Chess Revival?

Background

I started playing chess as a kid. I programmed a chess game into an old Apple //c computer using hex codes printed in a magazine.  It was buggy at best, and crashed often.  A relative bought me the best selling book, "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess", and I read most of it.  I learned the first four moves of ONE opening (Ruy Lopez), mainly because I thought the name sounded "cool".  I played a few games...and after these failed attempts at playing chess against actual people, I "retired".  That was about 30 years ago.

Fast forward to now...(well, 3 months ago).  Combining the discovery of my old "Bobby Fischer" book, with a small but growing boredom with the mindless monotony of MMO-based games, I decided I would start reading the book again, if for no other reason than nostalgia.  I actually finished the book this time, and felt like it was time to come out of retirement!

Current

A quick Google search brought me to Chess.com. 2-3 weeks of a free membership convinced me that my renewed interest in this mysterious game of my youth was here to stay.  I was frustrated with all of the features I was unable to access with a free membership, so I went ahead and purchased a premium membership.

After an initial quick drop to the 800-900 rating range, I realized in order to get better, I needed to actually "study" chess, not just play the game over and over, repeating the same miserable mistakes game after game.

So, I started reading a bit, did some tactics trainer exercises, and was shocked at the "secrets" of chess I wasn't even aware existed (forks, pins, skewers, deflections, etc!).  One early thing that happened, I believe, started the ball rolling.  I made friends with a much higher rated player, who offered to "mentor" me with unrated and "take-back" games.  So as we started playing, more important that simple games, he gave me a plan, and some basic instruction into HOW to study chess.

My next posts will outline my plan, and my hope to improve my rating!