Ok well I looked at the last 3 games that you lost. My opinion...In all 3 games you made at some point strategic errors eg. capturing at the wrong time/the wrong way so that your opponents position was improved. In all 3 games you also made tactical errors eg. straight up hanging a piece or allowing a knight fork. Of course in the games you lose you will have made mistakes. I notice that in all 3 of these losses at 15/10 time control you had loads of time left when the game finished. I suggest you really take your time to think carefully about your moves and ensure particularly that you don't blunder material. This takes effort and concentration so I guess it's up to you how much losing is bugging you and how much mental energy you want to put into it. But there is no point playing 15/10 if you're going to end up with a completely lost position after 50 moves with over 13 minutes left on your clock. Use that time to come up with better moves!
How to get my rating higher
... I've read books, ...
What have you been reading? Some books are more helpful than others.
"... If it’s instruction, you look for an author that addresses players at your level (buying something that’s too advanced won’t help you at all). This means that a classic book that is revered by many people might not be useful for you. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (2015)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-ever
... I play casually, I've never competed, I've never been officially rated. When I do play chess online or on an actual board ...
"... In order to maximize the benefits of [theory and practice], these two should be approached in a balanced manner. ... Play as many slow games (60 5 or preferably slower) as possible, ... The other side of improvement is theory. ... This can be reading books, taking lessons, watching videos, doing problems on software, etc. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627084053/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman19.pdf
Ok well I looked at the last 3 games that you lost. My opinion...In all 3 games you made at some point strategic errors eg. capturing at the wrong time/the wrong way so that your opponents position was improved. In all 3 games you also made tactical errors eg. straight up hanging a piece or allowing a knight fork. Of course in the games you lose you will have made mistakes. I notice that in all 3 of these losses at 15/10 time control you had loads of time left when the game finished. I suggest you really take your time to think carefully about your moves and ensure particularly that you don't blunder material. This takes effort and concentration so I guess it's up to you how much losing is bugging you and how much mental energy you want to put into it. But there is no point playing 15/10 if you're going to end up with a completely lost position after 50 moves with over 13 minutes left on your clock. Use that time to come up with better moves!
I've analyzed those games on my own and yes each of those games I did make stupid mistakes and your right, I didn't use my time wisely. I've always thought 15/10 was plenty of time for me. Yes, usually I make an error because either I move too quickly (which I have a really bad habit of doing) or I don't calculate something properly.
Which games are you looking at?
You have done a lot of tactics but you need to change the way you are doing them. You are averaging less than 20 seconds a problem. Slow down, actually try to calculate and not just go by intuition.
Likewise, have you actually studied in any sort of systematic way?
I am rated about 1600 in daily, usually 1550 rapid but I just picked up chess again recently. If you'd like, I would be more than happy to play several daily games with you and try to identify some problems. My schedule prohibits many rapid games, but I could probably do one sometime.
I've been playing chess for almost 25 years now. I play casually, I've never competed, I've never been officially rated. When I do play chess online or on an actual board it feels exhilarating to me. I love the game. However I feel like my rating should be higher then what it is on here. My rating fluctuates between 1050-1200 roughly and I can't seem to go higher. I love the game, and I'm doing all the puzzles I can every day, I've read books, I even had a chess teacher when I was younger. But I feel like no matter what I do I can't break the 1200 mark. I know the ratings don't mean much on here other then to pair you up with an opponent at your level, and I also know that there are way better chess players out there then me. But I feel like at my level I should be at least in the 1300's. But sometimes it's a dumb move, sometimes my opponent just makes a really good move and gets lucky. Sometimes it's me being arrogant and see a player 200 points lower in rating then me and I think this will be an easy win and they end up beating me. I think this could just be mind over matter, but I just want other opinions and advice. Please be mature in the comments and don't just say "get good" or something like that. I'm looking for intelligent advice.
99% of what you are playing is blitz, and bullet. I'm not sure how you expect to improve when all you're playing is fast time controls.
Others have pointed out that you're making tactical mistakes. You should address this. I've recently discovered a set of two books that I think would suit you.
Predator at the Chessboard: A Field Guide to Chess Tactics by Ward Farnsworth
Predator at the Chessboard: A Field Guide to Chess Tactics Volume II by Ward Farnsworth
There are lots of tactics books so what makes this set of books special? The VERY in-depth explanations which dissect the positions, pointing out the features which allow a tactical shot to spring forth. The explanations are in words, LOTS OF WORDS, not a stream of variations with little or no explanation.
This set of books is aimed at the novice to intermediate player, ie YOU.
