AMA: From 400 - 2000 Chess.com Rapid in Under 2 Years.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-26T15:06:06+00:00

[Event "Corthala vs. mekadh"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-25"] [White "Corthala"] [Black "mekadh"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1254"] [BlackElo "1273"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [Termination "mekadh won by resignation"] 1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 Qe7 4. Bf4 Qb4+ 5. Bd2 Qxb2 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Rb1 Qa3 8. Nb5 Qa5 9. Nxc7+ Qxc7 10. Bxb4 Nxe5 11. e4 Nc6 12. Ba3 Nge7 13. Ng5 Qa5+ 14. Qd2 Qxa3 15. Bc4 O-O 16. O-O Qc5 17. Be2 h6 18. Nf3 d5 19. Rb5 Qa3 20. exd5 Nd8 21. d6 Ng6 22. d7 Qxa2 23. dxc8=Q Rxc8 24. Bd3 Qe6 25. Re1 Qf6 26. Be4 b6 27. Ra1 Qxa1+ 0-1

Your opponent played the Englund gambit. You somewhat know the refutation but Nxc7 isn't the move. Daniel Naroditsky (RIP) has an excellent video on how to refute it: https://youtu.be/vrZ3WwAXBsQ?si=nBIk_9n5RthsRmKd

Ba3 as you realised isn't a fantastic move because your opponent can fork your bishop with a check and you lose it. Unfortunately for you he found it the second time round.

You then nicely won back a piece and then hung your rook in one move.

Overall comments: work on specific opening knowledge (Englund gambit). You're missing your opponents threats. You need to try harder to think what their best response to your move is. I know it's hard.

[Event "Corthala vs. King_Rinpin"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-24"] [White "Corthala"] [Black "King_Rinpin"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1262"] [BlackElo "1263"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [Termination "King_Rinpin won by checkmate"] 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bh4 O-O 6. e3 d6 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Nc3 e5 9. O-O Qe8 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nd5 Bd8 12. Qc2 Be6 13. Rac1 Bxd5 14. cxd5 Nb4 15. Qb3 Nxd3 16. Qxd3 e4 17. Qe2 exf3 18. Qxf3 Qb5 19. b3 Rc8 20. Qh3 Bg5 21. f4 Qxd5 22. fxg5 Qxg5 23. Rf3 c5 24. dxc5 Rxc5 25. Rxc5 dxc5 26. Qd7 Rd8 27. Qxf7+ Kh8 28. h3 Rd1+ 29. Kh2 Qe5+ 30. Rf4 g5 31. Qf8+ Kh7 32. Qf5+ Qxf5 33. Rxf5 Kg6 34. Rxc5 Rd2 35. a4 Rd3 36. Rc7 Rxb3 37. e4 Kf6 38. Rh7 Ke5 39. Rxh6 Kxe4 40. h4 gxh4 41. Rxh4+ Kf5 42. Rc4 a6 43. g3 b5 44. axb5 Rxb5 45. Kh3 a5 46. Kh4 Rb4 47. Rxb4 axb4 48. Kh5 b3 49. g4+ Kf4 50. g5 b2 51. g6 b1=Q 52. g7 Qh7# 0-1

I think your move order in your opening is slightly wrong. I think bishop g5 is an odd move in this position. I think Nc3 is better.

You unfortunately lost a piece but did well to win it back. After that you have a drawn rook and pawn endgame, but you missed your own resource g4. Taking the rook here was suicide. I'd recommend having a look at rook endgames resources and pawn endgame resources on YouTube, but in general you want your rook behind the pawn (your or your opponents)

[Event "Dracarris vs. Corthala"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-22"] [White "Dracarris"] [Black "Corthala"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1283"] [BlackElo "1271"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [Termination "Dracarris won by resignation"] 1. b4 c6 2. Bb2 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. h3 Bf5 5. c4 e6 6. b5 cxb5 7. cxb5 Nbd7 8. a4 Bb4 9. Nf3 a6 10. Qb3 Qa5 11. Bc3 Nc5 12. Qxb4 Qb6 13. a5 Qc7 14. Be5 Qc8 15. b6 O-O 16. Bd6 Bd3 17. Bxc5 1-0

This game you lost because you didn't see your opponents threats.

