Hey, if you could give us an idea of what your current skill level is, people would have a better chance of suggesting a path for you. What is your current raitng, and where do you play?
This is me. Sorry in advance for the username.
I vary between mid to high 900, low 1ks.
I tend to play blitz due to how I have incorporated chess into my life and enjoy the pressure to think quickly.
One piece of advice I got from a very high rated player was to play longer time controls. He said, “playing only blitz you’ll just keep making the same mistakes over and over without even realising it”. I have found this to be true, and generally prefer the chess I play at Rapid time controls.
This is what I did over many years:
- Playing alot of slow chess. This allows you to explore and learn from the exploration, but also gives you a small amount of pressure.
- Studying openings with mobile apps
- Consuming everything chess through books, apps, and videos. I loved watching analysis of the masters.
- Focusing on tactics over strategy. I learned from a really good chess player that strategy is more of an experts tool. I was never going to be an expert.
- Chess puzzles. This helps with pattern recognition, especially in blitz.