To improve:
Start by practicing seeing when your pieces are threatened by lesser pieces. Just play.
Tactics training, either by the tactics trainer here - or a site like chesstempo.com
I think books are likely too advanced for you still (many books are too advanced even if you have played for years).
1. Q i had 400
2. I got a Bobby Fischer book off of amazon (and Played Chess a lot
3. hmm Chess Mentor is really good I improved a bunch when i came across there
If you want to improve ask 1 of my friends he helps me in games if you want to improve go to > Click on my Profile Page look in my friends> find Kokopele then ask him to be your friend then ask him to help you in a game and he tells you how to get better in a game
Thats all I got, Boss
When I started I was 800-900 or so.
I downloaded free version of Fritz and let him analyse my games and too it's advice for granted. If I had other move in mind that I taught was good as well I replayed that position with my move with fritz and let him corect me if, and why I was wrong. I improved my rating by 200 points in 3 weeks. Now im 1202 blitz and 1236 standart. At this point im just too lazy to keep on learning.
And chess mentor is really good. It works the same as fritz.
I find youtube videos are a good way to learn and they are free. Also playing slow chess really works. Tactics are very important but also going over the games you lose and finding out why so you don't make similiar mistakes again. One thing to remember is it will take time so don't get disheartened when it does not come over night.
My favorite chess instructer is Mato Jelic. http://www.youtube.com/user/MatoJelic He really helps! 
for begineer, i suggest read books chess fundamental by Capablanca. what you should develop is to improve your endgame knowledge. I recommend to study Pawn and Rook endgame a lot. Then study simple mating combination.. that can improve you to around 1400 easily.
some blog i suggest you can found here:
http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/blog-that-we-should-follow
I would suggest getting a copy of Chessmaster 10 Edition if you can find one anywhere with a reasonable price. I was the same way. I didn't know how to get better. The lessons given in CM 10 are broken down so simple that you just can't help but understand it. 2 months after finding that and going over it, I played in my first scholastic chess tournament and I was 5-0 and came out with a p1313 rating. Not a bad start considering it only took a few months of fun. I wish I still had my old copy of it. ;(
i just started to learn playing chess 5 months ago and seriously play it for 4 months.. chess master 10th edition helps me about the basic and you can choose different opponents base on your like. i suggest play a longer time control instead of a blitz and go for and end game book :)
I just want to mention one other aspect of improving at chess: time.
All things being equal...burning desire to succeed, a wonderful training system, inherent potential for the game...what about time?
It appears to me that many chess players start out at chess with absolutely no idea how time intensive it is to develop into a competent player.
Some think: "A couple of hours per week" is about right. Shrug. Well, maybe so...maybe they will turn out to be a prodigy.
I am a fairly decent player. No brag here. I certainly "wish" that I were much better. But, I know that just to get where I am...it took years and years and, what...thousands of hours.
With the time I've spent on chess, for example, I could have used that time to becoming fluent in another language. Or do other things.
Am I sorry? Certainly not. I have also accomplished many other things in life. But, I am not willing to put in more than two or three hours per day with chess. That's it.
But, time is a definite factor. It has been said that it takes 10,000 hours to become proficient at certain skills in life. I don't know if that is true, but I am pointing out that...oy vey...chess is ruthless in its time demands.
Exactly this.
As for your questions :
1-I very soon stabilized to 1400-1500, but I had played chess for like 10 years before subscribing.
2-Play, play, play. Do NOT buy DVDs, books, etc. before you have a minimal understanding of how the pieces move, it's just a loss of money.
And even after that, I must have read a grand total of 20 chess books in my life, probably 10 of which did not make me improve much. Don't fall in the "consuming trap" ie the belief that buying a book makes you better. Even reading it slow does not always make you better.
3-I dunno. It's only for the premium. The free demo looks good though until my level at least, but maybe the free demo is made up of the best things they have.
