I am stuck at 1600, how do I break it?

right now i'm stuck at 1600, but i'm having difficulties getting past it - i have a big tournament coming up and i'm preparing for it while gaining elo

wish i knew lol

From what I've heard... Puzzles puzzles puzzles, and more puzzles, (and around 2000, openings openings openings, theory theory theory) considering a coach would be wise, someone said to get a IM coach, then a GM coach when you are higher rated idk why tho, a coach for sure but they are very expensive) take all of that with a grain of salt as I'm 1600 as well lol

thanks, i'm cracking on puzzles right now too lol

try positional tactics

Its much harder and keeps your brain active

never heard of that, but i'll give it a try, thanks a lot

I was stuck around 1500 a few months ago, but if you are patient, do puzzles, and don't get frustated you'll be able to crack 1600.

cool

Instead of random tactics on this site or some other, try a more systematic approach, such as you find in certain books. These, for instance.

Screenshot from http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2023/06/ten-books-to-achieve-1800.html

Everyone does tactics. I used to when i was plateaued at 1600 rapid. But I improved 200 points in just a few weeks to 1800 by training positionally. It can be random/sporadic when you see more tactics, but you can always try to limit the amount of tactics your opponent has and maximize the opportunities you have. I recommend Remote Chess Academy youtube channel with Igor Smirnov for learning some of these techniques.

I started from 500 and gained to 1600 within 18 months (currently 1700+ rapid and daily).

The point is that from 500 to 1600 had been pretty easy and smooth, at least for me. But beyond 1600, there are exponential amount of more knowledge to learn, and each 100 ELO has become very difficult to gain.

As a matter of fact, it takes me 6 months to move from 1600 to 1700.

So, I guess it is just hard to progress after 1600.

I am 2154 in puzzles and 1137 in bullet

"I just checked out your profile and I have an idea on how you can make progress of 100 points within the next 2 months. Please contact me for more information. I also have a student who is 8 years old and had a similar problem at a rating of 1600. You can check out their story at https://www.chess.com/stats/live/rapid/vr_king." The email is dpolimac@gmail.com Thank you

im just trying to get to 1600, lol ill worry about getting past it once i get there

the days leading up play 15/10 and alot of puzzles, the day before do nothing, the day of play some games of equal or as close to equal time controls

puzzles and learning opening structures with common positions helped me a lot. I've also been reading this book called "How To Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman which really helped.