Upgrading

Hello fellow chess enthusiast.

I am debating to finally upgrade my account. On average, I probably play five hours a day on here. As of late, my rating has remained stagnate.

I would like to be better. My openings are strong-ish, but I could definitely improve on my tactics, middle, end game.

I like learning from playing. Lessons and videos aren't that much help for me. The tactical trainer and analyzing my mistakes are my preferred methods of learning. It would be nice if they offer a coach to go over games too. (Do they?)

Do you think upgrading will help me get to the upper 1600s or should i just keep playing and hope to get better as I go.

Thoughts 😅

Being premium does not give you access to coaching. There are other good resources that can help though.

No. Certain other sites that I can't mention due to the rules have what you need for free.

Thanks Martin. I'm kind of surprised that it doesn't include coaching.

At the top level $100 a year wouldn't provide much in the realms of coaching. Hourly rates of many coaches are $20+. You can find some out there that charge less but it's pretty easy to see why they don't provide it for a premium membership cost.

 

 

Upgrading to premium will not in itself improve your rating. That will depend on whether you are willing to approach your practice and study differently than you currently are. Having access to the premium content will help if you use it correctly, particularly the unlimited tactics and some of the lessons. I upgraded last December and immediately saw a sharp improvement after a few months of none. Premium membership helped with that and has been massively worth it for me, but I think it helped facilitate and perhaps speed up improvement rather than causing it. TLDR. I think its well worth it but its not a golden bullet.

True, I didn't think of it like that Martin.

I always do tactics. They are a huge help. That and the in depth computer analysis is what I mainly would use. I only play on my phone so I'm guessing I am missing a lot of features by not using the website. The lessons aren't very helpful but I didn't explore them fully. I could be wrong about that

Premium has its benefits. The lessons are good if you study them properly. Looks like you play far more bullet and blitz than slower games. If you're serious about improvement, stop wasting time with that garbage speed chess.

Dontmate - I don't play bullet anymore. It does nothing worthwhile. I mainly play 30 minute games. I will play 10 minute games only in passing when watching tv or whatever ya know