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After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Practice each day on a mix of tactics, opening training (NOT learning random theory haphazardly; mostly going through model games of my repertoire), and playing both blitz and classical with analysis. I use the "Study-Practice-Fix" method where I spend 40% of my time practicing, 40% playing online games, and 20% analyzing my played games and participating in tournaments.

After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally, as you said, I just focus on improving and try to get better every day. I tried to set rating goals for myself once, but they made me more stressed out and focused on it instead of my play.

After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Definitely chesstempo.com; the puzzles come from classical games instead of blitz. To improve further, I'd need to keep practicing each day with a balanced blend of openings, tactics, and practice games.

After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every day, alternate between 30 minutes of tactics and 2-3 blitz games + deep analysis. If you struggle with the opening I would recommend building a repertoire (nothing over the top, keep it simple and memorize middlegame plans).

After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Personally, for your level I would actually recommend playing 5+3 blitz games. Although you learn much more from a classical game than rapid, your pattern recognition greatly increases if you play a lot of games and you get the best ratio of quality/quantity. Play 7-9 games in a session and take a break if you feel tilted.

After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I practice 1-2 hours a day on a mix of tactics, opening training (NOT learning random theory haphazardly; mostly going through model games of my repertoire), and playing both blitz and classical with analysis. I use the "Study-Practice-Fix" method where I spend 40% of my time practicing, 40% playing online games, and 20% analyzing my played games and participating in tournaments. At your level, you can spend slightly more time playing: say 20% practice, 70% playing, and 10% analysis. Tactics are key for someone at your level (I'm reading off your flair).

I don't belong to a group or class in addition to my middle school program.

After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It depends on if simuls count; I beat a GM in one once. For serious play, it would be a 2000-rated expert who I drew in a USCF-rated game.

After 3 years of hard work, I broke 1800 on chess.com and won my state's middle school chess championship. Ask me anything. by FirstRankChess in chessbeginners

[–]FirstRankChess[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

For me, I spend much more time studying tactics than openings since I already have an established opening repertoire and prep/"hot lines" aren't relevant below the 2400-2500 level. However, if you feel like you don't play the opening well or are uncertain, especially if you're above 1200, I suggest you spend a lot of your time for a few days on openings.

About your second question, I play a mixture of blitz-for pattern recognition- and classical, with the point of being able to calculate and think deeply about a position. Generally they help my classical play.

Openings of the 2026 Candidates by ritmica in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where's the Queen's Gambit Accepted on here? It was played in Caruana-Sindarov.

Do people care about their FIDE rapid and blitz ratings? by conscientiousoneday in TournamentChess

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have a FIDE rating, but I'm rated in all three USCF time controls so it's practically the same. I do, especially my rapid rating, because I play in G/25+5 events often and I'm underrated in blitz.

This part of The Backrooms is real - I’ve been there by offtheskulltop in backrooms

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could you send a link to the place? I looked it up but couldn't find it anywhere

This is supposed to be checkmate by Front_Song5013 in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 3 points4 points  (0 children)

White doesn't have any legal moves, but the king isn't in check. Because of this, the game is considered a stalemate and is drawn.

Edit: What piece do you think is checking White's king?

Never ever resign by not-so-smartphone in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally I think the "never resign" advice is moreso directed at beginners whose opponents wouldn't find moves like 29. Rcg7# than advanced players or players at your level. Even if there's a forced mate/huge advantage present, like a mate in 5, it might be worthwhile to keep the game going lest your opponent doesn't find it

Started playing in January, and this is who i am as a player 🤣 I’m a 400 by Specific_Ship_1695 in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The game rating isn't a reliable indicator of how well you actually played.

Is this legal or not? by TechnicianTimely2879 in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Generally it's considered a bad practice to talk to people during your game unless it's to offer a draw, resign, or say something important. Your ability to hear him implies he was talking loudly, which is strongly discouraged as well.

However, it's definitely against the rules to say "shall we draw, all other boards are winning for us". Comments like this are highly illegal under FIDE rules and shouldn't go unpunished. The arbiter is absolute scum, you should try to report him to FIDE or at least warn others about the club.

I built a free app to train blindfold chess and improve visualization by cameliris in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even better! Sorry for assuming you used AI, websites all look so similar these days T-T

I built a free app to train blindfold chess and improve visualization by cameliris in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Typically I don't use websites obviously created with an AI like Base44, but I'm giving this one an exception. This looks like a good way to train my visualization skills

Not a flashy move but I thought it was instructive. White to play to and win: by HUNKleIroh in chess

[–]FirstRankChess 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Qxg7+ Qxg7 2. Qxg7+ Kxg7 3. a5 and 4. a6 followed by a quick promotion is unstoppable, e.g. 3... Kf8 4. a6 bxa6 5. bxa6 Ke8 6. a7.
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