If you know you are missing something...

Why keep playing? You are not going to get any better until you figure out what you are doing wrong. Just playing and winning sometimes and losing sometimes but never getting better seems rather useless.

Of course I only starting playing chess to get better so this may be part of my issue.

Do you mean in general or in a particular game? If you mean in a particular game, there is a good chance your opponent will miss something too. If you mean in general, work hard enough and you'll find what you are missing.

@byedidia

In general. But I do not know. Seems that many people get stuck at the same rating for a very long time. Obviously they quit learning something or topped out in their understanding.

@eladar said
Why keep playing? You are not going to get any better until you figure out what you are doing wrong. Just playing and winning sometimes and losing sometimes but never getting better seems rather useless.

Of course I only starting playing chess to get better so this may be part of my issue.

Why keep playing? You are not going to get any better until you figure out what you are doing wrong. Just playing and winning sometimes and losing sometimes but never getting better seems rather useless.


I've observed some people are happy with this arrangement, and don't care if they get better, playing at the same level year after year is A-OK with them.

I used to be driven to improve, and for awhile succeeded, going from the 1300 to 1700+ level in both CC and OTB in 3 years, but it takes sustained motivation to do this, and much as I hate to admit it, I just don't have the interest in chess I used to. Ego won't let me continue playing if I cannot do so at a decent level, which is why I'm considering wrapping up my last tournament here, and fading from the chess scene.

@mchill

Lol we have diffetent views of what is good enough.

My good enough used to be to beat anyone who only knows how the pieces move.

Good enough seems to be a moving target. My understanding from talking to masters is that at every level, you recognize your own mistakes as boneheaded. You always feel like you should be better.

@byedidia

I think my weakness is laziness as in failure to calculate or seeing the move is bad until after I do it. In other words I suffer from failing to look at the entire board.

I think it is a common problem at my level.

@eladar said
Why keep playing? You are not going to get any better until you figure out what you are doing wrong. Just playing and winning sometimes and losing sometimes but never getting better seems rather useless.

Of course I only starting playing chess to get better so this may be part of my issue.

I think wo do get better the more we play.
The silly mistakes we make are merely lapses in concentration or not studying a game sufficiently before making a move.
I sometimes play with one eye on the clock e.g I know I have to go out in 10 minutes say but "lets make a few moves before I go so I'm not confronted with lots of games with 1 day left on time when I re log on"
This is when I make the most mistakes.
Another time is when I do sit and study for ages , find myself going over the same possible moves over and over so think "what the hell, I'll just move".
Finally I believe rating to be a poor measure in general of a players ability because it's only based on current rating.For example you are rated 1500, you lose to a 1200 player so lose lots of points.You look at the opponents stats and see his 5 year rating is 1900 but he's lost a high number of by timeout hence the low rating.

@venda

Yeah a 5 year average rating under current rating would be nice.

But still I know there must be some concrete ideas about pawns that I simply do not know about.

I have been playing a lot of 10 minute blitz games on line and have become kind of numb to winning or losing. Do it enough times and it becomes difficult to remember the outcome of the last game.

Both the joy of victory and anguish of being stupid are short lived.

@eladar said
Why keep playing? You are not going to get any better until you figure out what you are doing wrong. Just playing and winning sometimes and losing sometimes but never getting better seems rather useless.

Of course I only starting playing chess to get better so this may be part of my issue.

How do you propose "figuring out what you are doing wrong" if you quit playing? The only way to 'figure it out', especially on one's own, is to play more, not less.

@Suzianne


Many people play many games and never figure things out.

@suzianne said
How do you propose "figuring out what you are doing wrong" if you quit playing? The only way to 'figure it out', especially on one's own, is to play more, not less.

Exactly what I am finding out, e.g., I'm at the point where I'm thinking "as boring as it seems, it might be a good idea to really learn some openings, instead of just winging it with elements and fragments."