I hardly study, hence I should not expect progress. Sometimes I analyse my own games and I tend to make use of the analyze board to find out what is going on in my games. And I make use of tactics trainer here.
My advice: focus on tactics and stick to a narrow set of openings.
Tactics should be middlegame tactics. When playing a game, don't start an attack before you have developed the majority of your pieces.
Someone could equally ask what's the point in the initial process of learning an activity. Doing things that don't pose any real challenge to you, that you just need to see and practice for a while. What's the point in that? If anything it's at the edge of your comfort zone that it can get as interesting or more interesting.
When you're starting a game it's easy to improve, so you can say it's just the amount of time you put into it. As you become a master of it then there's no longer the excuse that it's just the time you're lacking, it's something else you must figure out.
I started playing chess back in February (knew the basics, but never really played). Rating fell into the 500's by March. Begin really dedicating time to it: playing, reading, watching vids, etc. 5-7 hours a day since.
If you have been studying chess 5 to 7 hours each day since February and only a rating of 800, then you do something horribly wrong.
+1
You must be studying the wrong material. Your game is only as good as your weakest link, and it's clear that you're not addressing these areas. I only had to look at one of your recent standard games; You left a knight en prise (for the taking), and you often overlooked basic attacks (from both sides). And then there's a general lack of piece development...
My standard advice for cases like this is to study basic tactics, which also includes the most basic tactic of counting. Also study general opening principles, and avoid what Dan Heisman calls "hope chess" (you'll want to play "real chess" instead). Dan's Novice Nook articles discuss all of thse concepts. Here are some links:
http://www.chess.com/article/view/counting-vs-counting-material
Dan's archived (June 2014) Novice Nook page (newer articles are now behind a paywall):
Dan's archved Novice Nook page arranged by subject:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131005134958/http://home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/subject.htm
Of course, you'll ignore my advice; Everyone always does. 
Chess is like a dose of clap, losing won,t put you off.
Chess is like sex with a super model....
....okie, not really. 
I started playing chess back in February (knew the basics, but never really played). Rating fell into the 500's by March. Begin really dedicating time to it: playing, reading, watching vids, etc. 5-7 hours a day since. Rating has climbed to 800 and has plateaued. I'm not improving and no longer see the point in even playing. I win some games, I lose some games, nothing really changes.
I started thinking about it and realized I don't understand why anyone keeps playing long term? I have friend whos a 1,400 rating. His rating hasn't changed much in a year. Why does he keep playing? He's the same as me, wins some, loses some, just he's playing "stronger" players. Guess I'm burning out before I even got going.
Your biggest error is playing Blitz chess! Start at the longest time controls - at least 15 | 10, but "turn based" and 45 | 45 would be even better, if you have the patience. Also read the STUDY PLAN carefully - don't they say exactly this?
Blitz is for experts who have been playing chess for decades so the basic patterns come automatically to them. And, at the 800 mark, any know-nothing kid will beat you cause he just thinks, or moves his mouse, quicker - he'll beat you at blitz just as he'll beat you in a sprint 'cause he's young! And you just have no time to recall the lessons you have learned during all that study!
I started playing chess back in February (knew the basics, but never really played). Rating fell into the 500's by March. Begin really dedicating time to it: playing, reading, watching vids, etc. 5-7 hours a day since. Rating has climbed to 800 and has plateaued. I'm not improving and no longer see the point in even playing. I win some games, I lose some games, nothing really changes.
I started thinking about it and realized I don't understand why anyone keeps playing long term? I have friend whos a 1,400 rating. His rating hasn't changed much in a year. Why does he keep playing? He's the same as me, wins some, loses some, just he's playing "stronger" players. Guess I'm burning out before I even got going.
Studying that much since February, and not showing that much progress. I have a few questions that hopefully will help:
1. What are you studying?
2. How are you studying?
3. Why are you studying?
I started playing chess back in February (knew the basics, but never really played). Rating fell into the 500's by March. Begin really dedicating time to it: playing, reading, watching vids, etc. 5-7 hours a day since. Rating has climbed to 800 and has plateaued. I'm not improving and no longer see the point in even playing. I win some games, I lose some games, nothing really changes.
