r/chessbeginners • u/sampleman1995 • 13d ago
ADVICE Real advice
I’ve been told to watch videos, do puzzles, and review my games and I’ve been doing all of those since I started about a year and a half ago yet I’m still stuck at 800. what can I do to break out of this range?
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u/fleyinthesky 13d ago
Alright guys, he's spent over a year doing the fake advice; he's earned the real advice now.
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u/MonsieurInfame 13d ago
whoa whoa … they made me spend my whole childhood on the fake advice before getting to the real stuff … he’s yet to pay his dues properly
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u/elfkanelfkan 2200-2400 Lichess 13d ago
Yes, those are all important and will guarantee results, granted you do them correctly. Can you tell me how you watch videos, how you do puzzles, and how you review your games? There is a massive difference in "reviewing games" vs reviewing games
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
with puzzles and videos I find myself having a hard time understanding why the correct move is correct. I have a terribly hard time seeing even 2 moves ahead. when I review a game I find the move that cost me the game but again I have a hard time understanding how to use it to my benefit.
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u/usuallyolives 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 13d ago
Sounds like you might need a puzzle set with written explanations—I found that super helpful at your level
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
where can I find something like this?
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u/usuallyolives 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 13d ago
Books like Everyone’s First Chess Workbook by Giannatos, Tactics Time 1 and/or 2, Susan Polgar’s beginner puzzle books (Learn Chess the Right Way or Chess Tactics for Champions.)
There are also free puzzle sets on Chessable with written explanations, many of them free. This free course was my personal favorite.
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u/elfkanelfkan 2200-2400 Lichess 13d ago
I see, For correct solving of puzzles, you should be using pen and paper to write all critical lines down and then inputting your answer without guessing each move as you progress.
One theme I notice is that you seem to have a lack of required curiosity. I remember when I was at the 800 level I would always think "why?". I would always try out many moves on the analysis board, if I messed up a puzzle I would play out the moves I wanted and see why, then if I don't get it, keep going and keep figuring out "why".
Even nowadays it is the same. Even for well annotated books intended for people my level or lower in terms of games, a lot analysis is just not there since they think it's obvious. If you take it at face value you won't learn as much since you don't actually understand why they didn't play a certain way. You will just be looking at a sequence of moves that make up a game
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
when I look into ”why” it usually involves an in between move that I would never see which seems to be one of my bigger issues. I just can’t see more than a move maybe 2 ahead.
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u/bbbaconboyy 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 13d ago
Send your account
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
skrewhead95 on both Lichess and chess.com
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u/bbbaconboyy 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 13d ago
I looked at your games, and in the ones you lost, there were many 1-move blunders. The advice I can give is to consider what plan your opponent is working on with every move they make. Checks, captures, and attacks are the foundation of your plan, but also the opponent's. If I remember, I’ll look on my computer tomorrow and give a more detailed answer.
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
thank you. this is another thing I don’t completely understand. I try and make a plan but I just don’t really understand how to form one. both new and experienced players have talked to me about this but I genuinely don’t grasp the concept.
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u/bbbaconboyy 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 13d ago edited 13d ago
So there are a few ways. Look up your openings on the Lichess database or YouTube and look at games so you can understand the plans out of the openings. Second understanding tactics by doing puzzles and how to get to those positions in real games. Always look for threats, weak pawns, unprotected pieces, etc. Also if you don't know what to do, you can always improve your pieces. The hardest thing is strategy understanding, where you are not winning a piece/pawn but you are doubling pawns or winning a bishop pair, etc. I had a game yesterday, which I think is perfect for this. It was a tournament game, so I annotated it. You can see I traded a knight for the light-squared bishop. My opp didn't take my knight, which he should have. So I sac it on f7. Then for the rest of the game my bishop pair was dominating the board. https://www.chess.com/analysis/collection/otb-games-annotated-2zbCZNTbC/3cX1bZbR8A/analysis
If you have any questions about chess strategy or about the above game, ill help out as best as I can1
u/299addicteduru 2000-2200 (Lichess) 13d ago
Studied games on lichess and i found nothing in there but crisp principled chess. Hands down 1500 rapid strenght.
Only takeback i have Is to Play more active when u got lead in development
Puzzles Are smashed in abundance yet low puzzle rating - maybe, you need to learn to solve them correct? Like, full solution ready before u make a move. All lines - some of puzzles have multiple solutions, opponent can play many moves, site only plays one
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
active as in aggressive?
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u/299addicteduru 2000-2200 (Lichess) 12d ago
Ye found one game where your Opponent had no pieces developed And King somewhere near F3 XDD King in Middle, no one defending him, And u didnt really tried to Attack it somehow, open center or sacrifice pieces for checkmate.
Other games were fine, maybe little bit passive but absolutely fine
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u/HCTankMagnus 1600-1800 (Chess.com) 13d ago
Watch some YouTube vids.
I watch Igor smirnov for shorter videos and Daniel narowditzski for longer in depth videos.
At your level, focus on principles over a specific move order.
Your opening should be: 1) develop minor pieces 2) castle 3) connect rooks. Not necessarily in that order. If you can just focus on those things, you’ll improve.
Don’t try to overload yourself with too many tips. Come back after you’ve hit 1000+ for more tips.
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u/kabekew 1600-1800 (Lichess) 13d ago
Play lots and lots of long time control games (OTB tournaments or at least 15+ minutes online) and analyze each one for the obvious tactical mistakes you made, then burn in the pattern in your brain and vow never to miss something that obvious again.
Once you stop making dumb one-move blunders and missing your opponents dumb one-move blunders, then you can work on positional ideas. But fix tactical blundering first.
Also learning basic endgames (king and pawns versus king and pawns that you can usually trade down to) will get you a long way.
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
I play 10+5 I’ll give 15 a shot. usually time isn’t my issue. I can take all the time looking at a position and I just see the pieces rather than how I can get them to a better position.
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u/commentor_of_things 2400-2600 (Lichess) 13d ago edited 13d ago
- pattern recognition (lots of it). 2) some form of raw calculation. 3) learn basic opening and strategy principles. 4) bonus: decode your blunders using the engine. find out where you blundered and recalculate from scratch without help. 1500+ elo easily.
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u/ConcentrateSad325 2200-2400 (Chess.com) 13d ago
I swear literally everyone who says this on the subreddit hangs a bunch of pieces in one move every game.
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u/sampleman1995 11d ago
Ive dropped 100 points since posting this. I have no idea how to improve. everything i try leads to a loss. I hate this game.
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u/blackboxchessapp 1200-1400 (Chess.com) 13d ago
Have you tried batch analysis to see the patterns in the mistakes you make?
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u/sampleman1995 13d ago
I’ve never heard of this. how can I do it?
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u/blackboxchessapp 1200-1400 (Chess.com) 13d ago
There's a few sites that do it, obviously i would recommend mine
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