Cant improve and progress

I am a 400 rated chess player, struggling to progress. I played over 100 rapid games now and I often blunder and left my pieces hanging, cant spot checkmates and get outsmarted easily. Im trying to learn how to play better, but i always have to watch overly long youtube videos about it (usually around 30 minutes - 1 hours) which i dont want to watch, and i cant get premium to analyze my games and get unlimited lessons because my parents are quite strict towards microtransactions and online payment decisions. One weird thing is im quite good when i get an actual chess board and play with my family members, dont think its because they are bad players, they actually are really good, but when i play online im a blunder king. How do i improve  and progress?

You need a bit of patience. Play 30 minute games instead of 10 minute, give yourself time to think and see these things you keep missing. Watch the 30 min - 1hr videos and concentrate on what they are teaching. Get your board out and play through games you found interesting, try to analyse what happened. Getting good at chess is hard and takes some work.

#1
"I am a 400 rated chess player" ++ This is a sign of frequent blunders

"I often blunder and left my pieces hanging" ++ Before you play a move, check it is no blunder

"i always have to watch overly long youtube videos about it"
++ A book is better than 200 videos of 1 hour

"i cant get premium to analyze my games" ++ Play and analyse 1 lost game / day 15|10 is enough

"dont think its because they are bad players" ++ think again

I finally got to 1000. (Which is still not great). My advice:

Do puzzles. (The goal is try and make the best move). 70% will get you to 800-1000 provided there is no blunders.

Practice against bots. Not to win necessarily but to learn not to blunder.

Find 2 simple openings and learn them . (I use london for white and pirc for back.)

Before you make a move. Check EVERY move your opponent can make. (It doesn;t take that long.)

Castle as fast as you can and don't go "chasing squirels" until you do castle.

You will get to 800-900 I promise.

shawn1964 I can't do puzzles since thry have a limit and i can't buy premium, so is only doing daily puzzles still good?

#7
Just the daily puzzle and the free puzzles are enough.
A few tactics puzzles are good, but do not overdo it.
Penalty kicks are part of soccer training, but soccer training of penalty kicks only is useless.
The essence is to play and to analyse lost games.

Currently my three aims are 1) what's the next couple of moves in a few different ways my opponent can play-build the pieces into a structure to stifle attacks. 2) wait for my opportunity to trade my opponents stronger pieces, every game this seems to have an opportunity, wether I've seen it or not till after the game. 3) unless a blatant checkmate is seen and acted on hold the imbalance of pieces and repeat the process. Keeping it simple, onwards and upwards 😊

And thousands of puzzles, though I need to slow down, success rate needs to be higher for me , it's learning bad habits

the book part might be an issue, because i almost have none, ill see if i can find pdts

and the last one im talking about my family members and how i beat them when im playing chess on a real board, im way better playing on a real board rather than online.
 

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

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

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber who helps beginners out : 

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

Send me one of your games and I'll be happy to analyze the game for free on my YouTube channel on Sunday livestream from 1-2PM PST.  Ask me questions in real time!  

 This is a great way to improve!

Here’s more  ideas to help you get better.  

-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?”. Do this for every single move!  

-Play with a slow time control, such as G/30 so you have plenty of time to think before every move. 

#11
"Chess Fundamentals" - Capablanca
"My System" - Nimzovich
"Common Sense in Chess" - Lasker
are all available as free PDF as the copyright has expired

I'm a relatively new player--played a bit with my Dad when I was a kid, and recently inspired by "The Queen's Gambit."

I was up over 700 for a while then fell into the 400's and having a hard time getting out.  I find that it's harder to anticipate the moves of the 400-level players and I end up making a lot of blunders.  The 600 and above players are a bit more predictable.  

Is this a thing?

I still think the classic books are the way to go:

"Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess"
"Logical Chess Move by Move" (Chernev)
"Winning Chess" (Chernev)
"How to Win in the Chess Endings" (Horowitz)

I know, it's old school - but hey it's an old game.