Hello all.

Still relatively new at chess. Started about a year ago, but didn't really play much the first 6 months. Been playing a lot more in the past 6 months, have learned a few openings, read up on some basic strategies- but mostly have improved by playing a lot.

When I say playing a lot, I usually play on chess.com's app and playing turn based chess. Most of these games allow you to make a move within 3 days, and you have access to a an analysis board, where you can play out scenarios on a simulation board which helps you see what will happen over the next few moves. Recently my rating has gone up significantly, I was around an 1100 probably 2 months ago, and I am over 1300 now, having beaten players with a rating between 1400-1500 ratings.

However, I've also been playing more live chess and have really struggled. I'm around a 1000 rating and consistently lose to people with ratings in the 900 level. I play with 10 minutes so its not like I'm playing blitz chess or anything and have no time to think- and its not like when I play turn based chess I take 20 minutes on each decision. I think the answer is just to play more live chess and I will see improvement like I did in turn based chess- but I was wondering if any of you have any advice with making this transition to "real chess" and if you know of any exercises or thought process strategies that may help me make this transition.

Thanks guys. Look forward to using these forums more to grow my game.

Fwiw, I think 10 minutes is still blitz. Have you tried longer games, like 30 or 45 minutes?

What problems are you having? Running out of time, not being able to see far enough ahead, not knowing how long to take on each move?

Ten minutes is waaayyyy too fast for someone learning the game. Try playing minimum G/60 if possible. Also, when you play the correspondence style games, try figuring things out without the analysis board first, then use the analysis board to check your work and go ahead and make the best move you found then. I think it is important to try to do your work without the analysis board first if you want to improve OTB, though.

Another idea is something I'm just starting myself. I have 35 games in my database that are 10 half moves or fewer and that end in checkmate. I'm going to sort them from shortest to longest and work through them entirely in my head. No board at all. I will move through them one move at a time and try to "solve" the checkmate before I reveal it.

After I get through all 35, I will return to the ones I missed and try them again. Then I will gradually add longer games. I will go to 11 and 12 half move games, etc. I have no idea if this will work, but it sounds fun, difficult, and unlikely to hurt anything.

Thoughts? Refinements?

Pretty much exactly what I was going to say on both accounts.

I’ve been having the same issue as CULions. The problem with Chess.com is that it’s very hard to get live games with time controls slower than 30 min. Is signing up for ICC our best move? Are there good free outlets for slower time control games?

CULions, message me if you’d like to schedule some slow chess on Chess.com, I’m also a newbie and both my turn-based and live ratings are nearly identical to yours

www.stcbunch.net is a group of players looking for long games. You can play easily on FICS (for free), which is at www.freechess.org. No need to pay. Also look into the Team League which runs on both FICS and ICC after signing up on one of those servers. You can get several long, and this is key, important games. The games are meaningful to your team mates, and that is a big motivating factor. It's not too hard to get long games on FICS just by seeking, also. I rarely have to wait more than a minute to get a 30 30 game, for instance.

Thanks Gorgonian. I also really appreciate your advice on how to best use the analysis board. I’ve been examining potential moves and variations exclusively through the analysis board tool. This has led to rapid improvement in turn-based chess but hasn’t helped my live game much at all. I’m thinking your approach will help build both skill sets at the same time.