I need a plan, how can I become a good chess player?

Hello guys,

my english abilities are not so great, but I hope I am able to communicate with you. My dream is it to become a grandmaster. That's my destination. I am very young (20) and it's a life goal for me. So, I have time to release it, but I need a training plan. Nowadays it's very random. I play blitz games, I read books, I do chess stuff, but without discipline, just "just for fun". I want to change that. That is really randomly, so I ask for usefull tips ^^.

best way of learning is only practice, keep practicing by increasing difficulty level

I dont play here. I have 1400 in an another website. You can't stop my motivation!

Playing blitz will hurt your efforts to get stronger. Find a place where you can play game in 30 or longer.

One reason you have a low rating of 1400 is because you keep making the same mistake over and over again. Have a strong player look at your games where you played 30 minutes or longer. He/she will be able to show your mistakes to you. Then try to not make the same mistakes. This could raise your rating about 200 points in about 8 months.

 But you need to improve on all facets of your game. There is a wealth of websites which can help you. 

Top 10 player Peter Svidler gave simple advice that I like. The question was something like how can an amateur become very good. He said:

Read as much as you can, and play in as many tournaments as you can. Not as much as you like, but as much as you can.

So I'd say the first step is finding a local club and playing in tournaments there. You could also get a book like Zurich 1953 and play over all those games.

I mean, if you were just an enthusiast who wants to improve some, I'd say work on tactics.

Tactics are still important, but GM is close to professional level, so if you want to be that good, a more professional way is start going over a lot of GM games, and start playing in lots of OTB tournaments and getting to know strong players in your area.

From your profile you play exclusively fast time controls.  That’s ok if you’re playing chess primarily for fun, and where your results are secondary.  But you are unlikely to improve significantly doing this; by playing fast time controls you have little time to think about what you should be doing.  If you’re seriously committed to improving, then I suggest that you...

1. Play longer time controls - a higher percentage of your games should be at the longest possible time controls, including daily chess...so you have time to think about what you should be doing...
https://www.chess.com/article/view/longer-time-controls-are-more-instructive

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/how-blitz-and-bullet-rotted-my-brain-don-t-let-it-rot-yours

2. Maximize The Usefulness of Your Moves....start to incorporate ideas like these in your play...

http://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa06b18.htm

3. Study the game - learn what you should be doing.....

Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

Buy the book "Applying Logic in Chess" by Erik Kislik.  He states that the most improtant thing is to play games and the second is to analyse them afterward. Questions to ask yourself (from the book):

During a game

Your own time:
1. What is the opponent's idea?
2. What are the weaknesses?
3. What is the worst-placed piece?
4. Who benefits from the exchange of queens?
5. What are the pawn-breaks?
6. What are the most active move?
-0-
In opponents time:
1. Which pieces or pawns are undefended? For both sides
2. Assess King safety, i.e. pawn structure in front of the King, open files etc.

Analysing your game:
1. Who won the opening battle and why?
2. What were the key moments of the game?
3. What large errors or blunders were made? And why?
4. What positional error were made?
5. Could the pawn-structure have been profitably changed by either side?
6. Did I make any poor exchanges or miss any good ones?

-0-

The book needs to be read more than one time to take all the advise in. Much cheaper than having a coach.

So you are enjoying with bogus 1400 elo over there, rather than accepting the real 1000 elo in here? 

In other words, you can assume that, the rating pool over there seemed +400 bogus than here.

Noobs think it's like a ruler or weight. They don't know 1400 one place might be the same as 1000 OTB.

