What can I do to get my rating above 900?

I have been playing chess for a little over a year now. I started with the lowest possible rating that this site will give you and have worked my way up to about 925. I cant seem to get my rating higher than that for some reason. I have tried everything that I know to improve: taking lessons on this site, doing the puzzles, and playing a lot of games. I typically use the Catalan opening when I am playing the white pieces, and when I am playing the black pieces I play according to what my opponent starts with. Does anybody have any ideas as to how I can improve my game? What am I doing wrong? I want to get into the 1000's really bad!  

What are the common reasons for your losses?  Are you missing tactics, moving pieces to squares where they are not safe?  The easiest way to get good at chess in addition to the work you are putting in, is to try and understand why you are losing.  Once you identify your common errors, you know exactly what you need to practice on to improve.  If the common error is basic mistakes, then you just need more experience and practice.  

Keep up the effort and take your time; you are almost there!

I play the Catalan as well but transposed from c4 because I wanted to avoid black's d4 pet lines; I was very frustrated trying to set up the Catalan from d4 since black was able to steer the game away and left me with the same wasted G3 move you mentioned.

If you want to stick with d4, you may consider studying blacks d4 pet lines such as the QGD, QGA and Grunfeld. As you approach stronger opponents, they start learning and applying a touch of book theory at the +1000 line.

Often most times, the one with more book theory knowledge prevails at 1000-1300 D category; which Iam experiencing.

Also keep up with your puzzle rating and rush; you are doing a great job. Tactics and basic mating patterns are easily missed at the 1000+ level. I don't know how many times I missed a mate in 2-4 at this level; actually I do know, I should not play chess drunk even though it is more fun and delaying my growth. Shoot for a 2000 puzzles rating if you are serious in improving past +1000. 

Or just learn the English to avoid all d4 theory and get the postitions you desire. The bonus to c4 is that it teaches you the Sicillian defence as black as they are mirror images. So if you want to learn the Sicillian as black, I highly recommend learning the English as white. 

Lastly, get a gold membership for the unlimited analysis if you are serious on improving as yoy will learn the tactics and mistakes after each live or bot games.

go over all of your games using the computer analysis tool.    It will show you tactics and strategies that were missed in the game from both sides.

You can watch this video

You are doing well, then.

On your last game as black, at move 8 rather than taking the f6 knight with the pawn, capture with your queen. This will 1) preserve your king side pawn wall for possible castling on that side

2) threaten mate with your next move of Qxf2.

3) this threat gains a tempo, forcing your opponent to make a defensive move, or lose the game. Now they are "back pedalling" and you have the intiative.

Sometimes taking a break for a few days can result in wins when you come back, all fresh and ready to go.

Thank you so much everyone for your great advice. I will certainly try out all of the suggestions given. I recently purchased another year of Diamond membership so I will continue my efforts toward a 1000 rating. I will be there one day. 

What i do not understand why it is advised to play d4.

Play e4. This way you will face more tactics.

I think your problm is the openings. the catalan is a very complex oepning so learn the london or fried liver for white and Kings Indian or caro kann for black

I strongly recommend you avoid positional openings like the Catalan when you're below 1500. They're pretty high level and I doubt you'll understand the nuances behind the moves.

Stick to something classical imo. A few good options are:

1. The King's Gambit

2. The Scotch Opening

3. The Alapin Sicilian

Try to come up with simple, straightforward plans in the middlegame. Look for a weakness and attack it. Coordinate your pieces and don't rely on 1 or 2 pieces to do all the work. Always keep an eye out for tactics, especially checks and captures, forks and pins.

Practice lots of puzzles too. You need to be able to spot simple 2-move tactics quickly and consistently.

Just doing these simple things should get you to about 1500 rating. Then the fun stuff starts after that.

play slower time controls so u have more time to think n therefore you'll find better moves

as the saying goes when u see a good move look for a better one

Man get on chessable, Theres litterly a grocery store of sh*t to learn. Got me 200+ higher. 1.)Check mate patterns manual 2.)Woodpecker tactics book 3.)100 endgames you must know. Pick a lifetime repitiore for white Pick one for black agaisnt e4 And pick one for black against d4

Get a decent Chess book with an overall basics theme. My first book was called "The Chess player's Bible". "Chess For Dummies" also looks similarly decent. Helped me really quickly as I recall. Then start playing slower time control games and analyze everyone one, especially with the computer and understand and question every move.

Dear Nate6586,

I am a certified, full-time chess coach and International Master, so I have seen it and tried it all.
There are so many ways to get better and I know it can be overwhelming.
You can learn from free videos on youtube, there are books at your disposal that can all help, but they are not tailored to your needs.

One of the most important things you can do is to analyze your games! You must learn from your mistakes! That is a priority. You can't really move on to a new, different topic and learn new ideas if you still make the same mistakes over and over again!

This is where a chess coach comes into the picture. A good coach can show you how to study, what to study, gives you the material YOU need. Naturally, it takes time to use everything in practice, but if you are relentless and persistent you will succeed!
You should learn the main principles in every area of the game (opening, middlegame, endgame).  Don't focus on only one part! You should improve your tactical vision as well as it is part of all areas!  
This how I built my training program for my students. We discuss more than one topic during a lesson so it's always interesting and they can improve constantly. I give homework too and the right tools to make practicing enjoyable and effective!
Don't worry about your rating and the ups and downs! Just keep on playing and practicing!

I hope this helps.  I wish you good games and 100+ extra ratings

Аналогичная проблема

think what your opponent wants to do ,  think what your opponent is thinking , think what your opponent is going to do

Looking at your most recent game, it seems like your main problem is simply one-move blunders. The avoid this, when it is your turn, always look at what moves your opponents can play. You can also remember this a checks, captures and attacks which is explained below where I analysed your game.

Don’t worry about your rating. If you do not worry about it you will focus more on the actual game, and that makes it go higher if you win more.