Try 15|10
Stuck around 600 rating

Play longer time formats.... 10 minutes or even 15|10... maybe even longer if you have the time. As you pointed yourself, you can calculate but it takes you longer... with practice it'll come quicker, but you gotta learn how to do it slow first.
Seems like you're trying to memorize openings. Don't do that. You're memorizing assuming your opponent is going to make the best moves, that is rarely that case in your level. Instead, learn the opening principles. Develop, control the center, castling to get your king to safety, etc, and try to understand the ideas behind the openings. It's fine to have an opening you like, I recommend 1.e4 as white (Ruy Lopes or italian) and as black maybe a response to e4 and d4, but don't spend too much time on it and especially don't memorize it. It's honestly a waste of your time memorizing. Just try to learn and understand the principles.
Make sure you know how to perform basic checkmates.
King and two rooks (or King and 2 queens - or King rook and queen) - they are very similar
King and Queen
King and Rook
If you don't know how to do that, there's not much point in learning everything else and playing well during the whole game and then when it's time to win you don't know how... these are a must!
Checkmating patterns will do you wonders as well. Also look for ways of trading down pieces when you have a material advantage so you can take the game into a winning endgame and convert it into a victory. Also avoid trading when you're down in material.
Analizing your games (especially the ones you lost) will help you a long way, but not much if you're memorizing. Having a more experienced player go through your games with you would be best if possible. Also, don't just play and do puzzles, study. There are plenty of helpful content here on chess.com and youtube. Maybe check out agadmator's channel on youtube. He covers classic chess games as well as contemporary games and gives plenty of tips for beginners. Hikaru and Gotham chess (and some others as well) also have chess content, often aimed at beginners as well.
Lastly but not least, stop resigning so soon and stop hanging pieces. At every level people make mistakes all the time, even if you're losing, chances are your opponent might hang a queen or something like that, especially below 1000 elo and especially if you're doing puzzles and learning tactics... that way you practice playing in worst positions and finding resources to survive... just today I was playing I was in a losing position and my opponent blundered and hung mate in one in a back rank mate, he was 1600 rated. A couple of days ago I had a completely winning position and my opponent found a nice rook sacrifice which led to stalemate draw..
Keep doing puzzles, that's good, but try to visualize the whole sequence in your head before moving....But to be honest and sum it all up, you don't really need tactics, at least for shorter time formats... don't get me wrong, it definitely helps and you should practice, but if you learn opening principles, basic checkmate patterns, and most importantly stop hanging pieces, then learn how to trade down when you have material advantage you can relatively easily get to at least 1000 elo rather quickly...
Most importantly, keep making sure you're having fun, as that is the best way to get good at something. Good Luck

Looked at the last game you played and obviously there are some mistakes. That's normal and that's okay. It happens in every levels especially at the beginner level. Not gonna comment on all of them, but what we really caught my attention is that you weren't spending much time in your moves. You only used 3 of the 15 minutes you had, but one mistake in particular caught my attention. There were a couple of missed forced wins, blunders, etc there, but this one that I commented really caught my attention.
Keep playing, don't let mistakes demotivate you, have fun and best of luck!


I was stuck around 600 on the 10 minute games, I switched to the 20 minute and the 30 minute games and my rating went up to 700 quite quickly after that. Now I am a bit more experienced I prefer the 10 minute games again (as you aren't waiting on you opponent for long and only very rarely get those poor sports stalling to spite you).
If you are regularly playing games where you are running into time trouble, play a longer time control.

Consider trying Daily games with 1 move per day minimum. That way you have more time to study the position and decide on moves. I'll send you an unrated challenge in case you'd like to try this.
Also, consider trying the lessons that chess.com suggests after game reports. Or perhaps watch chess streamers. There are some great streamers out there. GM Arman of Chessbrah has a fantastic series that he just completed, here is a link to "Building Habits" https://youtu.be/WPmbUXQloHs . Hope that helps

