I am not improving my tactical play at all!

Okay, so a few days ago I played in a rapid tournament and the last game was the funniest game I've ever played without any doubt. Both me and my opponent are intermediate players, but we blundered like 500 rated players every 2 moves. The incredible thing is that after the evaluation shifted from +- to -+ and back twice or so finally we agreed to a draw. The final position should be worse for me, but the game was hilarious and it seems he didn't want to push anymore.

The thing is just not about this game. I am gradually improving my positional understanding of chess but I am a total failure at tactics. Don't be deceived by my 1800 tactics trainer rating (I might be a 1800-1900 if we talk about positional chess but I am a 1200-1300 in tactical play) That's why I consider myself very underrated at my current 1450 fide rating... i played in my first tournament last august though so my elo shouldn't be too much of a concern at such an early stage. My concern is that I am not improving my tactics. Sometimes I blunder out of rush, but sometimes I just doesn't see or have hallucinations about something which works but it doesn't.

Have a look at the funniest game of my OTB games:

So, does anyone know any methods on how I can improve my tactical ability? Please don't say chesstempo.com. It's a great site, but although I do a lot of puzzles on sites or from books, my tactical skills got up to a certain level and then stagnated. I am not improving in this part of the game and it's frustrating. Almost all of my OTB losses and my embarrassing 1450 fide rating are results of stupid blunders and oversights.

Check out the book "Forcing chess Moves". It will improve your calculation.

Thanks for the tip!

Be patient, expectation of quick results is one of the biggest mistakes of training.  Tactics rely on a few things:

1.Observation.  This stems from piece positioning and positional imbalances, where pieces point, you have a piece attacking a guard and another attacking a piece, etc.

2.Calculation.  This is where you apply methodical doubt by trying to find a refutation to your candidate move.  Is there a check that discombobulates your line that allows him to win the exchange or even a whole piece without compensation?  Then you can eliminate that move. 

3.Evaluation.  After the tactics are things at least unclear but equal at worst (assuming you're slightly inferior or equal) or slightly better at worst (if you're slightly better)?  Then go for it.  If you're clearly better you wouldn't want to force perpetual check would you?  I didn't think so.  Tactics are a means to an end, it may be as drastic as a whole piece, forced mate, or forced threefold repetition if you're otherwise losing, or simply results in a positional plus or technically won (but still hard to win) endgame. 

What you said is very useful, I won't take offense.

I am an intermediate in chess overall, but a beginner in tactics. At least this is how I see myself. I am 17 years old and started taking chess seriously a year ago. I made a lot of progress but my tactics suck. You're kinda right about the "being in a hurry" thing. It's true. Most chess masters start at an early stage. I love the game of chess a lot and starting at 16 sometimes feels like starting at 80. I feel like I have a lot to catch up and I sometimes feel as though I want to get better into a short amount of time. This happens because I have great aspirations. I want to get very good. I don't mean GM level good. That's a bit too hard for me to attain at my age and my current level, but I want to become a master though, something like NM or FM at some point. It's not that I want to get to master level in a year, but I want to know I will get to it, no matter when. I just want to get as good as I can. Tactics are a liability for me. I feel as if my understanding of the game is getting better but I play bad games because of oversights.

Please don't think that I usually play like in that game shown in the original post. That is an exaggeration. I just had a bad day.

So as a conclusion I should accept that chess is a "demanding bitch" like you said, which is certainly true, and try to improve steadily step by step. That should be the key? Because sometimes I feel stupid. It's just a year since when I started chess, but when I did I expected to sky rocket my level of chess play, I've got to admit.

Ok. Thanks a lot for taking the time to write on this thread!

why not follow Dan Heisman's advice? you already know, but it's to do simple tactics over and over until they take a second or so. then move to a more complex set and repeat.

somebody should try at least and tell us how it goes.

18...Qf5 19...Re6 20...Rae8 looks like an unstoppable plan winning the exchange. 

I added some commentary.  Don't worry we all have a lot to learn! 