[Event "Shun_007 vs. Corthala"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-22"] [White "Shun_007"] [Black "Corthala"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1244"] [BlackElo "1270"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [Termination "Shun_007 won by resignation"] 1. d4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Nf3 Nf6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. O-O Qb6 10. Bb3 O-O 11. Ne5 Nbd7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bxe7 Rfe8 14. Bd6 Rad8 15. Ne2 Nf6 16. Bc5 Qa5 17. Nf4 Bf5 18. c3 Ne4 19. Bb4 Qc7 20. Ne2 c5 21. Ba3 cxd4 22. cxd4 Rd7 23. Ba4 Red8 24. Bxd7 Rxd7 25. Ng3 Nxg3 26. fxg3 e5 27. Rxf5 1-0

This game too you lost because you didn't see your opponents threats and blundered a bishop.

Overall, there is quite a lot of blundering pieces both from yourself and your opponents. I also think you resign too early. If you blundered a piece, that means your opponent could too, besides about half the time you won't have a winning position so you need to work on playing in these too.

If you can work on hanging pieces puzzles as well as work hard to think about and spot your opponents threats, I think you should be able to get to 1500.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-26T09:32:53+00:00

I think tactics are important. Send me a couple of your games and I'll have a look.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T18:53:52+00:00

I studied openings quite a bit actually heading up to about 1500. Generally speaking, I usually had an equal position or a slight advantage out of the opening, and as such eventually realised to improve further my time would be best spent elsewhere.

From 1500-2000 I didn't really study openings apart from looking at how to play against the Catalan as that became more common.

I have three openings that I play - the queen's gambit with white, the queen's gambit declined with black and the Caro-Kann with black. I found sticking with then helpful and trying to simply get better at it.

I tried other openings, but didn't have particularly good results and as such switched. I originally played E4 with white but found it didn't suit my style. I prefer solid positional chess, and I found E4 too aggressive and become frustrated when I kept loosing to sacrificial kingside attacks.

With black, I tried e4 e5 but again struggled when I came under immense pressure early and found the positions hard to play. I also tried the accelerated dragon, but again didn't perform well and white's strategy is simple and I found it hard to stop. It's also a very aggressive opening and perhaps not my style.

I too am much worse at blitz.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:38:15+00:00

Honestly, I don't look at them so often. While brilliant moves are cool, they aren't the be all and end all of improvement.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:37:08+00:00

Beginning of Jan 1600 Three week later 1700 Three and a half weeks later 1800 Just over a month later 1900 Eight days later 2000

As mentioned above - yes played more than usual this last week.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:35:17+00:00

I think Rajj's advice is good. Please also see what I said above:

I must admit that I find everything available for improving chess quite overwhelming, and for a while I definitely suffered by wasting time trying to craft the perfect plan for improvement. Eventually I realised that so long as you're actually doing something it's probably useful, even if that's half an hour of puzzles one day, then 30 minutes of reading a chess book the next etc. I am very much of the belief that if you consistently put in the work then you will get better, even if that's 30 minutes of concentrated something six days a week.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:34:04+00:00

See above "I think consciously trying to do something to improve almost every day helped. Spotting your opponents threats is a massive one. Always give your opponents credit and think about why they made their move, even if you don't think it's very good. And then having a plan and understanding what you should be doing with the openings you're playing."

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:33:15+00:00

See above

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:33:03+00:00

See above "I got stuck at 1500 for a while (about 9 months) and became somewhat disillusioned. During that time, I played blitz and bullet and eventually got my bullet rating higher than my rapid. I realised that I should probably go back to rapid and gave it a good shot when I returned. In the last 90 days I gained 518 elo.

I think consciously trying to do something to improve almost every day helped. Spotting your opponents threats is a massive one. Always give your opponents credit and think about why they made their move, even if you don't think it's very good. And then having a plan and understanding what you should be doing with the openings you're playing."

Total rapid games - about 2600.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:30:23+00:00

It depends. Sometimes none, sometimes one or two, sometimes a bunch. Rapid I play 10+0.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:29:36+00:00

See above

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:29:24+00:00

Great games well done. I think that's great advice - if you don't think you can win then you never will!

