I hope you're doing well. I just returned from a week-long family vacation at a waterpark, which was a much-needed break. I tried a water slide called ‘Turbo Racer’ with a 88% slope. Felt very alive after the 2-second ride!
However, the vacation also made me realize that I can no longer continue with my OTB tournament.
My oldest son has autism, and one of the things that are challenging him is falling asleep without assistance from an adult. If he was our only child my wife could manage, but with a 5-month-old and two other siblings, it is starting to get impossible to handle alone. Therefore, I had to make the tough decision to withdraw from the tournament after playing only the first round, since the rounds starts at 19:15 in the evening.
When I signed up we were in a good period, and I was maybe too optimistic. But here we are, and I must acknowledge that I have to push back my plans to play chess competitively in over-the-board tournaments. As disappointing as it is for me, family comes first.
Given the uncertainty of when I can play again, it doesn't seem practical to have a result-oriented rating goal. Instead, I intend to shift my focus toward developing good habits and adopting a more process-oriented mindset.
Hey Martin, chess will always be there and will always be the refuge in tough. It has been for me for many years. Time with family is super precious and flies so quickly. I’m sure you won’t be regretting this decision in the future as hard as it feels at this moment. Your contributions to the community have been inspiring and amazing. Wish you all best.
I hear you. I’ve embraced and disengaged from chess entirely at different times. I always find I miss it and come back. While I’ll bet the community supports a family first attitude (and so do I!), I’m in a similar boat with kids 4 and 2, while going back to school on top of the family duties (though I am not working for the moment). I wanted to share my attitude that chess is my primary hobby, and I do a few puzzles, challenges, blindfold exercises daily to keep the joy of the game alive. And I’ll encourage you to do the same all for the love of the game. It’s a tough decision, and a worth one indeed. Hope to hear from you now and again! (And thanks for all your blind puzzle books! I’m getting some serious value!) With thanks, Matt.
I played five games in classical time controls (30|20 and up). I tried to juggle those commitments with some daily tactics training. I lost all games (see below), but at least two of them were close and I think I played well. In one of them, my friend of over 40 years conceded that I am "no longer a novice."
2) What did not go well?
I lost all my games. Capablanca says I must lose hundreds before getting better, so it seems I'm on my way. But regrettably, I have not made the time to analyze the games. Not even one of them. When I was playing one classical game a weeek, I always made time to analyze it. I'm happy to have more chances to play, but I'm afraid I am wasting an opportunity to make the most of them.
My tactics training continues to be haphazard. I think I'll have to pick a book, and go in order. Even if I don't have a lot of time, at least I'll have some structure.
3) What will I do this week
Probably the same. I have a couple of games and a weekend at a film festival, so probably no chess on the weekend.
Martin, that is a good decision. My children are now old enough to take care of themselves, I have much more time for chess, but I miss the time with my children. So, there is a good time for everything. It is good that you can keep up your engagement here and maybe also your books. Both help others a lot!
1) What went well?
I spent over 20! hours on serious chess work this week. I am almost at 300 in the Checkmate Mastery and still determined to make it to the Hall of Fame. My solve rate is still pretty high (80%-90%) and it takes me roughly 30-40 minutes to solve my daily dose of 12. I also worked through two chapters of Tactics Ninja. On Sunday, I won a nice and very tactical Scotch in an OTB tournament game for my club. It showed me that work really pays off! I also made a deep annotation of the game, first without engine: https://lichess.org/study/T1pwJrhm/EhQzArok
2) What did not go well?
I was too late to re-enter the lichess 4545, also because my classical rating was provisory again.
3) What will I do this week
Play more classical and rapid games on lichess. I regained my rating already yesterday. It is 100 points higher than two years ago. Continue with Checkmate Mastery and Tactics Ladder. Be realistic, because in March I have a lot of teaching commitments at my university and will not be able to keep me chess hours at the level of the last weeks.
Hi Martin, I hope you will have a better period soon again and you will be able to return to OTB chess. But at this moment you did the right decision!
1) What went well?
I played one OTB game in our team competition. It was a draw and showed me that the opening I choose maybe is not so great to fight for an advantage from the opening.
I did several tactic puzzles every day.
2) What did not go well?
I did not play any GM game, although I planned to go through some.
3) What will I do this week
I will play another OTB game as we have weekly rounds. I will practice tactical puzzles again and as I will travel a lot, I will probably not be able to dedicate more time to chess.
I peaked my lichess rapid rating at 2137. That felt really good (even though it's not really a goal). I played a good chunk of rapid this week and managed to maintain it for a few days before it dropped. I've started going through Capablanca's Best Endings by Chernev and I can see why it is an instant classic. I'm also experimenting with not using the engine at all during my analysis. I should spend more time analyzing though, to give myself time to see new ideas I haven't before.
