You need to be patient. It sounds like you are doing good things.
You didn't mention thoroughly going over your losses as one of the things you routinely do.
Have you read any of the fine books recommended in your last thread?
Stuck on 400 elo, Something wrong in the routine?
Sort:
2 days ago
0
#3
Look at this position. I would guess this has come up before.
You played Bd7, which the computer gives a question mark to. Do you understand why and what the threat of g4 is?
I would guess that you play your developing moves in more or less the same order, regardless of what your opponent is doing.
Now I immediately wanted to take the pawn on g4 and start chasing his queen around.
Did you consider taking the g4 pawn? If yes, why didn't you take it? If no, where were you going to retreat the knight if he had pushed g5?
(Yes. That was a trick question.)
(But what were you going to do?)
And the computer wants to wait a move to take the pawn. It says the best move is Nc6. There are a whole bunch of other variations to explore.
I have already spent a fair amount of time on this position. There are undoubtedly many more critical positions in the game. I see a bunch more blunders to go over.
Like this one:
I urge you to spend almost as much time going over your losses as you did playing the games.
/ It does look like you spend a lot of time on puzzles but I see only one Puzzle Rush score and that was a survival game. I think that the timed Puzzle Rush can be helpful in learning to solve common themes.
2 days ago
0
#4
justbefair wrote:
You need to be patient. It sounds like you are doing good things.
You didn't mention thoroughly going over your losses as one of the things you routinely do.
Have you read any of the fine books recommended in your last thread?
I read the bobby fischer, after that haven't started a new one. I sometimes go over my losses if I feel a certain position or blunder caused the defeat. Maybe I need to look a new way to analyze the losses since many times its hard to graps or get new insights about the losses and it seems more of a memorization, altough I propably make consistent mistakes.
2 days ago
0
#5
You aren’t going to learn much if someone just points out one move of a game,and asks what you made that decision.
I would study basics, don’t even get into openings and memorizing them until you get a higher rating, over 1400 at least.
But I digress.
I would focus on the following:
How to not blunder:
there are a lot of videos on this. YouTube has a lot of videos by highly rated players. Remote academy has a great video on A and B thinking steps after an opponent moves their piece. It’s short and easy to follow. It teaches you to ask
A after they move, what are they attacking AND why.
B before you move, can you attack, or develop without loosing material in a blunder.
Studying how to counter attack when you’re being attacked, vs just retreating to save material, is a big point to focus on towards advancement vs losing tempo by moving back etc.
After that I would get into studying the secret of the game, and how to find a plan for the mid game; imbalances.
I would study basics, don’t even get into openings and memorizing them until you get a higher rating, over 1400 at least.
But I digress.
I would focus on the following:
How to not blunder:
there are a lot of videos on this. YouTube has a lot of videos by highly rated players. Remote academy has a great video on A and B thinking steps after an opponent moves their piece. It’s short and easy to follow. It teaches you to ask
A after they move, what are they attacking AND why.
B before you move, can you attack, or develop without loosing material in a blunder.
Studying how to counter attack when you’re being attacked, vs just retreating to save material, is a big point to focus on towards advancement vs losing tempo by moving back etc.
After that I would get into studying the secret of the game, and how to find a plan for the mid game; imbalances.
2 days ago
0
#6
justbefair wrote:
Look at this position. I would guess this has come up before.
You played Bd7, which the computer gives a question mark to. Do you understand why and what the threat of g4 is?
I would guess that you play your developing moves in more or less the same order, regardless of what your opponent is doing.
Now I immediately wanted to take the pawn on g4 and start chasing his queen around.
Did you consider taking the g4 pawn? If yes, why didn't you take it? If no, where were you going to retreat the knight if he had pushed g5?
(Yes. That was a trick question.)
(But what were you going to do?)
And the computer wants to wait a move to take the pawn. It says the best move is Nc6. There are a whole bunch of other variations to explore.
I have already spent a fair amount of time on this position. There are undoubtedly many more critical positions in the game. I see a bunch more blunders to go over.
Like this one:
I urge you to spend almost as much time going over your losses as you did playing the games.
/ It does look like you spend a lot of time on puzzles but I see only one Puzzle Rush score and that was a survival game. I think that the timed Puzzle Rush can be helpful in learning to solve common themes.
About aforementioned position. I did not see the threat to my knight (trapping). Most likely I did not see it was trapped and thought g4 was a random pawn move. I try to develop so my pieces are defended, but many times I just do the same things without further thought, which can lead to loosing pieces.
As in this example, but I have noticed they do lack coordination. I tried kings indian defence, and london system openings and I am currently studying them, but I have noticed my knowledge is lacking so I just playing "reactive" and trying not to blunder and controlling the center seems to be working much better.
I'll try to look over my losses further to avoid making same mistakes over again. I haven't played puzzle rush timed, I'll add that to my repertoire.
Thanks for the great tips! I'm certain I'll improve after fixing critical mistakes and just consistently practicing.
1 day ago
0
#7
holyrommie wrote:
My current routine for daily chess is 15-20 minutes of puzzles, followed by a 10 minute rapid game and after that 10-15minutes of opening study or youtube videos by chessbrah "building chess habits". I do as many rounds as my brain can handle or have time. I feel like opening study is the hardest part I don't have the right tools to explore what would be correct.
I have stalled for a month and been on 400 elo for a while and can't seem to improve bear in mind I started to play chess 6 weeks ago.
Is there something I am doing wrong routine wise or could something be done better?
I see a big issue,you study too much openings,max 5 mins of openings. Also analyse your games always
1 day ago
0
#8
I wouldn’t even studying openings much before 1600 ELo anyway. A lot of people think opening means, start learning here, but it may not be the case for us all.
1 day ago
0
#9
Pick a few openings, but don't study them too hard. Unless you or your opponent plays an outright bad opening, it probably won't have any bearing on how the game goes.
It's a weird discrepancy that you are 1300+ in puzzles, but in an actual game you make absolutely beginner level blunders. In the game quoted above, it would be very hard to explain throwing away the knight on move 10 or allowing mate-in 1. And the list goes on.
Advice: pay more attention when you play the game, don't play on autopilot, don't make random moves. Use your time and think.
21 hrs ago
0
#11
magipi wrote:
It's a weird discrepancy that you are 1300+ in puzzles, but in an actual game you make absolutely beginner level blunders. In the game quoted above, it would be very hard to explain throwing away the knight on move 10 or allowing mate-in 1. And the list goes on.
Advice: pay more attention when you play the game, don't play on autopilot, don't make random moves. Use your time and think.
Yeah I'll try to do it, I think its much more easier to spot puzzles since you are looking for a solution.
10 hrs ago
0
#12
At 400 Elo, games are typically decided by blunders, not opening theory.
Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
My current routine for daily chess is 15-20 minutes of puzzles, followed by a 10 minute rapid game and after that 10-15minutes of opening study or youtube videos by chessbrah "building chess habits". I do as many rounds as my brain can handle or have time. I feel like opening study is the hardest part I don't have the right tools to explore what would be correct.
I have stalled for a month and been on 400 elo for a while and can't seem to improve bear in mind I started to play chess 6 weeks ago.
Is there something I am doing wrong routine wise or could something be done better?