I need encouragement!

Hey, folks. I've been trying to improve my game in the past several weeks, but it's been difficult. I think the biggest thing that's been helping me is the tactics trainer. However, my rating fluctuates like crazy, but never seems to get past a certain level. Here are my stats in tactics trainer:

Rating

Problems

Does this seem normal for somebody who's put in the time & number of problems that I have? My rating has stayed in about the same range since I started tactics trainer, but it seems like it should be going up a little by now. Do I just need to work more tactics problems?

Hang in there pal!  We all hit plateaus, and maybe a new year will bring you new luck.  Just keep playing, and analyzing your games!

Just keep playing.  Every move, look at the whole board, check for threats, make sure your pieces are protected, look for forcing moves like checks, etc.

Don't be concerned.  I have been as low as 500, got stuck at 900, and after

about two months am stuck at 1050.  Although it is nice to have a tracking

system you really do not play against the tactics trainer.  A couple of things

will happen as you study with the tactics trainer.  You will start to

recognize combination patterns within the trainer and will solve the

puzzles more efficiently.  You will, or may have already, noticed your

reactions in real game play have improved.

Dude, I've just had a look at your games archive. You've only played the one game, and resigned before it got going?? Only 9th move, not a piece taken even..

Your pieces are far more developed than blacks, your white bishop and the motived knight are in strong positions to attack the pawn in front of his rook..

I'd favour whites to win from this setup. What possessed you to resign at that point?? From my experience, getting beat teaches you things.
 I kept getting caught out by knight forks (where a knight checks you and threatens a piece..) but in time I know to LOOK OUT for them - extremely useful lesson.. not only for defense but for attacking :-D - very satisfying.

Time and practice, gritted teeth and determination. You WILL improve. It's not possible to get worse with more experience.

Not sure about Tactics Trainer, but I've been using Chess Mentor.. found out that using the hints costs you points, as do duff moves. I get quite disheartened using it, I'll be honest, but usually when I'm tired and not 100% concentrating..

Happy New (Chess) Year!

You can do it. we were all low once. another good thing to do is take your training outside of the tactics trainer and maybe buy some books, or if books are not your style go to www.chessvideos.tv it has great chess videos that have really improved my game.

Thanks for the replies! Yeah, I do have a lot of fun with chess, but my badness does frustrate me at times. As far as playing one game, I started one, but then I didn't want to drag it out over a few days. I much prefer live chess, and I've played several games there. 

I posted previously.. but hadn't tried the Tactics trainer at that point.

Jeez Louise it's rock hard! I played for about an hour an a half before I managed to get over 1000!! And that did kind of eat at my esteem..

Don't use that as a guide of how good or bad you are! Use it to sharen your skills but don't let it's scoring system bring you down!!

Thanks, everybody! I've been trying to use the tactics trainer & ignore the rating. I'll see if that puts me a little more at ease.

tactics trainer is good. keep trying and have some fun with it ! you may also try the daily puzzle. and in the mean time, play some games and enjoy yourself.

I find that chess trainer is better at testing your tactical skills and helping you see tactics faster than it is at teaching you tactics. I would suggest going out and buying a tactical chess puzzle book (like 303 tricky tactics) for a few dollars and slowly working your way through it. Then when you have worked your way through it (doing puzzle books is actually a lot of fun so its not really work per-se) you can come back to tactics trainer and test out your knew knowledge.

I just went and did several problems on tactics trainer in unrated mode in the rating range between 700 and 900.

When you get a problem wrong in tactics trainer, do you review the solution, figure out why you got it wrong and try to see that tactical motif in future problems?

Many of the tactics problems in the 700 to 900 rating range that I did were taking a piece in one move. Some of these involved a pinned piece, some involved a newly attacked piece after the opponent moved.

Other problems required looking at whether or not you can check the opponent's king.

Train yourself so that you recognize all captures and checks immediately. You should think about them at every position, until you don't have to think about them, you just see them all.

ur doing fine. i used to  be stuck at a certain rating for what seemed like forever. but with practice, i got a lot higher! good luck!

I am just starting out - 47 years old been playing since 12/25/2008 - a whopping nine days.  In other areas where I achieved excellence at something I try to do the following things. 

Remove the time constraint from your progress and work for the fun and love of the game.  Make a plan complete with goals and milestones of accomplishment without putting a date on it - just reach the level you want...period.  Believe in yourself - your confidence in yourself is your most important tool.  Each time you hit a goal do something to celebrate.  We tend to do what we find fun more often and get better at these fun things faster. 

Sounds to me like you have a solid work ethic and strong study habits.  You are well on your way to mastering the art and when you work on mastering an art you will reflect it in everything you do.  So while your "rating" may be at some level that is not to your liking, your style and life is so much better with chess than without.  Years from now you will see this as your best time in your chess progression - that point in time when you thought you were stuck and then BAM, you adapted and overcame and achieved more excellence than you ever imagined before you started.  Keep up the work and you will get there.

Phelon said:

I find that chess trainer is better at testing your tactical skills and helping you see tactics faster than it is at teaching you tactics.

What Phelon said is spot on. Tactics are like special moves - pins, skewers, deflection and such. You need to know what these are before you try to actually use/look for them.

Also, have a look at checkmate patterns. Once you know what they look like they are easier to find.

Do you know the value of pieces? Sometimes some tactics in tactics trainer is to win an exchange. Again, difficult if you don't know what's good or bad initially.

If you want to win actual games at your level, the most important thing is not to blunder away any pieces. I know this sounds stupid, but really, you don't have to have a great startegy, opening knowledge or anything. You won't need to find a subtle weakness in your opponents set-up and exploit it, all you have to do is not give away any freebies!

Develop your pieces before attacking - and don't attack with only one piece, it's easyily refuted.

Before you make any move - look at your king's safety, everytime :)

Although what I have said may seem like it would take heaps or study, this is not the case. The basics of it you'll have in no time at all - it's mastering it that's the impossible part.

Goodluck, enjoy.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody! I appreciate it.

 Dont take this seriously. It is very clearly a joke post .

Hi there,

I just think it's great you're playing chess! And your still playing!! (That move deserves a !!)

You care for the game, and really want to improve, that's what matters. Honestly, you may just need to start this great ambition with a firm base and some basic facts. Try this: Instead of just throwing yourself into set situations like the tactics trainer, get more academic first; try studying the theory harder. Find out all the different tactics that exist, how they work, the how to combine them.This will certainly take your game to a higher level as then you simply keep an eye out for these 'tactical situations' and if that's not working, then you (better yet) even start setting up these tactical situations, pre-emptively! A series of interlocking-intermingled-simultaneous tactics is what creates traps, then as you distract your openents with strong threats, he loses position as he defends, and then you press your advantage.

Tactics is not everything in chess, but it is a critical factor. A solid opening, mid-game AND endgame knowledge is at least as critical, however. You can 'play for the endgame' if a small material advantage is established. You can frustrate the oponent with a myrriad of tactical threats in the mid-game, hoping to secure such material advantages, if big, then perhaps a knockout combination, which leads to mate or resignation (the glory)! Or.. you can even luck-out and gain a position which lends itself to a good devastating trap in the opening..

But knowing these phases, inside and out, the theory, the overall goals/objectives to be set in each, will enable and empower your knowledge of tactics, small or great, and lead to more winning results.

My 2 sense