Im just not improving.

As I stated in one of my previous replies, going to a tournament is very expensive. I can only play OTB once in a few months. It's not that I don't want to; It's that I can't do it frequently.

On the surface, it looks like that's the case. But I would argue that most people play for fun, and almost have no goals of improvement. Even then, online chess rating and rating distributions can be misleading if there are thousands of inactive accounts, cheaters etc etc. Another thing is that 2100 chess is absolutely terrible [as you might know, as you're 2200.]. I just want to get to a level of decent chess.

47 if you're not an adult then you can do what i do and have your dad pay for you xD

My dad does pay for the tournaments though.

In the third position, what's wrong with Rd8? It looks like just a random move that changes nothing.

It does not deal with black's passed b-pawn adequately.

Neither does any other move.

It's probably not the most precise, but it's certainly not a "blunder".

I would agree that chess.com rating is a bit inflated. My rule of thumb is that FIDE classical = Chess.com rapid - 200, so you are ~FIDE 1941. This puts you at ~35,000th of active players globally. In other words, you are already extremely good at chess, and are aiming to become fantastically good.

Also, check out my rapid rating over the last year. I peaked at 2294 back in June 24 and have stagnated since, despite working 3hrs a day on average. I know I'm improving, but it's slow to show in my rating, and in my experience your rating tends to improve in bursts. I predict one day in a few months you will suddenly go on a winning streak and reach 2200

That is why I used the mistake (?) symbol.

1) What did you do to break free from the hell that is the 2000 to 2100 rating mark and surpass 2200?

2) How to start a winning streak to get to 2200?

53 it's probably a tempo thing.

omg @dchessguy124 you're from the isle of wight? i've been there before! i didn't think there would be any chess players there xD

Hey Snowchlobe, yes, I moved here a couple of years ago! Mostly I'm at uni in Southampton though. There is a decent amount of chess here and some strong players, including an FM! There's also a new Isle of Wight International tournament next month I entered which should be good fun. Do you play in person a lot?

Endgame_Horizon, with regard to those two questions, I can only say based on my experience that I improved gradually... I 'broke free' from the trap by (a) playing rapid games and using Game Review, (b) Chessable courses, particularly on positional thinking, and (c) playing a lot of tournaments OTB and fixing all the gaps in my knowledge. Think of chess improvement as diminishing returns - you will never hit a 'maximum' rating, but improvement will just get asymptotically slower and slower.

I think the psychology factor is what's relevant here though. It sounds from your message like you are very frustrated, referring to the rating trap as a 'hell' Just remember chess is a game, and there can be too much of a good thing. I've been in that position before frustrated I'm not making progress. Try and balance it with other hobbies; I limit myself to 3-4 rapid games a day, because I'm fresh and can properly concentrate, whereas more than that I get tired and I can't calculate properly. Plus, if you get bored of the actual chess and are just watching your rating at the bottom of the screen, of course you will pay less attention to the game and will blunder more.

Furthermore, the 10-0 time control is extremely unforgiving. It's more like Blitz than rapid, especially in endgames, so if you are set on playing that proper time management is crucial.

I only play Daily games, including Club matches. I'm 80 years old and my brain does not process fast enough to play rapid time controls. I also have low vision, so it takes me a few minutes just to assess where the pieces are on the board. I'm currently 945 on Daily and my goal is to reach 1200 before I die. Hopefully, I have enough time to study a bit of positional chess ...

61 oh no. do you have to take that ferry every time you go back home? i got sunburnt from that ferry! i didn't even know it was possible to get sunburnt in england 😂

a £4000 prize pool is really good. i might ask to go. my names chloe if you see me.

nice, hope you see you there! and yes, that is the main downside of living here lol

That's true. 10-0 definitely is a combination of rapid and blitz, so it makes sense it requires a good time management. I'll also remember to limit my games and focus on other aspects of training.

It's actually easy if you focus on the right things alone. A 400 should be focusing on not hanging pieces in one move? Should they focus on positional chess? No. A 1400 should focus on not hanging simple tactics. A 1400 focusing on 'deep positional play'? Absolutely not! The most effective way to train sub-2000 is to train tactics and only learn the basics of positional play. [The basics being things like controlling the center, castling your king, activating your pieces, knowing the typical pawn breaks to activate your pieces, king and pawn endgames. theoretical endgames, etc etc. I reccomend the channel "Remote chess academy" who focus on the basics.

I hope that everyone who speads this nonsense meme will be banned.