Originally posted by nimzo5
I don't care for blitz much (although I play a fair amount)
How you take care of yourself definitely influences your results. I had years of seesaw results because I wouldn't admit to myself that chess was my "relaxation" from my real job - which was super high stress.
In the last year I hit upon a path to improvement, but I can't suggest it would work ...[text shortened]... a large open tournament.
So find your weaknesses and work on them, good things will happen.
Well focusing on what you suggest, I can say that I have been intending to study endings intensively for years but have done precisely nothing about it. I think the reason for this is because I don't have an easy way of doing this.
I basically have exactly the same training regime as you, except I haven't memorised so many games, maybe i'll give that a go. I do the tactics in my head to the end before moving also, this has improved my game immensely.
I have actually had a reasonable day at the board (at least this evening). I decided that I would force myself to play slower, even in the opening. Make myself consider another move before moving (as an exercise). Well, I won 7 and lost one (to a blunder). Not bad! I wasn't feeling good about myself at all when I started, the first couple of wins were a bit lucky tbh, but it highlights something important. I MUST guard against lazy thinking! When I take my time, even if i'm not at my best, I give myself a chance to find those little details.
I'm going to try this out for a while, but I think i'll try and get a board out and do some endings over the weekend. I think changing up my training is a good shout. I play much better when I am learning something new. π
EDIT: Btw, have yo tried the tactics on Lichess? They are very different from chess tempo. At first I found them a bit frustrating as you get strange positions where one side has a massive material advantage, but over time I have come to love them. You are forced to find the most efficient way to mate. A lot of the tactics are very engine like, I find I am finding some really interesting tactics in my games now.. π