Possibly of interest:
"... the NM title is an honor that only one percent of USCF members attain. ..." - IM John Donaldson (2015)
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
What It Takes to Become a Chess Master by Andrew Soltis
"... going from good at tactics to great at tactics ... doesn't translate into much greater strength. ... You need a relatively good memory to reach average strength. But a much better memory isn't going to make you a master. ... there's a powerful law of diminishing returns in chess calculation, ... Your rating may have been steadily rising when suddenly it stops. ... One explanation for the wall is that most players got to where they are by learning how to not lose. ... Mastering chess ... requires a new set of skills and traits. ... Many of these attributes are kinds of know-how, such as understanding when to change the pawn structure or what a positionally won game looks like and how to deal with it. Some are habits, like always looking for targets. Others are refined senses, like recognizing a critical middlegame moment or feeling when time is on your side and when it isn't. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review857.pdf
100 Chess Master Trade Secrets by Andrew Soltis
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review916.pdf
Reaching the Top?! by Peter Kurzdorfer
"... On the one hand, your play needs to be purposeful much of the time; the ability to navigate through many different types of positions needs to be yours; your ability to calculate variations and find candidate moves needs to be present in at least an embryonic stage. On the other hand, it will be heart-warming and perhaps inspiring to realize that you do not need to give up blunders or misconceptions or a poor memory or sloppy calculating habits; that you do not need to know all the latest opening variations, or even know what they are called. You do not have to memorize hundreds of endgame positions or instantly recognize the proper procedure in a variety of pawn structures.
[To play at a master level consistently] is not an easy task, to be sure ..., but it is a possible one. ..." - NM Peter Kurzdorfer (2015)
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2015/11/16/book-notice-kurzdorfers-reaching-the-top.html
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
"Yes, you can easily become a master. All you need to do is some serious, focused work on your play.
That 'chess is 99% tactics and blah-blah' thing is crap. Chess is several things (opening, endgame, middlegame strategy, positional play, tactics, psychology, time management...) which should be treated properly as a whole. getting just one element of lay and working exclusively on it is of very doubtful value, and at worst it may well turn out being a waste of time." - IM pfren (August 21, 2017)
"Every now and then someone advances the idea that one may gain success in chess by using shortcuts. 'Chess is 99% tactics' - proclaims one expert, suggesting that strategic understanding is overrated; 'Improvement in chess is all about opening knowledge' - declares another. A third self-appointed authority asserts that a thorough knowledge of endings is the key to becoming a master; while his expert-friend is puzzled by the mere thought that a player can achieve anything at all without championing pawn structures.
To me, such statements seem futile. You can't hope to gain mastery of any subject by specializing in only parts of it. ..." - FM Amatzia Avni (2008)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/can-anyone-be-an-im-or-gm
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-fight-stereotypes-using-chess-in-rural-mississippi/
http://brooklyncastle.com/
https://www.chess.com/article/view/don-t-worry-about-your-rating
https://www.chess.com/article/view/am-i-too-old-for-chess
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-can-older-players-improve
Train Like a Grandmaster by Kotov
Becoming a Grandmaster by Keene
What It Takes to Become a Grandmaster by GM Andrew Soltis
"BENJAMIN FINEGOLD (born Sep-06-1969 ...) ... Ben became a USCF Life Master at 15, USCF Senior Master at 16, an International Master in 1989, and achieved his final GM norm at the SPICE Cup B Section in September, 2009. ..."
http://www.chessgames.com/player/benjamin_finegold.html
"MARK IZRAILOVICH DVORETSKY (... died Sep-26-2016 ...) ... He was ... awarded the IM title in 1975. Dvoretsky was also a FIDE Senior Trainer and noted author. ... During the 1970s, Mark was widely regarded by the strongest IM in the world, ..."
http://www.chessgames.com/player/mark_izrailovich_dvoretsky.html
"To become a grandmaster is very difficult and can take quite a long time! ... you need to ... solve many exercises, analyse your games, study classic games, modern games, have an opening repertoire and so on. Basically, it is hard work ... It takes a lot more than just reading books to become a grandmaster I am afraid." - GM Artur Yusupov (2013)
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/QandAwithArturYusupovQualityChessAugust2013.pdf
https://www.chess.com/blog/smurfo/book-review-insanity-passion-and-addiction
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/26/books/books-of-the-times-when-the-child-chess-genius-becomes-the-pawn.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/05/05/making-a-living-in-chess-is-tough-but-the-internet-is-making-it-easier/#4284e4814850

