Study Topics for different rating ranges

I am putting together a list of topics that should be mastered by people in varies rating ranges OTB

1200-1400

• Start to learn a chess opening for White and Black vs e4, about 5-7 moves deep in main lines
• Choosing candidate moves, and choosing one of those candidate moves
• Learn basic kingside attacking patterns, discuss when and when not to sacrifice
• learn basic kingside defending patterns
• When to trade and when not to trade

1400-1600

• Build on known openings, add a Black opening vs d4, 5-10 moves deep in main lines
• how does your opening choice affect middle and end game plans
• Open vs Positional chess, evaluating a position and choosing a plan
• counterattacking, and what to do in a bad position
• transition from middle game to endgame
• How to go over your own games

1600-1800

• Opening knowledge should now include sidelines 5-7 moves deep, and mainlines still 5-10 moves deep.
• Reflecting on what "your style" is and deciding if those are the types of games you are playing
• learning how to go over master games
• What to do when you do not know what to do during a game
• Getting more from your games, and games you look at

1800-2000

• Reflecting on what you avoid in your games, and how to let the position steer your thinking
• Reflecting on opening success or lack of success vs higher and lower players, adding a situational weapon
• How to prepare for a tournament and/or specific opponent
• Master games in general vs master games for your opening

2000-2200

• Building a full opening repertoire to meet your future goals

2200+

obviously some topics will carry over, but when forming an outline I thought it may be useful to get the chess community online to provide some opinions. If you would like to contribute, name a specific topic, and the rating range you think should study it. I left out the U1200 range because getting people from unrated to 1200 is very common place, but the path after that point often becomes more murky, especially as one goes up each level. As I, or others, put forth opinions on this I will add them to the list. Feel free to discuss topics already listed if you think they are in the wrong section. I did not put tactics or endgames because for tactics they should always be done and I was not sure how to break it down for rating ranges, and for endgames I need to look at a list of positions and decide when each needs to be learned by to be both useful and practical. Feel free to give your opinions on those also

no candidate moves are the narrow list of moves you are thinking about on a given turn. So this topic is how to narrow down from every possible move to list of 2-5 moves that deserve your more focused thought, and then how to turn that short list into the move your should play. Defitinity a process which becomes refined and more accurate as you advance, but the process is simple enough that it effective at the 1200-1400 level in my experience

A quick list of some endgame concepts

1200-1400

• introduction to opposition
• KP vs K endgames, winning and defending
• Stopping passed pawns, inside the square
• significance of an outside passed pawn
• introduction to the principle of two weaknesses 
• BvP, NvP, RvP basic endgames

1400-1600

• significance of pawn weaknesses in the endgame, isolated and doubled
• introduction to opposite colored bishop endgames, how to try to win, how to draw
• Lucena Position
• QvKP

1600-1800

• Philidor positions
• introduction to pawn races
• Queen and pawn endgames
• Triangulation

1800-2000

• Advanced opp colored bishop endings
• Same colored bishops, how to try to win, how to try and draw
• Introduction to fortresses
• Minor piece imbalances

2000-2200

• Advanced Rook endgames

First, when you play OTB people are more likely to play out positions rather than resigning. Secondly as you get stronger the endgame plays a larger and larger role. There are common endgame positions and themes which are helpful not because they replace ones need to calculate, but because it directs the player towards what and when they need to calculate in the endgame. It also makes calculation easier before the endgame because the player has a "bank" of known positions that they can steer the game towards, rather than getting to an endgame position and it being fresh and needing to calculate for the first time. Studying endgames, just like studying openings, is much more about building familiarity with structures, themes, and ideas in order to direct calculation, rather than about remembering specific moves.

There is also a feature when playing against the computer on Chess.com where you can select New Game and then a position from the Drills drop down menu. There are some basic endgame positions in there that you can practice against the computer at various difficulties, and I believe other websites have similar features.

Good post!

It would be helpful if there was a list of resources (books, dvd's etc.) for each topic.

I considered it, but for most it's personal preference, and the best learning on most of these subjects comes from people and games rather than books in my experience. I only have a short list of books I recommend to students 

ChessinBlackandWhite, thank you sir

Useful tips!