January Update - Habits set ?

Have you played Chess to start the year ? Do you feel an improvement in your games compared to 2024 ? January is over, and we can take a look back at what was done in last month for improving. Let's take a look at our numbers, how we improved, lessons from our games, and how we will improve going forward. I'll go through my month of January as an example on how this reflection can go.

THE NUMBERS

First of all, let's look at the numbers. In my case, I have played 18 rapid games: 14 OTB and 4 online. The average rating of my opponent was 1339, my score for all 18 games was 11, which gives a performance rating equivalent of 1472. Not bad ! (although performance rating is mostly for tournaments, which is not really how I used it just now) I have improved my Chess.com rapid rating to 1210 (up from 1180), my puzzles rating to 2790 (from 2657), and my local club rating to 1442 (1416 before).

I thought I would play more online games, but I realized near the end of the month that I did not have any habits for playing online games. For OTB, every Tuesday evening, I have games at my local club. It is set in my schedule. For online games, I'm always thinking that I have time for it later, but later never comes. For February and the following months, to set a good habit of playing more online games, I plan on playing a Rapid games on Wednesday evening. Let's make it stick !

HOW WE IMPROVED

I had plans on playing games, doing puzzles, reviewing openings, reading on endgame and strategy, and reviewing my games. As mentioned above, I wanted to play a bit more games than I actually did. For puzzles, I did about as planned: puzzles rush, daily puzzles and endgame drills. I reviewed all my games and found some lessons, which I will share later. As for reading material, I ended up with a copy of Silman's complete endgame course, of which I have read the first three chapters (it was for me mostly things I knew). I could've read a bit more on strategy, but I ended up watching YouTube videos on strategy (not a bad option!). I felt I slowly improved on all aspects, but just ever so slightly. I will get into some crunchy material in the next Silman's endgame chapter during February, and I will continue with the rest as is (it's difficult to read to chess related book at the same time). 

LESSONS FROM OUR GAME

One important part of improving is knowing what are the mistakes we usually do. I reviewed my games and tried to take one key take away out of them. Here is the little chart I made regarding the games I have lost.

Mainly, I have lost due to lack of control over the center. It was either an error in the opening to take the center, or a mistake in the middlegame to give it up. As for tactics, it is my analysis of the mistake. The tactics I have missed might be caused by other mistakes, but I felt like I could've taken some extra time to consider my opponent's options.

I have not only looked at my lost games, but also my won games. Even if games are won, it does not mean that it was flawless. I must admit I was surprised by some of the lessons I took out of this analysis.

One of the most surprising lessons was that I sometime attack too early, lacking in development or support from other pieces. This could (or did!) put me in an inferior positions if my opponent finds the best defense.

There is not much lesson from the two drawn game: in one of them, we repeated the position as we were not sure how to progress a balanced position, and in the other, I drew a winning rook endgame. The first case is more psychology than anything else, and the second I should eventually cover with Silman's endgame book.

HOW WE WILL IMPROVE GOING FORWARD

For the next month, the main point I want to set is a good habit of playing online games weekly. I felt a lack in this area in January, and I'd like to change that as soon as possible. As for the rest, I got into a good rhythm regarding playing OTB games, reviewing games, doing puzzles, learning a bit more on opening, reading on endgame and strategy. The small change I'll try to implement is reading my strategy books instead of watching strategy videos on YouTube.

In January, I slowly improved my chess knowledge and rating, and my habits are set to reach my goals. What about you ? Is everything to your liking? Do you need to implement some changes? Don't worry, you can do it !

PS : Last minute update, I'm ecstatic about winning post of the month! I will most likely have a February update including my one on one coaching session !