I think I just don't enjoy chess, so maybe all advice is wasted on me and I should give up on it for this lifetime but I appreciate your sentiment.
Periodically I try to learn, and I know some openings out to a handful of moves and have done a bunch of end game puzzles and read about some concepts, but that middle area feels like a dark forest with no obvious path.
I either make the blunder that sets me up to lose, watch my opponent make their blunder, or we survive.
I think a more structured approach to the midgame would help me develop some of the sensibilities the grandparent poster is talking about. Does that even exist?
Opening/end game is easier to study since there are less possible moves. At mid-game, it helps to apply more general concepts. So look for forks, skewers, advantageous trades, etc
Periodically I try to learn, and I know some openings out to a handful of moves and have done a bunch of end game puzzles and read about some concepts, but that middle area feels like a dark forest with no obvious path.
I either make the blunder that sets me up to lose, watch my opponent make their blunder, or we survive.
I think a more structured approach to the midgame would help me develop some of the sensibilities the grandparent poster is talking about. Does that even exist?