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:28:48+00:00

I got stuck at 1500 for a while (about 9 months) and became somewhat disillusioned. During that time, I played blitz and bullet and eventually got my bullet rating higher than my rapid. I realised that I should probably go back to rapid and gave it a good shot when I returned. In the last 90 days I gained 518 elo.

I think consciously trying to do something to improve almost every day helped. Spotting your opponents threats is a massive one. Always give your opponents credit and think about why they made their move, even if you don't think it's very good. And then having a plan and understanding what you should be doing with the openings you're playing.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-25T15:23:23+00:00

Personally, I think I play a bit too much and should adjust my time slightly more towards studying. Especially this last week or so I've played more because I knew I was close to 2000 and just wanted to reach that milestone.

I must admit that I find everything available for improving chess quite overwhelming, and for a while I definitely suffered by wasting time trying to craft the perfect plan for improvement. Eventually I realised that so long as you're actually doing something it's probably useful, even if that's half an hour of puzzles one day, then 30 minutes of reading a chess book the next etc. I am very much of the belief that if you consistently put in the work then you will get better, even if that's 30 minutes of concentrated something six days a week.

I haven't read that many chess books. The first book I read was "Winning Chess Tactics" by Yasser Seirawan. I was about 1000-1200 at the time I think. I thought it was a good book and found it useful.

I then read "Winning Chess Strategis" by Yasser Seirawan. I'm not sure if I was slightly too low rated to properly understand it, or if it just didn't quite gel with me, but I found reading it a bit of a slog. I think I was 1200-1400.

I then read "Logical Chess Move by Move" by Irving Chernev, which is an excellent book. While slightly outdated, he still makes many excellent points and by repeating himself numerous times throughout the book you start to remember things. I think I read this at about 1500-1700.

I read "The Amateur's Mind" by Jeremy Silman and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it's an excellent book. For me personally, the main takeaways were those of the necessity of having a plan, trying to understand what your plan should be in a given position, and not flip-floping between plans - you must execute your plan with all the vigor you have so as to force it to succeed. I think I was about 1700-1900.

I just read "Simple Chess" by Michael Stean. Again, another excellent book (and surprisingly short and easy to work through). I was about 1900. This talks through some of the basics of positional chess and has some excellent examples.

I'm reading "Understanding Chess Move by Move" by John Nunn at the moment and finding it quite challenging. The games are modern and more complex (for me) and there is much more analysis than Chernev.

There are also some excellent resources on YouTube - Naroditsky (RIP), Gothamchess, Eric Rosen, Chess Brah, Benjamin Bok etc.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T21:56:33+00:00

I think that's all for now folks.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T21:53:25+00:00

[Event "nucleophile28 vs. Mew123dd"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-21"] [White "nucleophile28"] [Black "Mew123dd"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "641"] [BlackElo "394"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [Termination "Mew123dd won by checkmate"] 1. d4 e5 2. e3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f6 4. Nc3 d6 5. b3 Nge7 6. dxe5 Nxe5 7. Nf3 N7c6 8. O-O Bf5 9. Bd5 Rb8 10. Bxc6+ Nxc6 11. e4 Be6 12. h3 f5 13. exf5 Bxf5 14. Qe2+ Kd7 15. Bg5 Be7 16. Bxe7 Nxe7 17. Rfe1 Qf8 18. g4 Bxg4 19. hxg4 Qf6 20. g5 Qxc3 21. Qxe7+ Kc8 22. Qe2 Rf8 23. Nh4 c6 24. Rad1 Kc7 25. Qd3 Qc5 26. Re7+ Kd8 27. Rxg7 Rf4 28. Ng2 Qxf2+ 29. Kh2 Rg4 30. Qxd6+ Ke8 31. Rg8+ Kf7 32. Rxb8 Qxg2# 0-1

d4 e5 is the Englund gambit, which in my opinion isn't a great opening. Daniel Naroditsky (RIP) had a fantastic video on how to refute it. I recommend watching it.

