I am stuck in the 800-900 range and can't get out. Help.

I've been playing chess for a while now, but can't get out of 800 into 900 for the life of me. I've tried doing puzzles and watching videos, but it seems that I cluster up my side of the board and my opponents swoop in and pick my pieces off one by one. I am so frustrated and am considering quitting the game for good, as it seems that I'm wasting my time. Can anyone help? Thanks a lot.

How long have you been playing? Usually there are a few key ideas at certain levels that once understood makes the game much more clear. Let’s talk, maybe it’s something easy to fix.

@jg777chess I have been playing inconsistently for around a year.

Ok, 1 year of inconsistent play/study and you are 800-900, this we should be able to improve on. Send me a message and let’s look at your play and find out how we can get you back on the road to 1000. I might have some time later this weekend or next week to meet up on Discord/Skype/Zoom or something and we can discuss your play. Don’t stress about this, we can fix this plateau you’re on.

Start analyzing your games after you lose and try to figure out what mistakes you made. Then find out what were better moves.

Invest in a good book and study it carefully. Play over the moves on a real board (don’t use computers to analyze) and think about the reason why a move is played. Chess fundamentals by Capablanca comes to mind. I learned a lot from it. I believe it is one of the best books for beginners up to intermediate. Then try to remember what you have learned to apply in your own games. Just my suggestion. Hope you will still be enjoy playing.

Depends on many variables.

How much time can you commit daily to studying?

How bad do you truly want to improve?

A lot of factors go in to making some type of daily regimen study schedule. Consistency and the compound affect is magical.

Break the game down to studying your opening & middle game (tactics & strategy) every day. I skip studying much endgame cause honestly 1% of my losses were because I blew an endgame. Which leads me to my next point..

Why are you losing? Besides just studying the game you need to identify what is exactly causing your losses. Go back 30 or 50 games you lost and identify the turning point you went wrong. Did you hang a piece? Did you blow your opening? Did you miss a tactic? Tally them up on a spreadsheet, notepad etc… now you know EXACTLY the main cause to your loses that you can now improve on.

So you create a daily regimen of study. Not just playing games all day.. I’ll share mine.

Monday
- Openings course (white)
- Tactics (puzzles)
Tuesday
- Openings course (black)
- Tactics (puzzles)
Wednesday
- Strategy course
- Tactics (puzzles)
Thursday
- Openings course (white)
- Tactics puzzles
Friday
- Opening course (black)
- Tactics (puzzles)
Saturday
- strategy course
- Tactics (puzzles)

*Everyday*
- Daily game moves
- 1 or 2 Rapid Games
- ALL games deeply analyzed

How that helps! 👍 #SmashEm

lessons, puzzles & daily games.

What time frame are you giving yourself?

I would suggest longer timed games of twenty minutes or more so you can look at each piece and see its potential.  I've often seen your comment from people who refuse to give up five or ten minute games so they stay stuck making compulsive moves.  If you find a handful of people willing to play daily games with two days per move you can really plot out a game and surprise yourself of your capabilities when you win.