I’m looking for challenging hard mate in 2 puzzles to drill for improving calculation I’m up to lichess hardest difficulty and it’s not hard enough I want to be forced to calculate for more then 30 seconds. Any recommendations on phone please

I have been trying to implement things into my training that are not usually focused upon. While doing some lichess puzzles i realised i was particularly awfully bad at the puzzles that were about finding defensive resources. I do not think this is something unique to me, as most club level players (or chess players in general even) find more fun pressing or going Hail Mary against the opponents kingside with pawns and pieces. But it did make me think how can i learn to implement these things into my routine? There are atleast a couple of books on chess defense that i am aware.(And even those books for example Hellsten's talks about how few books there are on this topic) But resilience?

I mean think earnestly how many of the posts on here (including mine) are about opening choices, and which resulting middlegames are pleasant. But the practical skill of playing slightly worse positions arising through an inaccuracy or two is missing. I think that is one of the strongest difference between OTB play and online play, particularly higher you go. The strong players are much more better at playing strong moves while worse and that is why it can feel like a wall when playing up.

I am aware that certain things come through experience, however there still must be ways to tinker around with these in practice. For example an opening sparring that leads to a slightly better endgame for white, or taking a position from a GM game that was worse but defensible and was lost either due to time pressure and/or blunders, and then playing it out. More suggestions and book reccs are welcome!

Hello guys. I'm a 24-year-old player from France. I've played only 20 classical games in the last 4 years and I want to get back into business. I started building an opening repertoire with ChessTempo which has been very useful. The way I improved at chess since I started (when I was 15 years old) is that I watched a lot of youtube videos and played a ton of rapid and blitz games online. I've read a grand total of 3 chess books in my life but I'm willing to start to read a lot. Today I feel like (I would say I know for a fact but you can never be sure) that my weakness is deep calculation and visualising the board in my head (especially when there are a lot of pieces on the board). I can play blindfolded easily if we're talking about an endgame, but for a normal game starting from the normal starting position, it's extremely difficult and I have to rely on seeing chunks of the board and it's very blurry, I can beat beginners but will struggle even against players in the 1400s chess.com elo range (not exageratting).

So basically I'd like advice on books to improve at visualisation and chess in general, If you have some recommandations I would really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading

EDIT: I forgot to mention it, but my long-term goal is to get to 2300 FIDE and earn the fide master title, I don't really care about blitz or rapid.

For background my uscf dropped 80 points from 2160-2080 in the last 6 months and my fide 2050-1920. I am facing issues in getting hyper fixated on one idea and not being able to understanding the deep details of a position and instead playing quite fast as when I look at the board during the game it feels like the move is quite obvious but later I realize after turning on the engine that there were many more things to be considered. Lack of events are not the issue either as I get usually 3 decently strong events every month locally. This next year I am really hoping to improve as it is one of my last years of having a lot of time on my hands and so I can spend up to 20 hours a week on chess as I don't want to burn myself out either.

I’m extremely tired of losing to lower-rated players. I’m currently 1834, was 1904 just two months ago. My win rate against 1900s is almost 60%, against 2000s it’s 60-70% in the few games I’ve played, and I’ve even held my own against 2100s and 2200s. But against 1700s and below, my loss rate is higher than my win rate.
This summer I played five tournaments. The first one went okay — 5 wins, 3 losses, and I gained some rating. Then in my weekly tournaments, as the highest-rated player, I lost about 80% of my games, which dropped me from 1904 down to around 1850.
The latest tournament is what pushed me to write this. First round I drew a 2203 NM (his Chess.com rapid is similar to mine), and I was super excited. But then I lost to a 2000 and a 1730, so I dropped out because I was exhausted and sad. That same 2203 ended up winning the whole tournament, and I was the only one who scored against him.
People keep telling me to stop focusing on my opponent’s rating, and I honestly do that, like during the game I don’t think about it, I think about it only afterward. And I also heard people saying to not be relaxed and I don’t think it’s a case either. I don’t know what to do. If I lose the first game in a tournament, I get stuck fighting lower-rated players, and my results show I’m likely to keep losing to them.