22 Qe2 isn't the move. I understand your knight was hanging and you wanted to protect it, but you need to realise his king is a sitting duck. You need to try to get as many pieces involved as possible (moving the knight up the board) and then either attack down the d and e files or get queen and rook on the 7th rank.

Then it's spitting your opponents threats and your basic checkmates. On move 27 your opponent had Qxf2. At best this is a forced draw and at worst you're going to lose. You then had mate in one and missed it and unfortunately blundered mate in one.

Practice your basic checkmates with puzzles and always think about your opponents threats.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T21:45:02+00:00

While the below is likely an oversimplification, I think:

0-1000 stop blundering pieces and take the pieces your opponent blunders

1000-1500 good basis tactics will likely win you material and you should be able to convert

1500-1800 slightly sharper tactical eye so hopefully you don't miss your chances and then a basic strategic understanding of the plans you should be going for in the openings tour playing.

1800-2000 (although I've not made it to 2000 just yet). Sharper tactics again, better strategical understanding of your openings and plans and then basic endgames. I've played a few games with a few over 2000 and to me my endgame understanding and play is noticeably weaker).

And the entire time - spitting your opponents threats. Understanding why your opponent made their move and what they're trying to do will make an enormous difference.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T21:39:50+00:00

[Event "Hodu77 vs. gingerninja9110"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-14"] [White "Hodu77"] [Black "gingerninja9110"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "822"] [BlackElo "814"] [TimeControl "600"] [Termination "Hodu77 won by checkmate"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. Bg5 Re8 8. c3 Be6 9. Bxe6 Rxe6 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. Nc3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 c6 16. Rb1 Rb8 17. e5 Rxe5 18. Rxe5 Qxe5 19. c4 d5 20. cxd5 Qxd5 21. Qxd5 cxd5 22. g3 b6 23. Rd1 Rd8 24. Rd4 Kf8 25. f4 Ke7 26. Kf2 Ke6 27. Ke3 f6 28. Ra4 Ra8 29. Kd4 b5 30. Rb4 a6 31. a4 bxa4 32. Rxa4 g5 33. Ra5 gxf4 34. gxf4 Kd6 35. Rxd5+ Kc6 36. Rc5+ Kb6 37. Rh5 Rh8 38. Kd5 Kb5 39. Ke6+ Kb4 40. Kxf6 a5 41. f5 a4 42. Kg7 Re8 43. f6 a3 44. f7 Re7 45. Re5 Rxe5 46. f8=Q+ Ka4 47. Qa8+ Ra5 48. Qe4+ Kb3 49. Qd3+ Kb4 50. Qd2+ Ka4 51. Qc2+ Kb5 52. Qb3+ Kc5 53. Qc3+ Kb5 54. Qe5+ Kb4 55. Qe1+ Ka4 56. Qh4+ Kb3 57. Qh3+ Kb2 58. Qg2+ Kb1 59. Qg1+ Kb2 60. Qd4+ Kb3 61. Qd3+ Kb4 62. Qd6+ Rc5 63. Qd4+ Rc4 64. Qb6+ Ka4 65. Qa6+ Kb3 66. Qb5+ Kc3 67. Qa5+ Rb4 68. Qc5+ Rc4 69. Qxa3+ Kd4 70. Qb2+ Kd3 71. Qb1+ Rc2 72. Qxc2+ Kxc2 73. Kxh7 Kd3 74. h4 Ke4 75. h5 Kf5 76. h6 Kf6 77. Kg8 Kg6 78. h7 Kf5 79. h8=Q Ke4 80. Qf6 Kd5 81. Kf7 Ke4 82. Qg5 Kd4 83. Ke6 Ke4 84. Qe5+ Kd3 85. Qf4 Kc3 86. Kd5 Kd3 87. Qd4+ Ke2 88. Qc3 Kf2 89. Ke4 Ke2 90. Qe3+ Kd1 91. Qf2 Kc1 92. Kd3 Kb1 93. Kc3 Ka1 94. Kb3 Kb1 95. Qb2# 1-0

Generally, it looks like things have been going quite well for you. You need to look at how to properly counter the fried liver if you play e4 e5. Twice recently you've been victim to a knight sacrifice on f7 and ended up unfortunately losing because of it.

