How to get from 900 to 1200 in chess? Week 26 and a new high of 1112
Week 26 (July 1–6, 2024) is the week I reached a new high. I played 34 rapid games, all at 10 minutes, won 20 and lost 14, and went from 1038 to 1090. On the way I hit 1112, my highest rating so far, at the end of a six-game winning streak on July 4. Three weeks earlier I had been at 917. If "how to get from 900 to 1200 chess" is what you keep typing into Google, this is what the middle of that climb looked like for me, including the losses that kept me from going higher.
The week in numbers
| Games | 34, all 10-minute rapid |
| Wins / losses / draws | 20 / 14 / 0 |
| Rating | 1038 → 1090 (+52), peak 1112 |
| Average accuracy | 80.6 % |
| Blunders (Stockfish) | 47 (opponents: 55) |
| Most played openings | Zukertort Chigorin Variation (8), Accelerated London (4), Chigorin Variation (3), Cozio Defense (3) |
Two six-game winning streaks did the work: #634 to #639 on July 3 and #652 to #657 on July 4, the second one ending at 1112. Wednesday, July 3 was fifteen games with 10 wins. My average accuracy, 80.6 %, was the best weekly figure I'd had since late April, and none of my mistakes came under time pressure.
The surprise was the colour split. With Black I won 12 and lost 6. With White I went 8–8, and my most played line, the Zukertort Chigorin Variation, actually lost more than it won: 3 wins, 5 losses. After the peak, I lost four of my last five games and finished at 1090. And six times I failed to win a position where I'd had at least an 80 % chance. The climb came from fewer blunders (47, fewer than my opponents' 55), not from perfect play.
Three losses from the first two days
Before the streaks, I lost three of my first five games. All three are about a piece that was defended one moment and undefended the next.
The queen that stopped defending the bishop
Game #629, Black against merryoldsoul (1054), in an English Opening. About equal, −0.10. My queen on a5 was the only thing protecting my bishop on c5, which White's knight on e4 was attacking.
10...Qd8 offers a queen trade on the d-file, and it also stops guarding c5. In the game White didn't even bother with the queens: 11.Nxc5 simply picked up my bishop. The evaluation went from −0.10 to +5.87. The engine's 10...Bb4 moves the bishop out of danger with a threat of its own: it attacks the bishop on d2 with White's king behind it, which is a pin (game on Chess.com).
Castling away from a bishop under attack
Game #632, White against Ajski09 (1043), in my Zukertort Chigorin. Equal, −0.06. Black's queen on e7 and rook on e8 were lined up against my bishop on e2.
Count the pieces on e2. Attackers: Black's queen and rook, one behind the other on the e-file. Defenders: my king on e1 and my queen on d1. Two against two, so the bishop is safe. Then I castled, the king left e1, and it was two against one. 16...Qxe2 would win the bishop, and the evaluation dropped from −0.06 to −6.57. My opponent missed it and played 16...Rd6, but I lost the game anyway. Stockfish's 16.Qd2 keeps both defenders in place. The painful part: in game #525, three weeks earlier, castling had also removed the only defender of my knight on d2. Same mistake, different piece (game on Chess.com).
Capturing with the wrong piece
Game #633, Black against sophievande (1036), in a Queen's Gambit Declined. About equal, −0.22, and both my knight on e4 and my queen on a5 could take the pawn on c3.
I took with the knight. Stockfish's answer for White is 12.Qd2, attacking the knight on c3 with my queen on a5 directly behind it on the same diagonal, so the knight is stuck. The evaluation went from −0.22 to +1.58. Taking with the queen, 11...Qxc3+, is check and attacks three white pieces at once; after the queen trade the position stays level (game on Chess.com).
The lesson of the week
All three losses come down to the same skill: counting defenders before a piece moves. My queen left c5, my king left e2, my knight landed where my own queen made it a target. None of these moves were reckless. They were ordinary moves (a queen trade offer, castling, a recapture) that changed the count of attackers and defenders on one square. If I had to answer how to get from 900 to 1200 in chess from this week alone, it would be this: I gained 52 points by blundering less than my opponents, and the next 100 are hiding in moves like castling that I treat as automatically safe.