I started thinking about it and realized I don't understand why anyone keeps playing long term? I have friend whos a 1,400 rating. His rating hasn't changed much in a year. Why does he keep playing? He's the same as me, wins some, loses some, just he's playing "stronger" players. Guess I'm burning out before I even got going.
Studying that much since February, and not showing that much progress. I have a few questions that hopefully will help:
1. What are you studying?
2. How are you studying?
3. Why are you studying?
1) everything on chess.com: tactics trainer, study plans, etc
2) read, play, attempt to implement, repeat
3) the aforementioned (now less than) 800 rating.
that thieves without shame
I started playing chess back in February (knew the basics, but never really played). Rating fell into the 500's by March. Begin really dedicating time to it: playing, reading, watching vids, etc. 5-7 hours a day since. Rating has climbed to 800 and has plateaued. I'm not improving and no longer see the point in even playing. I win some games, I lose some games, nothing really changes.
I started thinking about it and realized I don't understand why anyone keeps playing long term? I have friend whos a 1,400 rating. His rating hasn't changed much in a year. Why does he keep playing? He's the same as me, wins some, loses some, just he's playing "stronger" players. Guess I'm burning out before I even got going.
Studying that much since February, and not showing that much progress. I have a few questions that hopefully will help:
1. What are you studying?
2. How are you studying?
3. Why are you studying?
1) everything on chess.com: tactics trainer, study plans, etc
2) read, play, attempt to implement, repeat
3) the aforementioned (now less than) 800 rating.
Let me suggest the following:
Openings:
Follow the Opeing Principles
1. Control the center
2. Develop towards the center
3. Castle
4. Connect your rooks (move the queen)
Middlegame:
This is when you need to develop a game plan. A simple plan is:
Scan your opponents 5th/6th ranks (3rd/4th if your black) Look for weak squares/weak pawns. Sqaures and pawns that cannot be defended by another pawn only. These are your targets of attack. Weak squares/weak pawns closer to the center are better.
Endgame:
Use your King
Attack your opponents weak pawns - backward pawns, isolated pawns, doubled pawns.
Push your passed pawns!
When you arent sure what to do?
Move your least active piece - make it more active preferably towards the center
Make your pieces as active as possible - the more squares they control, the more active they are
I started playing chess back in February (knew the basics, but never really played). Rating fell into the 500's by March. Begin really dedicating time to it: playing, reading, watching vids, etc. 5-7 hours a day since. Rating has climbed to 800 and has plateaued. I'm not improving and no longer see the point in even playing. I win some games, I lose some games, nothing really changes.
I started thinking about it and realized I don't understand why anyone keeps playing long term? I have friend whos a 1,400 rating. His rating hasn't changed much in a year. Why does he keep playing? He's the same as me, wins some, loses some, just he's playing "stronger" players. Guess I'm burning out before I even got going.
I know the correct process for improving. I went from 1000 to 1600 in 6 months, and I only study a couple hours a day. It is not how much you study, it is WHAT you study. Message me for info
Study books, and study them with a 3-D board, not a 2-D computer screen.
I am really curious to know why 3-D is so much better than 2-D in your opinion. I feel that my board vision is same in 2-D and 3-D. I study books with 2-D for few reasons: 1) it's much easier to use laptop or iPhone than real board when commuting to work; 2) you can play book example against an engine at any moment; 3) for many books PGN files exist already and you don't need to spend time on setting the board. Using real board has this nice feeling of being unplugged but it's hard to find time for it.
