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Don't know what to do at this point...

Just wondering where do you go once you reach a certain point in playing ability? I've hit a wall and can't seem to improve even after all the studying/playing I'm doing now. I understand all of the basic principles / tactics and follow them in my games ect. I know the importance of "controlling" the center with pawns + piece but somehow it gets blown up and I'm always a pawn and/ or a piece down in all of my openings. Is there something I'm missing? Is there something that the 1600+ players know that some one like me doesn't that wasn't told in the rules of the games and all of the books published? It's rare when I do well in an opening and it's getting more difficult to win games now. I don't know if I should be studying more openings, doing tactics/puzzles, playing through game books ect. So much stuff too do but don't know what direction to go in.
Keep at it, and enjoy the game for what it's worth. For me it has never been about the rating, rather, the games themselves.

Every now and then you'll have a game that is memorable or brilliant in some way.
These are the ones that make it worthwhile.
I took a look at 3 of your last games and I know what your problem is. You don't need to study anything to improve at the moment. You only need to stop blundering so much! In two of those games you pushed a pawn leaving another pawn unprotected. You also lost your queen putting it on a square dominated by your opponent's knight. There were other similar mistakes. It's nothing to do with learning more stuff. It's more about visualization, observation and attention. In many cases you don't even need to calculate anything. All you need to see is that you're about to blunder in one move.
The solution for the problem? Use part of your time to double check your moves and to put those three skills into action. Before you move, instead of getting too deep into calculation, first look for pieces and pawns that might get unprotected with the move you want to make. And look for checks and mate threats by your opponent. After you have decided about your move, stop for a moment and look for a reason not to make the move. If you can't find one, the move is probably ok. If it's not, it doesn't matter; you know you did all you could do. Learn with your mistakes and keep improving.
And just to illustrate what I've said, this is a game you've just played:

en.lichess.org/TC6EE0z8/black#63

You played very well but you lost because you blundered your rook. The game should be a draw at least. You didn't lose because your opponent knew more stuff than you or because the position was too difficult or because the opponent made a brilliant move. You simply blundered a full rook in a single move. Very simple! Think about that.
Let me tell you a secret, I know many players who know everything but perform poorly: playing good chess does not depend on "knowing", it is rather developing skills like cycling, skiing. Sure, chunks of dry theory help you to produce those skills but this takes time. The more the older you are. Your have to "proceduralize" your knowledge. This simply means: "Practise! Practise? Practise."
Don't blunder pieces. Its one thing to play the best move every move. But if you blunder your stuff it all goes down the drain. There are certain hurtles you must jump. The first is to not blunder your pieces. The second will be something like pressure your opponent with small tactics as well as not blundering pieces, third will be develop a strategic plan, pressure your opponent with tactics, and don't blunder pieces. Gradually build on what you got.
I understand I should be careful about the blunders. Sometimes they are hard to spot lol!
Yep, it's never about "knowing", but about "being able to".

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