Becoming a pretty good chess player First of all I am sorry if my English is not very good. I started to play chess some time ago. I want to start to play pretty good to have fun in tournaments but I have no idea how to create a plan of study. 
Can some one explain what the difference is between an occasional player and a tournament player? 
And how to make a plan to study chess?
Play. Read. Solve tactics problems, repeat. Solve endgame problems. Solve middle game problems, repeat. Analyze positions in your head. Learn famous chessgames by heart, and why specific moves was played. One of the best players in Russia had learned by heart 'all' games played by Fischer. Most average players could probably replay 50+ memorized chessgames. Find a friend to do these things together with. Or a trainer. Join a chessclub! Analyze your own games. Take help from people better than you. For tactics I like www.chesstempo.com