I'm a 1600 USCF player and plan to use this set of books to review my basic tactics, then ramp up my tactical study in a gradual way with Coakley's excellent "Winning Chess ... for Kids" books, followed by "The Complete Chess Workout" two-book series by Richard Palliser.
Everything I've mentioned above is aimed to sharpen your tactical awareness which is where you seem the weakest.
Tactical training and strategy study should go hand in hand concurrently. To get a handle on strategy for your playing strength, I'm going to recommend Winning Chess Strategy for Kids by Jeff Coakley. Don't let the title fool you. It's one of the best educational books out there.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708110137/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review570.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708234342/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review754.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233332/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review621.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093240/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review911.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094112/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review332.pdf
maybe try to do a longer time control to deepen your understanding about how the game works more deeply for some times, after that you can go back to your 3 min 1 min game and you'll play better. that's pretty same with what everyone was saying. by playing.
before i was just like you, stuck in 1000-1200 with only playing short time control
i have done that (the below) and my rating rose a few hundred in 1-2 month
I've been playing chess for almost 25 years now. I play casually, I've never competed, I've never been officially rated. When I do play chess online or on an actual board it feels exhilarating to me. I love the game. However I feel like my rating should be higher then what it is on here. My rating fluctuates between 1050-1200 roughly and I can't seem to go higher. I love the game, and I'm doing all the puzzles I can every day, I've read books, I even had a chess teacher when I was younger. But I feel like no matter what I do I can't break the 1200 mark. I know the ratings don't mean much on here other then to pair you up with an opponent at your level, and I also know that there are way better chess players out there then me. But I feel like at my level I should be at least in the 1300's. But sometimes it's a dumb move, sometimes my opponent just makes a really good move and gets lucky. Sometimes it's me being arrogant and see a player 200 points lower in rating then me and I think this will be an easy win and they end up beating me. I think this could just be mind over matter, but I just want other opinions and advice. Please be mature in the comments and don't just say "get good" or something like that. I'm looking for intelligent advice.
Just learn the basics. Should get you to about 2000 easy
and you are only 200
This guy is a well known troll.
He always does the same thing. Lowers his rating to ridiculously low(200-500) , then plays a perfect game and asks stupid question , pretending that he doesn't know how he won. Then he posts more stupid questions , usually with openings that clearly blunder and he pretends that he doesn't understand if they are good or not.He always asks stupid questions like "what is tempo?" " what is en passant?" "what is castling?" and if you answer more stupid question will follow(like "what is material , can I cook it?")
Check his games and you will find a lot of them resigned in the first moves , even in winning positions. He is a sandbagger(cheater) and an idiot with serious inferiority complex. All his previous accounts were reported and banned but he always opens a new one.
Don't bother!
Cheat.
Now the mods can lock it
I've been playing chess for almost 25 years now. I play casually, I've never competed, I've never been officially rated. When I do play chess online or on an actual board it feels exhilarating to me. I love the game. However I feel like my rating should be higher then what it is on here. My rating fluctuates between 1050-1200 roughly and I can't seem to go higher. I love the game, and I'm doing all the puzzles I can every day, I've read books, I even had a chess teacher when I was younger. But I feel like no matter what I do I can't break the 1200 mark. I know the ratings don't mean much on here other then to pair you up with an opponent at your level, and I also know that there are way better chess players out there then me. But I feel like at my level I should be at least in the 1300's. But sometimes it's a dumb move, sometimes my opponent just makes a really good move and gets lucky. Sometimes it's me being arrogant and see a player 200 points lower in rating then me and I think this will be an easy win and they end up beating me. I think this could just be mind over matter, but I just want other opinions and advice. Please be mature in the comments and don't just say "get good" or something like that. I'm looking for intelligent advice.
Just learn the basics. Should get you to about 2000 easy
and you are only 200
Wanna see the duel between 200 vs 2000!!
She is 200 cos she said she play blindfold. If she play properly, she might be 2000.
I bet on her side. 😁😂🤣
I've been playing chess for almost 25 years now. I play casually, I've never competed, I've never been officially rated. When I do play chess online or on an actual board it feels exhilarating to me. I love the game. However I feel like my rating should be higher then what it is on here. My rating fluctuates between 1050-1200 roughly and I can't seem to go higher. I love the game, and I'm doing all the puzzles I can every day, I've read books, I even had a chess teacher when I was younger. But I feel like no matter what I do I can't break the 1200 mark. I know the ratings don't mean much on here other then to pair you up with an opponent at your level, and I also know that there are way better chess players out there then me. But I feel like at my level I should be at least in the 1300's. But sometimes it's a dumb move, sometimes my opponent just makes a really good move and gets lucky. Sometimes it's me being arrogant and see a player 200 points lower in rating then me and I think this will be an easy win and they end up beating me. I think this could just be mind over matter, but I just want other opinions and advice. Please be mature in the comments and don't just say "get good" or something like that. I'm looking for intelligent advice.
