Chess resolutions 2017

Happy New Year Everyone! 

First I would like to apologise for my lack of posts recently. I had just  recently participated in a local Open Chess Tournament and didn't want my competitors to see my latest opening preparations. I did fairly well, scoring 6/9 and was in the running for a top 10 finish going into the last round.. Alas, I lost and had to settled for 30th position out of 190+ participants. Still it was not bad in my first local Tournament Chess outing. 

2016 has been a phenomenal year for me in terms of chess. I took part in 2 tournaments which were great learning experiences (one aboard and one local). I also got more involved in the SCL (slow chess league) evening managing to win a place in their upcoming championship league. (more news to come on that). Overall, my understanding of chess has improved a lot. My blitz and rapid ratings on chess.com have stablized in the 1800's which shows steady progress from last year. 

My chess resolutions for this year are as follows: 

1) To stick to my daily chess plan of Tactics, Middlegame/Endgame study. Openings I will learn as and when I encounter them on my online practice games.

2) Solidify my opening repertoire. My recent tournament experience has highlighted some deficiencies in my opening knowledge so I need to work on them to sort my lines out.

3) Break FIDE 1800 rating. I may have at most 2 more chess Tournaments this year to try to do so before I may have to take a year's break (I'm about to become a father again soon!) before I can play OTB tournaments again.

4) Become a licensed FIDE Chess Trainer. I am enrolled in a course soon to start in Jan and can't wait for it to begin. 

I wish all chess players a happy 2017 and hope you will achieve your chess goals this year.