Don't get depressed! From what I understand you're in your early twenties. I only started playing chess when I was about the age you currently are, and now in my late twenties I'm rated about 2100 in blitz! When I was your age I was rated below 1000, so you actually have a big head start on where I was at the same age. The thing to understand is that getting good at chess takes a huge amount of time playing/studying. Getting to a 1300 rating from just playing sporadically for perhaps a couple of hours a week over a long period of time is perfectly respectable. It means you're far stronger than the vast majority of casual chess players, and even the large majority of online players. If you keep on playing/studying at that rate then by the time you're in your late 20s you might well be able to get to the point where you're a strong intermediate or even advanced level player. Alternatively if you decide to dedicate more time to it and spend several hours a day on it then you might be able to improve faster. Either route is okay!
Stuck Under 1300 for 16 Years!
Even at 10 min/game you only have a few seconds to spend on each move. That's not enough time to think and apply anything you may have learned from your studies. Play longer time controls and seek out organized otb play so you can learn to analyze your positions and calculate accurately. This will teach you more about chess than all those instantaneous guesses you have been making in all your games for all tose years. Better your overall game and your ratings in all categories will rise.
1300 is a sign of frequent blunders.
Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it.
This little mental discipline is enough to get to 1500.
As long as you hang pieces and pawns all the rest is in vain.
You make it sound so easy. I heard from a dude to do blunder checks on every move and have been doing that for a month now.
Its easier said than done cause hanging pieces isn't the only type of blunder you could make. Sometimes it's less obvious blunders that worsen your position a lot or severe endgame mistakes that you have to look out. For the endgame mistakes part, I recommend watching Gotham's Easy Chess Endgames playlist to help you be familiar with what you should and should not do in an endgame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCsc24k-Q8M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q-TjB6YYRI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMZJ9P2Hnq0
Not sure if anyone's still following this thread, but I'd like to reflect on the past 4 months and thank all of you who helped me reach a peak rapid rating over 200 points higher than when I started this thread. I believe the most effective piece of advice I've taken was playing longer the 10 minute time controls. Although it does not show much in my recent games, I've been playing longer time controls more frequently, especially OTB, and have forced myself to think deeper in between moves including double and triple checking for blunders. If I'd spent even more of my time playing long time controls, I'm sure I'd be even stronger right now, but I didn't want to be too serious, and I'm pretty happy with where my skill level is now. I'm still of course going to improve further, and perhaps I'll get stuck more times, but it'll be less scary.
Not sure if anyone's still following this thread, but I'd like to reflect on the past 4 months and thank all of you who helped me reach a peak rapid rating over 200 points higher than when I started this thread. I believe the most effective piece of advice I've taken was playing longer the 10 minute time controls. Although it does not show much in my recent games, I've been playing longer time controls more frequently, especially OTB, and have forced myself to think deeper in between moves including double and triple checking for blunders. If I'd spent even more of my time playing long time controls, I'm sure I'd be even stronger right now, but I didn't want to be too serious, and I'm pretty happy with where my skill level is now. I'm still of course going to improve further, and perhaps I'll get stuck more times, but it'll be less scary.
Glad to hear that! I wish you the best in the rest of your chess journey.
You are now at 1500 that means you succeeded in weeding out blunders.
The next step is tactics. Solve tactics puzzles until your tactics puzzle rating becomes 2000. Whenever you lose a game, analyse it. Learn from your mistakes.
You are now at 1500 that means you succeeded in weeding out blunders.
The next step is tactics. Solve tactics puzzles until your tactics puzzle rating becomes 2000. Whenever you lose a game, analyse it. Learn from your mistakes.
My tactics rating is 2440.
You're saying I haven't improved? I am consistently better at all the same time controls.
I am glad you had success!
glad to hear the improvement man !
However, usually I am not doing what I should do, means works harder on tactics (I am around 2300, and I guess 3000 would be good for me), and have at least a basic repertoire.
At least in the last months I was doing a lot of tactics in Chessable, something like the Woodpecker Method, and I am able to recognize quite easily the very common chess patterns (working with a book with 750 puzzles).
However, I am still reluctant to analyse my lost games, which is really ridiculous for any player dreaming to improve at regular basis. And in the last time I began to play rapid like bullet, which is really stupid.
When I have the right attitude and play slow, thinking hard, checking different candidate moves, I begin to play decent chess, winning 6 to 10 games in a row. But usually I play without the needed concentration, and I drop all the points in few days. Playing frustrated chess is the best way to stuck. Believe me, I am a specialist in doing this.
If I would be you I would stop to play anything below 15/10. 10 minutes is still like bullet in a certain sense, not much thinking or planning going on, at least not at our level.
Let’s make a challenge. Let’s take a Chessable book on tactics like “1000 Chess Exercises for Beginners” and let’s try to get top 10 in the Dashboard in let’s say 3 months (not easy to accomplish, believe me, here are some hard working guys in Chessable).
We can keep in touch and try to motivate each other to make the right things.
Just send me a message if you are interested, other people can join, it can be funny.
^Nice idea! I would like to add it's better to play when you feel good not just when you have time, mood can make a huge difference.
did you ever consider getting a coach? cuz you clearly didn't improve by training alone, you absolutely need a coach to get on the route to success.
oh just read the rest and youre starting to improve, well done man! Keep it going!
Guys the thing is I would like to argue blitz isn't bad. But you need to know how to learn. I would like to say blitz is good for opening exploration.