Where can I find good methodology to get better?

I see that people recommend  studying openings, endings, tatics, reading books, etc, and I also know that everyone can get better by its own way, some would prefer to spend more time studying openings while others analyzing games but is there a general methodology to help begginners improve? Such as studying X hours of openings, making Y tatics puzzles per day, etc?

 

By now I am watching the chess.com classes (currently on intermediate level), doing 25 puzzles a day and studying the italian game.

Thanks

There is no “studying X hours of openings, making Y tactics puzzles per day?”. Everyone is different, has different variable methods and progresses at a different pace. Some people may take a year to reach 1000. Others may have no trouble reaching that, and some might be able to fly passed that rating easily with steady progress. What’s important it that you get a study program that works for you. I suggest learning opening principles, not studying openings. Analyzing lost games first without the engine is a good practice, and tactics practice is always beneficial. You are not that guy who has played for a decade and still has the same rating. You aren’t that genius kid who reach 2000 in a few months. You aren’t that average guy with steady progress and some plateau’s here and there (or maybe you will be). What’s important is that you have a passion for the game, and find what works for you.

Also play rapid if your interested in improving your chess.

That is what I meant by everyone will get better by its own way, but I want to know if there are some tips that works for "most people", like you said about analyzing the game without engine and playing rapid, I am more of a blitz player but it does make a lot of sense to start playing more long games to think more before chosing the moves. Thanks for the advices!!

Your bullet rating is higher than mine, so maybe your rapid can get even higher as well!

Chessable has been a good fit for me after I learned all the fundamentals from lessons here.

The courses aren’t free but the system with Spaced Repetition Learning to beat the patterns in your head helped me tremendously since picking up chess later in life.

A solid opening course for white & black, strategy course, puzzles on here for tactics will be a solid regimen in my opinion.

Never heard about this Chessable, will look it up!

Thanks for the help

Let me know what you think or if you have any questions. 👍

#1
"studying openings" ++ No, that is a waste of time and will not help you

"endings" ++ Yes, it is good in the long term

"tactics"
++ Yes, 4 tactics puzzles as a warm-up help,
but in a real game nobody tells you there is a tactic, or for which side

"reading books"
++ Yes, but no more than 1 book per year.
Do not read them as if they were novels, study them with 2 chess sets: one for the main line, one for variations. You cannot learn to swim or to drive a car from a book and while books are helpful, you cannot learn to play from books alone: play and analysis are essential.

"some would prefer to spend more time studying openings"
++ They will not get any better. It is a bottomless pit. You can study openings 24/7 with no improvement. That what you study does not happen and when it finally happens you will have forgotten. Openings help to faster beat weaker players that you should beat anyway, but does not help against stronger players against whom you need most help. They will either know more from experience or they will deviate from your studied opening lines. The best way to openings is to just play on your own from principles and eventually look it up after the game.

"while others analyzing games"
++ Analysing your lost games is key, studying annotated grandmaster games is good too.

"is there a general methodology to help begginners improve? Such as studying X hours of openings, making Y tatics puzzles per day, etc?"
++ Solve 4 tactics puzzles as a warm-up
Play a 15|10 game and use all time allowed
If you lose the game, then analyse it to learn from your mistakes,
else study an annotated grandmaster game.

#2
"By now I am watching the chess.com classes" ++ No big help
"doing 25 puzzles a day" ++ Too much
"studying the italian game" ++ Useless

#6
" I am more of a blitz player "
++ Blitz is fun, but improvement comes from rapid and classical.
Classical is hard online
15|10 rapid is good.

Openings is a weird one. You need to know what you are doing to have a solid yet flexible enough plan to take you to the end of the game and at least avoid positional blunders. There is no point studying an opening that you are never going to play but at least study the ones you will always play. This helps to avoid solidifying opening mistakes into your play. Currently trying to undo that in myself.

Thanks for the tips! I saw a lot of sense you everything you said. Do you think 4 puzzles is really enough? It takes me in avarage 2.5 minutos to solve a puzzle in my current level. I started a few days ago to analyze all my games, even the ones I win, and it really seems to be helpful  and I will try changing from blitz to rapid.

I am trying right now to always play the italian and looking for games of GMs that also plays it, hope to understand the mid game plans etc

Hanging Pawns has a good video series on Youtube about the Italian he does a few series on openings I would recommend it.

Here is what I do:

Play Rapid- analyse the games - watch Naroditskys speedruns. You don't need more then that to get decent at chess. I do some puzzles to but not so often any more.

 

No need to study opening etc, you will get used to what to do and where pieces belongs over time anyway by watching gms play and by analysing your own games.

Hello!

I believe that all you know and what was said in the previous posts  are also valid and 
I suggest  that  you also  play  with bots of Chess.com.
It helps a lot...

Greetings from Curitiba

 

#15
"Do you think 4 puzzles is really enough?"
++ Yes. Puzzles are helpful as a warm-up, but in a real game nobody tells you if there is a tactic and for which side. Practicing penalty kicks is useful for a soccer player, but a whole practice session of penalty kicks only does not help.

"It takes me in avarage 2.5 minutos to solve a puzzle in my current level."
++ As in a real game you do not know if there is a tactic or for which side, you should spend 5 minutes per move in a real game. You should play 15|10 at a pace of 40 seconds/move.
That means you should solve tactics puzzles at a pace of 20 seconds per tactics puzzle.

"I started a few days ago to analyze all my games, even the ones I win"
++ I recommend to analyse lost games only. You learn more from a game you lose than from a game you win. It will also stick better in your memory. This also counteracts the natural but bad habit to spend much time on pleasant won games and to dispose quickly of unpleasant losses with some lame excuse: 'stupid blunder', 'short of time', 'silly opening'.
Analysing your own lost games is key to improving,
otherwise you make the same errors over and again.
Study of an annotated grandmaster game helps more than analysis of a game you won.

"I will try changing from blitz to rapid."
++ As you spend 2.5 minutes on a tactics puzzle even 15|10 may be too fast for you.