(Also check out https://github.com/day50-dev/llmehelp which features a tmux tool I built on top of Simon's llm. I use it every day. Really. It's become indispensable)
The problem with tactics training is that there is always a "best answer" because they have been picked to have a best answer.
What got me playing over 1700 (lichess rating grin) were two things:
1) deepening my mental checklist: 1) am i being attacked, 2) are there unprotected pieces, 3) am I about to be forked/pinned, 4) can I fork/pin my opponent ... and increase how far down you can BFS this without getting a headache. And avoiding endgames because those are just logical grinds.
2) playing with an analysis engine like stockfish.
For me, memorizing defenses was not feasible because it is so broad, but I learned two openings (scotch and queens pawn) and at least know the defenses there because i know the openings. a little bit.
I'll keep at it, memorizing defenses, but I'm old and probably won't cram more into my brain.
EDIT: I used to go to a sunday-night chess meetup before COVID. 1700 on Lichess is nowhere near 1700 FIDE rating (of course, it was at a bar, so I'm usually a few pints in). I stopped going because I got tired of getting my ass kicked, there weren't enough mediocre players there.
No extra tooling, no symlinks, files are tracked on a version control system, you can use different branches for different computers, you can replicate you configuration easily on new installation.