Study master games, before looking at the next move, try and guess what they'll be. This trains you to "think" like a master. Study openings you're interested in a lot, you'll get very good at those. Do tactics trainer. And generally play chess, practice makes perfect.
What to do to become expert?
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I just ordered a USCF membership a week ago. I'm not an expert but have listened to what people NM and above say. Follow the advice for your respective class. If you are class D and below you don't need to learn the finer nuances of the Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, or other openings or even positional ideas when your opponets are dropping pieces due to simple tactical oversights. When you get higher then you obtain the need for more advanced knowledge. Knowing to control the square in front of an isolated d-pawn helps at all levels, since even at the lowest levels not every position has potential to win a piece, but priorities are key.
1.Learn basic endgames and tactics. Just study these and understand, not just memorize them.
2.Learn basic positional concepts such as pawn structure, the center, weak squares and color complexes, that an open file is only useful if there are weaknesses or entry squares on the file, don't open the file unless you can benefit from it, don't open the position if your opponent is more active, don't be afraid of sacrificing a pawn if it either restricts your opponent's activity or enhances your own, principle of the least active piece, principle of two weaknesses, etc.
3. Look at both annotated and unannotated games. Unannotated so you could identify the principles you have learned and calculate accordingly. Keep the notation pane off, or if you prefer a physical board and pieces print out the game and cover the moves with a piece of paper, only playing ahead when you find your move. Write or type down your thoughts and calculated lines, don't move the pieces ahead as visualization and calculation are the point. Take note of positional themes, potential strategies, do a material assessment and who you think is better and why at the start, then calculate.
4.Learn more advanced concepts, such as visualizing positions after deeper calculation.
5.Higher rated players have more positions in their memory, therefore going over a lot of games will help. A game has around 40-50 moves, sometimes more or less, and you need thousands of positions to be good. It sounds like a lot, and is, but you aren't just familiarizing yourself with the game moves, but also it's labrynth of variations and subvariations too, so you're getting at least over 100 moves per game considering this. Maybe a potential permutation not played in the game has a pawn or even piece sacrifice? What if another permutation involved placing a knight on e3 to control c5 and e5, restricting black's essential pawn breakthroughs?
william314 wrote:
I think this is a question many people ask themselves. I'm rated a little over 1600 both on chess.com and USCF and want to become an expert. Being 14 and on summer break I have tons of time and I'm willing to do whatever it takes
1) Study the Chess Board with no pieces on it at all you should see the board in your mind know where each square is the color and what is the relation of the square to all the neighbouring squares surrounding it.
2) Go over tons of GM games from books (on a real chess set not a computer)
When I was your around age I studied Spassky's 100 Best Games and Tal's 100 Best Games by Bernard Cafferty. 500 Master Games of Chess is great too. Alkehine and Karpov's Anderssen's and Morphy's games should be at the top of your list along with Capablanca and Rubinstien's.
2) Study Chess in a systematic way not bits and parts master the elements and the endgame then the middle game and finally the openings the point is to see chess as complete unified harmonious whole with all of it's parts linked together not separate.
3) Play lots of slow Chess join a Chess Club the kind of opponents you should be looking around for are players who have alot guts fighting spirit who play positionally and tactically well players like that will force you to be on your toes they won't take it easy on you constant practice against them will make you stronger and build your skills.
4) Solve tactics problems every day and mates in 1 2 3 4 5 6 again and again and again until you can see the problems in your sleep simple ones hard ones medium ones Solve through your minds eye not on a computer or a chess board.
5) Play alot of Correspondence Chess
Correspondence Chess is great for improving your game there's less pressure some people can handle playing many games like 100 or 200 others can handle only 1 or 3 at a time never take on more than you can chew!
6) Go over your losses with stronger players and your opponents
Go over your games with stronger players whenever you can and soak up everything you can learn from them and your opponents.
7) Play in simultaneous exhibtions whenever you can against masters or GM's online or at a Chess Club
You'll lose but every loss is a great learning experience and an important lesson for improvement attend whenever you can and if they offer you odds never refuse play!
Jul 16, 2013
0
#5
Read the 9-Book Yusupov Series:
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/docs/14/artur_yusupovs_awardwinning_training_course/
Start with the Orange (left to right on the link above), then the Blue, and last the Green.
I recommend this series to ALL players under 2000, and the Grandmaster Preparation Series (Same publisher - Only the first 3 of the 6 are out right now) to ALL players over 2000.
Check mate a lot
Jul 16, 2013
0
#7
My advice :
- get a good coach if you can afford it
- play a lot OTB and analyze your games with stronger players
- pick a systematic study program and follow it (Yususpov's has already be mentioned and is a good choice)
Wouldn't Karpov and Anderssen be too advanced for many people? Agree with GM games but you don't need Karpov or Anderssen's subtle positional nuances at beginner level when your opponents hang pieces or succumb to simple tactical blows that win material. Anderssen favored 1.Nf3 as white and usually goes for either English or Catalan setups and you learn how he's adept at pacifying a position. Not quite how I like to play, but great if you need draws.
