Adapt or Fail
When I set the goal of becoming a top 100 player in the State of Georgia, I figured I could handle the studying aspect (I mean, I have a degree in English and Latin...). So I sat down, grab a pen and some paper, and started writing out my tasks to achieve 'smaller' goals, which I considered to be my monthly goals ( See April's Goals HERE). I knew that all consider remaining as they are, that I could focus roughly 3-4 hours a day on chess, so I made goals of spending this amount of time on tactics, and that amount of time playing Bullet, and at the end of the day, finishing off with review some of my loses.
Well, that didn't work, and so here I am with my tail between my legs, with a new plan that I believe is more aligned with what I really need to focus on. This is isn't rating focused, nor is it time focused, instead, this list is based on having fun and always learning. My chess journey quickly became almost a chore within a month, as I was studying, learning, and then I'd play and find myself without a strategy and in a terribly losing position.
So here are my main points of focus for the next month (and much longer).
1. Get a Chess Coach
My wife doesn't understand chess, and has absolutely no desire to learn, so I need to not only surround myself with more chess-centric people, but also hire a coach who will hold me accountable and help me see past my own GLARING habitual mistakes.
I have actually done some work on this, and should be having an official coach in the coming days/weeks, so stay tuned.
2. Have Fun
After my April goals in which I wanted to play a certain amount of Blitz/Bullet/Rapid matches, I realized that it takes the fun out of chess. Is Rapid better for my development? Absolutely...but sometimes I just want to play some quick 1|0 matches and laugh at my awkwardly slow play and poor positioning.
The point, is that this is a game...a game in which I am incredibly passionate about and love with my entire being, but I need to have fun and remain flexible, so that if I wake up tomorrow and want to play Bullet matches for 4 hours, then I don't feel bad at the end of the day when I realized that I didn't reach my personal goal on studying tactics/openings...
3. The 1% Rule
Their is a philosophy that I heard once, which states that as long as your focus on being 1% better each day, then you'll be 30% better by the end of the month, and a whopping 365% better after a year.
While this isn't something I think you can quantify, I like the simple, minimalist feel to this way of thinking and I'm going to be working on doing this in my life. Again, this won't have anything to do with ratings, but instead on just learning something new, or figuring out a way to better prepare myself during the opening.
4. 365 Days of Petrosian
My wife is an artist and a teacher, and for her art, she found an inspirational video that she shared with me, and it's a guy who was struggling as an artist for he would paint one day, draw the next, write the next, and so on. This cycle happened until he spoke to a friend (and famous artist), who encouraged him to focus each day on a simple task...and that was to draw the same thing, every day. So the artist picked a bird, and began drawing his creature, and as the days progressed, his bird would find itself in a new city, or surrounded by words in these very unique works of art. All of this based on the premise of focusing on one simple task, and letting your mind take it from there.
Chess is a form of art, and so starting today, my wife and I have decided to undertake this in our own way. She will be drawing a sunflower, and I will be studying a game of Tigran Petrosian's.
I bought these two books, which I'm very excited about -
I have yet to decide if I want to publish each game with my notes, but I'm thinking to do so would take at least an hour a day, and if I want to base my game off of the great Petrosian, there is not better way to become familiar with his games than by going through EACH and EVERY one of his. The first Volume (Blue) has over 1,000 games from the years 1942- 1965, so it's unlikely I'll be able to complete an entire book in the span of a year, but we shall see!
5. Learn the Art of Washing off my Face
Okay, so I shower daily and believe that I have good hygiene, but this concept is actually one I've borrowed from a movie by Dad showed me. The movie is an old Paul Newman film called, 'The Hustler', in which Paul Newman plays a pool hustler, who is traveling and scheming people out of their money, and then he finds himself with the opportunity to play the best, a guy named Minnesota Fats. They begin playing high stakes, and Paul Newman's character, Fast Eddie, is smoking Fats, beating him time and time again. Time goes one, drinks continue to be poured, and Fast Eddie is still beating Fats and winning his money.
After some time, Minnesota Fats calls for a briefs break so that he can visit the restroom. In the bathroom, he takes off his suit jacket, undoes his bow tie, unbuttons his shirt, and begins to splash water over his face and wash his hands. After he is done, he get dressed back up and goes back out only to completely dominate Fast Eddie and win back his money.
The scene isn't long, but my Dad and I have spoken about this scene often. When times are tough, and your are getting your butt kicked over and over again, it's so easy to get into a negative head space, so if instead of just 'pushing through', if I just realize I'm on full tilt, and then take 10 or so minutes to wash my face and freshen up, that it'll give me a new found hope instead of continue down the dark and tumultuous path that being tilted can lead to.
