Rating 1500 after 3-4 month

Hello everyone. It's been around 3-4 months since I joined here and actually taking chess seriously. I was around 700 at first and now I am 1500 in rapid. Actually I'm spending so many hours on chess. do you think my progress has been good so far? an what can I do to reach myself to 1700 Rapid and also improve my blitz and bullet rating which are very low? appreciate guys and sorry if my English is not perfect. 

1700 is definitely doable as long as you stick to it, make sure you spend time studying chess too as you are at the point where studying is the only way to progress. idk how you can improve your blitz/bullet as i suck in that department too. for me it was just playing enough rapid games that i knew what moves would work and what will not, regardless if it is best.

1. That progress is ridiculously quick when referenced against the average population. Maybe you have been playing for years, but only joined this site three months ago.

2. For blitz and bullet, you should play them the way you have always played for rapid, of course. But do note that time is a common "second opponent" that both you and your opponent will face. Got to watch out and plan your time accordingly! And you must ensure that your endgame and tactical skills are sharpened to the maximum and your opening and strategical ideas must be decent. Good mouse is also important as the last thing you wish to see in a bullet game is a mouse-slip.

Aiya...

Your blitz and bullet ratings are decent too! There are within 200 rating points of your rapid rating. It can't be bad.

In contrast, I suck at rapid. And in fact, I suck across all time controls. I feel like a 1000 player quite often.

I'm starting to see a rise in your blitz ratings...but what made you choose to play more blitz than rapid on this site recently?

thanks for your tips.

I was playing casually since childhood but as you can see in my stats when I joined this site my strength was around 700 and gradually went up. 

The term "improvement" itself is actually quite a broad category. There has been a recent rise on threads along the lines of "how do I improve in chess". In theory, deep analysing of games and classical controls should be advocated for the greatest improvement. In practice, however, it's quite difficult to follow suit.

The conventional advice of playing longer controls and analysing games has always been issued by users such as pfren, IMKeto, tygxc and RussBell as they have deep expertise in the game. However, whether beginning players would actually take the advice or not remains to be seen.

Improvements come in many different formats.

- To you, improvement comes about when you appreciate and acknowledge the deep content of chess, much so that you are able to wield control of your games and limit your opponents' possibilities in the games.

- To me, improvement is defined in much simpler terms and it's all about a steady rise in rating points and an ability to make less errors on average as compared to before. And being able to play out a new tactic in an actual game is also an improvement

- To beginners, improvements may even be all about being able to win more games than they usually do, even if blitz games are played.

As you can see, there are many different ways that "improvement" can be defined.

Despite this, a lot of players are still playing blitz and bullet as compared to longer controls. There are other considerations as well, apart from the mere wish to improve in chess, which affects the number of players playing each time control.

1. Is chess my number one priority in life?

The more devotion a player is to chess, the longer the controls he would play. Those who take up the chess as a side hobby or to merely impress their friends are likely to play quick controls.

2. How much time can I afford to play chess?

If school work or jobs are bogging a player, he would probably only play chess during breaks to divert his attention away momentarily and play quick blitz games. Retired players and those players taking a long holiday are more likely to be able to spare more time, and as such, longer controls are seen amongst these players in general. 

3. Am I serious about wanting to study chess or am I just giving it a fling?

Even this in itself is actually difficult to establish. A person who initially feels the "seriousness" in studying chess may lose his motivation over time. However, if a player is driven by his self-belief to understand the deep nature of the game, he is more likely to play longer controls and purchase chess books. You are probably one of them. On the other hand, if a player seeks to just simply play within the basic rules of chess, then he is more likely to play shorter controls. I am a good living example of this.

4. Do I feel a sense of satisfaction from playing chess?

There are reasons why many players are spamming 10|0 and 3|0 rather than longer time controls. For one, many games can be played within a span of one hour compared to one good, long time control. They might grow bored after running their Pentium brain processor and lose the momentum. Another reason is the ratings list. Ratings change more wildly over time and this gives such players the adrenaline to play short controls further. However, for other players who enjoy the game through an improved accuracy of moves, investing their time on that one good control would be worth much more than any number of blitz games played. They derive their satisfaction of playing quality moves which largely agree with the suggestions of top grandmasters and computer programs.

At the end of the day, this site continues to attract many players from different backgrounds. From those looking to seek the longest of controls to those wanting to let 10 second game bring wildness into chess, you will always find these players keeping the site going. It's not easy to change the mindsets of everyone, even you and me.