[Deleted]

Ok

Firstly, two weeks is nothing in the world of chess. Improvement in chess isn’t linear, it's full of plateaus and breakthroughs that can come suddenly and unpredictably after what feels like forever being stuck. The fact that you're already analyzing your games, solving puzzles, and studying endgames already puts you way ahead of where most people start. Even if you don’t see the progress right now, you’re planting seeds that will grow in ways you can't see yet.

Secondly, the players you compare yourself to? They likely have subtle instincts from years of hard work and casual playing. They might win now, but if you keep going, you’ll look back and realize this was the part where you were quietly improving while they stayed plateaued in the same place. Like I said earlier, you are already ahead of most of the pack by making consistent effort to improve.

Also, don’t mistake effort without immediate reward for failure. The frustration you're feeling is part of the process. Almost every strong player has gone through this exact stage. Myself, I spent 2-3 years at around 1400-1600, even while I was playing consistently, and it took a lot of hard work and restructuring of my game to finally have a breakthrough which I've managed to keep up to becoming one of the best bullet players in the world and 2930 blitz! 
I can say myself as a titled player and somebody that has overcome multiple plateaus throughout my chess career that what separates those who improve from those who quit isn’t talent, it’s persistence.

Finally, please be kind to yourself. You don’t need to study 10 hours a day to get better. What you’re already doing is impressive and sustainable. Even one hour a day of intentional practice adds up more than you think. Consistency beats burnout.

You're not stuck, you’re just in the middle of the process. And if you keep showing up, even when it sucks, you'll look back one day and realize that this was the moment that defined your growth.

So please don’t give up. The work you’re doing is paying off, even if it hasn’t shown in terms of your rating yet. Keep going, you’re way closer than you think.

In the end, chess is ultimately a board game meant for your enjoyment anyways, and if forcing yourself to take it seriously and study it is killing your enjoyment, I would advise you to backpedal. But if you can find that sweet spot where growing and studying is fun, I will guarantee you'll not only get better, but you'll also rediscover why you fell in love with the game in the first place.

Best of luck!

- NM tact1c

I love motivation every day

I'm curious, how did you break through your plateaus and become a National Master? Did it take studying a lot of opening theory or doing hundreds of puzzles using the Woodpecker method, or was it something else entirely? I've been kinda stuck at roughly the same skill level for two years now and I'm honestly not sure if I should continue with chess or give up my goal of NM to focus more on school.

Firstly, puzzles were absolutely necessary for my improvement. Not just for the sake of pattern recognition and finding tactics, but for developing the ability to visualize, calculate, and see and plan ideas ahead of time. I probably solved tens of thousands of them over the years. This consistent exposure really sharpens your intuition and your board vision, and it gives you the raw calculation tools that all strong players rely on. You need to be consistently challenging yourself and do beyond surface level tactics that force you to make you work and calculate: I think chess.com tactics trainer already does a good job with this. 

That said, I didn’t have a “structured” improvement plan. My progress came mostly from being genuinely curious and obsessed with understanding chess. Any time I came across a game, a video, an interesting position, I dove in. I didn’t just passively watch or read, either. I would constantly ask questions: Why didn’t this idea work? Why did the engine suggest something else? I made probably close to a thousand Lichess studies, just filled with weird ideas, offbeat openings, engine analysis, and games I wanted to understand better. That process, of exploring and questioning, never felt like busy work. It was just fun. There wasn't any structure to it, but over time, unconsciously, my brain digested all these disparate ideas, and I improved. 
I understand this route won't work for everyone, some people prefer and benefit from structure, but I firmly believe that this path benefited me and enabled me to stick with chess after years of playing

If you’re feeling burned out, maybe the answer isn’t to quit chess completely, but to reconnect with why you wanted to pursue it in the first place. If the NM title is your dream, then know it’s definitely possible, but it might come more from consistent interest and curiosity than from grinding out hundreds of hours of study plans. And even if you shift focus toward school, chess will always be there. You can step back and return when it feels right. I go to a very competitive high school myself and I'm on my track team and do a bunch of extracurriculars, yet I still manage to make time for chess!

Plateaus don’t mean you’re stuck forever, they’re just moments to reflect, adjust your study habits, and commit to your best to initiate your next breakthrough.

I agree with Tactic. Two weeks of study is virtually nothing.

One thing you are encountering is the difference between a casual player at an OTB club and a casual player at chess.com. Remember, the average OTB club/tournament player is rated about 1500. The average chess.com player is well below 1000. So, the players you face at the OTB club have many hundreds of hours of experience and study, while you have just begun.

Dont give up. Playing real chess at a club is much more fulfilling than playing online chess. Yes, it will take work to be able to compete, but the payoff will be worth it.