how to break 800?

@X_Player_J_X said in #5:

To break 800, I recommend being Ultra Passive and Ultra Paranoid!
The 800 ranking range is filled with players that make random Blunders.
They can’t help it!
They are self-exploding bombs.

I guess a drunkman style could be effective.

You don’t need your pieces past 3rd or 4th rank.
It is to dangerous out there.

So dangerous!

Be like Turtle!

Like a Ninja turtle!

Does turtles care if people call them passive? No!

True!

If you put your hands near there mouth, they will bite them off and retreat back into there shell.
You can do same thing!

I am not sure if turtles have teeth though.

Be Ultra Paranoid!
It is a solution.

Who is defending your knight?
Who is defending your bishop?
Who is defending your pawn?

Nobody!

You don’t know openings
Who wants to know them in the first place?

You don’t know middle games
Turtles don't know middle games, do they?

• You don’t know end games
  No need. You will end games in the opening.

Be like a Turtle!
Does a turtle care about opening, middlegame or endgame? No!

It will be your whole army vs. there lonely King!
They will lose!

Unless you stalemate or run out of time.

To sum up:
Become a paranoid ninja turtle.

Keep in mind, The advice I give changes based on the ranking of the player.
The original poster of this thread claims to be having trouble getting past 800 ranking range.

Telling a player 1,600 to be Ultra Passive in my opinion would be Bad advice and I wouldn’t do that.
Telling a player 800 to be Ultra Passive in my opinion would be Good advice.

The reason why is because it is considered common knowledge that players at the 800 range have tendencies of hanging pieces.
Being Passive isn’t ideal against an opponent that is skillful enough to pressure & punish you.

A Player 800 simply doesn’t have the necessary skill.
This is why a player being passive at a lower level can be successful!

@Hemorrhoidsteve eliminating really obvious blunders and looking for forks and pins and making sure you castle early should get most players past 800, even 1100 (Lichess). Even up to 1400, 1500 many games are decided by one piece being hanged when it could have been protected.

Also:

• Your Rooks belong behind your passed pawns
• Knights on an outpost protected by a pawn are very useful
• Know how to avoid the Wayward Queen attack when you are black
• Learn how to checkmate with just a Rook and King against a King
• Fight for the centre
• Be careful about putting your Queen in a direct line with your King - the ultimate pin
• You play the London - learn some of the tricks in that opening. The chances of your opponent knowing about them is limited and getting an early advantage is rewarding.

Try to use your time effectively

I like Chernov's book "logical chess" which is free online and explains why each move is made on a bunch of games. They are mostly one-sided games so you learn why a move is bad or good, which is very important. Instead of playing aimlessly the first thing that comes to mind you learn to evaluate different options and make good choices.

You can also train the different checkmate patterns on the lichess practice https://lichess.org/practice

practice then play, then practice again. play slower time formats so you have time to think about moves. Not blitz.

Here is a study i made from a book which is for players who've mastered the basics but want to understand some chess strategy. It also goes through games of weaker players, showing why their moves are mistakes.

and above all, have fun! Chess is fun at all levels, so don't be too angry when you blunder. Try to learn what mistakes you are making and improve from them.

"... Logical Chess [(Batsford edition by Chernev)] ... a collection of 33 games ... is definitely for beginners and players who are just starting to learn about development, weak squares, the centre, standard attacking ideas, and the like. In many ways, it would [be] a wonderful 'first' book (or first 'serious' book, after the ones which teach the rules and elementary mates, for example), and a nice gift for a young player just taking up chess. ..." - IM John Watson (1999)
https://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/assorted-recent-books
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1004861
"... Sure, fast games are fine for practicing openings (not the most important part of the game for most players) and possibly developing decent board vision and tactical 'shots', but the kind of thinking it takes to plan, evaluate, play long endgames, and find deep combinations is just not possible in quick chess. ... for serious improvement ... consistently play many slow games to practice good thinking habits. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627052239/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman16.pdf
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf

@EmaciatedSpaniard said in #15:

I like Chernov's book "logical chess" which is free online and explains why each move is made on a bunch of games. They are mostly one-sided games so you learn why a move is bad or good, which is very important. Instead of playing aimlessly the first thing that comes to mind you learn to evaluate different options and make good choices.

You can also train the different checkmate patterns on the lichess practice lichess.org/practice

practice then play, then practice again. play slower time formats so you have time to think about moves. Not blitz.