I have tried to find out how I can make a second (secret) account account on chess.com to prep new openings. However, I was unable to do so!

It would be great if someone could answer these questions of mine (because I am completely irrelevant with the subject I would like to apologise in advance if they are stupid):

1. Can I make/access my second account from my phone or only from a computer/laptop?

2. For creating the accounts and switching between them should I enter from the app or from a browser?

3. Where exactly is the option of creating a second account in the settings?

4. How do I switch between accounts?

Please also include tips or other info I can't think of right now.

Thanks a lot!!!!

I quite enjoy the anti-Marshall positions for Black, I also play them from the White side.

But I don't want to memorise reams of theory just in case 8.c3 comes up. I'm not keen on 8...d6 either, since that kind of defeats the point of the 7...0-0 move order.

To what degree can I bluff my way through 8.c3 d5 playing in the 1800-2200 FIDE range?

Are there lesser-known but sound alternatives within the 8.c3 d5 complex for Black that might make my life easier?

Am I overthinking this? I doubt many people will test Black there, but there is now the recent Vigorito 1.e4 course for instance.

I am quitting classical otb. Seriously.

This weekend i played 5 rounds of 60+30 which isnt even that long, yet i felt so exhausted after each game. Every game (apart from the 1st) went down to the wire and I was always one of the last to finish for the round. I won the tournament in the end, but after each win I felt relief instead of joy. It was so stressful for no apparant benefit. Other than prize money which barely covered fuel and food!

Always trying to outprep my opp, cramming openings before each round is so exhausting. Yet i have to do it because it helped me so much in my games. I hate this about chess -never ending prep, its not like footballers have to recite plans again and again like a bot, they just go in and play the game.

Ik u guys r gonna say - try play a tourney with no prep between rounds but i cant. I physically cant not prepare for the game which i know i will be playing. I care too much and dont want to waste the opportunity to play.

Rn i feel so drained. Definitely not gonna play otb for a long time. But its kinda sad cause i invested so much time and money in this game and i got kinda good - ik i could win more touurnaments but the stress isnt worth it.

Have any of u guys felt the same? I dont understand how others dont experience it too, or no one would be playing tourneys.

(Sorry for the rant)

Hi everyone, I posted recently for op recommendations against 1.d4 and I settled for some Nimzo/Bogo repertoire. I use the modernchess course of Jospem which is great. Only issue is that it does not cover the line in the title. Does someone have some recommendation against this line. For information I play 4. Bd5 c5 and with 0-0 then b6 against Nd2. Thanks !

Hi guys,

I'm 1900 rated patzer soon 30 years old and I have played chess 5 years now. Just played a 7 day long 9-round tournament and wrote some analysis of my games if anyone is interested. If you have any comments or critique, please share! I try to analyse without engine to simulate the game situation so here's my engineless analysis. I included some comments with my IM friends that were analysing my games with me.

https://lichess.org/study/MJlvypeY/6MGqPqXn

Hi everyone,

searching for a chess buddy in Vienna, Austria mainly to play OTB and analyse the game afterwards.

(Lichess Rapid 1900-2100 / FIDE 1700-1900)

A week or so ago i made a post detailing my training plan. It is mostly based on eliminating my weaknesses in calculation and inculcating some discipline into my chess playing. I have followed it a bit since then and i got my first ever candidate master scalp, but i also gave in to my weaknesses of playing way after tired and as a result lost a lot of points. So i thought it may be more fun for me if i had other chess improvers with whom i could share weekly training updates so that it keeps us accountable and train together time to time maybe? Training Games and Game analysis, maybe do some endgame sparring. My peak is 2130ish chesscom rapid and around 2200 lichess classical. Here is my training plan that i am following. Please reach out if interested thank you very much!