Alec847 wrote:
william314 wrote:
I think this is a question many people ask themselves. I'm rated a little over 1600 both on chess.com and USCF and want to become an expert. Being 14 and on summer break I have tons of time and I'm willing to do whatever it takes
1) Study the Chess Board with no pieces on it at all you should see the board in your mind know where each square is the color and what is the relation of the square to all the neighbouring squares surrounding it.
2) Go over tons of GM games from books (on a real chess set not a computer)
When I was your around age I studied Spassky's 100 Best Games and Tal's 100 Best Games by Bernard Cafferty. 500 Master Games of Chess is great too. Alkehine and Karpov's Anderssen's and Morphy's games should be at the top of your list along with Capablanca and Rubinstien's.
2) Study Chess in a systematic way not bits and parts master the elements and the endgame then the middle game and finally the openings the point is to see chess as complete unified harmonious whole with all of it's parts linked together not separate.
3) Play lots of slow Chess join a Chess Club the kind of opponents you should be looking around for are players who have alot guts fighting spirit who play positionally and tactically well players like that will force you to be on your toes they won't take it easy on you constant practice against them will make you stronger and build your skills.
4) Solve tactics problems every day and mates in 1 2 3 4 5 6 again and again and again until you can see the problems in your sleep simple ones hard ones medium ones Solve through your minds eye not on a computer or a chess board.
5) Play alot of Correspondence Chess
Correspondence Chess is great for improving your game there's less pressure some people can handle playing many games like 100 or 200 others can handle only 1 or 3 at a time never take on more than you can chew!
6) Go over your losses with stronger players and your opponents
Go over your games with stronger players whenever you can and soak up everything you can learn from them and your opponents.
7) Play in simultaneous exhibtions whenever you can against masters or GM's online or at a Chess Club
You'll lose but every loss is a great learning experience and an important lesson for improvement attend whenever you can and if they offer you odds never refuse play!
interesting idea, but how do you do number 2 exactly?? i believe that is the dream of every aspiring chessplayer, but how can you possibly accomplish that?
ScorpionPackAttack wrote:
Wouldn't Karpov and Anderssen be too advanced for many people? Agree with GM games but you don't need Karpov or Anderssen's subtle positional nuances at beginner level when your opponents hang pieces or succumb to simple tactical blows that win material. Anderssen favored 1.Nf3 as white and usually goes for either English or Catalan setups and you learn how he's adept at pacifying a position. Not quite how I like to play, but great if you need draws.
i also think they are too complicated
Play every day. I cracked USCF 2000 recently.
Ah yes, Mr. William. One of the coaches here on Chess.com. I suggest you use your own methods to improve. Give yourself homework and look deeper into positions than you normally would. Learning chess isn't about reading and studying a book or even playing games, it is learning the very nuances that make chess so difficult.
I agree with some of the above. Time tested ideas such as studying master's games and analyzing your own to the point of exhaustion are mainstays and will likely be around for a very long time. Furthermore, you must create a chess schedule, something to go by day after day, structured and easy to follow. That last piece of advice is for any person studying any subject.
Psychologically speaking, you will want to place yourself in the proper mindset. You already have the drive to improve and are willing to work hard. But work smart as well. Study for 20minutes a day, 6 times a day and you will get much more out of it in the long run than studying for a solid 2 hours straight. Also start playing yourself and make certain to be fair on both sides of the board. In other words, work hard to beat yourself and go over those games later. Bobby Fischer did this, though his reasons were much different than my own.
My final piece of advice, and the one that I hope to stop this rant from continuing, is to begin annotating other players games along with your own. By putting your thoughts down on paper, or even a computer screen, they will lock into your long-term memory much more quickly and solidly than just looking over games and talking to yourself. Studying chess is really no different than studying any subject. Proper procedures, hard work, time, effort, and determination all play a key role. The real difference is that you don't currently have a Professor to guide your hand.
Note: I am a Psychology student studying general cognitive and development processes and have taken to independently studying neural lapses and cognitive learning and abstraction. The basic psychology of learning is not repetition or Rote processing, but rather the capability to completely understand the material. If you work on understanding the why rather than the hows or whens, you will get more out of your studies in the long run. A.k.a. The difference between hearing and listening.
Thank you to all who commented. 
I do have the first three Yusupov books so I'm gonna do that. I'm also considering buying the grandmaster package if I get the money. I started a topic on this as well. Any suggestions would also be welcome for this.
The grandmaster package off chessmasterschool.com. Sorry I forgot to include that in my last comment. 
I think this is a question many people ask themselves. I'm rated a little over 1600 both on chess.com and USCF and want to become an expert. Being 14 and on summer break I have tons of time and I'm willing to do whatever it takes. If some experts (or stronger) would comment on this I would be highly appreciative. Hard work doesn't scare me so lay it on me.