Future directions

 When I first set this blog up, I didn't expect it to evolve into the beast that it is now. It existed chiefly to show my games to people. I don't like to hassle them by sending some moves and saying 'look at this!' so by pointing them here and using a simple PGN viewer as well as annotating the games thoroughly, I could make things easier for everyone. Although the readership is small by design, I am always encouraged by how often people nag me to publish the next game - clearly I am doing something right! But whilst the inner egotist still just wants people to read, improvement comes less easily now and for the last 18 months I have really been pouring my frustrations into it. I still try to entertain - and hopefully instruct - anyone who is kind enough to read what I write, but it reads like a very grumpy diary. So for a change I will try drawing out lessons from my games that apply to everyone. Not 'how can I improve my chess?' but 'how can we improve our chess?' With that - some thoughts on 2013-14.

 I have a friend who excels as the aggressor, is superb tactically and always well-prepared in the opening - but wastes all of these talents by playing the London System. Don't do this! We should play to our strengths, not deny them or overlook them: I think stylistic preferences are largely fixed, and we play best in positions we like. I like sharp positions where I can attack and put my strong preparation to good use, which begs for 1. e4, but I spent half of the season cowering elsewhere to avoid my weak tactics. I can't stand quiet positions though, and my performance with white plummeted by 25 points. Instead I should have improved my tactics; some have recommended throwing yourself in the deep end but I doubt many people have the mental strength to cope and I certainly didn't. Pinning down one's tastes can be tricky and took me a while - but this is where annotating your games comes in...

 Rowson believes we should emphasise training, not study - our problem is not knowledge but faulty mental processes. He's not the only one, and in fact I concluded the same over a year ago. Positional understanding can't be perfected, but we are probably better than we imagine - instead regular readers must be tired of hearing about bad calculation and weak tactical sight by now! To improve at these, you have to actually do them, and that means exercises: "Improvement comes at the edge of your comfort zone." At the moment then, I am slowly solving combinations from books. In the past I've used the Tactics Trainer on Chess.com, but I usually see the solution in 5 seconds, 30 minutes or never - being rushed by a clock is no good at all. Another method with a long pedigree is to cover up long analysis of a complex position, try your own for a set time and compare.

 But the biggest lesson was psychological - relax! I take losses awfully (Aagaard wrote a good article on this) but even so it took hanging a Rook in a won position to finally prompt some real work. January to March was fantastic, but then it fell apart - every loss is a crisis so my self-confidence is very brittle. Soon, belief in reaching my target was consumed by fear of failure, and I lost the energy behind those good results. I was far more scared of not reaching 170 than only hitting 169 (don't forget the national mean is 133) and so I now have deep reservations about targets: they govern us too much. We need to be confident that improvement will come with effort - to plateau at times is normal. This season I aim only to avoid agonising and enjoy my games. Hence one real challenge: it's been almost three weeks since I last played online blitz, which already must be some kind of record. Energy and enthusiasm should be saved for OTB play, and besides, blitz promotes very bad habits for someone who is trying to improve their work-rate at the board.

 I would emphasise however that trying for a more laid-back approach certainly doesn't preclude working hard to improve; indeed I'm doing more at this moment than for quite some time. Aronian seems like the most relaxed person imaginable, but does anyone really doubt he puts in the effort behind the scenes? With that, I've made all my points regarding this topic for the time being, at least without rambling on into infinity. If you have the time, some interesting (and better informed!) further reading is the online sample chapter of Rowson's Chess for Zebras, and/or this more bite-sized article by Jacob Aagaard. (Naturally his others are also useful.) They inspired a lot of the above. However, I try to keep the subject matter here a little more diverse, so my next post will be an experiment of a different kind. Beyond that, I'll say no more...