my current goal is 1800. i dropped a little when i first began (down to around 1000), but then i studied and worked my ass off to get up to around 1600 currently. took me about 2-3 months to get to this point (but i don't usually play more than 10 games at a time max - i'm waiting until i get a little better at handling a lot of games). once i hit 1800 i'll tell you how long it took me to get there.
How Long Did It Take You?
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sounds good trigs.
Nov 1, 2008
0
#4
It isn't a rating that I am looking for. It is an improvement in my game. Obviously if my game improves then my rating SHOULD go up. At any rate to make my improvements I recognize my weaknesses and work on them. When I first started I was a cautious positional player. But, I missed lots of tactics. My gear has shifted to almost attack at will. Then I realized that my endgame was lacking and I worked on that. Then I started getting more wins in attacking games where I would shift to an endgame advantage after the attack was "diffused". In terms of rating my next goal I would say is to play 2000 strength. I think tactically I am probably there. My endgame still definitely needs some work and I need some lines to specialize in the opening against certain openings.
It took me like 8 months, but I never give up and I got the rating of 1800, Is just about efort and studing. You dont know how frustrating was trying to at least reach the 1000 but thats a old memory
Took me a month... chess is a unique hobbie. Practicing an instrument or studying for a test for an hour or two, usually doesn't make you noticably better. It takes time to improve. Chess is quite different, studying the game or an hour or two can make you markably better, especially at the beginner level.
I got stuck around 1250. Got a book, learned a bit, studied, and in the next month, im up to 1600. Now, I'm stuck again, but I'm still learning.
Good luck!
I am in the process of getting decimated right now. I have learned alot about my weaknesses though. I am a fairly strong player throughout most of my matches, often gaining material and positional advantages. Then, somewhere in the transition to the endgame, my brain goes on an excursion somewhere, and I begin making brutal errors. Worse, I don't even see that they are errors until the second I click submit. So there you have it. The secret to beating me. Hang in until the endgame, and wait for the mistakes to begin pouring in.
Actually, I do know how frustating it can be to get back up after you have been knocked so far down. I was down to about 800 shortly after joining the site and way about to just give up chess. I kept plugging away at it and now I am working to get even better. It may take me awhile but now I am shooting for about 1500.
Nov 1, 2008
0
#9
Actually I just joined the site. I quickly won a number of games and went up to 1800. Now my rating is starting to stabilize between 1700 and 1800 so I guess that's where I am right now. I'm hoping to rise to 2000 in a while but I'm hoping to at least get above 1800 again and stabilize.
Other than that, I don't really play for rating. I play to get better. Rating is just a way to see how you stack up to the rest of the field. It helps you pick opponents of about your skill level and lets you measure yourself up to them.
I don't focus on my chess.com rating and have no rating goals here. After taking a break from chess, I usually suffer a shameful loss or two. That gives me the motivation I need to do four hours of tactical training to whip myself back into shape, and then I do reasonably well. But it takes 6-8 weeks to get back where I left off.
I think my rating was never lower than 1200. My dream is an 1500 rating. For the moment I have this rating but I'm losing a couple of games so my rating will be lower agin.
But I will fight to get my 1500 rating again
Nov 1, 2008
0
#12
i agree that ratings shouldn't be the most important thing - improving your game is. that being said, how do i know if i've improved or not? well i guess it's how i play against other opponents. but i don't always play against the same person whose rating never changes. how then can i figure out if i'm improving or not? oh yeah, i use ratings to establish that. so yeah, ratings aren't important except that they are used to establish one's progress/improvement in relation to your opponents' (which is the only thing one can compare one's skills against).
so by saying that i want to reach 1800 doesn't mean that when i get that number that's it. it represents the skill level i am currently aiming for (hence my improvement is what i am concentrating on).
I agree that a rating is really just a number used to gauge your progress and skill level, but you have to admit that there is a sense of joy, even relief when you finally reach a goal that you were shooting for. That goal ultimately shows that you are improving your game and that in itself is just more motivation to keep pushing harder to get even better.
i never dropped just went to about 1400 and have been playing there ever since
trigs> that being said, how do i know if i've improved or not?
There are many measures. If I practice and review what I already know and learn something new, I've improved my game. Another way I identify improvement is by looking at the severity and types of errors in my games, and how I fare against opponents I've played before who aren't improving. Ratings are useful, too. I focus on my OTB rating.
trigs> ratings aren't important except that they are used to establish one's progress/improvement in relation to your opponents' (which is the only thing one can compare one's skills against).
Instead, I compare my skill and knowledge today vs yesterday.
Deep in our soul
A quiet ember
Know it's you against you
It's the paradox
That drives us on
Let's face it. Most of us will never become masters of this game and most of us will never have a really high rating either. Most of us are lucky to come out of some of our games with our dignity still intact. We came to this site to play chess and most of us thought that we were pretty good chess players only to have our rearends handed to us by some 8 yr old in another country! Our ratings dropped from that baseline of 1200 to some god awful number that we never want to see again. We then begin the process of trying to learn from our mistakes and really trying to improve our gameplay in order to get back above that 1200 rating mark. For some of us, this process happens fairly quickly and for others it seems like it takes an eternity to achieve this level again. I know that it took me about 7 months to get to that point again, I am just wondering how long it took others to reach this goal. It doesn't necessarily have to be a rating of 1200 either, it can be any rating on the spectrum that you have been trying so hard to achieve. How long did it take and what did you do to change your game to get there.