I'm stuck in 1300-1400 elo. What should I do?

Hello. I'm new to the Chess.com forums and need advice to improve my game stuck at the 1300-1400 level in 10+0 Rapid games. I used to play longer time controls like 25 and 45 minutes but find them boring online. I focus on 3-4 openings, such as Fried Liver Attack, French Defence, and Old Indian, with some familiarity in a few others. If faced with an unknown opening, I prioritize developing pieces and creating a solid pawn structure.

While I excel at solving puzzles quickly, my overall positioning is lacking. I sometimes struggle with piece placement and active moves, occasionally blundering pawns in the opening. My daily routine involves playing 2-3 games in the morning, studying Chess.com lessons during the day (e.g., Q vs R, B+N endgames), and playing 5-7 games in the evening. Despite reading chess books, I struggle to apply principles during games.

I frequently blunder in the middlegame and often resign before reaching the endgame. My goal is to reach 2000 in a year. Any advice on how to proceed?

I think you're at the stage where you can no longer expect your opponent to fall for your opening traps and can no longer rely on your opponent making more unforced errors than you. Here's what I think you should prioritise: 1. Improve your blunder checking. 2. Get some breath in your openings. 3. Go a little deeper with the openings you already know. 4. Keep working on tactics. 5. Pay attention to your end games.

If you're higher than 1000 ELO You'll SOLVE IT

Well actually I don't usually rely on opening traps in my games. Many opponents in this skill range are familiar with countering such traps, often leaving me in a disadvantaged position

Hi, if you want to improve your elo you just need to study in an efficient way.

For endings people recommend starting with the book Silman's Complete Endgame Course, continue with 100 Endgames you must know and finnally, for advanced players read Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual.

For openings start reading Fundamental Chess Openings and Understanding Chess Openings. After that you can continue with Mastering Chess Openings. Finally I would recommend you the opening playlists from the Youtube channel Hanging Pawns or buying books from Grandmaster Repertoire series from Quality Chess.

For the middlegame maybe can help you Understanding Chess Middlegame by John Nunn. Also you need have strong strategy and tactics so you can improve by reading How to reassess your chess and Dorfman's method.

I have found all this books I recommend as PDF in Google. I know I'm low-rated but despite having not much time to study chess I would like to improve my chess I this is what high rated players told me that was the path to follow for achieve my goal.

Even i am on a goal to 2k

Study your openings and endgames

Especially endgames

I guess you could pay a little less attention to tactics then everone else says

What is your puzzle rating?

I am nearing 1700 and mine is 3k

If your puzzle rating is near mine then you can stop doing tactics for a while and focus more on openings and endgames

I recommend london and catalan, as well as kan or taimanov

@1

"stuck at the 1300-1400 level" ++ Whenever you lose a game, stop playing and analyse it thoroughly so as to learn from your mistakes.

"in 10+0 Rapid games" ++ Better play 15|10. Thanks to the increment you can win a won position or draw a drawn position without flagging.

"Fried Liver Attack, French Defence, and Old Indian" ++ Good.

"I prioritize developing pieces and creating a solid pawn structure."
++ Good, but the center and king safety are even more important.

"I excel at solving puzzles quickly" ++ Good

"my overall positioning is lacking" ++ Study My System by Nimzovich

"I sometimes struggle with piece placement and active moves" Study My System by Nimzovich

"blundering pawns" ++ Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it.

"playing 2-3 games" ++ Way too many. Play one 15|10 game and if you lost it, analyse it for an hour.

"Q vs R, B+N endgames" ++ Good, but KRP vs. KR occurs more.

"playing 5-7 games" Way too many. Play one 15|10 game and if you lost it, analyse it for an hour.

"reading chess books" ++ Chess books are no novels, do not read them, but study them, preferably with two chess sets: one for the main line and one for the variations.

"apply principles during games" ++ You should not learn principles and then apply these. You should play and when you lose analyse the game and learn from your mistakes: what principles you violated. That way it will stick in your memory and you will know to apply it next time.

"I frequently blunder" ++ Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it.

"My goal is to reach 2000 in a year." ++ That is doable. Key is to analyse your lost games.

"Any advice on how to proceed?"
++ Also study annotated grandmaster games. Take 4 hours per grandmaster game, that is the time the grandmasters took to play it. Take one side. Cover the moves. What would you play and why? What did the grandmaster play? Is it the same? If not, which move is better? Why?

Excellent.. Even I am gonna start doing this thx!

Mainly I would give 5 points of advice:-

Don't play that many games in one day

Thoroughly analyse your games

Focus a lot on endgames

Create a collection of masterclass games by GMs which you have to study

Start playing theoretical and sharp openings like Queen's Gambit

You list 3 openings. One is the very trappy, Fried Liver Attack and the other two are defences. I'd suggest that although you're aware that your opponents no longer fall for your traps you haven't yet adapted your plans to reflect this new information.

To most of my students, I give this advice (and it's almost all they need):

The biggest reason people struggle in lower-level chess is because of blunders. They make them in almost every game.

A mistake can instantly put you in a bad position, no matter how well you played earlier: if you had great opening knowledge, great positional skills, great endgame skills, whatever; a single mistake can change everything (you lose a piece or get checkmated).

So, how do you avoid blunders? Follow these two simple steps:

1. After your opponent moves, think if it's dangerous. Ask yourself, “What’s his idea?”
2. Before you make your move, think if it's safe. Ask yourself, “What attacking replies can he play?”

If you feel like getting to levels like 1600, 1800, or 2000 in chess is super hard, let's look at it in a different way. Those players you're facing make blunders in nearly every game they play. Beating them isn't so tough if you stop making big mistakes and start using their slip-ups to your advantage.

Again, it does not require you to become a chess nerd or spend all your time on chess. Just doing this one thing can boost your rating by a few hundred points right away.

Lastly, while avoiding blunders is crucial, I also share a few basic principles with my students. These principles help them figure out what to do in each part of the game - the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame. Understanding these simple principles is like having a map for your moves. When you use this knowledge along with being careful about blunders, you're not just getting better at defending. You're also learning a well-rounded approach to chess. Keep in mind, chess is not just about not making mistakes; it's about making smart and planned moves to outsmart your opponent.