Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months
Pedantry alert: As ELO ratings follow a logarithmic curve, &quot;gaining 600 points&quot; is a dimensionless metric.<p>These are good tips for beginner to intermediate growth. The things that definitely help the most are:<p>* Pattern recognition - the best courses for this level are things like &quot;Common traps in &lt;some random opening&gt;&quot;, applied with Woodpecker method. Once you&#x27;ve memorized all the mistakes in the Scandi or London system, you can really crush a lot of people who play haphazardly.<p>* Study your own games and games of people at or just above your level. Four simple methods:<p>1) during the game, write down (Lichess has a notes section on the left) 3 candidate moves for every move in the middle and endgame, why you&#x27;re making a particular move, and what you think the opponent&#x27;s response will be<p>2) use the &quot;Learn from your mistakes&quot; button after each game during analysis<p>3) check the most common moves in the opening that are different than yours, play through a couple of masters&#x27; games to see why those positions are preferred.<p>And my last tip which helped me a lot just with the &quot;meta&quot; of playing chess ...<p>* Use more time. Be okay with losing games because you run out of time thinking. Always, always, always try to play the best move, even if it means spending a lot of time.