Here is a study i made from a book which is for players who've mastered the basics but want to understand some chess strategy. It also goes through games of weaker players, showing why their moves are mistakes.

and above all, have fun! Chess is fun at all levels, so don't be too angry when you blunder. Try to learn what mistakes you are making and improve from them.

is there something like this for 1900-2000+ rated players?

@EmaciatedSpaniard said in #15:

I like Chernov's book "logical chess" which is free online and explains why each move is made on a bunch of games. They are mostly one-sided games so you learn why a move is bad or good, which is very important. Instead of playing aimlessly the first thing that comes to mind you learn to evaluate different options and make good choices.

You can also train the different checkmate patterns on the lichess practice lichess.org/practice

practice then play, then practice again. play slower time formats so you have time to think about moves. Not blitz.

Here is a study i made from a book which is for players who've mastered the basics but want to understand some chess strategy. It also goes through games of weaker players, showing why their moves are mistakes.

and above all, have fun! Chess is fun at all levels, so don't be too angry when you blunder. Try to learn what mistakes you are making and improve from them.

I will give you some advice to fix some of your annotation.

2. Nf3 attacks undefended E5 pawn
   2...Nc6 is blacks attempt to defend E5 pawn.

The move 3.Bb5 is a threat which Carries the idea of chopping off knight on c6 with the Bishop in order for white knight on f3 to capture e5 pawn.

The problem is the threat white has doesn’t work right away!
It doesn’t work because Black has a tactic which they can use.

The threat white is seeking to do is more of a “later” threat.
The move 3...a6 by black is how black plans to defend itself from the “later” threat.

Thanks for the feedback on my study! I think I wrote most of those things. There is indeed the trick that black can double attack pawn and knight with the queen to win the e-pawn. Later when white's e-pawn is defended, black plays b5 to remove the threat of knight-capture and drive back the bishop. But I didn't want to overload this beginner study. Do you think i should add all that?

@EmaciatedSpaniard said in #19:

Thanks for the feedback on my study! I think I wrote most of those things. There is indeed the trick that black can double attack pawn and knight with the queen to win the e-pawn. Later when white's e-pawn is defended, black plays b5 to remove the threat of knight-capture and drive back the bishop. But I didn't want to overload this beginner study. Do you think i should add all that?

I, personally, think you should add that information because that is the main reason white & black are doing those moves.

I am at work so I can’t write a lot at the moment.
However, I wanted to tell you about a few other things.

After black plays 4...Nf6, White main line move isn’t defending the e4 pawn.
The main line move is for white to castle 5. O-O.

At this point, Black has a few moves they can play.
Black could take the pawn on e4 with their knight, BUT they can’t keep it!

If Black tries to stay 1 pawn up, they will often end up checkmated with their king stuck in the center of the board.

Usually, Black takes the pawn.
Than they let white gain back a pawn so the position is equal in material.
While white spends time retaking the pawn, Black gets castles so their King is safe.

Remember, this opening is a battle of ideas!
White wants to win black e5 pawn, but can’t right away due to tactical reasons.
Black wants to win white e4 pawn, but can’t right away due to tactical reasons.

Don’t get me wrong the Open: Ruy Lopez is 100% playable.
The issue is Black can’t be greedy when they play it.

For the above reasons, The Open: Ruy Lopez doesn’t get played a lot! Lol
Chess Players want to be greedy!

The main line move for Black on move 5 isn’t a Knight move.
It is 5...Be7.

The move Bishop to e7 carries a deadly threat.
The threat is for Black to take e4 pawn with Knight on move 6!

Previous, it takes black 2 moves to castle.
They have to move bishop + castle.

In this position, the bishop has already moved.
This means black only needs 1 move to castle.

That 1 move difference makes a huge difference because now Black idea is to take e4 pawn and hold on to it forever! An they don’t have to worry about there King safety due to being only 1 move away.

Lucky for white! They have star move at move 6 which saves their bacon!
The star move is 6. Re1.

The rook move does 2 difference things simultaneously!
The first thing it does is defend the E4 pawn which eliminates black ideas of taking it.
The second thing it does is set up whites “later” threat.

White also had an idea to take knight on c6 with bishop.
Than take the e5 pawn with his knight.

White couldn’t do the threat because black had a tactic which double attacked the undefended e4 pawn + white knight.

The issue is the rook move defends the e4 pawn so now black tactic is no longer working.
On the next move if black does stupid move white is going for it!

At this moment, Black “later” defense kicks in!.
The a6 pawn move on move 3 is helping black defend!
The a6 pawn supports blacks B pawn!

The a6 moves allows black to play 6...b5 breaking the pin on the Knight
This eliminates whites threat of chopping the knight.