or anything.

Fuggedaboutit.

Sorry, getting better is a matter of hard work and hours well spent studying the game.  The old adage that to be great at anything, 10,000 hours of work must be put in applies here. 

There are numerous ways to improve at chess, that of which work for various individuals, as described in "all roads lead to Rome."  When you say that you've heard "everything" from others that describe methods for improvement, the truth is, they do help you improve. But you need to put in the effort. One hour of chess per day would probably not cut it depending on your goals.  Then again, if improvement is not for you, just have fun and enjoy the game.

I was at my chess club time in the 1990's and also stucked at DWZ (= Deutsche Wertungszahlen) ratings at around 1200 playing a lot in the chess club and tournaments, but without any study activities of chess. The difference with you is that I always thought that I wasn't capable of working with chess books, because I found it a "dry matter". I restarted playing chess in 2014, this time online correspondence chess with all the possibilities a computer and the internet can offer. What happened was that I lost all my first correspondence chess games, but I read in the internet from other people with higher ratings that they studied chess and I could also read which books they studied and in which ways they practised chess to improve their performance. This gave me the ultimate kick and inspiration to start studying chess seriously from basic chess books, practising online tactics and endgame exercises and  taking lessons at chesscademy.com for fee. Now I have the opportunity to improve! But without such input, what should I (and you) expect? 

1600.

1NaturalDisaster makes an interesting point. A few weeks ago, I hit just under 1600 and then went on a gigantic losing streak that put me back to the 1550 range. Perhaps next time I make a leap, I'll consider that week-long vacation! If anything, I can at least say I sat at "just-under-1600" for more than 1 hour!

Tactic is a key for sure. You can't expect blunders from your opponent when you go higher. The higher you go the less blunders your opponents make. So you need to trick them with more sophisticated tactics and at the same time not to allow tricks on you. Tactics training is definately the way to improve so that exercise as often as possible. I personally enjoy solving tactical puzzles. It's fun to try to break my record. Also do not forget about opening. At your level it's not necessary to learn very deeply but at least you need to be familiar with some ideas and seek comfortable play after 10-15 moves. Also i can add that it's important to find openings that suit you. In past I played Petrof, Karo and KID. Now i'm playing sicilian and slav and my results become better because these openings suit my temper better.

Hey ChessAnalyst

I hear you man. I was stuck at 1500 for a while. One of the things I found 1500s struggle with is coordinating pieces to set up your opponent for combination attacks or exploiting weak points

I put together a detailed guide on kind of what to expect at each elo level check it out.

From a 500 ELO Beginner to a 2000 ELO Expert

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-players/from-a-500-elo-beginner-to-a-2000-elo-expert