The way to keep improving is to trust in a good training routine and never stop doing it. Chess is a game where you will plateau for x number of months, but if you've been consistently training you will experience a sharp burst in strength at some point. It's not at all linear. For example I studied an average of 2.5 hours per day last year as a 2020 uscf player. I played in a tournament after 5 months of training and I actually went down points and didn't win a single game (4 draws and 2 losses)! I took a month to figure out ways to improve my training and went back at it. I played in 2 tournaments 3 months later and I went up about 60 rating points, which was something of a gain but not what I was hoping for considering all the hours I put into it. However in the final 2 months of the year I played 2 tournaments and went up 130 points, getting prize money in both and becoming a master. I've had similar experiences throughout all the other ratings I've been at. Often I wont play in a new tournament until I experience that eureka moment, otherwise I don't feel prepared against my now higher rated opponents.
1. Why are you evaluating your progress with the rating system? Every game you play, win or loss, is a learning experience.
2. If you want to have fun, keep up with the blitz games. If you really want to learn how to play chess, you should have experienced at least 50-100 correspondence games. I notice you have only two.
Physically moving the pieces records the data in yet one more format.
Helps aid memory in data recovery efforts.
That's a very good point! That's why when studying a book with 2-D board I enter moves manually instead of just using a right arrow button to follow PGN. So I do move pieces physically - in 2-D.
I went to college full time and tutored 12 hours a week as a part time job.
There are a number of factors that people don't realize that it takes to be successful:
1) Videos should be limited. Study books, and study them with a 3-D board, not a 2-D computer screen.
2) Don't just play thru moves. Actually try to figure out what is going on. What are Black's and White's plans?
3) SEVERELY LIMIT internet blitz chess. 12 hours of internet blitz achieves less than 1 hour of studying a book at a 3-D board!
4) Play in Over the Board tournaments - This is critical! The longer the time control, the better!
5) Play in major tournaments with 200-point sections, like the World Open, US Open, Chicago Open (I'm playing in that this weekend), at least one of those each year, along with at least half a dozen weekend tournaments (i.e. 5 rounds that span Friday to Sunday).
6) Find a club, and preferably one that does a long rated game each week. I play in one on Tuesday Nights that's 1 round a week, 5 rounds make a tournament, time control is Game in 75 minutes with a 15 second increment per move.
7) Play in a few 1-day Saturday events. Your total games per year should be 100 minimum.
8) When studying, avoid studying opening theory in the beginning. Endgames, Tactics, Endgames, Strategy, Endgames, etc.
I see you are in the U.S. Don't know what state you are in, but I'm sure there's tournaments no matter where you are. Even Arkansas has tournaments.
Thanks for sharing this. I've been studying openers these days, more-so to become familiar with how to recognize them and how they play out to see what I like and don't like---actually, mostly to recognize what other people use against me so I'm at least on to what they are trying to do.
Got anything to recommend about end games to me and other people in here. Any help would be great, thanks!
A newb,
- R
I just looked at your games record. 848 games played SINCE FEBRUARY???? And they're almost all 5 and 3 minute games! No wonder you're not improving.
Switch to turn-based games at 3 to 5 days per move. Have no more than 10 going at one time so you can really study the games thoroughly. Use the analysis board to move the pieces around. Take notes on the lines you'd like to play so you don't forget them.
Use the game explorer function here to look at great games from the past and study them. And when you find a great or interesting game, play over the moves several times. Switch sides and play the game over from the losing side.
As long as you continue to play blitz at your skill level, you will NEVER improve.
i've read the books, played through games, play a lot on here. only thing that has really helped me is studying tactics and in particular the book, "tactics time" which has 1000 problems. its a page at a time and learn to recognize the patterns in that book (discovered checks, mating, lots of stuff).
i stayed at 1200 for three years, playing a dozen games at at time, playing daily. while still playing through the book, and around problem 750, the patterns started become second nature and now i'm low 1300. not a huge improvement for most, but enough for me.
again, i attribute it to studying tactics.
as a paying chess.com member you can also do daily tactics, which are good, but not as good as the book.
good luck, don't quit and accept it takes years to develop chess skills for most.
Don't listen to IAS. He still says 'horsie' and 'pointy one'.
Dont make me smack you with that castle lookin thingy
No problem. My wife already smackes me knightly.
Touche!