If you're not getting better by playing and studying by yourself, it's probably time to get a coach, yeah.
Best way to increase rating from where i am currently at - 1650 ish
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Focus on the middlegame mostly and also endgame
Seems like you are doing the right stuff but had a gap somewhere in your OTB play. A few lessons from a good coach may be what you need to identify the gaps.
Alternately, you can try to go thru: Chess Exam And Training Guide by Khmelnitsky, Igor, and it will diagnose your weaknesses and give you a plan to fix them.
Things that I think helpful that you didnt mention are 1. studying annotated GM games. and 2. Analyzing your games with another player looking for patterns of errors.
It can also be simply mental fatigue from your job limits your concentration and fighting spirit in tourny games.
-That's all I have.... Bill
Jan 13, 2023
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#5
SwimmerBill wrote:
Seems like you are doing the right stuff but had a gap somewhere in your OTB play. A few lessons from a good coach may be what you need to identify the gaps.
Alternately, you can try to go thru: Chess Exam And Training Guide by Khmelnitsky, Igor, and it will diagnose your weaknesses and give you a plan to fix them.
Things that I think helpful that you didnt mention are 1. studying annotated GM games. and 2. Analyzing your games with another player looking for patterns of errors.
It can also be simply mental fatigue from your job limits your concentration and fighting spirit in tourny games.
-That's all I have.... Bill
thanks for your thoughtful comment Bill.
Analyzing your games in order to see what you did wrong is a good idea to improve at chess.
I'm currently 1650 in correspondence chess (a little lower in live, I think because my job is mentally exhausting since more or less, i pay attention for a living.) and i'm keen to increase my ratings. I seem to have plateaued a bit.
I've put time into study. I've read way too many books on openings, i've read a number of books on mid game (Sillman's x 2 - amateur mind, reassess your chess, Undertanding the middlegame by Nunn (just excellent by the way), Chess for Tigers, the Art of the Attack, Bobby Fischer's 60 games etc.) I've also read several books on endgame study. I breakdown my play by roughly 60% play, 30% study and 10% tactics and puzzles.
I'm a bit stuck at the moment and don't know how to get better. Should i get a coach? With all the amazing books out there, i'm not sure how beneficial that might be. Are there any books people can recommend for my next steps?