(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