How to Gain 100 Points in Tactics Trainer?

I don't know. Any ideas? I am stuck in the 1200's.

Get better at tactics? (heehee!).  I don't know, I used to go up and down with those things...gaining (or losing) 100 points was pretty simple to do in a single session (I don't think such a small change up or down is very significant).

My rating, which is now slightly higher than yours, went up rapidly after I turned off the timing bar.   I thought that would hurt my rating, but I found that I made fewer errors after I no longer had the pressure of watching that bar change from green to yellow to red.

a good point!

I am not talking about the ups and downs of training. I am talking about a real 100 point gain in performance, real soon, where I go from an average of 1200 to 1300.

To be a respectable club chess player some day, my life ambition, I can't remain stuck below 1400. I figure that 1600 would be the minimum number it would take to beat some of these guys at my club. They are good!

I need the better tools (tactics), bigger hammers and bigger nails to take down the big boys at my club.  Grrr!

The only people I will be able to beat with a rating of 1200 are my elementary students.   

I removed the timing bar a few weeks after I joined chess.com. A long time ago - about 2 years ago.  Member Since: Sep 5, 2009

To be a respectable club chess player some day, my life ambition, I can't remain stuck below 1400. I figure that 1600 would be the minimum number it would take to beat some of these guys at my club. They are good!

Have you played against them ? Maybe it would be a good idea to try it and analyze the games. I mean if that's really your goal, why not give it a try ?

Excellent question. You may be asleep as I type this response. It's too bad the time difference between us is so big, as I always look forward to hearing from you. 

I have played against the guys at my chess club on several occasions over the summer, and got completely blown off the board by most of them. The rest were just a bit better than me. Most of the guys are of middle age or older and have played chess a long time.

Some have Expert ratings, and others participate in USCF tournaments, both local and in Las Vegas.  Basically, the club consists of battle tested tournament players. There are no new players to chess that I can compete against in this club.  So, for now, the internet provides the best source for competitive play at my skill level.

This part relates to the discussion of tactics.

At the club there is this one guy rated about Class A who doesn’t study opening theory, nor cares to know the names of openings.  Zero interest. He told me that he spent a lot of time going over puzzle books.  Good grief…this guy is good! He has an eagle eye for attacking chess. I’ve played against him, maybe four times, and have yet to make it past ten moves without having a completely lost position.  So, he did inspire me to work on my tactics and checkmates. My complaint is that the progress seems to be going at a snail’s pace.

I am not getting any younger, turning  52 this November 8th.  Will I only gain 100 points in tactics trainer per year?  At that rate, I won’t hit 2000 points until the age of 60! And 2000 does not translate into Class A strength. Maybe Class C? 

I would be very happy to hit a playing strength of Class C, because I would be competitive with some of the players at my local chess club. But will I need to wait until the age of 60? Dang!

Perhaps you need to review why you're getting problems wrong.

Is it because you see a move that you think is correct, but it isn't?

Is it because you can't find a solution so you just guess, not having faith in your move?

Is it because you're too slow?

If you can figure out where the problem is, we'll help you solve it.

Knowing the problem is a big part of the solution.

I don't guess, but when I don't know the answer, I make the most reasonable move, since I can't click on a quit button to see the solution, and then go over the problem about three times after I get it wrong.

I will do a few tactics training problems right now, and post the ones that I get wrong. Maybe you and others can spot my weaknesses. Excekkent idea. Thank you.

As the Beatles sung:

"Would you still need me, would you still feed me, when I'm 64?"

Tactics problems I couldn't solve just a few minutes ago. My low back is killing me right now, but I still should be doing a little better on these puzzles. I still struggle with seeing mates in 2 or 3, even though I get a fair amount of practice in this area. I get a feeling that mate is there, especially when the enemy king is exposed, but I can't find it.

Man, I love the beatles, but when they sang on tv when I was a kid, I couldn't stand the screaming girls. I could hardly hear the Beatles sing. Why do girls scream at concerts? They should be thrown out for that annoying behavior. O.K., so I am a grump today.

I am very fortunate to have a loving wife who takes care of me and spoils me. I'm not sure if I will make it to 64. That would be pretty cool. 

I reset my tactics trainer history on a regular basis, so it really doesn't matter if my performance today takes me all the way down to the mentally challenged level of 100 rating points.

I'm going to take as much time as I feel I need to find the solution to each problem, even if I end up spending 30 minutes on one of them. I've got nothing better to do, as I am attempting to rest my sore back.

Here's the time I spent on each problem during my first two sessions. I am going too fast on some of the problems. Time to slow it down.

Exactly. Try not to make a move until you are absolutely sure about it, you've looked at defenses of your opponent (often, players miss that their opponent can check or checkmate their king).

Also, your sessions seem pretty long. Maybe you should put in a short break. When you miss many in a row, and are frustrated, you're not in the right mindset to train. Take a walk, chess.com will be here when you come back (I promise).

You might also want to try a tactic trainer that doesn't take time into account, so you'd concentrate better. Some offer custom sets, so you can practice the tactical motifs you get wrong often. Advertising other sites is naturally disallowed on chess.com, but google it.

Thank you.

I often forget to get up and walk around, or simply do something different for a while.

Regarding custom sets, I do have an account with another tactics trainer where I have custom settings saved just for practicing checkmates. I and others have mentioned this site, as well as other chess sites often in our discussions, with no complaints from chess.com.

Chess.com offers many services. It's my favorite chess site, but it can't do it all, and no site that I know of does it all. Anyway, chesstempo is another site for tactics training that is often mentioned where I have a gold membership.

I wish I could remember more tactics patterns as well as I know this one. Maybe it is because I thought it was a clever one, so it stuck. I also get the smothered mates on the edge of the board correct, all the time. It's a pattern that I can easily see. I did miss one today in the center of the board. Ouch!

wha dose that have to do with ches really dud

plese write back

Check all of your forcing moves in detail, if you don't already. Sing it with me: "♫Check all your checks, captures, and threats, oh yeah♫"

 i need help  help