How to Improve Chess Rating from 800?
chess rating is a very relative term. There are many factors involved in improving chess ratings. Chess rating is a matrix to measure your progress in chess. In this article, we will see tips on how to improve chess rating from 800
Usually, ratings are directly associated with the time you spent practicing chess. If you practice well then your rating will increase.
This article focuses on improving your online rating, not your FIDE rating, as the rating starts from 1000. We will see some of the best ways to double your online chess rating on the sites like chess.com and lichess.
Improving the rating on lichess is comparatively easy than chess.com. The main reason is the competition. Chess.com runs on a freemium model with a lot of features. Hence many serious players play on chess.com.
Let’s see how to improve our chess rating from 800.
7 best tips on How to Improve Chess Rating from 800
The following tips are undoubtedly useful for any beginner and intermediate player. Following these tips for 6-8 months will increase your rating by 300-500 points.
Solve chess tactics
Solving chess tactics is the by far best and fastest way to improve chess rating. Try to solve atleast 10 puzzles per day with some time limit. You can solve puzzles from chess books or the chess.com website.
Lichess is also a great and free alternative to solving chess puzzles.
Solving chess tactics also helps in terms of visualization, practical thinking, and tactical understanding. You will also notice that your strength is improved.
Play 10 Blitz Games Daily
Playing blitz games also improves your chess level. Many old people disagree with this as it becomes very hard for them to accept new things. But if you see players born after 2000 have played more than 10000 games online. Some of the players include Arjun Erigaisi and Alireza Firouzja.
Either you can play random games or tournaments on lichess or chess.com. The best way is to filter with the rating range and play only with higher-rated players.
After playing 10 games seriously, analyze all games with yourself with the help of an engine.
Focus on Improving Basic Endgames
Improving basic endgames is essential. Atleast study pawn endgames, rook endgames, and some basic chess endgames. You can refer following books to improve your endgame skills.
- 100 Endgames you must know
- Shereshvesky Endgame Strategy
- Mastering complex endgame
- Grandmaster preparation – endgame by Jacob Aagaard. (Buy only if you are a club player or above)
To practice endgames, use the drills feature by chess.com where you get positions that you can play against the engine. Following endgame positions are must-know for any beginner chess player.
- King and Queen vs King
- King and Rook vs King
- King and Two Bishop vs King
- King and Queen vs King and Rook
- King and two rooks vs King
- King and Rook and Knight vs King and Rook
Buy a Good Mouse
This is the most underrated tip which you will ever get. Purchasing a good mouse to play online games is a must. Usually, try to get a gaming mouse or atleast a wireless mouse for your laptop.
This will cost you around $10-20. I use a Logitech wireless mouse. We will try to list a perfect mouse for chess players in a different list.
Every second is important in blitz games. Also, a laggy mouse can cost you many losses.
Have a Good Internet
You should have atleast 30 Mbps internet connection to play worry-free chess games. I have seen many games end because of internet lag or disconnectivity issues.
Internet issue is not a major thing in the USA or the UK. This impacts most African and European countries.
Using Aimchess
If you don’t have a chess coach, Aimchess can act as a chess coach. Aimchess is the best AI tool to analyze your games. It will also tell you your mistakes. This is by far the best investment you can do if you don’t have a coach.
Aimchess costs $8 per month with a 14-day free trial. You just have to connect it with chess.com or lichess and it will sync all data of the last 1000 games. Aimchess is also a part of Play Magnus Group which will now become a part of chess.com.
Hire a Chess Coach
Who doesn’t like to have a personal chess coach? Hiring a chess coach can be quite expensive. Usually, a chess coach costs $20-$50 per hour for the beginner level. If you take weekly 1 session then also it will cost you $80-200 monthly.
But hiring a chess coach is the easiest way to improve your chess game. 99% of top chess players have some coach or mentor. Kids can also join chess academies or take online chess classes.
Let’s see some common FAQs
How many rating points I can increase in 6 months?
This is completely dependent on how much you practice on your own. But generally, you can improve 200-300 points in 6 months from the initial 800 ratings. When your rating improves, your difficulty level also improves.
Once someone crosses the 2000 rating, it is hard to improve even 100 rating points.
What is the fastest way to improve your chess rating?
The fastest and easiest way is to get a chess coach and solve a lot of tactics. Find a coach who can listen to you, understand your game, and obviously know better chess than you. For this, I recommend finding a titled chess player.
