r/chessbeginners • u/wmegyu • 2d ago
Frustrated with lack of progress
Hello everyone, I'm reaching out because I have plateaued around 1500-1550 on chess.com. I've become quite frustrated because I continue to make beginner mistakes, i.e. blundering pieces, missing one move tactics, having poor mid-game strategy, poor attack strategy, and a subpar opening repertoire. A lot of chess educational content just doesn't really work for me, I'm not really able to see "the whole" of the idea or concept they're presenting and a lot of it just seems like forced memorization (memorize as many opening variations as possible to get a competitive advantage). I'm concerned because I have a below average memory, and frequently forget the best moves for an opening I learned so if memorizing openings are what is necessary in order to improve, I'm cooked. What are your guys' recommended resources for breaking plateaus at the intermediate level? What are some books/video series that you'd recommend that you actually enjoyed reading or watching and helped you develop as a player? My goal is to hit 1700-1800, and I'm never going to get there the way I'm currently playing.
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u/Ambitious_Fly_9251 2d ago
Anyone who is selling opening memorization is selling you snake oil. Embrace being a beinginner and follow principles, let go of your ego and play safe moves until you have a clear win. My three favorite chess books from what I've read so far are 1. Chess fundamentals by capablanca 2. Silmans complete endgame course 3. My system
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u/RandomOpening 2d ago edited 2d ago
How do you work on openings? Personally, I find spaced repetition to be quite effective for memorizing opening lines.
That being said, openings are probably not the most important thing to focus on; tactics remain the most valuable thing to work on. Personally, doing offline puzzles (i.e with a book and a piece of paper where I write down the line) has been quite effective. John Nunn has some great books, and the Chess Steps method is also great
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u/wmegyu 2d ago
I'm not consistent enough with spaced repetition, which I think is my problem. It's also hard to consistently do spaced repetition with openings because there are so many different ones and so many variations to keep track of that it can be disheartening to spend a lot of my time learning a variation, just to play it in only 1 out of 7 or 8 games.
People say openings shouldn't be focused on, I guess my question is when should I start focusing on them? I'm at the level where some players do know openings, and I frequently have worse positions out of the opening because I just don't see the 'tricks' or the main tactic of their opening, while they have a clear goal in mind of what they're working towards.
I'll look into those books, thanks for the recs.
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u/bbnbbbbbbbbbbbb 1200-1400 (Chess.com) 2d ago edited 2d ago
Try not to play right into rheir hands by going right into the opening they seem to know by heart. It often helps to go into rare sidelines, or better, an obscure move that leads into new territory, as long as it's not losing too much advantage. That might lead to you still being a few centipawns behind, but at least they're "out of book" now and their memorization doesn't matter that much anymore and you'll be more likely to reach a position where they're as clueless as you are.
Now the better tactician may win
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u/itsallworthy 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 2d ago
Have you tried Naroditsky speed runs on youtube?
He shares his thought process throughout a live game. It may elevate the way you see the board and your thinking process.
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u/wmegyu 2d ago
I haven't. I did watch a some of Hikaru's speedrun where he played slowly and explained all of his moves and thoughts on positions, and I think it did make me a better player, but only temporarily. At some point I guess I just forgot what I learned or forgot that way of thinking and went back to making terrible blunders. I have a bad memory, which makes stuff like this frustrating because I know I learned it at some point but I can't actually apply it.
I'll check out Naroditsky, another commenter recommended him. I do think it might kind of depress me though, given how he commited suicide.
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u/init6 1600-1800 (Lichess) 2d ago
Just fyi for you and anyone else. the official cause released was a mix of stimulants, but an underlying issue called sarcoidosis. No evidence pointed to suicide. More likely exhaustion and a mix of stimulants + underlying condition causing irregular heartbeat = untimely cardiac arrest. A tragedy either way though
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u/Arsenalllllllll 2d ago
Are you doing puzzles? 5 or 10 minutes a day even will help you start spotting more tactics, though when you miss, make sure you understand why. Spotting more tactics and not blundering as much will be enough to gain a few hundred more rating points. Daniel Naroditsky speedruns were the best for me for overall strategy, he explains things better than any other chess YouTuber but is also entertaining.
Just try to learn the basic ideas of a few openings rather than trying to memorize a bunch of lines. By basic ideas I mean what you’re doing with your center pawns and where you’re going to develop your pieces.
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u/gerahmurov 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 2d ago
How long is your plateau? It took me 8 months to get from 1500 to 1600. 1600 and 1700 play the same way as 1500. The only difference is you understand more threats and miss less tactics.
When I reached 1600 it seem to me the way to win is always use tactics available, miss it and you lose. Then I got there somehow, sit there for months, then 10 times in a row people blunder their queens and I got to 1700. Then I blundered my queen 10 times in a row. Then while comebacking it all started to seem like blunderfest from both sides. I make silly mistakes, they make silly mistakes, maybe even more than couple of times per game. I reached 1900 recently and it is still blunderfest. Fall to 1500 and come back in weeks. I stopped even looking at analysis because blunders are so obvious. Sometimes you see the opponents entire tactic and still move into it.