Per day: Anywhere from 1 to 3.5 hours Max (Flexible to avoid Burnout)

Block A (1 Hour)

Calculation Training [ My weakness]

Split into Easy Tactics for Pattern Recognition and Harder positions to train Visualization and to actually Calculate.

Block B (1 hour)

Middlegame Training

To simply choose a Middlegame book series and to stick with it until completion, either Yusupov Or Hellsten. This is to cut the bad habit of constantly switching around and never finishing anything

Block C (1 hour)

Simply depending on the need for the day/week, will stick to one hour of one of these

Analysing my own games, Making a lichess study on my openings, Endgame basics.

The rest half an hour is to just go through ONE annotated Grandmaster Game, and take a takeaway, either a motif or something else. My target with this is that i really just wanna be able to recall positions, for the fun of it. I love when Masters can do so in post analysis.

Hey guys, I just turned 34 last month and my wife challenged me to reach 2000 on chess.com before the year ends. I am already 1600 and my budget is £23/hour.

New to reddit, but one of our neighbors mentioned that you can find people here, looking forwards guys.

Hey everyone! I wanted to share my first round game from the Jefferson City Open against Grigory Oparin. I was really happy with how I played and, at least by my standards, proud that I managed to hold on as long as I did. I’d love to hear your thoughts and have you help me analyze! PGN:
Edit: I forgot to add I stopped notating since I was in time trouble. Game result was 0-1 (I was white)

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2026.07.18"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nb5 Bb4+ 5. c3 Ba5 6. a4 a6 7. b4 Bxb4 8. cxb4 axb5 9. axb5 Rxa1 10. Qxa1 Nh5 11. Be5 f6 12. Bg3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qd6 14. Qc3 Nd7 15. Nf3 Nb6 16. e3 Bd7 17. Bd3 Ke7 18. Nd2 h6 19. Nb3 Ra8 20. Nc5 Ra7 21. O-O Nc8 22. Ra1 Rxa1+ 23. Qxa1 Qb6 24. Qa8 Qa7 25. Qxb7 Qxb7 26. Nxb7 Na7 27. Nc5 Bxb5 28. Bg6 Nc6 29. Bd3 Bc4 30. b5 Na7 31. Kf1 Bxd3+ 32. Nxd3 Nxb5 33. Ke2 Kd6 *

I have been playing the Tarrasch line for a while. I would like to bring some more variety into my opening choice by expanding to this line: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ngf3. Previously, I have been playing 7. Nge2, but I like the more aggressive approach of 7.Ngf3, I believe that fits my style quite well. In order to avoid analysing all the options by myself, I was wondering if someone could recommend a resource where this line is analysed in depth.

Hello OTB players. I have a question:

Usually in rapid or blitz tournaments, you don't have to record your moves on the score sheet, so unless you have perfect memory, you can't recall all 7-10 games you played in a day, to analyze them later. How to overcome this limitation?

I'm thinking of building a non-intrusive solution for my local chess tournaments, but I'm not sure what would be allowed or not.

The premise is that it's just a regular playing hall, with normal tables, pieces and clocks. In short, no recording capabilities.

Link in comment

Hello good people, I am looking for a chess coach who will meet at least these requirements: dedicated and professional, spends time on students even outside of the lessons (follows progress, being available to answer questions, checking in with the work etc...), a good or at least decent communicator in English language and has a systematic approach to improving their students (not just anything goes, but having the ability to explain why one method is preferrable over another), expects students to work on their own (creates study plans) on provided materials.

My FIDE is 2020, so I would prefer a coach be an IM or a GM, but I would also work with an FM who has a good reputation. Usually the prices go from 20 to a 100 dollars, I would be willing to pay up to 40-50 euros.

I am having trouble finding a coach that meets these requirements, that's why I am here asking if you could possibly recommend somebody. In my opinion these are the minimum requirements for a coach to be considered good, otherwise I feel like I am getting scammed. Unfortunately, at least from my own experience, I haven't found such a coach using the lichess coaches section and have been burning time and money on people who may be strong players, but do not know what a coach is supposed to do. If you do not know anybody personally, maybe you can point me in some direction which would narrow my search? I also want to know if you think these requirements are too much?

