How can you pass 1200?

Sub 1200 Games Study

Hello Lichess community!
A few days ago, I was looking at a blog post called, "How long does it take to get good at chess". It gave me the idea to do some analysis of games at various levels, and share my findings. Also, at the end, I want to give my thoughts on how the players at that level can fix their problems and move up the rating ladder.
This post is the first of these that I will be trying out. I hope you enjoy it, and maybe learn a thing or two.

The Plan

Here is how it works. I went to some U1500 arena rapid tournaments, and also browsed through my games from a couple years ago. This allowed me to find plenty of games between two players both rated under 1200 at the time.
I decided to take a sample size of ten random games from players of rating levels from 600 - 1200, and analyze them for blunders, mistakes, and other errors.

The Results

Here is what I found. Out of the ten games, there were 63 blunders in total. This includes piece hangs, checkmate blunders, positional errors, etc. Basically, anything that stockfish thinks can change the course of the game.
This averages out to 6 blunders per game, or 3 blunders per player, in each game. However, there is a certain type of blunder that really caught my eye.

In chess, there are many, many types of blunders that can be made. Dropping a central pawn, blundering a piece, allowing a strong attack, or giving up a key square are just a few of them. All of these blunders occured in the games I looked at, but by far the most common was when one player would give up large amounts of material for no apparent reason, either by just dropping a piece, or deliberately moving one to a square where it was tactically vulnerable. I also included positions where one side blundered a piece, but the other side did not notice and take it. In total, I found no fewer than 37 of this particular type of blunder in the 10 games. That averages out to around 2 serious piece drops, per player, per game.

Here is an example of what I counted. Look at move 28.

White blunders the rook, and black responds by not taking it.
Since this is by far the most common error that these players are making, the way to improve becomes clear. Simply don't drop pieces or make moves that lose large amounts of material. But how to do this? How can a player improve their tactical awareness?

How to improve

Here are my thoughts. Take them for what they are worth. I am not a master, but I have been under 1200 before, and I remember what it was like. Now, 2 years later, I am around 2000-2100 in most time controls and slightly higher in rapid and bullet.
To avoid blundering pieces, it is first of all essential to have good board vision. You need to be able to see where each piece is, see what it is attacking, and see what it is defending. There is no better way to do this than by practicing tactical puzzles every day.
Starting your chess day with Checkmate in 1 and Checkmate in 2 puzzles is a great way to get started, followed by some puzzle racer/storm. Lichess's choice to add these two new puzzle variants was very good, because they train pattern recognition, which is what you will need to actually spot these tactics in game.
Then, there is always the simple, but effective, basic lichess puzzles. I have done over 6000 of them, and I do more everyday. They are a superb way to train your board awareness, which will in turn produce better results over the board.
Finally, don't give up! It is very easy to get upset and quit, when you enter a tournament and lose all 8 games. (Yes, it's happened to me). Maybe take a break and come back later, but in the end, the key is to keep playing, keep practicing, and eventually, you will improve.
Even if you aren't a natural at chess, there is no reason you can't reach 2000, and maybe even higher.

Conclusion

I looked at some games played between players rated under 1200, and discovered that the factor that influences their games the most is that they tend to drop pieces a lot.
I then went over the ways that I solved this problem for myself, and the way that I think others can do the same.
If you have made it this far, I hope you found the post interesting/enlightening. If you enjoyed it, let me know by liking it, or sending me a message.
I will consider doing similar posts for under 1500, under 1700, and under 2000. Who knows, maybe even under 2200.
Have a good day,
Bye