A New Year – 2023
Hi all!
2022 was a great year with many highlights.
- I did some form of tactics nearly every day.
- I improved my online ratings.
- I connected with chess players online and at my local club.
- I finished three and a half chess books (Reassess Your Chess, Simple Chess, The Power Of Pawns & My 60 Memorable Games).
- I played three OTB blitz / rapid events (I even managed to win one of them).
- I analysed and annotated roughly 30 of my own games.
- I beat my dad at Duck Chess.
- I finally watched the Queen’s Gambit.
- I blogged, sent out newsletters and occasionally tweeted about chess.
Now the new year is upon us, which means new chess goals for the year.
What are my goals for 2023?
- Complete tactics every day – It doesn’t need to be much, but I want to consistently work on tactics. My current “go to” is Survival Puzzle Rush. This is a great option when you have kids because you can do a few puzzles then put it down and pick it back up without worrying about running out of time.
- Read three chess books – This was a good number for me last year. It works out to be a few chapters of a book each month which is quite doable. I often have a games collection that I work through as well. This year I am going to read through Logical Chess by Irving Chernev, Pawn Structure Chess by Andrew Soltis & Mastering Chess Strategy by Johan Hellsten.
- Switch up my openings – I think it is time to move away from 1.e4 to get a better feel for 1.d4 positions that often lead to more closed positions. I plan on switching up my Black response to 1.d4 as well. Currently I have been playing the King’s Indian, but I am going to move to the Queen’s Gambit Declined and Semi Slav. I will keep at the Caro-Kann as my response to 1.e4 for a bit longer. I still feel like there is a bit to learn here for me. I am likely to see my online ratings drop a bit with this change, but it should be a good learning experience.
- Analyse and annotate one game a week – This can be any time control, but a thoughtful analysis of at least one game a week.
- Eat healthier – This is more of a personal goal, but it plays into chess to some extent. Having a healthy mind and body can only have a positive impact on brain function and the ability to play chess well.
- Write about chess – I want to continue blogging and writing newsletter posts. The way I write and how I structure the content I share is constantly changing and I am happy to let it move in new directions as time moves on.
- Enjoy chess – I don’t want to burn myself out or find that chess is a chore. It is something fun to be enjoyed and I try to keep things in perspective. Do I want to grow and improve as a chess player? Yes! But not if the desire to improve is becoming a stress or burden.
That’s it for 2023.
I wanted my goals to be simple, obtainable and measurable.
Hopefully 2023 is a great year for chess improvement.
Let me know your chess goals over on Twitter 🙂