In any case, thank you.

reposting for r/chess

While I like using online tools such as Lichess studies, I also find it helpful to work with pen and paper. I've tried drawing out diagrams using P,R,N,B,K,Q to designate the pieces. It's pretty time consuming to draw out the 64 squares though. I'm wondering what other's experiences are with doing so and curious about what was common practice before computers as described below.

In reading through Dvoretsky and Yusopov's collaborative book, School of Future Champions 1: Secrets of Chess Training, Yusopov suggests the following:

"There is a third method of working, which I think is very useful. You have looked through a game and some feature made an impression on you, it seemed interesting and instructive. Make a 'positional sketch' on this topic. On a separate sheet of paper draw a diagram and describe briefly why the position seemed interesting to you, what was curious about it. Leave space for possible future additions or refinements. Add new examples to this sheet only when they closely resemble those already there."

I'm ~1800 classical, roughly the same in quick, and ~1400 blitz in USCF rating. On Lichess I hover between 1800-1900. Been playing OTB for 6+ years, I don't play online super often (roughly 5-10 blitz games a week).

I'm annoyed at how poor my blitz is compared to my classical. Especially since most of my casual play encounters tend to be blitz, where I really struggle, and the blitz tournaments at my club are the most convenient for me.

My guess as to why is because I think too slowly and/or have difficulty finding not-awful intuitive moves, but I'm really not sure how to change that. In classical, I am regularly in time trouble and am almost always behind my opponents on the clock, and usually only win by calculating well and having superior positions that are easy-ish to convert. In blitz, I have almost never flagged anyone and lose semi-regularly by being flagged. In rapid, I'm somehow ok, and I think that's because I can spend at least 30 seconds on every move.

Any advice for how to be a better blitz player? The most common advice I've heard is to get better at classical, then the blitz will follow - but it doesn't seem to be the case for me.

Looking for a player similar level to me (2000 chess.com + or 1600 FIDE + ) who is interested in:

- Weekly classical training games
- Analysis
- In a similar timezone (GMT+10)

Send me a message if you are interested.

Title is all there is to my question. I want to learn the Sicilian, and to begin playing 1.d4. Do people practice new openings on their main account?

​

I (approx 1800 fide) got the following position in a tournament game. I taught I was quite a bit worse here, but I am curious to see what the some higher rated players think of this position and of blacks chanches.

Anyways my thinking process during game went like this: my opponent is launching a dangerous attack on kingside so I must seek counterplay on some attack on my attack on the queenside. I would love to play b5 but that is just too much defended and trying to trade one of the defending pieces isn't really available, also trying to sac a pawn with playing b5 anyways is pointless as I still don't get open file. I can play for a4 a3 but I after b3 I still don't really have an open file which I want. So my only idea is to play for c6 but that is defended. Saccing the d-pawn with c6 is of course sometimes an idea but I think it doesn't work here as then also my e-pawn is just super weak and the position would look very bad here to my eye. So only idea I see is to defend the d6-pawn and then play c6 getting open c-file whereafter I can maybe also play b5. But to defend the d-pawn I can play Ne8 or Rd8. Ne8 just feels so wrong and passive and due Be7 tricks I probably also have to throw in Rf7 as well before playing c6 which will possibly also walk in some g6 stuff later and is very slow: only upside is that a lot of pieces stay near my king, which can be helpfull if the kingside goes open and I need some more defence. So only Rd8 stays over as idea, now I do also have to play Be8 next probably to still defend the pawn, but this might anyways safe guard for whenever a pawn is coming to g6, however I am leaving my king defence a lot which is very scary when it goes open maybe.

In the game I played Rd8 and I lost quite quickly after. I tried to understand with the engine the idea of good moves and plans in the position and kinda have some better feeling, but not totally. So was wondering what flaws am I making in my thinking process and what do you think would have been good moves and/or plans for black and what are the reasons behind these moves you are thinking of?