The question is in the title. At what point did you stop improving by only playing or studying passively (such as watching commentators on youtube etc)?
I stopped improving WHEN I began to only study or play passively.
When I stopped thinking about chess a lot and studying actively I not only stopped improving I went backwards. For 2 more years I played in occasional tournaments and dropped 200 Elo points. (I'm sure part of the drop was a reduction in fighting spirit for chess but most was not.) Then I stopped completely (due to pride) and only returned in 2019ish. Bill
As Fischer stated, standard chess is memorization. Can you remember the streets you walked down when on vacation? No, you remember the sites/sights. You would have to get directions again. This is what happens to people like Hou Yifan. The good news is you are still improving by not playing or studying watching commentators broadcast events. And I hate to disappoint the puzzle people and developers, doing puzzles may help improve your play, but it does nothing for your memory.
Perhaps, pattern recognition, but commentators today tend to gloss over that because it is ingrained in their heads. They spend more time with difficult endgames and reminiscing that the lower level players feel left out. In the end, calculation and quick spotting (faster time controls) will get you the win.
The next question would be, how do you maintain calculation strength? I know when I play my first few games in the morning I am groggy, not thinking straight, and I worry only about not hanging my queen. Then, I lose track of a minor piece. My opponent pays more attention because now it is like a puzzle. They know they have the advantage now.
Perhaps there are warm up exercises that can get your mind to a more normal state. This would then help your memory which is based on play where you didn't hang a minor piece. It would be interesting to see a book or study that might focus on this instead of all permutations of one specific opening and not just random positions. Like have a drill for knights and common mishaps, then bishops, then queens, and finally rooks. Throw some Greek gift positions to get the mind working on king safety. Then, don't know if there is a name, but also central king dangers of not castling. Stafford Gambit comes to mind. If you don't play it right as white, the king can get trapped in both the center and corner. Scandinavian for black. I win many games simply because my opponent didn't castle.
Anyways, that's my rant. Warm up puzzles might be good for those in rusty state or just waking up.
Perhaps, pattern recognition, but commentators today tend to gloss over that because it is ingrained in their heads. They spend more time with difficult endgames and reminiscing that the lower level players feel left out. In the end, calculation and quick spotting (faster time controls) will get you the win.
The next question would be, how do you maintain calculation strength? I know when I play my first few games in the morning I am groggy, not thinking straight, and I worry only about not hanging my queen. Then, I lose track of a minor piece. My opponent pays more attention because now it is like a puzzle. They know they have the advantage now.
Perhaps there are warm up exercises that can get your mind to a more normal state. This would then help your memory which is based on play where you didn't hang a minor piece. It would be interesting to see a book or study that might focus on this instead of all permutations of one specific opening and not just random positions. Like have a drill for knights and common mishaps, then bishops, then queens, and finally rooks. Throw some Greek gift positions to get the mind working on king safety. Then, don't know if there is a name, but also central king dangers of not castling. Stafford Gambit comes to mind. If you don't play it right as white, the king can get trapped in both the center and corner. Scandinavian for black. I win many games simply because my opponent didn't castle.
Anyways, that's my rant. Warm up puzzles might be good for those in rusty state or just waking up.
Quite often the answer could be: when I met nice woman who doesn't play chess :) (generally speaking). Or could be man as well. I have heard some slightly mean comments about chess from women who don't play. I guess people may hate something they don't understand.
I think around 2100 blitz and rapid and like 2300 bullet
I have been maintaining the same playing strength for 20 years. With tons of training.
I never improved...
Merry Christmas anyway.
Merry Christmas anyway.
Not quite sure what "passive study" means...
What is "improve"?
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