Puzzles helped me.

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KlekleLegacy

Hi,

I used to play only the daily puzzles for about a year and my rapid rating has fluctuated from the high 1400s to the high 1500s (crossing the 1600 mark only once) for a year or more, and despite checking puzzles video online and trying to learn openings, I did not improve much in that timelapse.

However, I started a month ago to practice daily with regular puzzles and puzzle rush on Chess.com. It did wonders! My rating went quickly from 1480 on March 1st to over 1700 today, at the end of March. I beat my previous best rating by over 100 ELO points! This sure helped boost my confidence wink since I thought I had reached my limit in the 1500-1600 range. If I continue like that, I will end up being a 1800, I am sure, but I need to keep my good habits to ensure I keep my ELO high.

If you don't play puzzles regularly, I encourage you to do so. Does anyone have a similar story/experience of puzzles helping them grow much as a chess player?

ice_cream_cake

Wow, so what about them made the difference? Reducing blunders? Or you were mainly a positional player and you needed some work on tactics

KlekleLegacy

I make less blunders, but it mostly helped me with tactical play.

ice_cream_cake

nice!

KlekleLegacy

Well, I reached my goal in less than two weeks, I did improve my rating by over 100 points and reach the 1850 mark!

I feels good not being stuck in the 1450-1600 range anymore like I have been for almost two years grin. Two years in the mindset of having reached my limit, of being limited in my skills in chess, and just playing chess for fun.

I don't know when I'll hit a hard ceiling since the upwards trend for me hasn't stopped in weeks, but I'm confident these 1450-1600 days are over for me.

ice_cream_cake

Amazing wow, congrats!!