What is best?

I have been playing online chess now for about 2 years and in that time I have had many many tutors and high rated players telling me hints, tips and advice on how to improve my game. 

Some say analysing your past games to see where you went wrong. 

Some say study end games.

Some say studying openings.

Others say use a database while some have said that studying variations is the only way. 

While I have been listening to each of these players in turn I may have gained about 150 rating points but I am still struggling to hit the 1400 mark. (my highest having been 1393) 

So now I am opening up this for debate because while I appreciate all this help and advice I want to gain in experience and maybe fulfil my New Years resolution of getting over 1400 and staying there some time in 2010!!

My advice drink heavily.  Aside from that all tips above are good and need to be studied.   Try less games  8-10 concentrate on each to identify ypur weakness Than work on that.  Keep this up and se your rating will rise.

Notwithstanding the great advice available here at chess.com, the most coherent club-level-player improvement materials I've ever seen are the dozens of articles by Dan Heisman in Novice Nook at ChessCafe.

In one of Dan Heisman's many articles he mentions what he calls the Four Homeworks:

1. Practice (play games)
2. Study tactics (appropriate to your level of play)
3. Go over annotated master games, and
4. Read 'chessy' material (e.g., strategy, evaluation techniques, like many of the articles here at chess.com, etc.)

It'd be nice if I did the Four Homeworks regularly.

I think you should get your games down to 10 to 15 at a time and then you will have much more time to concentrate

I have hit 1432 but thats it I slipped down as I got busier  taking more games on and being Super for eam Englnd !!! to get over that  1400 barrier I had to concentrate on every move and I mean really give each move a lot of thought, which is unusual for me as after over 1200 games my time per move is under a minute! So slow down play the way I know you can, forget all the other stuff you get involved in and play yor heart out!

i say forget about openings, end games and variations. its supposed to be fun. that sounds like work. the best advice i can give is always have backup for your backup. try to attack the same piece with as many pieces as you can. or you can always play a bunch of 800s. :)

I'll have to agree to some extent with timmygadget - but add one more thing, which goes for OTB as well as CC: sit on your hands! Few games and really take the time for each of them. Youdon't have to finish the game quickly! Regarding KeViNs approach that is a fully valid point of view. But my experience is that it is more fun winning than losing! Good luck with a successful 2010!

Analyse the games to find out where you went wrong. Learn from your mistakes...and whatever you do DONT MAKE THE SAME STUPID MISTAKE AGAIN!

well my input would be !!

Chess is for enjoyment, not ratings. BUT  it does give you some satisfaction when you reach a target, a sense of achievement.

I would look and study games that have been won within 20 moves, this will give you an insight into the best openings.

mmm perhaps i should take this advice myself !!!

My advice is

1. Study tactics

2. Develop an Opening Repetoire

3. Study endings

4.  Learn how to play the middlegame

5. Practice

6. Play more

7. Get better

8. Have fun!

I think you should find a highly rated player and continually play over and over again with just him or her (just unrated games).

Make sure it's someone who won't ever ever let you win. You'll learn a lot like that and you'll have a lot of fun and laughs too.

You can't learn to swim just by reading a book about swimming.

Playing is the only way.

Yeah Donna you should try and kick my butt everyday lol

eh eh eh

Agreed but nobody I know wants to play against me often OTB, may join my local club I guess

 It was not on time.

ut see this is EXACTLY what I am talking about ...

So many people so much differing opinions 

play less games at one time. put more thought into each of those. many people play too many games. I find myself doing the same. If you play twenty-five games and loose one it is no big deal. If you play ten games and lose one it seems more important. learn to use the available time and think out your move and likely answers to it. This is good advise that I should take myself but I often play to many games and make snap moves even when there is no need. most of all play the type of chess that you find enjoyable. if you are having fun you will play better.

Donna,

You are one of the most sincere and eager student of chess, no doubt!

So I am letting you in on a secret

Jump in level only occurs when you make a jump in the level of your understanding/perception. Let me ellaborate:

(1) You practice tactics in Tactics Trainer (extremely useful, if you are not already doing so), and at the excellent site http://www.chesstactics.org/ (if you have not visited this site, you MUST - and complete all lessons and excercises).

You can now recognize pins, forks, skewers, discovered attack, etc. But you see a position where you see none of these. You have to think "can I alter the position by some move where I can create pins, forks, skewers, discovered attack, etc"? Similarly you have to smell out opponent's possibilities of creating similar positions.

(2) You have studied openings - now try to think what are the basic logic underlying each move, so that you can punish people who deviate.

e.g.: In Open Sicilian after 1.e4 c5 why white plays 2.Nf3 (e.g.: 2.d4 cxd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6; after 2.Nc3 e5! is possible); 2...d6 why white immediately plays 3.d4 (to prevent 3...e5 among other things) why black plays 3...cxd4 (otherwise 4.e5/d5) 4.Nxd4 why black plays 4...Nf6 (to prevent Maroczy bind 5.c4) etc. etc.

There are several excellent books on openings which deals with the theories. The best is probably FCO: Fundamental Chess Openings by Paul Van Der Sterren. If you dont want to spend 20 bucks, there is a cheap (2nd hand) two-volume book: Basic Chess Openings(1.e4 only) and More Basic Chess Openings(1.d4, etc.) by Gabor Kallai - costing only a few dollars online.

I can go on and on, but I think I shall reserve the rest for when you ask to go from 1400 to 1600

Chess is a lot like life.  Usually the most logical move is the best move.  As in life, sometimes you have to give up something in order to get something.  Never play emotionally.  Minimize your mistakes and don't be afraid to lose.  No one is perfect...but try to learn from your mistakes by reviewing some of your lost games and see where you went wrong.  Chess is a fun game, the best game I have had the pleasure to learn.  But I never read a book or studied moves because to me it is still a game and real life is MUCH more important!  Win or lose try to have fun and don't take this seriously.