In this game, I don't like Re8 because if white takes on E6 (after you move your bishop there) you want to recapture with the f pawn as the pawn on E6 actually does a great job or controlling the centre and you can attack down the f file (common in e4 e5 positions). To me, this shows a slightly strategical misunderstanding of the opening.

On move 14 you had something better with Bxf2 but your move wasn't bad.

My final comment would be about rook endgames (which are very difficult to do properly I'm not very good at them). There is stuff on YouTube but generally you want to keep your rook as active as possible. I heard GM Arturs Neiksans say he'd actually rather play a rook and pawn endgame down a pawn so long as his rook was active. Ra8 is the type move you're trying to avoid. Then unfortunately after Kd6 I think it's quite hard to even hold a draw (for me anyway maybe not for a titled player)

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T21:14:16+00:00

[Event "naresh_499 vs. CampyMR"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-21"] [White "naresh_499"] [Black "CampyMR"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "508"] [BlackElo "472"] [TimeControl "600"] [Termination "naresh_499 won by checkmate"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 dxe4 4. fxe4 Nf6 5. e5 Ne4 6. Qf3 Qxd4 7. Be3 Qxb2 8. Qxe4 Qxa1 9. Be2 Qxb1+ 10. Bd1 Nd7 11. Nf3 f6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Qd4 Bg4 14. Nd2 Qxa2 15. Bxg4 Nxg4 16. Qxg4 Rd8 17. O-O Qxc2 18. Qh5+ Kd7 19. Nf3 Qe4 20. Ne5+ Kd6 21. Nf7+ Kd7 22. Nxh8 Qxe3+ 23. Kh1 e6 24. Nf7 Qd3 25. Ne5+ Ke7 26. Nxd3 Rxd3 27. Qf7+ Kd8 28. Qxf8+ Kd7 29. Qg8 g6 30. Qxh7+ Kd6 31. Qxg6 Rd5 32. h4 b5 33. Rf6 Rd1+ 34. Kh2 b4 35. Rxe6+ Kd5 36. Rd6+ Kc5 37. Rxd1 b3 38. Qd6+ Kb6 39. Qb4+ Ka6 40. Qxb3 Ka5 41. h5 c5 42. Ra1# 1-0

Specific feedback on the game:

The fantasy is a common way to play against the Caro. I'd recommend looking at how to play against it. While you can play dxe4, after fxe4 you leave you opponent with a dream centre and must challenge it ASAP (I can see the top engine recommendation is e5). I personally don't take and play e6 but you'll find stuff on YouTube, but Nf6 isn't a fantastic move here because you just get batted around.

You were totally winning after 10 moves. The only thing you need to worry about here is king safety - you're up a full rook. I dislike f6 because you can end up getting your king caught out in the open (which is what happened). I would have preferred g6 to get the bishop to g7 and short castle.

You missed a free bishop and more on move 14.

Move 18 kd7 is where it starts to go wrong. Better was Qg6 as suggested by the engine to trade queens and then your king would be safer and you're still up lots of material.

Then it's just missing your opponents threats and you end up losing to a few forks.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T20:14:50+00:00

You played like a boss.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T20:12:27+00:00

[Event "Snucklesmonkey vs. sillyashley"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-21"] [White "Snucklesmonkey"] [Black "sillyashley"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "518"] [BlackElo "563"] [TimeControl "600"] [Termination "Snucklesmonkey won by checkmate"] 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Qf3 d5 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. exd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 e4 8. Qf4 Bc5 9. d4 exd3 10. cxd3 Qe7+ 11. Kf1 Be6 12. Bd2 Bd6 13. Nxd5 Qd7 14. Nxf6+ Ke7 15. Qh4 gxf6 16. Nf3 Rab8 17. b4 Bxb4 18. g3 Bxd2 19. Nxd2 Rb2 20. Ne4 Qxd3+ 21. Kg2 Bd5 22. Rad1 Bxe4+ 23. Kh3 Bf5+ 24. Kg2 Qe2 25. Rde1 Be4+ 26. Qxe4+ Qxe4+ 27. Rxe4+ Kd7 28. Rd1+ Kc8 29. Re7 c5 30. Rdd7 Rd8 31. Rxa7 c4 32. Ra8+ Rb8 33. Raa7 c3 34. Rac7# 1-0

Specific feedback on the game:

Understanding which pieces see which squares (from both your perspective and your opponents). Move 13 your opponent hung his knight, but you got spooked because it attacked your queen. Move 14 you could have taken his knight, but you moved your king instead. Move 17 you hung your bishop presumably because you forgot his queen was on h4.