2) What did not go well?
I don't suppose it's actually "bad" but I lost a few games later in the week so I'm no longer at my highest rating. Mostly I made some hasty errors which caused me to lose. I also had a bit of tilt with tactics puzzles and blitz games, but dug myself out of that. I lost my game at the club, it was just a tough week overall.
3) What will I do this week
It's the last week of the team tournament at my club, and I'm prepping to go out with a bang. I'll keep studying Capa's best endings (it'll probably take me another three weeks to complete), and I'll keep playing rapid games because I am NOT afraid to lose rating -- I just want to lose well. And of course, the obligatory 30 minutes to an hour of lichess tactics (I can easily get sucked into those because it's so enjoyable to sit and think quietly about a position, even though I curse under my breath every time I miss the right move.)
3001 a Chess Odyssey. That's how many problems I've done since starting a few month ago. I also managed to hit my goal of 20 positions in Evaluate Like a Grandmaster. I've had a few games recently where I've been on the losing side of a game and my opponents can't finish me off. I credit the training, as I've learned to find good moves for a defender.
However If I look at my performance from last year to this year on lichess, I'm basically flat on elo. It's strange because I feel like I've raised my floor of chess ability but I've not improved on my peak ability. Lower rated opponents used to be able to surprize me more often with moves.
2) What did not go well?
I do the 5 free puzzles daily on chess.com that I don't really consider part of my training and I was just stumped last week Couldn't seem to get them right for the life of me. I also had a 2nd week where weather didn't allow me to have otb chess. It felt like chess just wasn't clicking with me.
3) The plan for the week.
20 more positions in Evaluate like a Grandmaster, 40 more Polgar puzzles And this week I'll shout angrily at the sky Tuesday night so that it knows better than to cancel my Chess club three weeks running.
As for Martin, I know what it is to reduce chess for a better family life. I used to travel to tournaments and I had one about every 2 weeks for a while. But I got a girlfriend who turned into a wife and my hobby had to take a back seat. I still get to enjoy chess via youtube and books but it's much less participatory now. And your Say Chess efforts remain valuable and interesting.
Made small progress on tactics - john nunn book. Too many times got stuck and motivation a bit faded away.
3) What will I do this week
Study classics and OTB long time control game. Will try to make some more progress on tactics. Will try to add 10-15 mins visualisaiton training where I will have to reproduce chess position that i just saw from memory.
Hey Martin, chess will always be there and will always be the refuge in tough. It has been for me for many years. Time with family is super precious and flies so quickly. I’m sure you won’t be regretting this decision in the future as hard as it feels at this moment. Your contributions to the community have been inspiring and amazing. Wish you all best.
I hear you. I’ve embraced and disengaged from chess entirely at different times. I always find I miss it and come back. While I’ll bet the community supports a family first attitude (and so do I!), I’m in a similar boat with kids 4 and 2, while going back to school on top of the family duties (though I am not working for the moment). I wanted to share my attitude that chess is my primary hobby, and I do a few puzzles, challenges, blindfold exercises daily to keep the joy of the game alive. And I’ll encourage you to do the same all for the love of the game. It’s a tough decision, and a worth one indeed. Hope to hear from you now and again! (And thanks for all your blind puzzle books! I’m getting some serious value!) With thanks, Matt.
1) What went well?
Spent 1.5 hrs on study.
95% time was solving puzzles on Checkmate Mastery.
Glad to be in atleast tactics solving zone for 6 days of week.
2) What did not go well?
Didn't create a way to play Practice / Training game - Rapid atleast.
As I see now, there were few time blocks available though.
Also, without playing, forgetting the Opening revision done sometime back.
3) What will I do this week
Continue solving puzzles from Checkmate Mastery and Tactics Ladder.
Create and Block time for playing Rapid game against Engine or online with real board on side.
1) What went well?
I played five games in classical time controls (30|20 and up). I tried to juggle those commitments with some daily tactics training. I lost all games (see below), but at least two of them were close and I think I played well. In one of them, my friend of over 40 years conceded that I am "no longer a novice."
2) What did not go well?
I lost all my games. Capablanca says I must lose hundreds before getting better, so it seems I'm on my way. But regrettably, I have not made the time to analyze the games. Not even one of them. When I was playing one classical game a weeek, I always made time to analyze it. I'm happy to have more chances to play, but I'm afraid I am wasting an opportunity to make the most of them.
My tactics training continues to be haphazard. I think I'll have to pick a book, and go in order. Even if I don't have a lot of time, at least I'll have some structure.
