Stuck at the same rating for a long time

I've played over 3000 games on chess.com, and I feel I've been stuck at the same rating for a long time. I seem to hover around 1400-1500. I play blitz mostly with 5 min time control and 5 seconds increment (I really need this otherwise I always run out of time). I'm waiting for the magic moment when it all just clicks and I jump to 2k+ rating but alas that doesn't seem to be happening. I start to doubt if I will ever reach such a rating maybe I'm just not smart enough. I'm not getting any younger either, 41 this year. What advice would you give me and is my target of a 2k rating realistic? how many games do people play normally to reach that rating?

Broken record time..

90+% of what you play is blitz.,  How are you expecting to improve, and implement what youre trying to learn into your games when youre moving fast?

I analyse the games afterwards so see where I went wrong.  I tried longer games but I prefer playing blitz as it's less irritating when people abandon the game if you've invested less time into it.

I just bought the book "logical chess, move by move", I'll see if that helps.  Open to ideas on how to improve further.

I think its important that you have fun playing chess, but also understand that your improvement will not be that great playing nothing but blitz.

"... Sure, fast games are fine for practicing openings (not the most important part of the game for most players) and possibly developing decent board vision and tactical 'shots', but the kind of thinking it takes to plan, evaluate, play long endgames, and find deep combinations is just not possible in quick chess. … for serious improvement ... consistently play many slow games to practice good thinking habits. ... I know that a large percentage of my readers almost exclusively play on the internet - after all, you are reading this on the internet, right!? But there is a strong case for at least augmenting internet play with some OTB play, whether in a club or, better yet, a tournament. ... I would guess that players who have never played OTB usually gain 50-100 points of playing strength just from competing in their first long weekend tournament, assuming they play five or more rounds of very slow chess. ... Don't have two day? Try a one-day quad (a round-robin among four similarly rated players). … about 100 slow games a year is a reasonable foundation for ongoing improvement. ... Can't make 100? Then try for 60. If you only play three or fewer tournaments a year and do not play slow chess regularly at a club (or on-line, where G/90 and slower play is relatively rare), then do not be surprised that you are not really improving. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627052239/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman16.pdf

Can only have empathy. Been floating around the same number (much lower than you) for quite some time. Currently working on a cure. In my own case, I have been preoccupied with openings. Also, I have not been optimal about when I play. ie we are all people, with lives, family etc. Number of times I begin a 10 min game only for the cat to appear or the better half needing assistance in some way. I am also the King of Blunder. Once I make headway in these three things, I will be loads of points up.

 

Try and define what you think might be tripping you up.

 

But why worry about points really? There is no money on the line. Relax and enjoy playing.

"... Overall, I would advise most players to stick to a fairly limited range of openings, and not to worry about learning too much by heart. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)

"But why worry about points really? There is no money on the line. Relax and enjoy playing."

The best advice anyone could ever give.  At the end of the day, chess is a game.

can only agree. I have only played chess for 18 months now. Information overload.

"... Most internet players think that 30 5 is slow, but that is unlikely slow enough to play 'real' chess. You need a game slow enough so that for most of the game you have time to consider all your candidate moves as well as your opponent’s possible replies that at least include his checks, captures, and serious threats, to make sure you can meet all of them. For the average OTB player G/90 is about the fastest, which might be roughly 60 10 online, where there is some delay. But there is no absolute; some people think faster than others and others can play real chess faster because of experience. Many internet players are reluctant to play slower than 30 5 so you might have to settle for that as a 'slow' game." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140627010008/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman12.pdf

"... for those that want to be as good as they can be, they'll have to work hard.
Play opponents who are better than you … . Learn basic endgames. Create a simple opening repertoire (understanding the moves are far more important than memorizing them). Study tactics. And pick up tons of patterns. That’s the drumbeat of success. ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (December 27, 2018)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/little-things-that-help-your-game

Second best bit of advice.

 

I often play whilst drinking. Best avoided.

 

 

I don’t know for sure if this will help. I play a lot of 3 day/move games and truly enjoy them. I can study the board and try/learn things before I make a move.
My rating at this is not bad though not great. My highest is 18something.
I suck at the faster time controls. Of course I am old and use that as an excuse.
It doesn’t really matter if my better half needs me for a bit because it’s 3 days per move when I’m playing.
Also, I find stuff I can be proud of sometimes.

I've watched a lot of streamers over the past year and a half that I've been seriously trying to learn, and here's the dynamics I've noticed...

1. Most of them are titled, so they've both had coaching, and know how to learn and improve...

2. They play bullet almost exclusively - basically 1 or 2 minute games....

3. They play countless numbers of games, sometimes hundreds a week...

4. While they've fluctuated over time, their ratings basically hover around where they were a year and a half ago.

I'll grant that it's harder to get better the higher your rating is; and I'll grant that they aren't actually working to improve their rating; but the point is, even players in very high percentiles don't improve much over time just playing blitz... nobody does. They play the time controls that are fun and entertaining, but they don't actually get all that much better at chess (while still of course infinitely better than most of us).

 

"I tried longer games but I prefer playing blitz as it's less irritating when people abandon the game" - perhaps you could join some clubs and play team games at longer time limits. People are less likely to abandon a game in a club match.

"If you’re working hard, but you’re not growing, or in other words, your rating isn’t increasing, something should be changed!"

This was taken from the article where GM shares his story when he was stuck in his place and how he increases his rating. https://chessmood.com/blog/crossing-the-plateau-and-reaching-3000-on-chess-com

Bare in mind that titled bullet players may not have got to where they are playing bullet or fast chess. They stream bullet because there is an audience for it, not necessarily because it is a good way to improve.

You definitely should do tactics as much as you can, at least five problems per day, 100% focused.

How do you gain so much rating in no time?

 

Use, uh, something related to “trains”. 

Thanks