Although I'll check in from time to time, I expect that I'll be mostly offline here until late May, due to other pressing demands on my time. I'll look forward to getting back to chess, for sure.
In the meantime, something to consider...
How to come back from the chess vacation?
17 March 2018
11 March 2018
Eight rules to do everything better (in chess)
While this blog is devoted to chess training, I think it's important to look at major principles that apply to any mastery effort. The below categories are taken from "8 Rules to Do Everything Better" by Brad Stulberg - worth reading on Medium for the author's original take on the ideas - and listed along with some personal comments on their applicability to improvement in chess performance.
1. Stress + Rest = Growth. For me, this is a good principle to help calibrate the amount of serious competitive play (stress) that results in advancement in playing strength. One weekend tournament / month equivalent seems to be best for me; others may have different optimal paces depending on their energy level and needed recuperation time.
2. Focus on the Process, Not Results. The fear and loathing that results from focusing primarily on your rating I think holds a lot of people back. This is a recurring theme, I've even recently seen some (non-joking) commentary that to "win" your personal ratings competition (against whomever you've chosen as your rival, I guess) it's best just to quit playing when you're ahead.
3. Stay Humble. See above. Also, one of the main points routinely made by chess improvement coaches like IM Silman and NM Heisman is that you will lose a lot if you play a lot, so it's inevitable. Realizing this will help you extract the best lessons possible from losses and not view them as devastating blows to your ego.
4. Build Your Tribe. While it's not always possible to have a "buddy system" for training, one of the big accelerating factors for improvement is doing your chosen activity with: a) other motivated people, and b) having at least one master-level person to help show you the way. Nowadays this can more easily be done online, if you don't have a local club.
5. Take Small, Consistent Steps to Achieve Big Gains. Like with many complex activities, it's unlikely you'll have linear progression. Rather, you work hard at tasks that push your boundaries and may plateau for a while, but then your brain "gets it" and you achieve mastery of an additional idea or particular skill. Chess has a lot of these types of positional, tactical and strategic skills to be mastered over time.
6. Be a Minimalist to be a Maximalist. Basically if you want to focus on improving your chess performance and put in the necessary time, you will have to forego other activities that compete with it on your personal schedule. Where you draw the line is up to you, but you can't have five serious hobbies and expect to make significant progress at them all, for example.
7. Make the Hard Thing Easier. This is about building positive habits, and/or doing small but important things to eliminate distractions. Keep the tactics book out where you can always see it and thereby have it remind you of the 15 minutes a day you've committed to working problems, or have the tactics exercises site you use be your browser homepage. Put the TV remote control away every time after you watch something, rather than leaving it conveniently at hand, or make yourself login to Netflix (or whatever) every time rather than it loading automatically.
8. Remember to Experience Joy. If you don't do this in the long run, why are you even pursuing the path to chess mastery? If you hit a stretch where it's not fun at all anymore, remember #1 above and reduce the stress.
1. Stress + Rest = Growth. For me, this is a good principle to help calibrate the amount of serious competitive play (stress) that results in advancement in playing strength. One weekend tournament / month equivalent seems to be best for me; others may have different optimal paces depending on their energy level and needed recuperation time.
2. Focus on the Process, Not Results. The fear and loathing that results from focusing primarily on your rating I think holds a lot of people back. This is a recurring theme, I've even recently seen some (non-joking) commentary that to "win" your personal ratings competition (against whomever you've chosen as your rival, I guess) it's best just to quit playing when you're ahead.
3. Stay Humble. See above. Also, one of the main points routinely made by chess improvement coaches like IM Silman and NM Heisman is that you will lose a lot if you play a lot, so it's inevitable. Realizing this will help you extract the best lessons possible from losses and not view them as devastating blows to your ego.
4. Build Your Tribe. While it's not always possible to have a "buddy system" for training, one of the big accelerating factors for improvement is doing your chosen activity with: a) other motivated people, and b) having at least one master-level person to help show you the way. Nowadays this can more easily be done online, if you don't have a local club.
5. Take Small, Consistent Steps to Achieve Big Gains. Like with many complex activities, it's unlikely you'll have linear progression. Rather, you work hard at tasks that push your boundaries and may plateau for a while, but then your brain "gets it" and you achieve mastery of an additional idea or particular skill. Chess has a lot of these types of positional, tactical and strategic skills to be mastered over time.
6. Be a Minimalist to be a Maximalist. Basically if you want to focus on improving your chess performance and put in the necessary time, you will have to forego other activities that compete with it on your personal schedule. Where you draw the line is up to you, but you can't have five serious hobbies and expect to make significant progress at them all, for example.
7. Make the Hard Thing Easier. This is about building positive habits, and/or doing small but important things to eliminate distractions. Keep the tactics book out where you can always see it and thereby have it remind you of the 15 minutes a day you've committed to working problems, or have the tactics exercises site you use be your browser homepage. Put the TV remote control away every time after you watch something, rather than leaving it conveniently at hand, or make yourself login to Netflix (or whatever) every time rather than it loading automatically.
8. Remember to Experience Joy. If you don't do this in the long run, why are you even pursuing the path to chess mastery? If you hit a stretch where it's not fun at all anymore, remember #1 above and reduce the stress.
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