Stuck in 1150-1250 rating

Blech.

 

I have figured out how not do have stupid openings.  I set up to control space in the middle and then once we hit the mid game, I make stupid choices.  I am reluctant to make exchanges even though I know they must be made to win.

 

How do I get over this hump and start playing good chess?

 

Don

You have only played one standard game? Play some standard games and then determine what were your mistakes and then try and not make the same mistakes in future games.

Ponz111-I am confused.  What do you mean by "one standard game"?  I have played a lot of daily chess.

All you do is play blitz. Most likely you are trying to play too short of time controls instead of longer time controls to learn how to calculate better before you start to calculate faster.

FishEyedFools and Protanly-That is not true.  I played 3 10 minute games in March and no Blitz since then and none for 13 months before that.  I have played 120 daily games, and most had 3 day per move times. I am in a 3 day per move tournament at my rating level right now.

I don't know what stats you guys are looking at that say I played 1 standard game and all blitz.

 

My Blitz rating is 461.  I know that I clearly suck at that.  It is the standard rating that I am inquiring about here.

Improvement can take time, so have patience. Solve tactics problems daily. When you solve a puzzle, try as hard and calculate as hard as you can at finding the solution. Try reading books like Complete Idiots Guide to Chess by GM Wolf.

 

Watch these youtube videos as it will increase your understanding. Dont skip. Watch them all. Actually this is the Beginners to Master Series by ChessNetwork. He has more video from this series. They are really instructive. As i told, if you really want to get better, study them all.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phbYrGwgjHk&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHKEBnElquF8GuWkI1EJ8Zp&index=9

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3B34oKM0oI&index=11&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHKEBnElquF8GuWkI1EJ8Zp

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUG7qm4ZkM&index=13&list=PLQsLDm9Rq9bHKEBnElquF8GuWkI1EJ8Zp

I saw in one of your games that you had pawns on d4 and e4. Suddenly, without being forced to do so, you moved your pawn to e5. You have to understand that usually you want to keep the pawns on d4 and e4 as long as possible. Advancing those pawns means that you will lose control over the center and lose the possibility to push one of the pawns in the right moment, when you will hurt your opponent.

You need a good book to learn these basic concepts. Try for example Chess master vs. Chess amateur by Max Euwe. You should go carefully through all the games, and not just once, but several times. You will improve radically your game, especially if you improve your tactics.

To improve tactics, endgame and opening you should try Chessable.com. It is an amazing website, and several books there are for free.

I think my skill rating is beginner, how do I change it to intermediate

Huh.

 

So I have suffered a week of embarrassing defeat.  Why?

 

Because I have ignored obvious attack by opponents because I was totally focused on my offense, and not really caring to defend.

 

What a dumb ass.  I guess I have something new to consider.  I am also watch the videos and some chess TV to see people talking about strategy, tactics, and what to look for.

 

Don

I am not sure what you call a "standard game"? But regardless of that--you can improve by identifying your mistakes and trying not to make the same mistakes.

Usually someone in your situation is making the same mistakes over and over again. Change this habit.  [and you will improve]

From what GMs say, to improve long term you need to be playing time controls of 15+10 upwards. long term is the important phrase. playing these time controls may actually make your blitz and bullet rating go down in the short term if you are still also playing the faster controls as well, but ultimately, the faster controls will also improve. daily is good for theory but the practice is different in live games, so a combination of the two is good.

I looked at a couple of the games  you lost. You are making really bad mistakes. You need to learn what your mistakes are and then try not to make the same mistakes again.

You will never get better unless you can recognize your mistakes and then learn from your mistakes.

You are not following some basic opening principles.

Suggest you find someone to look at some of your games and tell you what your mistakes are and then suggest that you try to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again?

I am getting frustrated at being characterized as playing blitz and bullet games.  if you guys would bother to look at the dates on the blitz games, you will see that they are a long time ago.  I am playing one day and three day per move games.  So knock it off with the the "play longer time frames" crap.  It just doesn't apply to TODAY.

 

Thanks for telling me I am making mistakes, and not pointing out what they are.  That is super helpful.

Post #2, from FishEyedFools, would be very helpful to your learning process.

I am giving a free lesson if you want, just message me

I looked at some of your Daily games. I think before doing anything else you need to focus on loose pieces, that is pieces that are undefended. When moving a piece, consider if you are moving it to a square where it is not defended. Or if in moving it, another piece becomes undefended. I can't remember where I saw it, but there is one trainer where you are shown a position and have to click on all the undefended pieces. But you can do it in your own games anyway until it becomes a trained in habit.

It is up to you to find out what your mistakes are if you want to improve--not up to me. You are making some very basic mistakes. Find someone who is a lot stronger than you and let him view some of your games and he should be able to tell you some of your mistake and then you should be able to learn from that and avoid some of your mistakes. 

What markkoso suggested could be a good starting point.

Also santiagomagno15 is giving a free lesson--take him up on this.

 Study....

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

Buy The Amateur’s Mind, by Silman. Buy every other Silman book too. Not joking.

cannot disagree more with this last advice.  No more engines, either, kid.