I set this as a goal for myself after my second child was born. I felt like my brain was melting and could barely even remember lyrics to some common bedtime songs.
I vastly underestimated how hard it would be, but I did puzzles every day for a long time, analyzed my games, and read a few books.
I was stuck for a few months around 800, and that's when I found Danya's playlists. Specifically his speed run and end game series that elevated my understanding incredibly. I won about 80% of my last 20 games thanks to him. By far, his videos helped me more than anything else.
Also, learning openings for white and black got me 80% of the way there. I'm a terrible rote memorizer which is fantastic, because if I understand a problem and what the opening is trying to solve, then it sticks in my brain like glue. Which I believe is the way people say to learn openings anyway.
On the way up I really hated the advice to stop blundering/hanging pieces. I don't fully know how to explain this, but it doesn't seem to work in that order. I simply stopped hanging them naturally after enough games where I was punished for doing it. Once that became a baseline could I start thinking more clearly about pins and tactics.
My biggest piece of advice would be to be grateful for your losses. Your opponent is giving you the exact advice you need to hear when they beat you. The pangs stick with you so you can learn and not make that mistake again. The masters have failed thousands of times, it's what got them there.
I saw the campaign for the Naroditsky Memorial Fund closed ~ 6 months ago. Is there anything that can be donated to in his honor?
submitted by /u/LegitimateYoghurt371[link] [comments]