What are the best ways to improve your game?

I'm rated 1079.

When I started playing a bit more seriously (about a year ago), I was a weak 700. My game has improved a lot, obviously. However, I have plateaued.

I have reached a point which it is impossible to advance from unless I improve my strategy and my understanding of openings/game-plans etc. I am wondering how I can do this best. If anyone has any advice, I would be pleased to hear it.

If you have reached a plateau I think the best way to improve is to find a partner close to your level and practice together, learning from each other and analyzing games

If you decide to follow my advice, send me a message, because I have the perfect match for you.

study endgame, strategy and tactics. just playing is not enought to improve your game.

Best ways to improve:

Play. Record your games and go over them. Have someone examine your losses and tell you why you lost.

Most games at your level are lost by one-move blunders. Play slow games, and try to avoid dropping pieces. I only play at three days per move... not much chance of hanging a piece at that time control.

I looked through some of your games. Tactics are your biggest issue. You often don't see threats and you miss chances to win material. You also violate opening principles by moving pieces multiple times in the opening with no good reason. Stop doing that. Put your pieces on active squares and leave them there until the rest of your pieces are developed. Buy a book or watch videos on opening principles (tons of chess videos on YouTube) and do an hour of tactics puzzles everyday. Improve in those two areas and your rating will climb. Some basic endgame study couldn't hurt either because in your second most recent rapid game, you resigned in a drawn endgame.

Thanks for your responses guys. I think it is evident that there is a lot that I don't see with regard to winning material, offensive moves, and defensive moves (so pretty much every important aspect of the game, haha).

I think that I do not practice enough, so I will definitely practice tactics, endgame, openings, and all other kinds of strategy every day and make sure that I take my time to think about my moves.

"ArchieBunker08", would it be okay if you showed me what I could have done in my second most recent rapid game to draw? Thanks

I can't post examples on my phone but all you needed to do was play Kd5 and you had enough time to capture the c pawn and beat whites king to the h8 corner which prevents promotion. It's impossible to promote in K+P vs K endgames if the pawn is a rook pawn and the opposing king gets to the corner first.

Endgames are very tricky. Had your opponent played Kg3 on his last move instead of c5, it was a win. That one seemingly innocent move threw away the win.

I have the same problem, I think gaining a 1200 rating will take 10 years for me.