Strategy & improvement
You can improve at chess far faster by studying the right things in the right order. Here's where the points actually come from.
Below ~1500, most games are decided by someone leaving a piece en prise. Before every move, do a two-second safety check: is anything I own attacked and undefended? Is anything I'm about to leave undefended? This one habit is worth hundreds of rating points.
Ten to fifteen minutes of puzzles a day builds the pattern recognition that wins games. Quality matters — understand why the solution works, don't just guess.
Basic checkmates (K+Q, K+R), king-and-pawn opposition, and the rule of the square convert won games and save lost ones. See the endgame encyclopedia.
Blitz is fun but reinforces snap decisions. Play some slower games where you can actually calculate, then review them to find the move that decided the result.
Don't opening-hop. Reach a familiar middlegame every game so you can focus on the play, not the first ten moves.
Tactics + not hanging pieces + reviewing your games covers ~80% of improvement below club level. Do those consistently and the rating follows. Start now with a free game.
Stop hanging pieces (a per-move safety check), solve tactics daily, learn a handful of basic endgames, and review your own games. Those four habits account for most improvement below club level.
Only if you review them. Playing builds experience, but you improve fastest by finding the mistakes in your games and fixing the recurring ones, rather than playing on autopilot.