July Training Recap

USCF Rating: 1753

Year to date: +223

After playing 18 long, rated games over 11 consecutitve days in June and July, I decided I had earned a break from tournament play! My 6 week break will end with the Illinois Open Championships being held Sept 5-7th.  

With that, there is not much new to report other than I've packed my break with lots of non-tournament travel, including an RV trip, that we just completed, to national parks out west. Our 12 day trip included stops at Rocky Mountain National Park, Arches National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Four Corners Monument, and the Mesa Verde National Monument!

Chess-wise, I've taken it pretty easy, as you can tell by my log below. The little training I've been doing has been focused around continuing to work through Endgame Challenge and How to Reassess Your Chess and also doing some analyse of my recent games from the Chicago Open, DC International and World Open. But, since that includes 25 games, that analysis will take a while longer.

Some highlights from the month:

• I'm getting some time off and hopefully will feel refreshed for the Illinois Open Championships.
• My goal for the year was to top 1800--I'm only 47 points away with just over 4 months to go!