https://www.chess.com/news/view/is-there-good-money-in-chess-1838
"... Many aspiring young chess players dream of one day becoming a grandmaster and a professional. ... But ... a profession must bring in at least a certain regular income even if one is not too demanding. ... The usual prize money in Open tournaments is meagre. ... The higher the prizes, the greater the competition. ... With a possibly not very high and irregular income for several decades the amount of money one can save for old age remains really modest. ... Anyone who wants to reach his maximum must concentrate totally on chess. That involves important compromises with or giving up on his education. ... it is a question of personal life planning and when deciding it is necessary to be fully conscious of the various possibilities, limitations and risks. ... a future professional must really love chess and ... be prepared to work very hard for it. ... It is all too frequent that a wrong evaluation is made of what a talented player can achieve. ... Most players have the potential for a certain level; once they have reached it they can only make further progress with a great effort. ... anyone who is unlikely to attain a high playing strength should on no account turn professional. ... Anyone who does not meet these top criteria can only try to earn his living with public appearances, chess publishing or activity as a trainer. But there is a lack of offers and these are not particularly well paid. For jobs which involve appearing in public, moreover, certain non-chess qualities are required. ... a relevant 'stage presence' and required sociability. ... All these jobs and existences, moreover, have hanging above them the sword of Damocles of general economic conditions. ... around [age] 40 chess players ... find that their performances are noticeably tailing off. ..." - from a 12 page chapter on becoming a chess professional in the book, Luther's Chess Reformation by GM Thomas Luther (2016)
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/LuthersChessReformation-excerpt.pdf

Thanks for your tips. So I need to play longer games, I guess classical something like 15+15. I am in a local club, but it's a different for me, when I play online or over the board. I try to change that, because over the board I calculate very much, but in a blitz game, it is not possible for me. I will change the time. No blitz games anymore! I have everytime big goals, because I lose my motivation, when I reach small goals. It's a psychological thing. I have lots of books and I read them. I am not able to think the moves in my head, so I need a board for that, but probably someday it will change. I will now read books for 2 hours, I will do 1 hour tactics and 1-2 hours classical games per day . Thats the training plan. Probably later, I will hire a coach.

Master tatics. Study masters games.

Hey RussBell, I found the forum post and the Silman article helpful. I can seriously relate. I shouldn't try to hijack this thread, but maybe you have some ideas for me. I played way too much blitz in my life, first on yahoo years ago, then a little here. It's by far the form of chess I've played the most.

I forced myself to give it up almost a year ago. Unfortunately, I still play way too fast, especially when playing live, but sometimes even when playing Daily chess. I feel like if I could force myself to slow down and think, I could do much better. Well, better, anyways.

I've tried using a pre-move checklist, like the one @IMBacon has shared. Lately I've even tried just to simply count to 5 before making my move. Nothing works consistently. I Start a game with good intentions, but most of the time start blitzing out moves sooner or later. I have the will to win, but sometimes when I'm really trying to play better, I play even faster. Sometimes I lose a 30|0, and I've used less than 5 minutes, and my opponent has used twice that or more.

I know I need to show some discipline, some will power, some strength of character. I'm even embarrassed to be writing this, haha. I feel like it's a minor problem, but somehow I can't seem to beat it. Any ideas, anyone? 

Drink lots of alcohol, take steroids and everything will work out very well.

God bless people like you, it's a very nc motivation source, when somebody is telling you that you are not able to do something. Ty ^-^. In few years, I will remember it!

Depends on if he can just find that one killer opening.

The one that always works, and you don't have to study much to learn it.

You know, the one beginners are always asking about in the forums