Stuck at 1200-1300 - Chess Forums

eyoelhailemariam

Sep 30, 2019

0

#1

I think it has been 10 months since I start playing chess and I quickly got better and better at chess untill I got to rating > 1200. Now I am just stuck in between 1200 and 1300. I tried to learn a lot of different kinds of openings, endgame tactics, visualizing, seeing more than 5 or 6 moves ahead but nothing is making any difference. My puzzle rating is in 2000. Does anyone have any suggestion on increasing my ratings?

torrubirubi

Sep 30, 2019

0

#2

Go to Chessable and learn basic endgames (there is a free book on this topic there), and a basic repertoire . The French Defence for black against 1.e4 is not difficult to understand and will give you interesting games. For white you can try 1.d4 with Nf3, g3 and Bg2 (see the book 1.d4 : Keep it Simple).
Play Daily chess, analysing your games without and with an engine. You have to practice regularly. I am not sure what you can play against 1.d4, perhaps the Dutch (but trying to transpose to the French).

henrikwest

Sep 30, 2019

0

#3

Try the London opting

eyoelhailemariam

Oct 4, 2019

0

#4

Thanks all I appreciate it!

kindaspongey

Oct 4, 2019

0

#5

"... for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard.
Play opponents who are better than you … . Learn basic endgames. Create a simple opening repertoire (understanding the moves are far more important than memorizing them). Study tactics. And pick up tons of patterns. That’s the drumbeat of success. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (December 27, 2018)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/little-things-that-help-your-game
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-start-out-in-chess
https://www.chess.com/news/view/a-new-years-resolution-improve-your-chess-with-new-lessons

skeldol

Oct 4, 2019

0

#6

Maybe try playing slower games? Looking at your last blitz game you're making moves you wouldn't in your puzzles. 18 bxc3 for example, why open your kings position when you could have taken with the queen? I'm assuming it's time trouble, maybe you play better in slower chess.

Daybreak57

Oct 4, 2019

0

#7

torrubirubi wrote:

Go to Chessable and learn basic endgames (there is a free book on this topic there), and a basic repertoire . The French Defence for black against 1.e4 is not difficult to understand and will give you interesting games. For white you can try 1.d4 with Nf3, g3 and Bg2 (see the book 1.d4 : Keep it Simple).
Play Daily chess, analysing your games without and with an engine. You have to practice regularly. I am not sure what you can play against 1.d4, perhaps the Dutch (but trying to transpose to the French).

There is a downside to relying only on chessable for your position practice needs. You don't get enough OTB experience. There is something about getting a real board out, and going over the variations by hand that just cannot be replicated by a move trainer like chessable. I personally learned a lot of general concepts on e4 based openings when going over keep it simple on the move trainer but as I said before it's impossible to play enough chess to go over all of those openings in practice, and you will forget most of what you learn on chessable, simply because you do not play all the openings. There is a crazy line Christof mentions in the e4 keep it simple book and I never had it occur in any of my games, and I play a lot of blitz. I got close a couple times, but usually, the opponent understands not to get into that kind of position, and simplifies correctly, making it a rook endgame usually. I guess I should have won the rook endgame, or maybe we both had a chance to win, but in the one endgame that happened in that line, I lost due to a tactic in the endgame. Perhaps that shows that I need to practice my endgame technique. Anyway, the point is, a lot of those lines in his books, in my opinion, in any chessable book, you simply will not see, and will forget all you learned, save for a few general principles. It's best to go over the positions on a real board as well as going over them on the chessable trainer.

I didn't get the d4 Keep it Simple book, but I read a review, and know it is primarily a Catalan based system. I personally don't know much about the Catalan, but I know that the price of that book is a little high right now and maybe it's best to wait for it to be on sale. It's not good to just get the movetrainer. You should get the video lectures as well, but right now it's just overpriced, probably based on the popularity of his first book. I probably won't get it because of the price. But it's up to you.

I wouldn't say the d4 keep it simple book is a better route to take than the e4 keep it simple book. Some people like e4 better, and there is enough counterplay for both openings (especially at the amateur level) that really it doesn't matter what you play. I'd say in general, a d4 player, has a lot more to memorize, and I would stay away from memorization, because that is the way you will turn into a bad player, wasting all that time memorizing moves, when really what you should have been learning is general principles and maybe also attacking plans and tactics and basic endgames.

Daily chess, takes a lot of time if you play it to win. I used to play daily chess and spent most of my time playing it while blitzing my moves. I've been trapped into forced mates and tactics a lot because of this. If your opponent has 5 days to think about his move, you better spend at least an equal amount of time, or you will find yourself on the losing side. I've found when playing daily you get divided among your games, sometimes mixing up games with other games. This happened to me probably because I played over 100 games at one time at one point, but even when I only played 10-15 games, it was hard to keep track of every single game, for me at least. Maybe it won't be the same for you if you play daily, but I will say this, playing daily is a different kind of game than actual Chess. In daily you can look at a lot of resources to enhance your play, and also use the analysis board all you want, in real chess, you cannot. This may be a good learning tool, but it's a different skill set and should not be the only source of your long game practice. People who think a rapid game is a long game better think again. You don't have enough time to think of all the possibilities in a rapid game.

People that are older than I are capable of making faster moves than I on some occasions. Yes with age comes the lessened ability to think on your feet in cramped time situations, however, it's not a bad as some people think. Someone at age 55 or older can still play good blitz. I know a few of them.

Play as many time controls as you can, but pick ones that give you better learning in response to the type of player you are. Do you generally play fast or slow? Questions like this need to be honestly assessed by you and answered.

Look over those Silman articles Spongey posted if you haven't, they are gold, and will help you get a good understanding of the journey you're embarking on, and what sort of things you need to start doing to improve.