Yes AunTheKnight I do, as you could see I am creating a life time repertoire with 1. d4 with white for right now(I will eventually start playing some e4 opening but I don't see the rush to learn all of the different responses: French, Caro-Kann, Sicilian, e6 b6, KID, e5, Alekhine, etc.). 1. d4 is simple and I almost never get a worse position out of the opening. I will eventually start playing the English or Incorporate The Stonewall into my repertoire. Right now I am focusing on improving Black and just recently decided to stop playing the QGD and am trying out different openings like the Nimzo-Indian, KID, QID. Against e4 about 2 and half months ago I stopped playing e5 and learned both the Petrov and the Alekhine Defense(really to get practice learning openings before tackling the monster). For the past month I've been playing the Sicilian and learning about the different lines for Black and white. I am content with my openings although i am always trying to improve them but my main issue is mistakes and blunders in the middlegame.
Thanks for telling me how most games are decided, I came up with a similar conclusion not too long ago but it always helps to get confirmation. My main issue is I feel like there's so much to focus on during the game for me and my routine of finding a move is flawed, and since I am so unused to the routine that I a few days ago forced myself to adopt of finding the meaning and threat behind my opponent's move and what their likely response will be to the move I choose before I make it, it takes sometime and results in me running into time trouble earlier. I know I will get better and faster atttt this method as I go along but right now it is hard and my rating is dropping a few points(not that it matters too much long term but I had multiple losses in a row and it caused me to become somewhat long term tilted or at least frustrated). But I know that most players will tell you that improvement is not a straight linear line but could be more describe as you go 3 steps foward and then to steps back and repeat this process. I am patient but if there's anymore advice you could give me that isn't so well known or helped you when you were in a similar position of struggling to reach the next rating mark it would be much appreciated. Thank You for your time and advice.
I don’t really have concrete advice for you. Just wanted to comment that I know what you are going thru and can relate because I am very studious as well and working towards 1400 on this site. Also had a couple questions.
My strengths are openings, positioning and end games, however, weak in tactics and poor in the middle game planning. Something I am working on with a coach.
My two questions because I am an analytical person:
1. You don’t do puzzles? It’s amazing that you are 1400 rated with 1100 puzzles rating. Rated puzzles will help you with pattern recognition and speed up your thought process that you are struggling with.
2. You score 50% as white and 55% winning as black which is another remarkable KPI. It’s commons to see a higher winning percentage with white. There is a root cause for that should be investigated.
Part of studying the opening is knowing the middlegame plan and ideas not just memorizing the opening moves. Having no clue what to do in the middlegame of your opening is like reaching a completely winning King an Pawn endgame but having no clue how to convert it. If you're below 1400 then I can say with a decent amount of confidence if you watch just 1-3 video on middlegame plans for your openings and you will at least know what to do and not have to think so much and most likely have more of a clue than your opponents because a lot of them are unbalanced; knowledgeable in their most common line but you change one move end up in a different position and they are just clueless. For example I only played 1. d4 for the past 3 months and in one game i realised i was about to transpose into a mainline open Sicilian with White and going into an opening that I had no clue about was dangerous enough I could've lost on that alone.
I did over 20,000 tactics/puzzles at least: Lichess.org, Tactics Frenzy, Magnus Trainer, Chess King/CT Art, and while playing through high level games either in a book or on YouTube. I just don't do them on Chess.com because I don't have premium or diamond and I'm not interested in spending money to improve at chess at this point because I don't feel it to be necessary(maybe for a coach but definitely not for chess.com subscription). Don't be fooled, I did a lot of tactics even though my account doesn't show it.
That is a good point but I came to the conclusion a long time ago, it was because I played a lot of games when I started out and i fell for practically every opening trap against white at least once. But with black I was good at counter-punching and as beginners do, when they realize they aren't crushing their opponent immediately they inflict self harm in attempts to beat their opponent. That's why I have more wins with black than with white,it's not that I actually play better with black and now I would say around 1300 mark I started playing poorly with black in the Italian and had poor results. Once I stopped allowing the Knight on f6 to get exploited and switched to the Petrov later on my result or at least my positions leaving the opening were much better with black.
I agree with you. It has been a great learning and growing experience for me in the last month. I have played players as high as 1900 and managed to defeat a 1800+ player.
I recommend participating in a Rapid Arena Tournament if you want the opportunity to play higher rated players. The downside is you also get paired up with lower rated players.
You may even surprise yourself and win one or two like I did for a lowly 1300 player. You can also play Swiss tournaments formats if you want to stick within your bracket (1200-1500) and get the tournament experience.