My goals for 2026 and beyond
Hello and welcome to my first post of 2026. Today I will be covering my goals and plans for the year as well as a few longer-term ones. Hope you enjoy.
2026 Rating Goals
Here are my rating goals for 2026:
Chess.com Rapid 2000 (currently 1611)
Chess.com Blitz 1800 (currently 1380)
ECF Standard 1800 (currently 1528)
ECF Rapid 1600 (currently 1478)
FIDE Standard 1800 (currently 1611)
Potential tournaments in 2026
My first tournament of the year was be the Minor section (U1550) of the 8th Somerset New Year Congress. I played in 2025 and came in a share of 6th place with a score of 3/5 (see my previous article for my info on that event). The event took place weekend of the 10th/11th of January, and I will create a post shortly covering how it went. I am also hoping to participate in 4-7 local tournaments over the upcoming months. Additionally, over the summer I am considering playing in a couple of bigger events which are the 56th Biel Chess Festival in Switzerland and the British Chess Championship in Coventry.
Content Creation
I am also excited to announce that I am going to begin creating content in 2026. Alongside more regular posting of blogs on here I am going to begin creating videos on YouTube. I plan to create content including playing games, recaps of my tournaments, my studying and some instructional content as well. Any feedback about what you would like to see is much appreciated. The channel will be linked at the bottom of the page.
Long-term goals
My ultimate goal for my chess career is to become a chess master (CM/NM). This is obviously a challenging goal but one I am committed to. There are also a few tournaments I want to play in on this journey including the Reykjavik Open, Hastings International Congress and the Menorca Open.
I am looking forward to hopefully a successful 2026, and I hope you will join me on my journey.
YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldsman64