DKNOT I can totally relate to what u r saying and l can say that l am exactly where youre at.But l also believe that we are all alot better than we think we are. And l can honestly say that l suffer from "clockitis" if you will, where if l had more time l would find the right move.So it is really a matter of speeding up my thinking process, where if l could find a 1 minute move in 5-10 seconds, why, l would surely be a 2400! So we're in constant fear of losing time and we sacrifice the basic processes of finding just the right move. To me it's simple we are:

1-calculating an attack or a defence

2-calculating the opponents counter move and

3-re-calculating step 1 if step 2 negates step 1 and all the while in fear of losing time.

So,what l find is that "clockitis" is causing me to sacrifice the process, usually where l focus much more on my moves and gloss over the opponent's response to save time.

What is helping alot with this problem is some advice l recieved from a grandmaster as to a process of calculation and observation-and that it is slow at first, but we get better at it in time-but to stick to this process faithfully and for every move, every game. It is:

1-Find your candidate move and a good second move.This is the easy part and most of us can do it in a few seconds.

2-Look at opponent's likely responses including:

 a-all exchanges.That is, notice every opponent's piece that can take one of my pieces. and

 b-look at all possible checks that the opponent can serve, even if they seem ridiculous at first. and

3-Make your move. Now you have a better chance of making the right move.

But he tempered his advice with something I found interesting. And this is that when we sit down to play chess we must be totally focused on chess. Put our personal problems and responsibilities aside and focus on chess alone. This alone will speed up the thinking process and keep us more focused.

And, very important-lose the fear of losing. Everybody loses, even the best and often to much lesser opponents. The fear of losing with the fear of the clock will greatly disrupt focus and concentration. Just calm down and play chess!

All this has been helpfull and I am improving on a daily basis.

Chess its not only tactics, there are people here rated near to 3000 on tactics and their rating in chess is 2000 more or less (which is great!)

There is something really remarkable i read in the beggining of "Boost your chess Vol1" from artur yusupov, i quote:

"I must empasize that just working with this book does not guarantee a rise in your rating. It simply gives you a solid basis for a leap forward in chess ability. You should also play in tournaments, analyse your own games, play through well-annotated games of stronger players and read books on chess (I have included some suggestions at the end of this book)."

So .. be patient my friend 

Here are a couple of things that might help:

Dan Heisman's "Seeds of Tactical Destruction" article

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman05.pdf

Emmanuel Neiman's book "Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna"

http://www.amazon.com/Tune-Your-Chess-Tactics-Antenna/dp/9056914049

May I please make a simple suggestion?  Take a sheet of lined paper, a pen or pencil, and then go back over your Tactics Trainer history and see which problems you failed to solve.  Click on each one and when you have solved them, make a note of the motifs involved.  Notice whether you are playing with the black or white pieces.  Do you tend to fail more with a crowded board or a more empty board?  Minor piece problems or major piece problems?  Write down the problem number and everything you can notice about each problem you missed on.

 When you've done a dozen or so of these, I am willing to bet that a couple of patterns will begin to emerge.  They will not be patterns that you would "logically" have anticipated and they may be surprising.  The computer will help you spot things that you are automatically doing or failing to do, which you would be blind to.

  Give it a try.  It can't hurt.  I hope it helps.

- Michael

Having analyzed my old OTB games from over 10 years ago, I found that both sides blundering once every two moves is relatively common. My OTB regular rating was 1887 and my active/rapid rating was 1764.

From my experience against various players, from about 1500 to about 2050, the frequency of blunders is the main determinant of results.

You have to develop your intuitive and combinative chess powers at the boardbto become explosive and dangerous at any moment of a game for your opponents.  If you want to build your tactical skills play alot of chess and practice constantly against sharp tacticians and players with a very sharp attacking style trust your inner voice don't be afraid of taking some calculated risks to win if it's right.

Remember this a true tactician has the soul of a magician deep within him or her he or she is constantly searching for the truth and glory in the beauty of a game where as other players only care about being first on a score sheet or points!!

Thanks! That's some good advice!

The thing is I know the pattern but out of rush I missed it. In a classical game I wouldn't have missed it but it's pretty frustrating to miss that in a rapid play. That's why my blitz and bullet rating over here are so low. I miss basic stuff with seconds on the clock.

Well, it's obvious I want to be the first on a score sheet. I play to win! No matter how beautiful the game was, if I lose, it means nothing!