Monday 31 July 2017

2017 - 2018 Season Ahead!

The goal of reaching 1750 ELO now looks very achievable ... The July 2017 grades have just been published and I have moved up one grading point to 137 BCF. This is the equivalent of 1746 ELO. So what do I have to do to get those four, vital ELO grading points? I think that there are one or two things I definitely shouldn't being doing too much of and other disciplines I ought to be doing much more of ....

 1 .... Chess Blitz has not really helped?! (or has it?) When you fail at something, there is a natural tendency to want to dismiss the whole idea of it and erradicate it from memory ... I often fear losing at online Blitz and reckon it's a drain on my morale. But does it actually have some value? Perhaps the losses are surreptitiously programming me to avoid making the same mistakes, or am I a repeat offender who is destined to keep making the wrong choices? Can I continue to teach myself or do I need lessons from a master to get that extra improvement? Maybe time will tell ...

 2 .... Chess Tactics problems will help! I need to keep the emphasis on these ... The ability to capitalise on tactical positions during a game is always of high value ... Taking advantage of simple opportunities won me a couple of games last season, one notably against a player ranked 167 BCF (knight fork won queen).

 3 .... Chess lessons will be of some benefit. How much more improvement can I make at chess without the lessons? Most of the information in my head thus far has originated from opening books and tactics books. I have also spent time on basic endings (from books) but could improve decidedly in this area... ! So my aim for 2017 - 2018 will be to take 5 - 10 lessons from a master and ask them to assess my true ability ... Only then will I get to know what I need to work on, and what I should be capable of.

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