3) What will I do this week
Probably the same. I have a couple of games and a weekend at a film festival, so probably no chess on the weekend.
Martin, that is a good decision. My children are now old enough to take care of themselves, I have much more time for chess, but I miss the time with my children. So, there is a good time for everything. It is good that you can keep up your engagement here and maybe also your books. Both help others a lot!
1) What went well?
I spent over 20! hours on serious chess work this week. I am almost at 300 in the Checkmate Mastery and still determined to make it to the Hall of Fame. My solve rate is still pretty high (80%-90%) and it takes me roughly 30-40 minutes to solve my daily dose of 12. I also worked through two chapters of Tactics Ninja. On Sunday, I won a nice and very tactical Scotch in an OTB tournament game for my club. It showed me that work really pays off! I also made a deep annotation of the game, first without engine: https://lichess.org/study/T1pwJrhm/EhQzArok
2) What did not go well?
I was too late to re-enter the lichess 4545, also because my classical rating was provisory again.
3) What will I do this week
Play more classical and rapid games on lichess. I regained my rating already yesterday. It is 100 points higher than two years ago. Continue with Checkmate Mastery and Tactics Ladder. Be realistic, because in March I have a lot of teaching commitments at my university and will not be able to keep me chess hours at the level of the last weeks.
Hi Martin, I hope you will have a better period soon again and you will be able to return to OTB chess. But at this moment you did the right decision!
1) What went well?
I played one OTB game in our team competition. It was a draw and showed me that the opening I choose maybe is not so great to fight for an advantage from the opening.
I did several tactic puzzles every day.
2) What did not go well?
I did not play any GM game, although I planned to go through some.
3) What will I do this week
I will play another OTB game as we have weekly rounds. I will practice tactical puzzles again and as I will travel a lot, I will probably not be able to dedicate more time to chess.
Hey Martin. Good on you for putting family first!
1) What went well?
I peaked my lichess rapid rating at 2137. That felt really good (even though it's not really a goal). I played a good chunk of rapid this week and managed to maintain it for a few days before it dropped. I've started going through Capablanca's Best Endings by Chernev and I can see why it is an instant classic. I'm also experimenting with not using the engine at all during my analysis. I should spend more time analyzing though, to give myself time to see new ideas I haven't before.
2) What did not go well?
I don't suppose it's actually "bad" but I lost a few games later in the week so I'm no longer at my highest rating. Mostly I made some hasty errors which caused me to lose. I also had a bit of tilt with tactics puzzles and blitz games, but dug myself out of that. I lost my game at the club, it was just a tough week overall.
3) What will I do this week
It's the last week of the team tournament at my club, and I'm prepping to go out with a bang. I'll keep studying Capa's best endings (it'll probably take me another three weeks to complete), and I'll keep playing rapid games because I am NOT afraid to lose rating -- I just want to lose well. And of course, the obligatory 30 minutes to an hour of lichess tactics (I can easily get sucked into those because it's so enjoyable to sit and think quietly about a position, even though I curse under my breath every time I miss the right move.)
1) What went well?
3001 a Chess Odyssey. That's how many problems I've done since starting a few month ago. I also managed to hit my goal of 20 positions in Evaluate Like a Grandmaster. I've had a few games recently where I've been on the losing side of a game and my opponents can't finish me off. I credit the training, as I've learned to find good moves for a defender.
However If I look at my performance from last year to this year on lichess, I'm basically flat on elo. It's strange because I feel like I've raised my floor of chess ability but I've not improved on my peak ability. Lower rated opponents used to be able to surprize me more often with moves.
2) What did not go well?
I do the 5 free puzzles daily on chess.com that I don't really consider part of my training and I was just stumped last week Couldn't seem to get them right for the life of me. I also had a 2nd week where weather didn't allow me to have otb chess. It felt like chess just wasn't clicking with me.
3) The plan for the week.
20 more positions in Evaluate like a Grandmaster, 40 more Polgar puzzles And this week I'll shout angrily at the sky Tuesday night so that it knows better than to cancel my Chess club three weeks running.
As for Martin, I know what it is to reduce chess for a better family life. I used to travel to tournaments and I had one about every 2 weeks for a while. But I got a girlfriend who turned into a wife and my hobby had to take a back seat. I still get to enjoy chess via youtube and books but it's much less participatory now. And your Say Chess efforts remain valuable and interesting.
1) What went well?
Putting some good time into studying classics
2) What did not go well?
Made small progress on tactics - john nunn book. Too many times got stuck and motivation a bit faded away.
3) What will I do this week
Study classics and OTB long time control game. Will try to make some more progress on tactics. Will try to add 10-15 mins visualisaiton training where I will have to reproduce chess position that i just saw from memory.