The Chess Improvement Challenge and ME!

Hello everyone, I am Divyansh Garg, a student from India who loves science, mathematics and of course, chess!

Around two weeks back, chess.com announced its Chess Improvement Challenge in order to improve our chess this new year and get rewards along the way! I learnt chess in 2023. Since then, I have played chess very casually, having short bursts of motivation and increasing my rating and then disappearing from the game for academic or other purposes. Still, in the background chess has been a great stressbuster and hobby for me. So, when I read this announcement, I was honestly very pumped! I did not have any major goals or resolutions set for 2025 and so thought that seriously improving in chess would be nice to fill in the free time that I will have.

Therefore, in full excitement, I signed up for the challenge and joined the Improvers Club for, you guessed it, improving my game! 

My Current Standing and Goals

Currently, I am a beginner intermediate player with a rapid rating of 1200 and have the following aims for the year:

1. Improving my understanding of chess as a whole and its various phases, i.e. Openings, Middlegames & Endgames.
2. Sharpening my Tactical Vision, Strategy and Calculation.
3. Reaching an online (rapid) rating of 1800.
4. Reaching a FIDE rating of 1750.

Along the way, I will also be working on my mental discipline, patience and analysis of my games since these are also essential skills for chess mastery.

My System (no pun intended)

In his seminal book, Atomic Habits, the author James Clear highlighted the importance of systems over goals. Quoting him, "Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are
about the processes that lead to those results." For a chess player, the goals are what I highlighted in the previous section, and systems are playing and analyzing games, working on tactical puzzles, working on openings, middlegames, endgames, strategy and calculation by reading books and watching instructional videos and reviewing master games. Through my research on the internet, and through the study plans provided by chess.com, I have developed a system for myself which comprises the following:

1. For every month, I will have one Focus Area which can be any one of Openings, Strategy, Tactics etc.
2. I will play and analyze my own games continually and focus on doing my best in each game.
3. Spend 1 hour each day on the above-mentioned activities.

Focus Area for January 2025

For this month, i.e. January 2025, my focus area is going to be working on my Tactics. There is a common consensus among top coaches and players that at every level of chess, Tactics and Calculation is possibly the most important thing to work on. When I reviewed my past games, they are ALWAYS decided by tactics, and hence strengthening my tactical vision is the most important area for me to work on.

Now, you might be - All right, you will improve your tactics but what are you going to do for it? I have two books planned that I am going to do this month:

1. Everyone's First Chess Workbook by Peter Ginnatos
2. Learn Chess the Right Way - Book 3: Mastering Defensive Technique by Susan Polgar

Also, I am going to play my first ever OTB tournament this month on 25th January! It is going to be an under 1600, 6-round 25+5 rapid tournament and I am excited yet nervous for it! I will review those games and post them here as well!

Closing (Shower?) Thoughts

For me, this challenge isn’t just about achieving a number or title, it’s about improving every day and committing to the process. Yes, it sounds very cliché, and I know it won’t be easy, but that’s what makes the journey worthwhile. I look forward to documenting each step and sharing my experiences with anyone who is on a similar path. Here’s to making steady progress, one move at a time!