I feel like such an idiot for missing tactics.

I hate it whenever I miss a tactic especially when it is a simple one. My tactics rating went from a 1785 to a 1550. I planned to get up to 1800 by yesterday, but of course it had to go down. Should I read chess books? I haven't read one yet, and I'm planning to read lots of chess books to get much better.

I tend to think that many people here get 2000+ tactics rating without reading from chess books.

There is great value in studying books but there are also many resources online that offer the same lessons. 

Tactics books just offer printed copies of hundreds or thousands of puzzles. I don't remember any that had special insight as to how to go about solving them quickly. 

One benefit is that they require that you think all the way through the combinations. The online puzzles reward you for only finding the first move or first couple.

You've only been doing puzzles for a few days.

Look at the advanced stats for puzzles. It tells you what kind of puzzle themes you have trouble with.

Evidently, you have trouble with zugswang and with advanced and two bishop checkmates. You can practice those themes in training mode until you improve.

 

Hi, if you want to some progress, you should study from the books, read some articles and find your mistakes from your games. Tactic is one of the most important thing in chess. 

We all learn differently but for me I’ve increased my rating by about 200 points by watching a lot of IM’s play on YouTube and also some of the famous GM games. Another great tool are the puzzles on chess.com as they teach you how to identify what piece to attack and if you’ll come out on top if you do so. The different lessons are useful as well. However, as far as openings and end games go, I’ve personally learned the most by watching countless games on YouTube and then playing a game as soon as I’m done and applying what I saw an IM or GM do. That’s worked for me so far but we all learn differently plus I’m not even at 1200 yet so my guess is this will only get me so far. Ultimately practice against players that are better than you is the best way to get better (in my opinion). And of course the most important factor is how focused I am as sometimes my head isn’t fully in it and I make dumb mistakes, but when I’m able to get in the zone I tend to play very well (for my rating that is).

I've recommended these books to different people like a million times. Both great books that help me think about tactics better.

Chess Tactics from Scratch: Understanding Chess Tactics Book by Martin Weteschnik

Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna: Know When (and Where!) to Look for Winning Combinations Book by Emmanuel Neiman

These are not puzzle books.

I got to 2100 puzzles just on my own. I’d suggest not only looking at your options, but your opponent’s defenses and counterplay as well.

I got 34000 on my own, practice makes perfect! ( Also, if you fail a puzzle, remember to review it)

Paradoxically thinking that you're an idiot most likely doesn't make you one. An idiot doesn't go as far as to think of himself as an idiot.