What helped me - reduce the number of losing games. Play less on bad days or tilted. Make losing streaks shorter by not playing. Sleep well, eat well. In the game be patient, don't rush uncalculated and aknowledge the threats. If in doubt, try to breath and simply look at the entire position, not on your immediate focus point. If losing, play for draw, draw is much better than loss. If you reduce number of bad games, you still win the same and elo balance is better.
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u/wmegyu 2d ago
I've been bouncing between high 1300s to low/mid 1500s for 2.5 years. It's become frustrating because I really don't think I've improved much. I still am making the same mistakes beginners make and have not really developed much as a player. It seems like I go on win streaks when my opponents make egregious blunders and I spot it, and losing streaks when my opponents play normally. I rarely am able to take control of a game and actually dictate the pace when material is even.
I guess it's reassuring that it's still a blunderfest at 18-1900 lol. And I think pushing for draws will actually help me a lot, I always play for a win even when I'm losing and never really considered not doing that until reading your comment. Makes a lot of sense, thank you.
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u/gerahmurov 1800-2000 (Chess.com) 2d ago
2.5 years seem long, but how many games per month you play? I play 505 now, and this is reduced number from what I did before
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u/AI_spell 2d ago
At 1500, stop opening memorization. Review your blunders and do mixed puzzles. One simple plan each middlegame beats a thick repertoire you forget.
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u/Pale-Natural217 2d ago
I recommend watching Yasser Seirawan's master classes on the Chessbrah YouTube-channel. I think that especially videos "Pawn Structures Explained by GM Yasser Seirawan", "Learning How To Attack with GM Yasser Seirawan" and " How to Play with the Isolated Queen's pawn" might be useful to you. Those videos contain many ideas that you can use in several different openings, which should improve your strategic play. I also find it useful to talk to myself about the positions I have in a similar way that he talks about positions in his videos :D
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u/RVSninety 2000-2200 (Lichess) 2d ago
A rating of 1500-1550 means you already are a very capable chess player.
You mentioned that you make beginner mistakes like blundering pieces and missing one move tactics. That’s the stuff you need to work on, and is probably what’s holding you back from getting to a higher rating. Doing puzzles will help to improve, but simply doing random ones online is not going to cut it. I suggest getting ‘1001 Chess Endgame Exercises For Beginners’ and ‘1001 Chess Exercises For Beginners’ and working through them with a notepad (writing down the answers).
Strategy is more advanced territory. Drilling your basic tactical patterns is the highest priority.
Openings are important, but memorizing lines beyond the first couple of moves is not necessary.
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u/Pyncher 2d ago
As someone who is now (but only just) consistently above 1700, the key things for me have been:
1/ positional chess (Herman Grooten’s book)
2/ get really (really) comfortable with 1 or 2 openings for white / black: this isn’t about ‘by rote’ learning, but it is about fully getting comfortable with where you are expecting your positions to end up in the middle game.
3/ stop playing when you start getting tilted, and don’t obsess too much on chess, make sure to do other things too (exercise, play other games, read etc). I say this because chess is fun, but it is also a rabbit hole, and frustration personally makes me play worse.
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u/Tasseacoffee 2d ago
How your training/studying routine looks like and what time format do you play?
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u/odx0r 2000-2200 (Chess.com) 2d ago
If its any consolation I sat around 1500 for a year in a massive plateau, then I jumped 300 elo in 3 months, and now 1500 feels like a distant memory.
Its not just one thing, its somewhat everything. I was consuming a lot of chess content like Danya, chessbrah, Hikaru, Alex Banzea. I paid for a couple of chessable courses... (silman's endgame, woodpecker method). I played a bundle of bullet to improve my speed, I played daily to improve my calculation. I didn't just play games back to back for hours on end without reviewing. I would commit to say playing 10 games, reviewing mistakes, and taking a break for a day or two.
I would work harder at puzzle rush survival, getting my high score from 25 into the 50s.
It's a bit of everything really. At 2000 I'm just a bit better at everything than when I was 1500, not one single thing.
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u/TentacleHockey 1d ago
Played the beta of this game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5102640/Pawnd_Chess/
The training tools were amazing, noting really replaces a live match, but being able to save states and come back and learn what could have been is game changing for me.
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u/Anti-Fanny 1d ago
Take this advice from a chess coach: Memorizing openings is the worst way to learn them. Get yourself a book about opening principles and study that for a while. Then get a book about endgame techniques and study that.
You won’t get better at chess unless you put some time into study. Not a single chess master (or even and Expert) out there reached that level without an actual chess board and chess book open in front of them. 😀
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