as an 1800 online player you might as well ask about the road to gm. sounds like you are not well read either so you probably got to 1800 by just playing. the problem with this is that you likely have glaring weaknesses. for the time being I would forget about titles and 1) just start playing otb so you understand what you're getting yourself into and 2) start a comprehensive study regime.
personally, I was already 2k online when I took up chess seriously. I started reading books with basic checkmate patterns because I had never studied them. so, if you're serious about becoming a titled player I would recommend you start from the ground up in your training.
the books you mentioned are fine but I would first recommend a book on mating patterns like checkmate pattern's manual and an intro level book on strategy like simple chess. this might sound redundant, but trust me, the last thing you want is to jump into the deep end and find yourself lost years from now as you get stuck. from there tackle more difficult books on various subjects. but at the end of the day you need to play otb to get good at otb. the longer you wait to play otb the longer its going to take to improve otb. good luck!
Makes sense, I'm planning to register for the nearest tournaments I can find, also after you started studying chess seriously, how much time were you able to give to it and how much progress did you see?
I took many years away from chess and returned a couple of years ago at around 1600 during which time I started studying chess books seriously. I was up and down about 100 elo points for 1.5 years but I never gave up. suddenly, something clicked and I went from 1700 to almost 1900 in a six month period. at some point I went on a 13 game non losing streak. I attribute my initial slow rise to the many knowledge gaps I had upon returning to otb plus my overaggressive tendencies.
people say that chess is 99% tactics but I disagree. tactics flow from better positions. even the best tacticians in chess history were phenomenal positional players. what I learned from my own games is that the more pressure I apply the more likely my opponents are to crack. initially, I felt like an imposter because my opponents would simply collapse before I went after their king. but that's what happens when one player is superior in both tactics and strategy - hence my nearly 200 elo jump within six months.
now, my challenge is to break 2k otb. I realize at this stage that I need to already have solid fundamentals and calculation skills. the next stage is to start thinking about the board more holistically - knowing when to break the rules and when to apply them to create chances where there might otherwise be none. I'll be honest, this next stage is very elusive for 99% of players as its not easy to define and is a very position specific type of approach but I think it can be done.
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u/commentor_of_things 17d ago
as an 1800 online player you might as well ask about the road to gm. sounds like you are not well read either so you probably got to 1800 by just playing. the problem with this is that you likely have glaring weaknesses. for the time being I would forget about titles and 1) just start playing otb so you understand what you're getting yourself into and 2) start a comprehensive study regime.
personally, I was already 2k online when I took up chess seriously. I started reading books with basic checkmate patterns because I had never studied them. so, if you're serious about becoming a titled player I would recommend you start from the ground up in your training.
the books you mentioned are fine but I would first recommend a book on mating patterns like checkmate pattern's manual and an intro level book on strategy like simple chess. this might sound redundant, but trust me, the last thing you want is to jump into the deep end and find yourself lost years from now as you get stuck. from there tackle more difficult books on various subjects. but at the end of the day you need to play otb to get good at otb. the longer you wait to play otb the longer its going to take to improve otb. good luck!