Looked at the last game you played and obviously there are some mistakes. That's normal and that's okay. It happens in every levels especially at the beginner level. Not gonna comment on all of them, but what we really caught my attention is that you weren't spending much time in your moves. You only used 3 of the 15 minutes you had, but one mistake in particular caught my attention. There were a couple of missed forced wins, blunders, etc there, but this one that I commented really caught my attention.
Keep playing, don't let mistakes demotivate you, have fun and best of luck!
Yes play slower please ! it was a 15/10 but you play too fast !
Even you don't see the mat at 26ème, at 27ème move you had some winning moves, you could win the queen easy !
Dont underestimate the 600 rating players on Blitz, the chance they hang a piece is about 1 percent every move, which is not very much.
My Advice is even though the chance is low, still to check all lines and see if you or opponent hangs a piece, pawns are the pieces that are ignored the most on low rating. Also, give the Bishop 3,5 points and a horse 3 points. People on low rating don't generally know that they losse 0,5 points if they trade their Bishop for a horse.
Also if you don't know what move tot make, try to get a hold the center.

People on low rating don't generally know that they losse 0,5 points if they trade their Bishop for a horse.
It's not that simple, it's purely situational. Jeffrey Silman wrote an entire article about when one is more valuable than the other.
https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-eternal-battle-bishops-vs-knights
Although Jeffrey Dolman is right in that article, if I look at the computer eval i always see that the computer think it is good to trade horse for Bishop.
PawnValueMg = 126, PawnValueEg = 208,
KnightValueMg = 781, KnightValueEg = 854,
BishopValueMg = 825, BishopValueEg = 915,
RookValueMg = 1276, RookValueEg = 1380,
QueenValueMg = 2538, QueenValueEg = 2682,
Tactic puzzles dont help you much against blunders and against time pressure. They help your calculation skill and tactic skills in slow games though.

I don't want to disappoint you, but I think, it's the wrong way.
Chess should entertain you, and if you aren't able to get new rating points, you shouldn't waste your time.
Play chess for fun because if you want to get a good rating, it will take a lot of time and it won't bring you a good experience.

Play longer time formats.... 10 minutes or even 15|10... maybe even longer if you have the time. As you pointed yourself, you can calculate but it takes you longer... with practice it'll come quicker, but you gotta learn how to do it slow first.
Seems like you're trying to memorize openings. Don't do that. You're memorizing assuming your opponent is going to make the best moves, that is rarely that case in your level. Instead, learn the opening principles. Develop, control the center, castling to get your king to safety, etc, and try to understand the ideas behind the openings. It's fine to have an opening you like, I recommend 1.e4 as white (Ruy Lopes or italian) and as black maybe a response to e4 and d4, but don't spend too much time on it and especially don't memorize it. It's honestly a waste of your time memorizing. Just try to learn and understand the principles.
Make sure you know how to perform basic checkmates.
King and two rooks (or King and 2 queens - or King rook and queen) - they are very similar
King and Queen
King and Rook
If you don't know how to do that, there's not much point in learning everything else and playing well during the whole game and then when it's time to win you don't know how... these are a must!
Checkmating patterns will do you wonders as well. Also look for ways of trading down pieces when you have a material advantage so you can take the game into a winning endgame and convert it into a victory. Also avoid trading when you're down in material.
Analizing your games (especially the ones you lost) will help you a long way, but not much if you're memorizing. Having a more experienced player go through your games with you would be best if possible. Also, don't just play and do puzzles, study. There are plenty of helpful content here on chess.com and youtube. Maybe check out agadmator's channel on youtube. He covers classic chess games as well as contemporary games and gives plenty of tips for beginners. Hikaru and Gotham chess (and some others as well) also have chess content, often aimed at beginners as well.
Lastly but not least, stop resigning so soon and stop hanging pieces. At every level people make mistakes all the time, even if you're losing, chances are your opponent might hang a queen or something like that, especially below 1000 elo and especially if you're doing puzzles and learning tactics... that way you practice playing in worst positions and finding resources to survive... just today I was playing I was in a losing position and my opponent blundered and hung mate in one in a back rank mate, he was 1600 rated. A couple of days ago I had a completely winning position and my opponent found a nice rook sacrifice which led to stalemate draw..
Keep doing puzzles, that's good, but try to visualize the whole sequence in your head before moving....But to be honest and sum it all up, you don't really need tactics, at least for shorter time formats... don't get me wrong, it definitely helps and you should practice, but if you learn opening principles, basic checkmate patterns, and most importantly stop hanging pieces, then learn how to trade down when you have material advantage you can relatively easily get to at least 1000 elo rather quickly...
Most importantly, keep making sure you're having fun, as that is the best way to get good at something. Good Luck
What a life saver! Thank you so so much!
Perhaps I'm jumping the gun on this last question, but when do you suggest moving from not knowing any openings to learning, and using them in a game? Is there a specific elo?
Once again, thank you!