All games this week
| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 629 | Jul 1 | Black | merryoldsoul (1054) | Loss | English Opening Symmetrical Variation | 71.3 | game |
| 630 | Jul 1 | White | cdan777 (1014) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 90.4 | game |
| 631 | Jul 1 | Black | Hencho (1050) | Win | Ponziani Opening | 95.2 | game |
| 632 | Jul 1 | White | Ajski09 (1043) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 75.6 | game |
| 633 | Jul 2 | Black | sophievande (1036) | Loss | Queens Gambit Declined Exchange Positional Line | 62.6 | game |
| 634 | Jul 3 | White | tmat789 (1040) | Win | London System | 96.2 | game |
| 635 | Jul 3 | Black | NowyDezerter (1016) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Chigorin Variation | 53.0 | game |
| 636 | Jul 3 | White | AhmedIbrahim1970 (1032) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Accelerated London System | 97.0 | game |
| 637 | Jul 3 | Black | adynlavine (1066) | Win | Ruy Lopez Opening Cozio Defense | 89.5 | game |
| 638 | Jul 3 | Black | Caspar123456 (1078) | Win | Ruy Lopez Opening Cozio Defense | 83.6 | game |
| 639 | Jul 3 | White | Sanaaqueen (1057) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 72.9 | game |
| 640 | Jul 3 | White | PhenomenalND (1076) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 61.9 | game |
| 641 | Jul 3 | Black | BadPlayer2115 (1047) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Chigorin Variation | 81.6 | game |
| 642 | Jul 3 | Black | Hora33 (1067) | Win | Van t Kruijs Opening | 75.1 | game |
| 643 | Jul 3 | White | mayanksoniiu (1077) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 56.5 | game |
| 644 | Jul 3 | Black | abdelqader010 (1079) | Loss | Scotch Game Goring Double Pawn Sacrifice Variation | 63.1 | game |
| 645 | Jul 3 | White | Katherine55 (1063) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation | 76.1 | game |
| 646 | Jul 3 | White | crampel (1040) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 95.6 | game |
| 647 | Jul 3 | Black | HAHAHAtalokana23 (1071) | Win | Scotch Game Scotch Gambit Haxo Gambit | 56.3 | game |
| 648 | Jul 3 | White | Cany231 (1085) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 81.8 | game |
| 649 | Jul 4 | Black | yannisdesmot (1078) | Win | Kings Pawn Opening | 79.1 | game |
| 650 | Jul 4 | Black | ClaesFR (1108) | Loss | London System | 77.8 | game |
| 651 | Jul 4 | White | chovi7 (1076) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Accelerated London System | 97.4 | game |
| 652 | Jul 4 | White | out12pace (1079) | Win | English Defense | 94.2 | game |
| 653 | Jul 4 | Black | drake99909 (1054) | Win | Caro Kann Defense Advance Variation | 94.4 | game |
| 654 | Jul 4 | White | amature668 (1080) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Horwitz Defense | 95.8 | game |
| 655 | Jul 4 | White | xauco (1071) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Accelerated London System | 56.3 | game |
| 656 | Jul 4 | Black | wahoo82 (1082) | Win | Scotch Game | 94.6 | game |
| 657 | Jul 4 | Black | cmg8771 (1116) | Win | Queens Pawn Opening Chigorin Variation | 91.1 | game |
| 658 | Jul 5 | White | Rashsaraf (1151) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Accelerated London System | 91.9 | game |
| 659 | Jul 5 | Black | Ladiams (1159) | Loss | Ruy Lopez Opening Cozio Defense | 81.3 | game |
| 660 | Jul 5 | Black | M_Elpeshpeshy (1030) | Win | Center Game Accepted Normal Variation | 97.7 | game |
| 661 | Jul 6 | White | Amr2805 (1120) | Loss | Queens Pawn Opening Zukertort Chigorin Variation | 74.9 | game |
| 662 | Jul 6 | Black | yasarashfaq (1100) | Loss | Van t Kruijs Opening | 78.9 | game |
Previous: week 25 · Next: week 27 · The full series: the journey hub · Count your own defenders with an engine: review your own games like this.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get from 900 to 1200 in chess?
I hadn't yet, but this stretch took me from 917, my low in week 23, to 1112 three weeks later. In this week the biggest change was Black: 12 wins and 6 losses, after a 1–10 week with Black in late May.
Is castling always safe?
No. In game #632 castling took my king away from the bishop on e2, which Black's queen and rook were both attacking, and the evaluation dropped from −0.06 to −6.57. The same pattern had cost me a knight in game #525 three weeks earlier.
How do you count attackers and defenders in chess?
List every piece that attacks the square and every piece that defends it. On e2 in game #632 it was two attackers, Black's queen and rook on the e-file, against two defenders, my king and queen, until I castled.