Top 5 Chess Blogs of All Time
What was the most important event of 2013? Do you remember what you were doing and how you were playing?
Yes, 2013 saw the birth of Prince George, but the chess world was more interested in the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen (Carlsen won 6 1/2 - 3 1/2).
I know exactly how my chess year went in 2013 because I keep a chess diary here on chess.com (aka this blog). That year, I earned my first class "c" chess rating. GM Irina Krush crushed me in a simultaneous exhibit. And, I completed the Seven Circles chess training for the first time.
That is also the year I started blogging here on chess.com.
Since then, a number of my blog posts have garnered a pretty fair number of views. Here are the most popular of all time:
Top 5 Chess Blogs of All Time
Published: Feb. 8, 2015
Views: 8,477
In "Chess Notebooks, Part 2," I continue my discussion (see below) of how I created a paper notebook and many ideas for using it.
#4 Review: A First Book of Morphy
Published: Mar. 1, 2015
Views: 10,484
I'm a professor. I love books. Don't hate me if you've thrown in your lot with YouTube or Chessable courses. But, if you're a beginner looking for a first game collection book, this one is hard to beat.
Published: May 22, 2016
Views: 11,085
Why would you want to read this underrated strategy book by legendary author Jeremy Silman? His other book, How to Reassess Your Chess, is one of the most important strategy books for intermediate players. But, intermediate is the keyword. The Amateur's Mind is the prequel. It not only introduces Silman's famous Imbalances approach to analyzing positions, it addresses psychological aspects of play that are likely even more important for under 1500 players.
Published: Aug. 25, 2013
Views: 14,294
Take a look at my USCF rating graph.
What do you notice?
It wasn't until late 2013 that my OTB rating started to climb aggressively. There were two things I was focusing on that summer: 1) tactics using the Seven Circles method and 2) an intentional Chess Thought Process. This blog post is by far the most important one I've ever written for others and myself. It took me almost 20 years, from my first tournament game to writing this blog post, to understand how important cultivating focus and thought discipline was for me to be successful.
Now, for my most popular chess blog post ever!
Published: Jun. 1, 2014
Views: 17,286
I am not sure why my chess notebook was a topic that received so much interest. Maybe it's because few people keep a chess notebook but know how much writing our thoughts helps us learn and remember. Again, as a professor and researcher, I have to be very diligent about research notes, data, and citations. I bring this same approach to my chess study, and this method also allows me to easily keep notes -- even including positions and games -- in a flexible paper format.
I hope this little walk down memory lane has been interesting. More importantly, I hope you picked up something helpful, such as thinking about your thought process or the value of keeping a chess diary, such as a blog, to motivate you and help you reflect on the long road of chess improvement.