I don't want to disappoint you, but I think, it's the wrong way.
Chess should entertain you, and if you aren't able to get new rating points, you shouldn't waste your time.
Play chess for fun because if you want to get a good rating, it will take a lot of time and it won't bring you a good experience.
I play chess because of the following;
1. It's competitive
2. It's a sign of intelligence, hence why many politicians and businessmen play it. I realize it's not the epitome of intelligence like some other 'games', but it involves logic and puzzle solving
3. I like to win, and THAT brings me happiness
My 1400 rated friend makes fun of me a lot (jokingly), simply because I don't play as much as he does, nor do I like playing him because I HATE losing. He says it's just a game, but to me it's more than that. I'd rather lose at Uno or some other game, than chess. It might be a weird irrational thought process, but it's just the way it works. I look at GM's or high level players, and I think wow, they are smart!

I was stuck around 600 on the 10 minute games, I switched to the 20 minute and the 30 minute games and my rating went up to 700 quite quickly after that. Now I am a bit more experienced I prefer the 10 minute games again (as you aren't waiting on you opponent for long and only very rarely get those poor sports stalling to spite you).
If you are regularly playing games where you are running into time trouble, play a longer time control.
Well thank you for the advice, I appreciate it greatly!

Looked at the last game you played and obviously there are some mistakes. That's normal and that's okay. It happens in every levels especially at the beginner level. Not gonna comment on all of them, but what we really caught my attention is that you weren't spending much time in your moves. You only used 3 of the 15 minutes you had, but one mistake in particular caught my attention. There were a couple of missed forced wins, blunders, etc there, but this one that I commented really caught my attention.
Keep playing, don't let mistakes demotivate you, have fun and best of luck!
Thank you very much for evaluating my game! I completely missed that mate. I always think I've analyzed everything, so I end up making a sub-par move. This said, I can definitely improve, thank you!
I don't want to disappoint you, but I think, it's the wrong way.
Chess should entertain you, and if you aren't able to get new rating points, you shouldn't waste your time.
Play chess for fun because if you want to get a good rating, it will take a lot of time and it won't bring you a good experience.
I play chess because of the following;
1. It's competitive
2. It's a sign of intelligence, hence why many politicians and businessmen play it. I realize it's not the epitome of intelligence like some other 'games', but it involves logic and puzzle solving
3. I like to win, and THAT brings me happiness
My 1400 rated friend makes fun of me a lot (jokingly), simply because I don't play as much as he does, nor do I like playing him because I HATE losing. He says it's just a game, but to me it's more than that. I'd rather lose at Uno or some other game, than chess. It might be a weird irrational thought process, but it's just the way it works. I look at GM's or high level players, and I think wow, they are smart!
Oh you have a 1400 friend, if is extremely good to play against higher players, play against him allot. That is how people increase their skill at insane speeds.
Help, I've literally been stuck at 600 rating forever... I do puzzles everyday, and try my best to improve but cannot. I realize I blunder sometimes, but I analyze my games and attempt to learn from them. Usually I blunder, realize immediately, and most likely resign. It's not like I don't see what I'm doing, it just takes me 3 minutes to calculate what takes 30 seconds for someone else it seems like. This being said, I try to always play a certain opening as white (not so much for black), and when someone does a move I don't really see that often, I panic. Usually my opponent has a plan, and I feel like I don't.
I've tried learning the basic lines to the ruy lopez, but my opponent ends up doing some move i've never seen and abuses me and my position. I don't know what I'm doing wrong!
Should I be playing 30 minute games? Or should I be playing 5 minute games?
Side Note!!! I realize there are a lot of throw away games in my archive (i.e. 3 minute games, or ones where I try something new in terms of openings). These are just me sort of mixing it up to see if it would help me grow.