--------------- NOVEMBER 2021 GAMES ---------------
I have begun this blog to track my progress, thought process, style of play, and to share with anyone interested in my games of chess. This blog will help me to find my common errors and mistakes in my chess gameplay along with showing you how I got into certain positions. I modeled this blog after @Giasira forum posts in which he tracked his progress from 1482 to 1600 rapid on chess.com.
My plan from today, 8/3/2021, to 1/1/2024, is to follow my progress to chess Expert level at 2000 Rapid Elo. To maximize my learning and improvement while also saving myself time, I am going to make the most of every single game that I play by only playing 10 minute to 60 minute long games and analyzing them after they conclude. This will help me find my errors, track my progress, and see tangible evidence of my long-term improvement. Off we go!
I will be playing my games in the following format set up by @Giasira:
1. Eliminate horrible blunders, such as leaving pieces en prise, falling for obvious skewers, dangerous pins, forks and "mates out of the blue". Win, lose or draw is not the important part here, I just want to practice good chess habits and learn how to play patiently and solidly. If I lose I want it to be because I got thoroughly outplayed, not because I gave up something for free. At least this way I can go through my loss and learn something more productive than "I shouldn't have left that piece undefended"
2. Don't play when tired or distracted. Chess time will be "tunnel time", during that time it will be my sole focus. I am going to set aside time specifically for that purpose. I will warm up with some tactics puzzles, and if I'm so tired or distracted that I can't solve any of them then I'm probably better off doing something else than chess at that time.
3. Analyze every game. By forcing myself to analyze every game, I am forcing myself to learn from every game. If it is a particularly instructional game, or the opening catches me off guard or the endgame is completely unfamiliar or something like that, I will do a deeper analysis. I will study the unfamiliar opening or the particular endgame, as to be better prepared in the future.
Game 1
White
"Cheaters Never Prosper"
Accuracy 83.7 - 95.4
Horrible Blunders: 1 My only blunder in this game was Bc4. I just didn't recognize that my opponent's Knight was defending c4 and obviously didn't take the time to double-check.
Note 1: Avoid unforced errors like Bc4 to help rating improve.
Note 2: This player turned out to be a cheater by using a chess engine to help make his moves. His account was terminated on November 12th, 2021.
Game 2
Black
"Still Able to Beat 1500s"
Accuracy 79.8 - 88.1
Horrible Blunders: 0 I avoided horrible blunders in this game (which is a major step towards getting better) but did make some mistakes that either missed strong ideas or could have led to some horrible blunders.
Note 1: I've been struggling lately in my Rapid skills after taking a 3 month break from any serious attempt at getting better. This saw a rating drop of around 75 points in Rapid. This break allowed me to get into the flow of my college courses and to work on my studies. Seeing that I can still beat high 1500 opponents gives me encouragement that it's not my skills that have dropped but rather that I am just temporarily underperforming due to a lack of practice. For a while, I had a hard time proving to myself that it was worth spending the time to improve in chess since I really don't have any motivation besides to perform better in chess club meetings and to have better playing and analysis skills for Chess-U-See videos.
Game 3
White
"Why Resign?"
Accuracy 84.2 - 75.9
Horrible Blunders: 2 I gave up a minor piece through a bit of poor mental visualization and then to get out of that trap I blundered away a Knight because I completely didn't even scan for c5. Both could have been avoided through better mental calculation which I'll keep practicing in my upcoming games.
Note 1: I have skipped over 9 games because I don't have time to annotate all of my games. Instead, I'll just annotate and post notable games rather than every single one.
Game 4
Black
"Sibling Rivalries"
Accuracy 68.4 - 77.4
Engine Analysis:
Horrible Blunders: 0 No horrible blunders but I did miss a pretty good tactic. On move 24 I could have played Qb6! and after we trade Queens I get d4 to win the Knight!!! Wow! Completely did not see that. I didn't want to trade Queens because I thought it gave away my attack, but I didn't see that the Knight would then be unable to move after I remove the Queen from the equation!
Note 1: Develop faster in future games and get castled. This will allow attacks like my Queenside attack in this game to be more potent if I simply have the pieces I need to attack!
Note 2: Figure out how to start good attacks and Pawn breaks. I feel like there was an opportunity for me in this game but I missed it by locking the position.
Moral: Develop before attacking.
Game 5
Black
"Alireza Firouzja's Padawan Learner"
Accuracy 90.6 - 82.0
Engine Analysis:
Horrible Blunders: 0 No horrible blunders even though I did miss a million M2 and M3 towards the end of the game. I'm not at all disappointed about that because with low time you just need to find A checkmate, not the fastest one.
Note 1: I developed quickly in this game and played several moves that I don't normally play like f4 and using my e and f Pawns to start a strong attack.
Note 2: My move f4 was actually labelled by Chess.com as a great move! Now I know why GMs play this! 
Moral: When in doubt in an equal position, attack.