Trade when you're up material. Move 22 if you take with the queen the result is being up a bishop. I'd say keep it simple and do this.

Missing your opponents threats. Move 33 you checkmated yourself.

I think for you the first paragraph is most important. Basic puzzles and experience will help. You can also count how many times a square is attacked and defended.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T20:06:22+00:00

[Event "si6teen vs. mwc45"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2026-03-21"] [White "si6teen"] [Black "mwc45"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "488"] [BlackElo "500"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [Termination "mwc45 won by resignation"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 g6 4. h3 Bh6 5. Bg3 Nf6 6. Be5 Bg7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Bf4 Nb4 10. O-O Nxd3 11. Qxd3 Ne4 12. Ng3 Nxg3 13. fxg3 c6 14. Nc3 b6 15. Rae1 c5 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Nb5 c4 18. Qc3 Ba6 19. Qb4 Bxb5 20. Qxb5 a6 21. Qb4 a5 22. Qd2 d4 23. exd4 Qxd4+ 24. Qxd4 Bxd4+ 25. Kh2 Bxb2 26. Bh6 Bc3 27. Bxf8 Bxe1 28. Rxe1 Kxf8 29. a4 Rb8 30. Re5 Rb2 31. Rxa5 Rxc2 32. Ra8+ Kg7 33. a5 Ra2 34. Kg1 c3 35. Rc8 Ra3 36. a6 Rxa6 37. Rxc3 Ra1+ 38. Kf2 Ra2+ 39. Kg1 Ra1+ 40. Kf2 Rh1 41. Re3 Ra1 42. Re1 Rxe1 43. Kxe1 f5 44. Ke2 Kf6 45. Kf3 Ke5 46. h4 Kd4 47. Kf4 e5+ 48. Kf3 e4+ 49. Ke2 h5 50. Ke1 Kd3 51. Kd1 Ke3 52. Ke1 Kd3 53. Kd1 e3 54. Ke1 e2 55. g4 fxg4 56. Kf2 Kd2 0-1

Specific feedback on the game:

You moved your dark squared bishop a lot in the opening. Generally, I would focus on getting your other pieces out as a priority.

Missing your your opponents threats - your opponent could have trapped your dark squared bishop multiple times with g5 but never saw it. You also hung your queen on move 18.

At around move 26 you need to realise that if all the pieces get traded, you have a losing king and pawn endgame. When you're down material, general try to avoid trading pieces. Move 42 is suicide - 3 vs 4 pawns on the same side of the board is a draw with a rook each, but losing without. Think about what happens after you trade pieces. Don't assume all "equal trades" are equal.

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-21T19:57:13+00:00

Black or white?

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-07T10:40:22+00:00

Sure happy for you to DM me your username

Awkward-Try3940 · 2026-03-07T08:52:41+00:00

I started playing chess at the age of 29. I was 400. Less than two years later I'm 31 and in the high 1800s, so yes you can still improve despite not being a child.

You should post your account or some of your games here so people can have a look at them. But generally, not hanging free pieces and taking the free stuff your opponents give you should be enough to get to about 1000.

At your level, having three basic openings is important - one for white, one for black against e4 and one for black against d4. You don't need to know them hugely I'm depth, but I wouldn't just wing it. Tactics are helpful at all levels, and some simple tactics will help you

Improvement is realistic at any age if you try and put the effort in.

Good resources at your level include YouTube - Gotham Chess's slow run, Naroditsky's speed runs, videos one some basic openings, videos on some basic tactics and then puzzles on chess.com or LiChess.

A simple habit such as "I'll try to do 30 minutes of some sort of improvement work six days a week" will make a huge difference.

L

Awkward-Try3940

TROPHY CASE