In my experience what holds adults back is the fact that strategy can be really intellectual, creative, interesting, etc. while tactics is extremely tedious. The best example of this is the popular youtuber who called himself backyard professor. As a total beginner he read a strategy book and thought he knew everything about chess. He started making instructional videos for chess... but he blundered pieces and pawns so he ended up talking a lot of gibberish. It's not an uncommon pitfall for adult players.
I assume you're better than BYP, but I also assume it's the same sort of thing holding you back. I recommend a book like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Tactics-ChessCafe-Chess/dp/1888690348
And for every puzzle you can't solve off the page within 10-20 seconds, get out a piece of paper (and I like to set up the position on a physical board) and what you're going to do is write down your full answer using chess notation. Don't use it as an aid, only write down after you're done calculating. Include any variations.
What this does is helps you see your thought process. When you're wrong, play out your solution on the board and try to figure out why. If you can't figure out why your solution doesn't work, use a chess engine. For any tactic puzzle you fail it's very important to figure out why your intended solution doesn't work.
You'll discover most errors stem from not working hard enough at finding a good defense for the opponent.
Also for each puzzle you fail, mark the page number, problem number, etc, and try the puzzle again in about 3 days. If you fail it again, that's fine, it just stays in the fail list until you solve it correctly at least once.
Also try to understand why you missed the correct move. If you find a common problem it will help you improve... like maybe you often miss the opportunity for knight forks. Just an example.
I'd say completely stop playing games and do this a few hours a day, every day, for a month. This will help shock your system out of old and bad habits.
Then when you go back to playing games, make the time control really long. At least 30 minutes. If you can't find human opponents for this, then play against a computer.
During the game, whenever there is a tactical situation, you can even write down your calculations like you did with the puzzles. This makes it easier to see what you missed after the game. Even if you win the game, go back and check whether you were making reasonable calculations (they don't have to be all engine moves, but you don't want to have made any big errors).
Keep doing drills every day, and I'd say play less than 10 games a week. Do this for two months.
That's what I'd recommend to sort of break down your bad habits and rebuild some good ones. As I said in the beginning, it can be pretty tedious, but after you've done it, and made some good habits, you can go back to having fun and those habits will stick with you.
One thing to remember is, if you haven't improved in 25 years, you're going to have a lot of ingrained habits and ways of thinking... breaking them and learning new things is not going to be fun at first, but you can improve if you're willing to change.
By the way, I didn't make up that exercise, and I did it myself years ago and saw improvement after only 1 month.
Just looking at this game. You blunder with 10... Na5 and the additional gift is the weak black field complex around f6. Whatever happened with 21.Rd1 (mouse blunder? hope chess?) you took the opportunity. 23... Qxf1 is another blunder. Do you find the better move? What are the names of the two basic tactics you didn't remark?
If you work in that way over your games and create a file collecting your mistakes in categories you will be able to do a better training. You should find out the motivs you're missing.
Your play is not that bad, that resigning to get better is the right attitude.
Thanks Klauer. That's the kind of advice I really needed. I'll try looking at a few of my previous games and analyze them more thoroughly.
I've been playing chess for almost 25 years now. I play casually, I've never competed, I've never been officially rated. When I do play chess online or on an actual board it feels exhilarating to me. I love the game. However I feel like my rating should be higher then what it is on here. My rating fluctuates between 1050-1200 roughly and I can't seem to go higher. I love the game, and I'm doing all the puzzles I can every day, I've read books, I even had a chess teacher when I was younger. But I feel like no matter what I do I can't break the 1200 mark. I know the ratings don't mean much on here other then to pair you up with an opponent at your level, and I also know that there are way better chess players out there then me. But I feel like at my level I should be at least in the 1300's. But sometimes it's a dumb move, sometimes my opponent just makes a really good move and gets lucky. Sometimes it's me being arrogant and see a player 200 points lower in rating then me and I think this will be an easy win and they end up beating me. I think this could just be mind over matter, but I just want other opinions and advice. Please be mature in the comments and don't just say "get good" or something like that. I'm looking for intelligent advice.