Not improving by playing puzzles (?)

@dnowmects Ah, I always thought those things would go over my head. I'll try that, thanks!

-- Do topic oriented puzzles

-- play 15+10 or 20+10 games, no faster

-- check your mistakes after every game and understand them

-- learn checkmate patterns if you have never done so

-- don't learn too many openings, it's too early, just get good with a few of them

Btw, I'm not sure I believe you when you say that you take max 4 minutes to solve 2400+ puzzles. If that's really the case, then it is very strange that you are below 2000 in rapid. So in that scenario the advice would just be to play slowlier in rapid and you should immediately see your rating increase.

@esmiro Thanks for your answer, I will play slower games from now on! And I understand about the 'disbelief'. When I know there's something to be found, I just deduce until I find the right combination. In my games however, I make horrifying blunders (and mostly immediately see what went wrong and that I'm going to lose). Might be because I'm too impatient. Anyway, I will play longer games!

Exactly, someone who is 2400 in puzzles, without cheating, will beat 1900 - 2000 rapid/classical players on the head.

@pointlesswindows I would like to be able to do that consistently. I can't, because I overlook simple things way too often. I can't puzzle my way into winning when I'm behind due to bad openings and/or blundering. I'll try the longer games. If it doesn't work, I don't know what will without putting in countless hours.

#11:
> Ah, I always thought those things would go over my head. I'll try that, thanks!

Try. I went through a couple of your games, and it's really time for you to learn some basic concepts of chess strategy: pawn structures, piece development, centralization, planning... Hopefully, it should be low hanging fruit for you at this point.

Btw, chess improvement DOES take countless hours.

@pointlesswindows said in #15:
> Exactly, someone who is 2400 in puzzles, without cheating, will beat 1900 - 2000 rapid/classical players on the head.

How bad at tactics do you think 2000 classical players are?

@ShiningDrongo said in #18:
> How bad at tactics do you think 2000 classical players are?

My disbelief was due not so much to the fact that he's 2400+ in puzzles, but rather that he says it only takes about 4 minutes for him to get the puzzles right. That's very fast. I have a lower puzzle rating, and I take way more time to solve them on average, yet my rapid rating is above 2000. So, something feels weird. Assuming that he really takes less than 4 minutes, the problem probably lies in the fact that when he plays rapid he just blitz out every move without calculating, and he should work on that. As soon as he'll learn to breathe and think it through, his rating will skyrocket (assuming that the infos he provided are correct, of course), because 2400+ of puzzles is surely impressive for someone below 1800, especially if he solves the puzzles quickly.

The obvious and simple answer is to stop playing blitz. It's bad for your chess. Play longer time controls. If you want to improve, play to improve, not for fun. Blitz is "for fun". Examine all your slow games in detail, objectively, with a better play by at least a full class.

This is what "working at your chess" looks like, not dwindling the day away at 3+0 or some silly game like that.