Finally broke the 2000 barrier here ;)

Not ego-boosting at all (ok, maybe just a little bit).

Instead of doing Michael Mazza's tortuous 1000+ tactical drills everyday, I've settled with this daily training regimen:

15 strategic puzzles
40 tactical puzzles (4 - 10 move depth)
10 endgame puzzles (various types)
once-a-week attendance at a local chess club

I was once able to do 200+ puzzles everyday for a week. While my calculation skills improved significantly, my understanding of strategy was shoddy and I ended up calculating insignificant lines ad repeatedly.

What's your chess improvement tactic?

i really wanted to achieve 2000 elo , but with a spectacular style it becomes more and more difficult...

Congrats! Awesome achievement!!

I've gained about 350 points on this site in the past month ago (~1950 now in bullet), I've been watching a lot of masters play, and then putting in some studying time here and there (mostly openings and strategy). I've also been going to a chess club regularly and getting my butt creamed regularly.

Took me a while to find a site I love as much as Lichess, but I love the tournament style here, and it keeps me playing which seems as important as anything else!

I still have loads to study, like more endgame theory, plenty more to learn about openings, and strategy strategy strategy! I think each instruction strategy is gonna be pretty personal.

lol I can't even get past 1900 in bullet. I was close though(1890s). Any recommendations?

btw I don't think I have enough time to do what roni did.

@roni_chessman #1

Congrats! :) Welcome to the 2000+ club.

Were the puzzles through internet or paper books ?
Where did you get the strategic puzzles and the endgame puzzles ?

@SacrifTal #2

I sac whenever get the chance to sac.
Queens, rooks, knights, pawns, you name it.

Crazy queen sacs are one of my favorites.

See my blog :
http://www.chess.com/blog/achja

And I do love the games of Mikhail Tal and Netz and similar.

In my opinion a spectacular chess style is no obstacle to get a higher rating.

Perhaps you are lacking in technique, or in some positional positions, or even in tactics (My tactics is pretty okay, but I have some tactical blind spots in some positions), or with certain opening lines.

Work on your weaknesses, and know what your strong points are.

Mikhail Tal got better and better in the endgame through the years. One time he even won a fine endgame against endgame genius Smyslov !

Enjoy your chess ! :)

Yes, I crossed over 2000 classical recently as well. I have since dropped back under due to unreliable Internet connection and forfeiting won games. Ill be back.

Took a long time to get here for me. Just steady improvement over time. But I have been working more tactics puzzles lately, so maybe that does help. I watch a lot of masters games on YouTube and listen to their commentary. That's entertaining and maybe helpful. I find it difficult to memorize opening theory so I don't study openings much. I need to work harder to find a way to retain some new opening lines to sharpen my repertoire.

Best of luck to everyone

2000 on all time controls!

That is it...no more blitz and lightning. Time for some serious chess improvement!