Tips for improvement? Stuck at 900 ELO.

So i started playing in beginning of January this year and my goal is to make it up to 1k+ ELO in this year, i'm playing and studying chess on the daily. As for now i feel that i'm maybe a bit stuck at 900 elo-ish. I bounce up and down between 900-970 ELO but can't make it past 1k. I'm usually a player who plays a lot of momentum, get at good streak and I play good, loose and i go on tilt. I've stopped playing if I lose more than 3 games in a row to prevent me from tanking too much rating. Would appreciate tips in how to better my game/mindset as a whole. I rotate a few openings and don't play so much fancy stuff, occasional bad 1 move blunders, some games are solid and others fall apart fairly quick. All tips and suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Dear Storpjas,

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

I looked at a few of your games.  You need to work on 2 things.  Tactics via puzzles,  having a plan via learning what strengths and weaknesses are in a position.

I do a decent amount of puzzles but the plan of attack or spot positional weakness I can confess to be worse at. Is it something you recon I will develop over time or is there a special puzzle theme that covers this?

Books are a pretty good one.  Reasses Your Chess is a good book.  But youtube videos might be an option for you.  There are some articles too.  Just google chess imbalances or chess positional strengths and weaknesses.

It maybe something as simple as a backwards pawn.  Or maybe its a weakly defended bishop.

It takes experience and study but you'll get it

My advice is purely based on what you play. You play a lot of e4 so you should find a book or course on e4. One way I try to improve is by using the opening explorer to see how I do against certain openings I play and when my opponent plays certain moves. You will find a percentage of how many times you win, draw, and lose. I will give you an example using your own games. Against the Caro, you lose 65% and draw 13%. Clearly, you struggle against the Caro. You play a lot of Hillbily attack against it and you should check out this video here. 

But sometimes you need to use the engine to see what the best continuation is and use it in your games. I will give you an improvement on your Caro-Kann with the pgn attached

Another way to learn is through the study plans that they have on this site. Here is the link for the directory of all of them: https://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-directory. They use the articles, videos, and lessons on this site. As mentioned above getting better tactically is the most important so continue doing the puzzles on this site. Also don't forget about the endgame. Studying that will help you recognize won games, and how to finish them out when you get close to that part of the game. 

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a chess coach and chess book author based in California. 

Puzzles are great to help you recognize specific tactic patterns in actual games.  

I offer beginner interactive puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php 

I’m sure these puzzles will benefit you since you have to figure out which piece to capture. 

Here’s another suggestion to help you get better: consider all checks and captures.  Also, try to find a winning and forcing line as you play games.  

I also have a YouTube Chess channel for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q

Also, you might want to consider hiring a chess coach to help you get better!  

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

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

Firstly, I would like to say that I am by no means in expert when it comes to chess, I am in the low-mid 1300s in rapid. But it was not that long ago that I was in your position of being stuck in the 900s, I find that this is a very common "wall" that a lot of people hit. Before I get into some of my personal advice on climbing up to 1000 and beyond , I'd like to say that I hope you aren't stressing over your rating too much. It's always nice to see the number go up, but the fun of the game should take precedent over your rating. With that being said, I'll give my best try at offering some advice. Also while it should be said that working on not blundering is definitely important, I feel that this doesn't need much of an explanation. 

1. Learn how to form and execute plans.

I think this is the MOST important thing to improve upon right now, but it is also the most difficult. Making plans in the middlegame is a hard concept to grasp, but it is critical to be able to apply a strategy to any particular game. My advice on this is to watch games that feature openings that you play, and see how the players transition into the later parts of the game. Familiarize yourself with certain themes (i.e. minority attacks, kingside attacks, utilizing open files, exploiting pins etc.). If you are a reader, I would highly suggest the book Logical Chess Move by Move. I have to give a lot of credit to this book for helping me improve, as the book goes through a bunch of games and explains each and every move in detail. By reading this, you will see how players develop a plan and convert an advantage. As a plus you'll also get to see a lot of games that feature classic openings (Queen's Gambit, Italian Game, French Defense etc.) which are good ones to learn. Also, I would recommend watching the standard/climbing the rating ladder playlists on IM John Bartholomew's YouTube channel. I think he does an incredible job of explaining his thought process during his games in a way that is easy to understand.

2. King Safety is always the #1 priority.

I looked at a few of your games and saw that you neglected castling, and I think the right move is to castle generally as quickly as possible. This isn't always the best way to do it but I think at your level it is just better to get it out of the way early and not have to worry about your king being in the center. 

3. Do puzzles and study tactics.

This is a pretty obvious. The sharper your calculation and tactical ability is, the more you will be winning material and putting yourself in favorable positions to win the game. Try to be consistent with doing puzzles as they are great for sharpening your mind, especially right before you play some full games.

4. Play longer time controls.

I saw that you play 10 minute games, and I would recommend playing longer games, especially 15|10 and 30 minutes. I feel as though it isn't efficient to be playing in time pressure all the time whilst trying to improve, so the extra time will allow you more time to think and even remember things you have learned and apply them during the current game. Also don't be afraid to spend some real time on certain moves, and making the best move in a critical position can be all it takes to turn the tide in your favor during a game.

5. Play and study while you have a fresh mind. 

You may already be doing this, but chess is quite the mentally taxing game, and it's best to have all of your energy while you are playing it. This edge can make a huge difference in avoiding blunders/mistakes, and can help you notice mistakes that your opponent makes. 

There's a lot more to consider, but this is my two cents. Just keep learning, playing, and enjoying the game and you will surely make good progress. Best of luck.

Helpful for reaching 1000+ rating

https://www.chess.com/blog/KeSetoKaiba/opening-principles-again 

Thanks guys/girls for all the valuable help!

you have to constantly be improving your knowledge of the game to not stagnate

1000 is no ambitious goal, aim at least for 1500

If you are stuck at 900, then it is presumably because you often blunder. No amount of study will cure that. Check each and every move no matter how obvious it seems before you play it. This alone will get you above 1000. It will also give you more pleasure: losing is a normal part of chess, but nobody likes to lose from blunders.

"I've stopped playing if I lose more than 3 games in a row" This is the right idea, but you can take it a step further. Whenever you lose one (1) game, stop playing and analyse it first so as to learn from your mistakes and avoid getting in tilt mode.

"I rotate a few openings" Do not rotate: stick to 1 opening only and play it all the time so as to accumulate experience.

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All jokes aside, at 900, you should really study tactics. Puzzle Rush is a great idea as well. Tactics will not only help you capitalize on your opponents blunders, they will help with blunder prevention.

Looked at your must recent game where your opponent flubbed mate in 2 right from the start. No idea how he missed that discover check. Then again I play at 10 min, so I'd miss god knows what in a 3 min game.

Hey man looks like you reached your goal, congrats! would you mind helping me break through 900 elo aswell??

I can teach you EXACTLY how to think during the game (opening, middlegame and endgame). Your chess understanding will never be the same and you will improve a lot. I charge $10/h, but if you can’t afford too many lessons, don’t worry. I can teach you a lot in an hour. Here to help if you are interested.

If you want to study by yourself, read ‘Logical Chess’. It is really instructive book. You have it on youtube as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eTB7oHeRgM&list=PLUrgfsyInqNa1S4i8DsGJwzx1Uhn2AqlT