Time.
It is much harder, and takes a lot longer, for most people to improve at chess.
Play 20min+ games (not quick games) and daily games, thinking slowly about your moves, and review your games afterwards.
Do puzzles and lessons and master games.
And just keep going. Hours a day, for months. For years.
The biggest reason people struggle in lower-level chess is because of blunders. They make them in almost every game.
A mistake can instantly put you in a bad position, no matter how well you played earlier: if you had great opening knowledge, great positional skills, great endgame skills, whatever; a single mistake can change everything (you lose a piece or get checkmated).
So, how do you avoid blunders? Follow this simple algorithm:
While avoiding blunders is crucial, I also share a few basic principles with my students. These principles help them figure out what to do in each part of the game - the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. Understanding these simple principles is like having a map for your moves. I provide my students with more advanced algorithms that incorporate these fundamental principles. When you use this knowledge along with being careful about blunders, you're not just getting better at defending. You're also learning a well-rounded approach to chess. Keep in mind, chess is not just about not making mistakes; it's about making smart and planned moves to outsmart your opponent.
The biggest reason people struggle in lower-level chess is because of blunders. They make them in almost every game.
A mistake can instantly put you in a bad position, no matter how well you played earlier: if you had great opening knowledge, great positional skills, great endgame skills, whatever; a single mistake can change everything (you lose a piece or get checkmated).
So, how do you avoid blunders? Follow this simple algorithm:
While avoiding blunders is crucial, I also share a few basic principles with my students. These principles help them figure out what to do in each part of the game - the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. Understanding these simple principles is like having a map for your moves. I provide my students with more advanced algorithms that incorporate these fundamental principles. When you use this knowledge along with being careful about blunders, you're not just getting better at defending. You're also learning a well-rounded approach to chess. Keep in mind, chess is not just about not making mistakes; it's about making smart and planned moves to outsmart your opponent.
Yes, I myself am not too good at chess, and just seeing this on a screen really helps.
hey, looking for some help here. for about a month, i have been consistently playing chess every day for at least an hour, not even including puzzles and watching videos on youtube from chess vibes, Gotham chess, chesspage1, etc. i still cant improve my elo, and it has actually consistently dropped the last several days. i really like chess, but it really makes me feel like its all a waste of time if i practice so much and i keep getting beat by people with sub 400 elo, and it makes me feel even worse because 400 elo is often considered to be really bad, and its not even average. does anyone have any advice?