Q: How did you improve your chess
A: I improved by playing a lot and also by taking coaching. Face it, if you're not a natural player, you're gonna need a coach.
Coach is the last thing if you want if you really serious to be master level. For average i would recommend to buy books at your level . Dont waste time to read complex opening books. Do endgame training. Solve puzzle. You will be amaze how you will improve
I started on FICS (babas) and had a rating of ~900-1000 for my first 6 months to 1 year while I learned the game (I knew how the pieces moved but nothing more).
I started learning some basic openings/fundamentals by watching youtube videos (thechesswebsite and jrobichess are pretty good pages) and practiced them over and over in games. This got me to about 1100.
I started doing some tactics which opened my eyes to the possibilities and immediately jumped 150-200 points.
I then had a decent understanding of the game, came to chess.com, bought diamond membership and 2 and a half years later I have a chess.com rating of 1650-1700 (blitz) and 1650-1700 (bullet).
Main thing - Practice, practice, practice!
Practice, paitence, study and i found playing longer time contols. Allow yourself to think about positions - you'll start to see common patterns within positions.
Study end games, practice chess problems and tactics. Chess.com has tons of valuable resources. Use them.
Oh and finally play. If you get beat reply the game over a board and work out why it happened - spot where you blundered a piece and look at why you were eventually mated. You learn a lot more from studying your losses than marvelling at your victories.
Chess Mentor is good, especially for learning basic endgames. Tactics Trainer is very useful, but you need Premium membership to do more of them.
Oh, and I seem to get better results from watching YouTube videos than reading books.
Oh, and I seem to get better results from watching YouTube videos than reading books.
Out of curiosity, how many chess books have you read in their entirety?
Well, I've started playing chess regularly now... but the thing is, my rating is stuck around 500. It's been like that ever since I started. So I want ways to improve my game. I've seen many people talking about books, so if have any suggestions.... or any other way to get better, please let me know.
Q: What was your avg. rating when you first started?
Q: How did you improve YOUR chess?
Q: Has anyone tried out that chess mentor thing? Is it any good?
My son has been on chess.com for 9 months now and is turning ten next month.
His first stable rating was just a hair under 1000. He recently crossed 1300 but fell back to 1260 or so.
I do not allow him to play blitz chess as it is not useful for improving, especially for a new player. He plays 15-10 only. He plays a game or two each day usually.
I trained him on all elementary mates but bishop and knight over and over until he could do all inside of 1 minute on clock. He has also been trained on King & Pawn vs King.
He does go over tactics but not as regularly. Also, he and I went through Silman's 'how to reassess your chess'. Much was over his head, but some were on target and it also made him aware of all of the concepts of strategy even if full understanding is currently out of his reach. You can see how his Rook play really improved.
The biggest think is to keep playing. I am not sure how old you are or your background or if you have anyone to help you, but someone stronger than you is much better than a chess computer for learning.
Do not study openings until you understand game more.
Well, I've started playing chess regularly now... but the thing is, my rating is stuck around 500. It's been like that ever since I started. So I want ways to improve my game. I've seen many people talking about books, so if have any suggestions.... or any other way to get better, please let me know.
Q: What was your avg. rating when you first started?
Q: How did you improve YOUR chess?
Q: Has anyone tried out that chess mentor thing? Is it any good?
My rating was really low. Chess.com wasn't around back then so who knows how it would compare.
I played very nearly every day for 3-4 years (a slow way to improve). I eventually started reading books and playing in tournaments (a much better way to improve).
I haven't really tried chessmentor.
Well, I've started playing chess regularly now... but the thing is, my rating is stuck around 500. It's been like that ever since I started. So I want ways to improve my game. I've seen many people talking about books, so if have any suggestions.... or any other way to get better, please let me know.
Q: What was your avg. rating when you first started?
Q: How did you improve YOUR chess?
Q: Has anyone tried out that chess mentor thing? Is it any good?