(note: this is after a few month break - but we'll just pretend it's current even though I know it's not)

I get that you always study tactics no matter what. There's always room to improve there. The problem I'm currently having, and I assume this comes up with a lot of new players, is when to start including other studies.

I do a good # of tactic problems each day on chesstempo. I've been fluctuating between 1575 and 1625 for quite a bit. If I had to guess at what my actual ELO was, it'd probably be less than that. That's because I have an extremely limited understanding of both openings and endgames.

Most of my games are played correspondence style via some sites like GameKnot, etc. The others are non-blitz (15/0 or 30/0) where I can take the time to think through the tactics more than anything.

I get stuck on openings. I only play 1. e4. I know a few general lines because I often cheat w/ an opening database while I play, but after move 5 or 6 I'm lost. Same goes w/ endgames - I probably throw away won games or drawn games without knowing it.

What is the best way to move forward? Choose a single opening (1. e4 is familiar to me already) and get to know all it's variations? It seems really tedious to study openings for black since it really comes down to needing to know *everything* seemingly.

Thanks for the help

at the rating u are, imo it is much better to simply study the endgame.
why ?

1. because the players u face, even if they end up with a good plus on u after the opening (without u being a piece down wich should not happen if u study lot of tactics right ?), usually they are never good enough to actually finish the game.

2.- one mistake in opening = hard time troughout the game but u have time to fight back
- one mistake in endgame by them and u win the game .

3. endgame knowledge NEVER change while opening always get novelty where u need to learn new stuff, adapt to new line ,etc wich imo just use too much energy and time .

ps: i would rather learn somethng that would actually last a life time ( ending) then some trick in opening that wont last past 2 years and u would have to redo the work all over once the line u study become obsolete.

btw, what edge u have once your opponent knows the opening as well has u if not better, wihtout saying all the ****ty prep u might fall upon .

actually deviating from mainline of opening ( obv. up to a certain degree..) will not help your opponent much , when he will have to actually play chess and waste all those hours he learn for some line..

that makes sense - i own pandolfini's endgame course and only did a brief reading of various simple endgames several years ago. i'll dust that one off and give it a more thorough read

check this :
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/14...urces-1283896/

some good ideas here imo

The solution to this is to pick one system which is playable against multiple White setups, or to pick several openings that have similar structures.

E.g. You can play some variation of the Modern/Pirc (...d6, ...g6, ...Bg7, ...Nf6) or the King's Indian Defence against virtually any White approach. That'll get you used to the Kingside fianchetto and the idea of pawn breaks against the White centre.

You can get experience with those same structures if you choose related openings, so if you could play the Modern/Pirc against e4 and the KID against d4, then if White surprises you with 1. c4, you can just trot out a system you're familiar with and get a position you are at least comfortable with.

FWIW I don't think chesstempo, or more generally most online tactics trainers, are actually a good way to improve at tactics. They miss a lot of things. For starters many of the problems are graded/solved by computers. This seems logical but it makes a problem completely pointless when you play the only tactical-like move and the computer realizes he either gives up his queen or gets mated so he then moves his queen en prise and you move onto the next problem. A lot of the benefit of tactics is working out not only the solution but every possible defense and your optimal responses. And repetition is also key. This is why something like Reinfeld's 1001 chess tactics books are great - you can do all the problems and then do them again. You won't be able to memorize all 1001 yet somehow you'll find yourself starting to instantly solve many of them. That's progress! Again something you'll not find on most tactics aggregators that would rather have 5912872184124 mediocre problems than 1000 good ones.

And it's been said enough that I won't really go into it but you're completely wasting your time (and possibly even harming your potential to improve) studying openings at 1600. To a much lesser degree the same is also true of endgames, though there you can never really harm yourself at least. Especially at 1500-1600, tactics is 100% the way forward.

I'd like to echo everything DiR said, very well put. I'd also like to add that tactics problems in conjunction with studying GM games can be very helpful. I think people try to break up chess into it's pieces to study it (such as strictly studying the opening or endgame), but in my opinion this can be detrimental. The more I learn, the more I realize how a chess game is like one long symphony. You can't break it up, but have to treat all of the individual elements in the context of the whole thing. Studying GM games can really help tie everything together and show you how certain openings lead to certain middlegames, and how tactics fit into that. The best book I'd recommend for that is "Zurich 1953" by David Bronstein. Truly a fantastic book that would be hugely helpful to someone at your level.

As far as the endgame goes, I'll copy and paste a post I made on the linked thread above. I think it applies here.

For a beginner, I'd probably recommend the following material to study. I'd like to hear opinions from others as well.

1) Basic mates - K+Q v Q, K+R v Q, K+B+B v K, etc
2) Overwhelming material advantages - K+Q+3P v K+R or something of that nature
3) King and pawn endings - basic stuff like opposition and zugzwang
4) Rook and pawn endings - Lucena and Philidor positions, active rook defense, that type of stuff

I think a firm knowledge of those things can take someone up to a class A player. I wouldn't spend time on bishop or knight endings just yet because those happen much less frequently than the others. They need to be studied, just not right away.

thanks for the response

i'll keep that in mind and continue to study tactics and introduce some endgame studies as well. i'll see about picking up some recommended tactic books

Do you think that it's better to focus on a "live" game vs. correspondence? Or any practice is good practice.

Any practice is good practice. The main thing is to focus on each game and take it seriously. If you practice sloppy and don't calculate hard or really get into the game, you won't improve nearly as quickly. Really focus each game. Also, if you have time, analyzing your games (ideally with a stronger play) really helps. There's no better way to learn than to see mistakes pointed out in your own games. If you start playing more, feel free to post your games on here, we're always happy to give feedback.