Advice on Improving Chess

Hey guys!

I was just wondering if y'all had some good tips on improving chess. I've been trying to but the ratings kept going down or staying the same. I'm mostly focusing on rapids, and it's been quite a difficult struggle.

Any advice?

Looking at some of your games an area you could improve on is thinking about what your opponent can do

Building habits - How to improve at chess is a great yt series by chessbrahs channel, check it out !

I started at about 700 in Rapid and I am now about 1300 just by playing and analyzing games. First of all you need to stop hanging pieces, that's the most important thing and you can do that by playing a lot of games, so that you will immediately see which pieces are being attacked. You also have to learn from your mistakes; avoiding forks is going to help you a lot. Also, as TreyThe Great199 said, you should start looking at your opponent moves and try to think what they are planning to do. For every move, think: Why did they make this move? Are they attacking, defending or just improving their position? Also, when you want to move a piece, look if that piece is defending another piece and if not, you should move it to a square that if it is going to be attacked, it has a safe square to retreat. Puzzles are also important, few puzzles a day will help you quickly spot some basic tactics.

A rating of 1200 is a sign of frequent blunders. Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it. That alone will get you to 1500.

He is 793.

But he isn’t wrong…

although I would add to get from 1100-1400izh I learned a few openings and that helped

Dear TheToxophilite,

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, and give you the material YOU need. Naturally, it takes time to use everything in practice, but you will succeed if you are relentless and persistent!
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

Thank y'all for your advice and encouragement! 

Here are some things I do to improve

Make sure to do puzzles, they are one of the most important things to do to improve. Also, do some classical, daily, or long rapid games, like 15+ minutes. Taking time to calculate and read the position is very important, and the more you do this the faster you can make good decisions.

Make sure that before you make your move, it isn't a one move blunder, it's the easiest thing to do if you're currently just making the first move you see, because that's not always good. Make sure to check what your opponent can do in the next few moves to punish the move you want to make.

I noticed you're about 800, and at that point you should know the one queen checkmate, you can find a practice for that in drills, and soon look into the one rook checkmate. make sure to analyze games and see what you did wrong. 

As you pass 1000 learn some key endgame principles, learn the one rook mate, and start looking into openings. Have a few favorite openings as white, and acquire good responses to black for openings you see often.

By doing these things I went from a beginner to about 1400 FIDE elo within 3 months. 

Good luck on improving!

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a chess coach and chess YouTuber based in California: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q

I have tips to help you improve your chess skills so you can win more games.  

-I  offer a  free beginner’s free eBook on my website, www.ChessByLauren.com in case you are interested. The book is about asking questions before each move.  

-Learn basic tactics such as the fork, discovered attack, pin, and more.  I offer interactive puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php  

-I recommend two books for you: “50 Poison Pieces”   and “Queen For A Day: The Girl’s Guide To Chess Mastery.”  Both books are available on Amazon.com.  Both books are endorsed by chess masters!  

-If you are serious about chess, I highly recommend you hiring a chess coach to help you.  

-Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side. Always as, “If I move here, where is my opponent going to move?”

I hope that this helps.  

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

Gotham chess will help